The intern, pale as a ghost, stood firmly at the operating room door, no longer calling him "Mr. Riverton" and yelled, "Gerald, don't lose your mind! Eleanor is carrying your child, she's already five months along! And now you, her husband, want to cut her open? Are you trying to kill her?"
Gerald ignored the desperate words, slamming the operating room door shut behind him.
Through the gap, I heard the intern's urgent voice, "Gerald has lost it! Call the hospital director immediately!"
"No, call Miss Barren! Tell her that Gerald is about to perform a cesarean section on Eleanor!"
Driven by his determination to appease Joanne, Gerald didn't even bother to administer anesthesia. Grabbing a scalpel, he pressed it against my abdomen.
He said, "Eleanor, you brought this on yourself. If you hadn't deliberately run your car into Joanne, or spread lies about being pregnant with my child, would Joanne be heartbroken enough to leave the country and enter a marriage alliance?"
Fear overwhelmed me and tears mixed with sweat soaked my hospital gown, "Gerald, don't touch my stomach! I'm begging you, the child just kicked me, asking for help …"