The Day My Slow Brain Finally Felt Heartbreak Chapter 04
By the time the second ambulance got me to the hospital.
I could feel my body growing colder and colder.
My chest felt like it was filled with crushed ice, and every breath I took tasted like blood.
Within minutes, a doctor rushed over with my scans, his face turning entirely pale.
“Ruptured spleen! Massive internal bleeding! We need to operate immediately!”
“She has no parents listed on file. Who is the emergency contact? Call them right now to sign the consent
forms! If we wait any longer, she’s gone!”
A nurse dug out my phone.
She dialed the number saved under “Emergency Contact.”
It rang for a long time before someone finally picked up.
In the background, Joy’s muffled, breathless crying echoed through the line.
“Hello,” Nathan’s voice sounded incredibly drained and irritated.
The nurse spoke urgently. “Are you Valerie’s family? Her internal bleeding is critical. She needs an emergency
laparotomy right now. Get to the first-floor emergency room immediately to sign the papers!”
The other end of the line went dead silent for a beat.
Then, Joy’s sobbing grew noticeably louder.
“Nathan, my stomach hurts so bad… is our baby going to be okay…”
Nathan panicked instantly. He covered the receiver, his voice dropping into a tender, frantic murmur. “Don’t be
scared, Joy. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
Then, he brought the phone back to his ear.
“Nurse, don’t let her fool you.”
“She has a developmental delay. She doesn’t even know what pain means.”
“She’s just doing this out of jealousy. She threw herself into traffic to get all the doctors’ attention and force
me away from Joy.”
The nurse screamed into the phone. “Sir, this patient is actively dying! We cannot operate without your
signature!”
Nathan took a deep breath, his voice filled with disappointment.
“Tell Valerie that Joy is pregnant with my child.”
“Since she can’t feel pain anyway, let her lie in the hallway for a while to reflect on the terrible thing she did
today!”
“Once Joy’s condition stabilizes, I’ll come over to handle her discharge papers.”
The line went completely dead.
The nurse stood frozen, holding the phone in utter disbelief.
She turned a look of deep pity toward me on the gurney.
I stared wide-eyed at the sterile, blinding white fluorescent lights above me.
Tears finally rolled down my face in massive drops.
They mixed with the blood from my forehead, soaking into the white pillow underneath.
At that exact moment.
The pain that had arrived eighteen years late slammed into me like a tsunami that had been building for
years.
It drowned me completely.
The twisting, agonizing torture of a ruptured spleen, the sharp prickling of fractured bones, the blunt trauma
of torn flesh.
Everything exploded inside me all at once.
But the pain in my heart was a thousand times worse.
My mouth hung open like a dying fish on dry land. I wanted to take a deep breath, but I could only choke up
mouthful after mouthful of bloody foam.
“Patient! Patient, stay with us!”
The doctors and nurses swarmed me.
I bit down hard on my pale, bloodless lips.
Just as the doctor was about to call the police to authorize the surgery without a guardian.
Suddenly, a hand with long, elegant fingers reached out and took the surgical consent form.
A deep, steady voice rang out.
“I am her fiancé. I’ll sign it.”
Hearing that voice-a familiar voice that finally made me feel safe-I finally let go and blacked out
completely.
It wasn’t until Joy finished a comprehensive full-body scan and the doctor confirmed she was completely fine.
that Nathan finally exhaled.
He sat down, pulled out his phone, and realized Valerie hadn’t sent him a single text.
Remembering how she had looked lying in that muddy puddle, covered in blood, he suddenly felt uneasy. He
stood up and headed toward her ward.
But right before he reached the door.
He paused, turned around, and walked downstairs to the bakery to buy the chestnut cake Valerie loved most.
Pushing the door open, he said casually.
“Valerie, look what I bought you-”
He froze, seeing the completely empty bed in front of him.
Frowning with irritation, he pulled out his chat log and fired off a voice note.
“Valerie, stop throwing a temper tantrum. You’re injured, so why aren’t you resting in your bed? Where the hell did you run off to?”
He sent text after text, but every single one sunk like a stone into the ocean.
Nathan suddenly started to panic.
He grabbed a passing nurse by the arm, his voice tight.
“Where is the girl who was brought in from the car accident? The one whose face was covered in blood!”
The nurse recognized his voice instantly-he was the man who had refused to sign the consent form earlier. Her expression hardened into pure disgust.
“That young lady was taken by her fiancé right after her surgery.”
