The nurse, Sofia Allen, stood at the doorway of the VIP suite, holding a folder. "Dr. Nelson, the obstetrics department needs you to sign off on last night's resuscitation records."

Chad tested the water temperature before handing the glass to Lucy.

He didn't even look back. "Just leave it at the nurse's station. Can't you see that Lucy needs me right now?"

"But Dr. Nelson, this record is urgent. It's about the patient from last night—"

"What's so urgent? The obstetrics department has emergencies every single day," Chad cut her off.

He grabbed a tissue and wiped the water from the corner of Lucy's mouth.

"I stayed up all night watching over Lucy, and I don't have the energy for anything else right now. Have Dr. Pitts sign it."

Sofia opened her mouth to argue, her eyes welling with tears.

Clutching the folder tight, she ultimately said nothing and walked away.

I followed behind her, watching as she slipped my death certificate into a drawer.

She stuffed it into a medical records folder, right alongside a pink newborn ID ankle band that never got the chance to be worn.

The morgue was freezing.

My baby and I lay inside a refrigeration unit, our eyes forever closed, with no one there to claim us.

I had no choice but to float back to Chad's side.

After finishing her water, Lucy timidly tugged at Chad's sleeve. "Chad, the way Caitlin looked at me last night was so vicious. It was like she wanted to kill me. Is she still mad at me? Is she hiding on purpose just to avoid you?"

Chad pulled out his phone and stared at our empty chat history.

His brows knit together slightly.

Usually, if he were gone for more than two hours, my messages would flood his screen one after another. I'd ask when he was coming home or if Lucy was having another episode.

But from last night until now, my chat box had been dead silent.

"She's just stubborn. She thinks I'm favoring you and is throwing a tantrum."

Chad's fingers tapped across the screen.

I floated over, reading the texts he was sending me.

"Have you thrown your fit yet? Let me know when you're done. Lucy has been through enough. Stop pushing her.

"Our baby isn't a tool for you to use to vie for my attention. Do you really think playing the missing person is going to make me give in?"

As soon as he sent them, he locked his screen.

As Lucy watched him, a flash of smugness crossed the depths of her eyes.

She bit her lip, and tears began to stream down her face again. "What if she calls the police on me? I'm so scared."

Chad pulled out the copy of the waiver. "With this, she can't press charges. Besides, she's a doctor herself. She knows if she's in danger. Once she cools off, I'll make her apologize to you. After all, she really did provoke you last night."

I watched him with total detachment as I listened to him use his gentlest voice to convict a dead woman.

Outside in the hallway, two passing nurses lowered their voices to gossip.

"That pregnant woman last night was a tragedy. She completely bled out."

"I know, right? They couldn't even save the baby. I heard it was a fully formed baby girl."

The hand Chad was using to hold his glass froze.

He suddenly remembered that that day was supposed to be my due date.

He stood, feeling a sudden tightness in his chest. "I'm going to step out and check on the obstetrics department."

He had barely taken a step when Lucy suddenly clutched her arm and shrieked, "Ouch! Chad, my head is spinning. Am I going to start bleeding again?"

Chad turned around instantly, sitting right back down at her bedside to hold her hand.

Out in the hall, the nurse muttered, "I think the father's surname on the baby's ID tag for that poor woman was Nelson."

Just as Chad was about to turn around, Lucy let out another sharp cry and threw herself entirely into his arms.

When Chad reached home, the nightlight in the nursery was still on.

Its warm glow pooled over the brand-new crib, which was neatly made with the sheets I had washed and dried.

My hospital bag sat wide open on the couch, packed with tiny clothes and diapers. On the entryway shoe rack lay my pregnancy journal. And on the dining table was a note with my pre-written postpartum meal plan.

Chad looked around the empty living room. His brows furrowed deeper.

He probably expected to find me sitting on the couch waiting for him, demanding to know why he saved Lucy first with red-rimmed eyes.

But the house was dead quiet, save for the ticking of the wall clock.

He walked over to the table and picked up the note.

On the back of it was an emergency contingency plan I had written out for my delivery. "If I hemorrhage, please prioritize the baby. If I don't make it off the operating table, please tell Chad never to let Lucy near our child."

Chad let out a cold sneer, crumpled the note into a ball, and tossed it into the trash can.

"Playing these scare tactics again," he muttered.

He pulled out his phone and dialed my number again.

The line offered nothing but a cold, automated voice stating the phone was turned off.

Switching to the messaging app, he tapped the screen forcefully.

"That's enough. Your due date is any day now. Stop risking your health over a grudge.

"I've already handled the situation with Lucy. She's a patient. Don't need to keep score with her.

"Once you're on maternity leave, you'll have some free time to keep Lucy company and help her through this with some counseling."

The messages were sent, but the silence remained unbroken.

Chad threw his phone onto the couch and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Right then, his phone rang.

The caller ID showed Professor Eve Richards, my medical school advisor, who had always treated me like her own daughter.

Chad answered, his tone shifting back to his usual polite but detached voice. "Professor Richards, what can I do for you?"

"Chad, where are you right now?" Eve's voice was trembling, thick with suppressed rage.

Chad glanced at the crumpled note in the trash, naturally assuming I had run to complain.

"I'm at home. If Caitlin sent you to play mediator, you can save your breath. If she wants an apology, she can walk back through that door herself. She's about to be a mother, yet she's still acting this spoiled."

A heavy, ragged breath came through the receiver. "Spoiled? Chad, do you have any idea what happened last night?"

"Of course I do," Chad said, his tone turning icy. "Lucy had an episode and accidentally scratched her. I already had Lucy apologize. What more does she want?

"If she feels that wronged, I'll buy her that jewelry set she's been eyeing for months as compensation once the baby is born."

"Are you even human?" Eve roared into the phone. "I don't care how much you usually favor that other woman, but last night was her due date! You—"

Before Eve could finish speaking, Chad's second phone started buzzing. It was a video call from Lucy.

Without a second thought, he hung up on Eve.

He answered the video call, and Lucy's tear-streaked face filled the screen.

"Chad, you have to come back! Quick! I dreamed about her! She came after me with a knife, saying she was going to kill me! I'm so scared!"

Chad stood up and grabbed his car keys without a moment's hesitation. "Don't be scared. I'm on my way."

As he reached the entryway, his eyes caught a beautifully wrapped velvet box.

It was a silver baby anklet he had picked up on a whim while attending a medical forum last week.

Engraved on it was the name he had casually thrown out—Grace.

It seemed he originally planned to use it to appease me after the delivery.

He slipped the box into his pocket and locked the door behind him.

…

By the time Chad rushed into the VIP suite, Lucy was cowering in the corner of her bed, pointing out the window and screaming, "She's here! She's holding the baby, and she's coming for me!"

The curtains in the room were drawn shut, blocking out every sliver of light.

On the nightstand, a phone played a loop of a fetal monitor alarm on full blast.

Scattered across the floor were the shredded pieces of a 3D ultrasound photo—the one I had waited in line all by myself to get when I was six months pregnant.

Lucy covered her ears, thrashing wildly on the bed. "It's Caitlin! She's the one texting me these curses! She said she and the baby will never forgive me! She wants to drag me to hell with them!"

Chad strode over and wrapped his arms tightly around her. "It's okay. You're safe. It's just a hallucination."

"It's not a hallucination! Look at my phone!" Lucy pointed a trembling finger at the device on the floor.

Chad picked it up. On the screen was a text message from an unknown number. "You stole my husband. My baby and I will haunt you for the rest of your life."

Chad's face instantly darkened.

He knew this tone all too well. In the past, whenever I was driven to a breaking point, I would confront him with that same look of despair.

"She has completely lost her mind."

Chad gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with absolute disappointment. "Using a baby to terrorize a patient? Is this her idea of medical ethics?"

Floating in midair, I saw Lucy bury her face in his chest with a cold smirk playing on her lips.

Of course she knew I was dead.

Last night, when she drove that knife into me, her eyes had been terrifyingly lucid.

She had even calmly pressed the handle into my hand after pulling it out, creating the illusion of a struggle.

And now, she was using a dead woman's name to keep playing the victim in front of Chad.

Chad pulled out his own phone and dialed the number to the medical administration office.

"Mr. Benson, it's Chad. Please cancel my wife's fellowship placement for next year. Her emotional state during this pregnancy has been extremely unstable. She's showing paranoid and aggressive tendencies, so she isn't fit to treat patients right now.

"Yes. I'll submit a formal psychological evaluation report later."

With just a few words, he stripped away three years of my hard work.

He even used his professional status to brand me as mentally unstable.

After hanging up, he sent me one final ultimatum. "Get to the hospital within ten minutes and apologize to Lucy face-to-face.

"Otherwise, once the baby is born, I'm not letting you act out like this anymore. I will seriously consider having you suspend your residency to focus on being a stay-at-home mom.

The text went through, but the silence remained unbroken.

Lucy clutched the hem of his shirt, sobbing hysterically. "Chad, I'll never be able to have kids of my own. Why does she have to use a baby to provoke me?"

As Chad looked at her pale face, a pang of guilt flashed through his eyes.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the velvet box that was meant for me.

With a soft click, it snapped open.

The silver baby anklet gleamed under the room's light. The name "Grace" engraved on it was glaringly sharp.

"Don't be scared. I'll always be here with you."

Chad took Lucy's hand and placed the anklet meant for my child right into her palm. "Take this. Consider it her apology."

Lucy wiped away her tears and smiled, squeezing the anklet tightly in her fist.

Suddenly, a loud crash echoed through the room. The door to the suite was kicked violently open from the outside.

Eve stood at the threshold, breathing heavily. Her hair was a disheveled mess, and her eyes were bloodshot with rage.

She lunged forward, swung her arm, and slapped Chad across the face.

The sharp crack of a slap echoed through the quiet room.

Eve's voice shook violently. "She and the baby are both dead, and you're using the anklet for her baby to comfort the murderer?"