Waking Up from Anesthesia, I Signed the Divorce Papers novel Chapter 1

When the building collapsed, I was downstairs picking out a gift for my husband. 

Meanwhile, he was upstairs shopping with his "one true love." 

"I'm sorry, I should've protected you!" 

"As long as I'm here, nothing will happen to you!" 

He carried her out of the rubble in his arms, never once looking at me, trapped beneath the ruins.

The hospital after the disaster was a chaotic mess. 

My head was spinning as I was loaded into the ambulance, my body drained of all strength. 

Inside the ER, nurses whispered among themselves, their voices like needles stabbing my eardrums. 

"Money talks, huh?"

"So many critically injured patients, but they have to pull this stunt!" 

"She barely has a scratch, looks perfectly fine, and she's hogging medical resources!" 

"Shh, look at Mr. Johnson—he's completely panicked."

"They say he dotes on his wife, and it sure looks that way!" 

"Yeah, you see the way he's hovering over her?"

"Like it's his own life on the line."

"They really are the city's golden couple!" 

Their words weighed on my chest, suffocating me. Pain twisted inside me. 

I coughed, a mouthful of blood spilling out. 

"Miss, hang in there, the doctor will be here soon!" 

A nurse anxiously rubbed my back, trying to soothe me. 

I forced my eyes open, nodding weakly in thanks, but I couldn't bring myself to look behind me. 

Michael was right there. 

And he was livid, his fury like a beast unleashed. 

"Where the hell is the doctor?"

"It's been too long! Look at her!"

"Get a full examination now!" 

"Mr. Johnson, there are too many critical cases—doctors are prioritizing life-threatening injuries—"

The nurse's voice faltered under his icy glare. 

"This is a hospital."

"Who the hell decides who gets treated first?"

"If anything happens to her, you'll regret it!" 

I closed my eyes, holding back the flood of blood and tears. 

He wasn't unavailable. 

He was right there.

But he wasn't here for me. 

Just a hospital bed apart, yet he didn't belong to me anymore. 

He belonged to her.

To someone else. 

I was in critical condition. 

And he stole my doctor away. 

For her. 

So worried. So affectionate. So in love. 

Seven years together. Seven years of devotion. 

And in my most desperate moment, I wasn't even a flicker in his eyes. 

Pain wracked my body, telling me I was still alive. 

But in that moment, my heart died.