Drowning Him In Regret novel Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Bad Luck

The doctor held my gaze for an eternity, his eyes probing, searching for some crack in my resolve.

Finally, with a heavy sigh, he slid the surgical consent form across the desk.”You sure you’re good with this? If things go south in there, it’s gonna be a hell of a mess to clean up.”

“Doc, I’m betting on you. I mean it.”I grabbed the pen, my fingers trembling just enough to betray me, and scrawled my name across the dotted line.

My life, my death—they were mine to wager, weren’t they? No one else got a say anymore.

He opened his mouth, probably to talk me out of it, but before he could get a word out, the door slammed open with a force that rattled the walls.

A mob poured in, their shouts hitting like a tidal wave. Someone knocked into me—hard—and I staggered, my head smacking the sharp corner of the desk.

The world tilted, then dimmed. Warmth trickled down my forehead, thick and sluggish, stinging as it seeped into my eyes and blurred the madness around me.

The room was a war zone. Voices clashed, sharp and venomous, drowning each other out.

“What kind of bullshit ‘chief physician’ are you? We paid out the ass for this, and now you’re saying she needs another surgery?”

“You swore the tumor was gone! How the hell does it just come back? You’re nothing but a goddamn con artist!”

“Money-grubbing quacks! No soul, no shame—I oughta beat the shit outta you!”

I pressed my palm to my forehead, pain pulsing hot and relentless. My legs were jelly, useless, refusing to hold me up.

Someone’s shoe pinned the edge of my shirt to the floor, and no matter how I tugged, I was trapped, stuck in the chaos like a bug under glass.

The office was a whirlwind of fists and fury, and it felt like forever before security finally barged in, barking orders that cut through the haze and forced the fighting to a halt.

Then came a scream, shrill enough to pierce the fog in my head. “Holy shit, she’s bleeding! Is she fucking dead?”

Every eye in the room swung to me, their stares heavy, like I was some kind of spectacle.

The crowd took a nervous step back, leaving me sprawled there, raw and exposed.

A young nurse, barely sturdy enough to keep herself upright, was the first to kneel beside me, her voice trembling.”Ms. Watson, oh God, are you okay? Come on, let’s get that cut cleaned up.”

Her hands shook as she tried to hoist me up, but she was too slight, and I was too far gone, my body sinking under its own weight.

Then the doctor was there, his grip strong and steady as he pulled me to my feet.

I caught a glimpse of him—his glasses cracked, one lens completely shattered, his neat hair now a wild mess. Angry red scratches crisscrossed his cheek, proof he’d taken a beating.

I wanted to muster a smile, to wave it off, to show I wasn’t as fragile as I looked. But my body betrayed me, heavy and hollowed out, like it was already slipping away.

The doctor sighed, guilt etched into every line of his face. “Jesus, I’m so damn sorry. You got caught up in my mess. The surgery… it’s gotta wait now.”

I shook my head slowly, the motion sluggish, wanting to tell him it didn’t matter. What was one more delay? Another day, another hour—it was all just borrowed time.

No one was waiting for me to make it through. No one would miss me if I didn’t. The thought sank its claws into me, sharp and cold, but I shoved it down, locking it away where it couldn’t cut any deeper.

By the time the cops showed up to take statements, I’d scraped together enough of myself to sit upright, though every breath felt like dragging air through broken glass.

A female officer crouched beside me, her eyes soft with a pity that stung worse than the gash on my head.

“Your condition’s no joke, honey,” she said. “The assholes who started this shit are locked up now. You can hit ’em up for damages later.

“We reached your family. They’ll be here soon.”

I blinked, her words hitting like a slap I hadn’t seen coming. “Who? My family?”

“Yeah, well, your husband’s secretary answered, but don’t worry—he’ll show.”

I dropped my gaze to my hands, fingers twisting together in my lap until my knuckles whitened. Would he come? I wasn’t sure.