CROSS TO BEAR

Liam drove his car at a fast and soon arrived at the hospital. He carried an unconscious Daniella and rushed into the emergency room, “Please save her quickly,”

 The doctor seemed to be used to such a scene and he was calm as he signaled to the medical staff to push into the hospital bed, “Hurry, send it to the operating room,”

 Liam then put her gently and the doctor began to ask, “What really happened to her?”

 Liam ran a hand through his hair swiftly, his nose flaring, “She's this person with heavy cramps and that was all I thought until I saw severe blood,” He explained, raising his bloody hands for the doctor to see.

 The doctor knew what to prepare for and went into the theater after whispering to the assistant. Liam wanted to follow him as he was in too much of a hurry.

The medical staff stopped him, “Family members are not allowed to enter the operating room. Please wait outside,”

 “I don't give a damn about how much it costs. Please save my daughter,” he stood near the door that was about to close and shouted to the doctor.

The doctor heard what he said but he ignored him. As a doctor, he would absolutely do his best to save patients' lives.

Liam was stopped outside.

He felt like his world had collapsed and didn't know what to do. He walked back and forth in the corridor.

 Time passed, but there was no movement inside and this made him more anxious, and cranky and he couldn't settle down.

Of course, he knew that it was of no use to be anxious, but he couldn't calm himself down.

Just then, his phone started ringing in his pants pocket and he immediately fetched it to answer the call. However, his heart squeezed in pain as soon as he registered the caller ID.

 It was Jessica calling. Clutching the phone in conflict and swallowing very hard, he cleared his throat and picked up the call.

 “Hello, Jessica,” he spoke up first, his voice steady and lively.

 “How have you been, Liam? I'm so sorry I'm just reaching out to you since I've left,” Jessica’s cracked voice transmitted into Liam’s ear and he became more tense.

 “Is everything okay? You didn't sound alright to me,” “Of course, I'm alright, Liam. I'll be home in the next two days and it will be a really long stay for me,” Jessica quickly cleared the feeling Liam was about to catch up on.

Hearing these, Liam's legs went limp and he nearly fell to the floor. Luckily, he stumbled onto the waiting chair instead.

Jessica will be coming home in the next two days but the doctor hasn't come out yet to inform him about Daniella's health.

What if it's something terrible, how will she face Jessica then?

“I’ve been calling Daniella’s phone but she's not picking up. Are you at the office? Do you know if she left her phone back at home?” Jessica’s worried voice snapped him back to reality and he quickly reacted.

“Oh. I think she told me their Head of Department would be conducting a test today. I guess she's still at it,” Liam’s throat constricted in pain after the dishonest words came out of his mouth.

Silence.

 “But don't you think it should be over by now?” Jessica spoke up again when Liam was beginning to think perhaps she'd hang up.

“Anyways, I'll call her back later. Take care of yourself,”

With that, the line went dead and Liam blew out a sigh, holding his chest while tears filled his eyes.

 ‘God, let my girl be okay. Please let her out of danger,’ his eyes were closed as he prayed bitterly inwardly.

After almost two hours, the surgery room finally opened. Liam heard it and quickly stood up and rushed forward. He grabbed the doctor, who hadn't removed his surgical mask yet and asked, “How’s my baby, Doctor? How's she?”

One of the medical staff came forward and said gently, “Calm down, sir. How do you expect him to talk when you’d grabbed him like this?”

 Liam knew that, but he just couldn't control himself. He was scared, scared that something might have happened to Daniella.

“Cough—” the doctor swayed hands and took a breath. Then he only said, “Well, after my careful examination, it was detected that she took the wrong pill to get rid of her pregnancy,” 

“Pregnancy?” Liam repeated, his brows furrowing and his eyes half-narrowing.

 “Yes, sir. She had lost a three weeks old pregnancy and I could guess that she deliberately terminated it,”

Boom!

Liam felt as if he was struck by lightning. His daughter was pregnant?

So, the blood on her body…

 He felt as if a piece of his heart had fallen off, and blood was non-stop gushing out of it. Painful. So, so painful.

“She’s out of danger now and she'll regain consciousness in no time,” The doctor continued talking but Liam only kept watching his face lifelessly.

 “She will be moved into the Intensive Care Unit soon but don't worry, you can meet her once she's awake,”

“Also,” the doctor let out a sigh and felt pity.

“Also what, Doctor?” Liam moved closer to him and his body wouldn't stop trembling.

 “I’m sorry to inform you, sir, but your daughter’s womb is damaged as the result of the wrong intake of pills. And now, she has a very slim chance of getting pregnant ever again,”

 Another Boom!

Liam collapsed to the floor with his face full of tears, looking like a beggar on the streets.

He held his head despairingly.

 “I’m sorry once again,” the doctor expressed his sympathy and started walking away with other staff following after him.

Liam felt distressed, remorseful, and repentant. And all these emotions turned into a heart-aching pain and he wept even more.

 “Daniella, why?!” he thundered, his chest aching terribly with more tears squeezing out of his eyes.

****

Daniella's eyes fluttered open at the same time the ward door opened, revealing his wretched-looking father.

As he glided near the hospital bed, she saw how red his eyes had become as if it were soaked in red paint.

 She became highly strung up as no one needed to officially inform her that her father had learned the truth.

“Are you…okay?” asked Liam, his sour gaze resting on Daniella’s face.

However, Daniella didn't appreciate how pain-stricken her father was looking. So, she discarded her gaze from his expression before slowly nodding her head.

“Do you feel pain…anywhere? Maybe your lower belly probably still hurts. Should I get the doctor?” He further inquired in a sad gentle voice.

No matter how hard he blinked he could not stop his eyes from watering. He's having trouble controlling his damn tears as he allowed everything he was feeling to surface.

Daniella planned to steal a glance at his father and quickly look away but seeing him drowning in tears right before her very eyes broke her heart and she could feel her own tears coming too.

“I’m r-really sorry, Dad. I k-kept it from you because I don't want you to worry unnecessarily about it,” she apologized, allowing the tears in her eyes to roll down her face on their own.

For a long moment, Daniealla got no reaction from her father and just as she wanted to open her mouth and say another thing…

 “The doctor said that,” a pause, heavy swallowing, “The doctor told me that…”

 Liam had trouble getting the words out of his mouth and Daniella knew at that moment that her father had gotten bad news from the doctor and of course, it was about her.

 “…that s-something has damaged in my belly?” she completed for her father, her brows lifting up slightly.

Liam locked eyes with her and whispered, “Yes,” on an exhale, guilt radiating from him in waves.

Daniella then took a very deep, shaky breath and said nothing.

“Why would you keep something as huge as that from me, Ella? Why? As far as I know, I am the one who put you into the mess and I should be the one to accept the responsibilities. Why would you do that behind me?”

Liam raised his tone a bit, looking as pained as he felt.

 “It's the other way round, Dad,” Daniella stated as she slowly propped herself to a sitting position, wincing at the sharp pain she felt down her stomach.

“I dragged you into the mess and it's my cross to bear the burden attached to it. So don't worry about me, Dad,”

Liam became steaming furious at this point as he couldn't make out what was brewing in Daniella’s head.

In his eyes, Daniella regarded the issue as though they were discussing the weather.

 “Don’t you understand, Ella? You might not be able to get pregnant again!” he shouted the truth to her face, his chest heaving up and down in rage.

“It doesn't matter to me, Dad. After all, I'm not planning to get married because very well, I can't stand being touched by another man if it's not you,” Daniella’s tone spoke finality, wiped off a tear that escaped her eyes, and then lay down immediately— covering herself.

Reality came crashing at Liam like a dash of cold water and he unconsciously dropped to his knees with fresh new tears fast building in his eyes.