Farewell to You and Me

I gave him a silent nod of approval. Then, Carter stood up, intending to kiss my cheek when he saw how considerate I was being.

But I turned away.

He frowned slightly.

I felt disgusted and casually explained, "There are surveillance cameras here. Didn't you say you didn't want people to know about us?"

In response, Carter simply smiled and gave me an understanding nod before leaving.

However, he hadn't been gone for long before I received a flurry of messages on my phone.

They were from Clara.

One suggestive photo after another was sent straight to my phone.

I flipped through them with a numb heart until I reached the last one—it was a pregnancy report.

It turned out that Clara had already been pregnant for four weeks.

But it didn't matter.

She could keep her baby. I was leaving anyway.

I handed my resignation letter to the matron while Carter was with Clara.

The matron was the only one who knew about my relationship with Carter. She was slightly puzzled and asked, "Does Dr. Vance know?"

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter."

She looked a little conflicted but still approved my resignation. "You're quite far along. It's best if you go home and rest."

I simply thanked her and left without another word.

I had scheduled an abortion at another hospital and would be leaving the city the day after tomorrow.

Until then, I only wanted to focus on finishing my work and handling the handover. Nothing else mattered.

Just as I thought I had everything in order, Carter started frantically calling out for me from the emergency room

I rushed over only to see Clara bleeding from the nose.

Another woman beside her was also bleeding.

"Kaia, hurry up and help stop the bleeding. And while you're at it, draw blood from both of them for testing."

I was confused. Why was Clara suddenly bleeding?

Suddenly, Clara stood up and shoved me hard just as I grabbed the syringe and reached for her hand.

Caught off guard, I fell to the ground.

Carter rushed toward me and intended to take my hand. However, he was distracted by Clara's scream.

Thankfully, I managed to protect my belly in time, and it was only my hand that had gotten slightly scraped.

"It's fine. You draw the blood from the other one. I'll handle Clara," Carter said.

I silently nodded without taking it personally and quietly drew the other woman's blood.

…

Later that afternoon, Carter burst into the room with a pale face. He then dropped to his knees before me, saying, "Darling, it's my fault. It's all my fault."

I heard his following words before I could even process what he was doing. "The patient you drew blood from this morning tested positive for HIV."

My ears buzzed for a moment.

Just then, Clara came in sobbing and sniffling. "I'm sorry, Kaia. I didn't know you and Carter were married. I was just too scared when I suddenly started bleeding. I was too nervous, and I accidentally pushed you."

Her loud sobs drew the attention of the onlookers nearby.

Carter was embarrassed as he hurried to his feet in panic. "It's not your fault. It was just a medical accident. Go back to your ward."

"It was my fault. It was all my fault. I'm sorry, Kaia. I remember you scraped your hand and were in contact with the patient's blood. You should take PEP right away…"

Carter ushered Clara out of the nurse station and looked back at me in concern.

My eyes were reddened.

I had clearly seen Clara's smug little smile before she'd walked out the door. She knew that the patient was HIV positive. She had planned all of this.

"Kaia, don't be scared. It's only been a few hours. The chances of successful prevention are still high if we take PEP on time."

"There's nothing else we can do now, is there?" I simply said.

Tears welled up in Carter's eyes as he knelt to the ground, swearing that he would give up years of his life if it meant keeping me and the baby safe.

I sneered. He seemed to have lost his mind.

Could I even get to keep the baby after taking the medication?

Carter clung to me like a shadow from that moment on. He never left my side as we waited for the test results.