Long-Held Love

I was 38 weeks pregnant when my water broke suddenly, and I was rushed into an emergency C-section.

To my surprise, the anesthesiologist turned out to be my ex-boyfriend from eight months ago.

Jesus! Can I please have a different anesthesiologist? I ran away with his kid, and I don't want to give birth!

...

I was rushed to the C-section room by the wailing sirens of 911. With me were my mother, Sophia Greene, and my sister, Emma Greene.

Thankfully, Emma Greene was a general practitioner, and I had been at her clinic, tending to patients. I suddenly felt a rush of warmth down there, and Emma promptly pressed me onto the clinic bed, elevating my hips and legs. My pants were already soaked, and don't ask me where my husband was. I was unmarried and pregnant.

But if I had known that my ex-boyfriend from eight months ago was going to be my anesthesiologist during childbirth, the biological father of my child, I would have had a serious talk with my baby. It was only 38 weeks along, after all.

At the hospital, after the ultrasound, it turned out the baby hadn't engaged yet, but the amniotic fluid was running low. The fetal monitor indicated fetal distress, with the risk of suffocation at any moment.

The doctor made a decisive gesture--C-section!

In the operating room, Alexander Davis administered anesthesia while keeping an eye on the monitors, occasionally glancing at me.

"Isabella, I really want to give you some more dosage." He said through gritted teeth.

"That's illegal." I replied.

Alexander Davis sneered, his voice cold. "If I recall correctly, we broke up just eight months ago."

When I had ended the relationship unilaterally, I was already pregnant for nearly a month. But I couldn't bear the thought of giving up this child, especially not if it was with Alexander Davis.

"Yeah," I mumbled. Misunderstandings be damned; I didn't know how to explain it to him.

And I had no idea how I'd answer if he asked why I kept the child.

While anesthesiologists typically engage patients in conversation during surgery, Alexander Davis seemed reluctant to chat with me. Apart from those two sentences, we had no further interaction throughout the procedure. Even the attending doctor, surgical assistant, and nurses noticed the rather awkward situation between us.

Dating Alexander Davis was the last thing I expected.

In my junior year, a popular fantasy mobile game was all the rage. I followed suit and paired up with a top gamer named "A_Handful_of_Salt."

Unexpectedly, I got noticed by the big player himself. He led me through missions, helped me level up, and used his flashy skills to obliterate anyone who tried to attack me from rival guilds.

One day, my in-game partner, "A_Handful_of_Salt," messaged, "How about we meet in person? I'm also in City E."

I hesitated for nearly half an hour in my dorm room before my roommate took my phone and replied, "Sure."

My roommate, Olivia Anderson, said, "Isabella, 'A_Handful_of_Salt' has such a nice voice, he must be good looking!"

Mia Sullivan chimed in, "Yeah, he's probably good-looking. If you're nervous, we'll quietly follow you."

So, like a reluctant duck, I agreed to meet "A_Handful_of_Salt" at a café near our school.

When the three of us saw Alexander Davis sitting by the window, leisurely sipping coffee and gazing outside, we were all dumbfounded.

Alexander Davis, a medical graduate student, the campus heartthrob, and the one who had reportedly never had a girlfriend in five years of college and two years of graduate school.

Never had I expected that this unattainable man was my gaming partner. Could anything be more surprising?

Mia Sullivan gave me a nudge from behind and flashed a thumbs-up sign, and I stumbled my way in front of Alexander Davis.

"Uh... Alexander Davis, are you 'A_Handful_of_Salt'?"

"Yes, Soufflé?"

"That's me."

The legendary unattainable heartthrob was sitting right across from me, sipping coffee and chatting about games and studies. And there I was, sitting straight as a ruler, barely daring to breathe. We chatted and had a great time. Just as we were about to leave, Alexander suddenly called me in all seriousness.