Chapter 4

Eve passed out from exhaustion on the way to the hospital. The hospital's stark white ceiling greeted her when she woke up, followed by the sharp smell of antiseptic. Eve slowly looked around the ward. It was empty save for her. The sound of two nurses' conversation drifted from the doorway. Their tones were filled with sarcasm and disdain. "Mr. Doran had all of the hospital's doctors tend to Ms. Coleman just because her arm was injured. He even ordered them to use the best treatment possible to make sure she doesn't scar." "But Ms. Withers here only has the two of us interns tending to her even after she passed out. Talk about contrast." "Right? When I passed by Ms. Coleman's ward earlier, I even heard Mr. Doran call her 'sweetheart.' He loves her so much…" Eve's fingers curled slightly as a bitter taste surfaced in her mouth. Michael once had a private doctor come over to the house to tend to her because she had caught a high fever. He had even stayed by her side the entire night, not getting a wink of sleep. Yet now that Eve had passed out from lack of oxygen, there was not a single person by her side to care for her. The door opened, and the two intern nurses walked in. One of them rolled her eyes when she saw that Eve was awake. "You're finally up, are you? Pretty tough to kill, huh?" Eve sat up stiffly, saying nothing. The other nurse sneered, "What are you still pretending for? You're putting up such a pitiful act here even when you know you're just a mistress. Ms. Coleman and Mr. Doran already have a child together, and you're still clinging to him? You even threatened him by pretending to drown. How despicable can you be?" Eve finally looked at the nurses. She rasped, "Who told you I'm the mistress?" The nurses scoffed. "I don't need to be told. Ms. Coleman is my friend. She was already in such a loving relationship with Mr. Doran. They even have a child now. Yet you had to interfere. What else could you possibly be besides a mistress?" "Mr. Doran is so worried about Ms. Coleman. He keeps calling her 'sweetheart.' He even told the doctors to make sure she wouldn't scar. As for you…" The nurse eyed Eve and scoffed. "No one gives a damn about whether or not you passed out, so why don't you just face the music?" Eve looked down silently, hiding the pain in her eyes. The nurse impatiently took out a syringe and pressed the needle into Eve's arm right away. Eve flinched in pain, but the nurse's grip was strong. No matter how much Eve struggled, the nurse continued stabbing her with the needle several times over. The nurse only stopped when Eve's arm was a bloody mess. "You deserve the pain you're suffering for hurting Ms. Coleman! Now, stop pretending to be hurt. A couple of needle jabs won't kill you. Just stay put," the nurse spat before leaving. Eve could still feel the glaring pain in her arm even after the nurses left. She looked at her arm and saw the countless puncture wounds on her skin. It was a ghastly sight. She was about to use the gauze on her bedside table to stop the bleeding when her breathing suddenly quickened. It felt like someone was squeezing her chest. Each breath only brought pain into her lungs. Eve was having anaphylaxis. She desperately reached out to press the call button, but no one came to her aid even after she had pressed it several times. Eve suddenly recalled that the nurses had said that Michael had summoned all the available doctors to tend to Trisha. As what felt like a vice grip tightened around Eve's throat, her vision began to blur. Out of desperation, she called Michael's phone number with whatever strength she had left, but each dial tone felt like another blade on her aching heart. Finally, the call was answered. But before Eve could speak, it was cut off. The phone fell from her weak grip, landing on the floor. Eve saw the words 'call ended' on her phone screen before she blacked out.