Chapter 221
This wasn't a menstrual cramp. It definitely wasn't. She was having a miscarriage! The baby had left her, even before she knew of its coming.
Was it fate? Could all this really just be fate? Because she and Gabriel were getting divorced and wouldn't be together anymore, did the baby sense it wouldn't be happy after being born, and so chose to leave early?
I'm so sorry! My baby, I'm so sorry!
In that moment, the spasms that wracked Teresa's body were nothing compared to the excruciating ache in her heart.
"Step on it, faster!" Gabriel cradled Teresa, who was trembling and curled up tightly in his arms, as he yelled at Luke, "Call Finley, tell him to notify the hospital's Obstetrics and Gynecology department to prepare for an emergency."
"Yes, Gabriel," Luke responded, driving at breakneck speed while contacting Finley.
"Sweetheart, I'm so sorry," Gabriel murmured, pressing kisses onto Teresa's sweaty forehead. As he watched the blood continue to flow from between her legs, his eyes, filled with fear and panic, started to mist over. His voice, laden with guilt and without a second thought, spilled out, "You have to be okay, please be okay! It’s all my fault, I'm to blame. I love you, I really, really love you. Everything I've done, it was all because I love you too much. I didn't want you to leave me. I wanted to see you every day, hold you close, and for you to care for me as much as I care for you..."
Curled in his arms, listening to his trembling, child-like whisper with a hint of a cry, the pain coursing through her seemed to subside a little. Her body began to still.
"There was nothing between Madison and me, I only used her to get a rise out of you. Those photos, I orchestrated their release to the press. At first, I had no idea Madison was staying at the Harmonious Heights Hotel, she just showed up because she hurt her ankle and then she intentionally threw herself into my arms, using that injury as an excuse," Gabriel confessed, holding Teresa tightly as tears slid down his cheeks, falling onto her face as he murmured on, "This morning, when I knew you were coming, I deliberately had Luke bring her to my room, just to provoke you. It was all an act for you—I just held her, and nothing more..."
"Gabriel, you... shut up!" Finally, Teresa found the strength to respond.
"Sweetheart, sweetheart!" Gabriel beamed with joy as Teresa spoke up in his arms. A blood-stained hand gently caressed her face. "Sweetheart, you're going to be okay, you've got to be okay."
At that moment, Luke drove into the hospital, pulled up in front of the emergency room, and stopped with precision. Immediately, Gabriel got out cradling Teresa and rushed into the ER...
...
Waiting outside the emergency room, watching a nurse carry units of plasma to the emergency room again and again, Gabriel was on the verge of collapse.
He wanted to burst in, to grasp Teresa's hand tightly, to apologize, and to beg her to be alright.
He'd rather die himself than let anything happen to Teresa.
How foolish and reckless he had been; after being together for so long, he failed to realize that Teresa loved him, that she would risk her own life for him.
But the doctors and nurses held him back, not letting him enter. Beyond waiting outside, there was nothing he could do.
In his entire life, he had never felt as helpless, terrified, and insignificant as he did now. All he could do was hope and wait.
"You damn fool!"
As Gabriel sat at the entrance of the ER, head buried in his hands, fiercely gripping his hair as if trying to tear it out in sheer guilt, a mature, strong voice boomed above him.
Out of nowhere, Mason had barged in, stunning the onlookers. He raised his cherry wood cane and slammed it down onto Gabriel's back.
"Dad!" Katherine cried out in shock, chasing after him and rushing to intervene.
But it was too late. With a heavy thud, the oak cane crashed down hard onto Gabriel's back, emitting a dull sound that echoed through the room.
Mason, still seething, raised the cane again, ready to strike a second time. Before he could bring it down, Katherine stepped in front of Gabriel, pleading as she caught her father's arm, "Dad, stop! You're going to hurt him. Please cool down. Don't let your anger hurt Gabriel or yourself."
"Go ahead, I deserve it!" Gabriel, voice rough with emotion, rose to his feet and stepped out from behind Katherine to face Mason, his head bowed.
The blow Mason had delivered was fierce, but Gabriel seemed unfazed, not even flinching.
There was a part of him that wanted Mason to hit harder, to knock him down; it might alleviate some of his guilt.
"You bastard, you animal, are you happy now?" Mason's wrath dissipated somewhat as he observed Gabriel's self-loathing and pain, the heaviness in his demeanor unlike anything he’d emitted before. Still furious, Mason pointed at him and yelled, "You were the one who desperately pursued Teresa, clamoring for her affection. And now what? After you've had her, you stop cherishing her, make a mess of everything, and she isn't distressed enough for you, so you go off and file for divorce. Is that it?"
"Dad, please don't yell at him. Can't you see how much he's suffering? Gabriel never wanted any harm to come to Teresa!" Katherine looked tearfully from Gabriel to Mason, her heart aching.
Truly, for the first time in thirty years, she had never seen Gabriel as desolate as he was at that moment, almost lifeless, as if he were nearing death's door.
"He never wanted it?!" Mason's imposing glance turned to Katherine, his voice laden with unyielding anger, "He never wanted to go to court and divorce Teresa, he never wanted to sign those divorce papers?!"
"I never wanted to divorce Teresa, never even thought about it!" Gabriel suddenly roared, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at Mason. Tears began to form, quickly pooling, then slipping down his cheeks. "And I certainly never imagined that when the car was coming, she would selflessly throw herself to save me."
"My son..." Looking at Gabriel, Katherine's heart was breaking. Gently she reached for his hand, "Son, it was all an accident. Don't blame yourself too much."
