His Beloved Ex-Wife

Lynn was rather taken aback. “Dr. Thorne, I didn’t expect you to know the patient’s husband.” Lysander took a long, deep stare at the familiar face in front of her. There were hints of bewilderment, surprise, unease, but most of all—concern for the woman inside. Although he seemed to be doing a good job restraining himself, he couldn’t hide the look of distress and urgency on his face. “Are you her…” Lysander glanced into the operating room, “husband?” Lynn interjected, “Yes, that’s him. He’s the one who signed the surgery consent form.”

Lysander felt a chill all over her body. Her face didn’t look too good either. “I see.” Josiah gritted his teeth. “Lysander, I’ll explain this to you later.” Lysander forced herself to calm down, maintaining her professionalism as a doctor. She then took a deep breath and said, “Don’t worry, the surgery was successful. Both the mother and child are safe. They will need to stay in the hospital for a few days for observation and IV fluids to maintain the pregnancy. If everything goes well, they can be discharged this weekend.” Josiah was visibly relieved. “That’s great.” After a pause, he added, “Lysander, thank you for your hard work.” “It’s nothing. Regardless of whose wife she is, as a doctor, I will do my best to treat her.” Lysander returned to her office, drank a glass of cold water, and took a while to calm down. After about ten minutes, there was a knock on the office door. She heard his voice outside saying, “Lysander, it’s me.” Lysander stood up and went to get the door. Josiah looked better than before, but his eyes were still red, and the furrows between his eyebrows had not completely disappeared. She just noticed now that there were bloodstains on Josiah’s white shirt, the clothes were wrinkled, and there were large water stains on the cuffs. There were two possibilities: either he got amniotic fluid on him when he carried that woman to the hospital, or it was from her tears just now in the ward. She turned around and returned to her seat, asking lightly, “Have you visited her?” Josiah nodded slowly. “Yes, she’s asleep.” “She…” Josiah said, “The child is not mine.” Lysander suddenly felt relieved, and she sat back in her seat as if all her strength had left her. “She got into a car accident and was found in critical condition. I was the one who brought her to the hospital. Later, I received a notification that surgery was needed, but the surgery consent form could only be signed by a family member, so I…” Lysander came to a realization. “I asked my assistant to get the family member’s consent.” “I know now,” Josiah said.

out the prenatal examination report from the drawer, folded it, and put it in her wallet before picking up her bag and leaving. Lysander was already very familiar with Josiah’s white Porsche Cayenne. She saw it at a glance and quickly walked over. From a distance, she could smell a pungent tobacco scent. In the dim light of the night, Josiah’s tall figure leaned against the car window. A small, orange light dot could be seen flickering in the dark. Lysander frowned and walked over, asking, “Why did you start smoking?” Josiah was startled, and the cigarette in his hand fell to the ground. Lysander then noticed that there were already about ten cigarette butts on the ground, all seemingly smoked by him. He was acting a bit out of character today. “What happened exactly?” Josiah shook his head, but there was visible fatigue between his brows. Yet, he still gentlemanly opened the car door for her. “It’s just work stuff. Come on, get in the car.” “Is it serious?” “It’s nothing.” Lysander got into the passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt. After a while, Josiah finally got into the car, started the engine, and stepped on the gas pedal. “Stop!” Lysander immediately called out to him. Josiah was startled by her sudden shout. “What’s wrong?” Just as he spoke, they heard a grumbling voice from outside, cursing, “Are you blind? Look where you’re

to pick her

slightly. “Okay, just drive carefully.” “Yeah.” There was a momentary silence. “Lysander.” “Yes?” “That woman just now…” Josiah licked his lips, seeming hesitant to speak. “The one you operated on, she’s alone in the hospital. Do you think she’s okay?” Lysander chuckled. “So, you’re thinking about her.” “No, I wasn’t thinking about her. I’m just concerned.” “There are nurses in the hospital to take care of her, and the hospital will also contact her family to come over.” “What if her family can’t make it?” “How do you know?” Josiah opened his mouth but didn’t say anything. He merely kept his eyes on the road ahead as if focusing on driving carefully, just like what she said. After that, there was silence all the way. By the time they arrived home, the sky was slowly getting brighter. Josiah parked the car in front of the house, didn’t even get out of the car, and said to her through the car window, “You rest well. I have to hurry back to the company to deal with some things.”