Three hours had passed since my death—three hours since Linda Elliott went into labor at the hospital.
"The mother and baby are both doing well! Congratulations to the family, it's a healthy baby girl!" the doctor announced happily, carrying the newborn out. But Julian Kim didn't hesitate as he rushed into the delivery room to check on Linda.
"Linda, are you okay?" he asked, his voice filled with concern while he observed her pale cheeks, drained from the early labor. Despite being an obstetrician himself, he couldn't bring himself to perform the procedure on her.
As a ghostly presence, I watched their tender interaction with a bitter smile.
Of course, Linda was fine. I was the one who had died.
Today was meant to be my birthday celebration, but Linda insisted on joining us. Julian argued that it was hard for her to move around due to the pregnancy, so I begrudgingly agreed to his request.
On the way to pick up Linda for the Thanksgiving celebration, I spoke to Julian from the passenger seat.
"Is Ms. Elliott coming to dinner too?"
I had planned a surprise for Julian, hoping for some private time together to celebrate my birthday.
"Nova, it's just a meal," Julian replied impatiently. "Linda just got divorced, left with nothing, and now she's pregnant. Don’t make things difficult."
I clutched the hem of my Victorian-style dress tightly, biting my lip, unable to argue.
Once Linda was in the car, Julian asked me to move to the back seat, so he could better attend to her needs, leaving me feeling sidelined. He smiled gently at her, occasionally placing a hand on her belly as if they were the couple.
Watching their tender interactions felt like a knife to the heart. I bit my lip harder and said, "Pull over, Julian. I don’t feel like celebrating my birthday anymore."
For the first time, Julian seemed taken aback by my defiance, looking at me incredulously through the rearview mirror. "What's gotten into you now?"
He always showed impatience towards me, yet he treated Linda with endless warmth and care.
Seeing my determination to leave made Linda pale as well. Her voice was soft, trembling slightly as if she were about to cry. "Julian, I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to upset Nova."
With just a few words, Linda managed to increase Julian's displeasure towards me. He pulled over, turning to face me with irritation. "I married you; you’re my wife. But what about Linda? She has no one to rely on! What do you want from her?"
He didn’t seem to understand how hurtful his words were nor did he acknowledge the impact of his actions. He got out of the car, opened my door, and tried to drag me out.
On the roadside, our argument seemed endless, with Julian demanding I apologize to Linda. Amid our quarrel, several burly men approached us.
"Who's Linda Elliott here?!"
These were debt collectors from the underworld, tracking Linda via the phone number she used for her loans. They intended to follow us discreetly until we reached our destination, but the car had stopped.
"It's her!" A visibly pregnant Linda pointed at me and shouted before I could react.
Julian realized the men were trouble but still chose to protect Linda, pushing me towards the thugs.
"We’ve been looking for you, lady! When are you paying back the millions you owe us?" They didn't give me a chance to explain, dragging me to their van.
Even as I pleaded with Julian for help, he ignored me, distracted by Linda's cries from the car as her water broke.
Inside the van, the men were furious at my continued denials, binding me inside a sack. Even when they started taking my organs, my consciousness lingered.
It wasn’t until they took my heart out that I drew my final breath.
Julian never realized; this was my last life.
