“What?” Dexter was taken aback.
Grape was born prematurely. At that time, the heavily pregnant Josie was running an exhibition in a remote village in Sumanthova. While she was halfway through explaining her design works, she suddenly felt waves of pain in her abdomen. Then, cries of alarm echoed around her. “Alice! Your water broke!”
What followed next was a chaotic rush to the hospital.
The nearest hospital was a small one, and the delivery process did not go smoothly. Josie had never experienced anything like that before, so she was both scared and extremely anxious.
After a grueling three hours of labor, the baby had shifted position, making the delivery difficult. The doctor, lacking in expertise, was even more fearful of taking responsibility upon learning that she was a renowned designer. He spent a long time discussing with her whether to proceed with a cesarean section but was hesitant to make a decision.
Josie was in so much pain that she passed out, her mind filled with the single thought that nothing must happen to her child.
For the sake of mother and child, they proceeded with the surgery. However, halfway through the operation, Josie began to bleed profusely. The hospital’s blood bank was insufficient, triggering a wave of chaos and panic.
Tears streamed down Josie’s face incessantly. For the first time, she experienced what it meant to be in utter despair. She pleaded with the doctor relentlessly to save her child.
The image of Dexter once again surfaced in her mind. If she were to die, she could at least entrust the child to him, sparing the child from suffering.
At that time, Lachlan flew directly to Sumanthova, and it took him four hours to bring a doctor from a major hospital to the hospital Josie was in. Only then was Josie’s life saved.
At the brink of death, Josie’s mind was filled with resentment toward Dexter before she passed out.
The profuse bleeding nearly took her life. The doctor kept calling her name, “Don’t fall asleep! Alice! You mustn’t fall asleep!”
She couldn’t keep her eyelids from drooping heavily.
Just then, the cry of a baby brought her back to reality.
“It’s a girl! Come on, open your eyes and take a look at your baby!”
Struggling, Josie lifted her gaze, only to see a wrinkled face. At that moment, her mind was filled with relief. How wonderful. This is truly wonderful.
The hardships of that time, even now when recounted, didn’t lose its shocking value. Dexter rose from the couch, finding that only in doing so could he alleviate the quickening of his heartbeat.
He was drenched in cold sweat, struggling to catch his breath.
A year ago, he almost lost Josie and their child, yet he was completely oblivious.
The moonlight spilled onto Dexter’s pallid face, casting an air of desolation about him.
Upon seeing him this way, Josie merely smiled. “Giving birth was just the first hurdle. Once Grape was born, she required round-the-clock care. Lachlan hired a nurse for me, but we had a language barrier, so she couldn’t really help me much.”
Reflecting on that period drained Josie.
Dexter could imagine just how much hardship Josie, a girl who had not yet fully matured into a woman, must have endured through all of that.
Just the mere thought of it made him wish he could have endured it all for her.
“This was my first time being a mother, and I suffered a lot from fumbling all the time, but I have no regrets. Do you know why, Dexter?” She looked up.
Under the moonlight, Dexter exchanged glances with her.
“I once lost a child, and I swore I would never lose a second one. Tell me, did that child come back to me? Is that why I have Grape?”
When the past sorrows were mentioned, Dexter closed his eyes, his sadness undiminished. He said softly, “She must have known your how much you have suffered, hence her return.”
Tears welled up in Josie’s eyes. “Mmm-hmm, it must be so.”
That was all she wanted to say. She didn’t wish to speak any further. Closing her eyes to rest, she subconsciously drifted into sleep.
However, Dexter spent the entire night wide awake. He gazed at the moonlight outside the window, his guilt and heartache intertwining ceaselessly, gradually morphing into profound regret.
