"Waa waa waa," the loud cries of a baby echoed through the operating room.
The sound awakened Juanita's groggy consciousness on the operating table. It was the baby's cry; she heard it, and knowing the baby was safe, her tense body suddenly relaxed.
A nurse came over holding the baby. "Congratulations, it's a girl."
"She's really beautiful."
Juanita forced a smile, the anesthesia making her mind unclear and her vision blurry. She struggled to open her eyes and looked at the baby in the nurse's arms. The small, soft body was red and wrinkled, with eyes tightly shut and a tiny mouth open as if searching for something. She glanced at the baby, wondering how anyone could see beauty in this.
At that moment, the surgeon approached and said to Juanita, "The baby girl is premature and needs to stay in an incubator for a while. She can be discharged when she reaches full term."
Juanita nodded.
The nurse then took the baby away.
Shortly after, two other nurses wheeled Juanita out of the operating room and into a VIP intensive care unit.
As soon as the door opened, Juanita saw Karl standing in the room, waiting anxiously.
Hearing the noise behind him, Karl immediately turned around. Seeing that Juanita was safe, his eyes lit up with relief.
The nurse smiled and said, "Congratulations, mother and daughter are both safe. However, the baby girl is premature and needs to be observed in an incubator for a while. You can see her later."
Karl rushed to Juanita's bedside and held her hand. "I'm so glad you're okay. Our daughter is fine too."
Juanita's mind was foggy. How could she be seeing Karl again? It must be an illusion.
In her memory, she had been at home when her phone accidentally got soaked in tea and went black. She had struggled upstairs to find a spare phone to call for help. Standing on the stairs, she felt intense pain in her abdomen and started crying from mixed emotions. Behind her, she heard Karl calling her name so gently that she almost thought it was an illusion.
She had been too worried about him, missing him so much that she saw him?
After that, her consciousness began to blur; everything went dark as pain rendered her powerless. The last thing she felt was falling into a warm embrace.
She hadn't completely lost consciousness. In a daze, she knew someone had taken her to the hospital and into surgery for an emergency C-section.
Lying on the operating table, she was in a daze.
After being injected with anesthesia in her waist, she drifted in and out of sleep until she heard the baby's cries and regained some awareness.
Now, unable to distinguish between reality and illusion, she reached out to touch the familiar handsome face before her. "Karl, is it really you? Didn't you leave?"
She spoke haltingly. "Look at me, I'm so useless. You just left, and I already started missing you... even having hallucinations..."
Karl gripped her hand tightly and pressed it against his cheek. "It's not a hallucination; it's me. I didn't leave."
"I didn't leave; thank goodness I didn't... otherwise..."
He could hardly continue speaking.
"Why would a hallucination talk? I'm so tired... I want to sleep for a while..."
Juanita murmured as she closed her eyes and fell asleep again.
It was unclear how long she slept before waking up suddenly with clear thoughts; the anesthesia had worn off.
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