The Wedding Program on My Hospital Tray

The first thing I noticed after waking up was the wedding program.

Someone had folded it neatly and left it beside the plastic cup of ice chips on my hospital tray.

Cream-colored cardstock.

Gold lettering.

Megan and Tyler.

Saturday, 2:00 PM.

I reached for it carefully, trying not to pull against the fresh incision stretching across my lower abdomen.

Just a few hours earlier, an emergency surgeon had removed my ruptured appendix after telling Daniel that another hour of waiting could have caused a life-threatening infection.

Instead of standing beside Megan in a sage-green bridesmaid dress, I was lying in a hospital bed connected to an IV and a heart monitor.

The room was quiet.

Daniel had finally gone downstairs to buy coffee after refusing to leave my side throughout the entire night.

I had just closed my eyes when the door opened.

Linda walked in carrying an expensive bouquet of white lilies.

She smiled.

It wasn’t a comforting smile.

It was the same polite smile she wore whenever other people were around.

She placed the flowers on the windowsill instead of handing them to me.

Then she picked up the wedding program.

“Megan cried before she walked down the aisle.”

I looked at her.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be there.”

She slowly folded the program in half.

“Were you?”

The only sound in the room was the steady beeping of my heart monitor.

I glanced toward the hallway.

Daniel couldn’t have been gone for more than five minutes.

Surely he’d be back any second.

One Emergency Too Convenient

Only twelve hours earlier, everything had been completely normal.

I’d woken up excited for Megan’s wedding.

My bridesmaid dress had already been steamed.

My shoes were waiting beside the front door.

Then the pain started.

At first I thought it was food poisoning.

Within an hour I couldn’t stand upright.

Daniel had practically carried me to the car while I tried not to scream every time we hit a bump in the road.

The emergency physician ordered a CT scan almost immediately.

An hour later a surgeon introduced himself.

“Your appendix has ruptured. We need to operate now.”

There wasn’t time to call everyone.

There wasn’t time to think about centerpieces, photographs, or wedding speeches.

I remember apologizing to Megan through tears before they wheeled me toward the operating room.

She had sounded worried.

Not angry.

Not once.

Linda placed the folded wedding program back onto my blanket.

“People kept asking where you were.”

“I know.”

“They noticed Daniel wasn’t there either.”

I looked up.

“He stayed because I was in surgery.”

She nodded slowly.

“Exactly.”

Something about the way she said it made my stomach tighten despite the pain medication.

“You Always Need the Attention”

Linda walked closer until she was standing beside the bedrail.

She lowered her voice.

“Do you know what everyone talked about during the reception?”

I didn’t answer.

“They talked about you.”

She paused.

“Not the bride.”

I blinked.

“Linda, nobody planned this.”

“Didn’t they?”

I frowned.

“What does that mean?”

She crossed her arms.

“It’s amazing how your emergencies always happen when someone else deserves attention.”

For a moment I honestly thought I’d misunderstood her.

“My appendix ruptured.”

She shrugged.

“Convenient timing.”

I stared at her.

In eight years of marriage she’d criticized almost everything about me.

My cooking.

My career.

The neighborhood Daniel and I bought our first house in.

She once complained because I volunteered at a food pantry on Thanksgiving morning instead of helping polish her silverware.

But accusing me of scheduling emergency surgery?

That was something entirely different.

I pressed the call button closer to my hand.

She noticed immediately.

Her eyes followed the movement.

Then she stepped even closer.

“Rachel.”

Her voice became almost gentle.

“You embarrassed this family.”

I swallowed.

“Please leave.”

She didn’t move.

The Moment Everything Changed

Linda leaned over the bed.

I could smell the floral perfume she’d worn to every family gathering for years.

She looked directly at the thick white bandage covering my abdomen.

Then back into my eyes.

“Everything today was supposed to be about Megan.”

“Please…”

Before I could finish the sentence, she drove the heel of her hand straight down onto my fresh surgical incision.

Pain exploded through my body.

I screamed.

The heart monitor instantly erupted into rapid alarms.

Linda stepped backward.

For a split second she looked startled.

Then the door flew open.

A nurse rushed inside.

“Ma’am! Step away from the patient!”

I instinctively curled toward my side, both hands clutching my stomach.

Something warm spread beneath the bandages.

The nurse looked from my face to the bed.

Her expression changed immediately.

“Call a rapid response!” she shouted toward the hallway.

“Get security in here now!”

Footsteps thundered outside.

Another nurse ran in.

A security officer appeared only seconds later.

Linda immediately pointed at me.

“She’s exaggerating! She screamed before I even touched her!”

Neither nurse looked at Linda.

One of them carefully lifted the edge of my blanket.

Her face went completely pale.

“She’s bleeding.”

The Cameras Were Already Recording

The hallway suddenly filled with people.

Someone pushed Linda away from the bed.

Another nurse checked my blood pressure while the first surgeon on call was paged overhead.

Everything happened so quickly that the room became a blur of blue scrubs and hurried voices.

I felt someone squeeze my shoulder.

“Rachel, stay with me.”

I turned toward the nurse.

It took everything I had to speak.

“Please…”

She leaned closer.

“Don’t let anyone erase the security footage.”

She looked surprised for only a second.

Then she nodded.

“Don’t worry.”

She glanced toward the security officer standing beside Linda.

“Every hallway and every patient room entrance is covered by hospital cameras.”

The officer gave a short nod.

“We’ve already secured the footage.”

For the first time since Linda walked into my room, I closed my eyes.

The wedding program was still lying beside my hand.

Only now, a drop of blood had stained one corner of the gold lettering as another team rushed me toward the operating room.

Back Into Surgery

The next thing I remember was the ceiling lights.

They moved above me one after another as nurses rushed my bed down the hallway.

Everything looked blurry.

Someone kept telling me not to close my eyes.

“Rachel, stay with me.”

A hand squeezed mine.

Another nurse was cutting away the edge of the blood-soaked dressing.

I heard someone call out numbers.

“Blood pressure is dropping.”

“Page Dr. Patel again.”

“OR Two is ready.”

I turned my head just enough to see Linda standing outside my room.