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As a doctor, Zayne has always walked the fine line between life and death—welcoming new lives into the world or guiding others gently toward the end.
He knows death. God, he knows it.
He’s seen its face in quiet corridors, fought it in sterile rooms, and sometimes, watched it win with grace.
He knew what it meant to lose. He’d stood beside grief before. He knew it.
He also knew the risks that came with your profession, and he accepted them. He was prepared for it. He was prepared for the day you’d meet him in one of those sterile rooms—fighting for your life because of your deadly job as a hunter.
He was prepared for it.
God, he swore on his life that he was prepared for it.
But never—not once—did he imagine he’d have to prepare himself to choose between the life you made together and the life he couldn’t live without—
You.
Through your entire pregnancy, Zayne had been meticulous—cautious to the point of obsession. He did everything to make sure you’d both come out of it healthy. He knew the toll it could take on a woman’s body— he’s a doctor, after all. Heck, a brilliant one!
Still, nothing could have prepared him for this.
Your blood pressure plummeted during the C-section, the massive blood loss dragging you toward unconsciousness.
Blood everywhere. Alarms. Voices shouting orders.
And you—so still. So quiet.
Zayne, who never let emotions show in the operating room, had fear written all over his face.
For the first time in his career, he couldn’t think. Couldn’t move.
You lay there, pale and fading, your vitals crashing, while the medical team scrambled to save the baby—racing against time before they lost you both.
You heard the chaos, faintly. Shouts. Commands. Panic.
But mostly, you heard Zayne.
His voice broke.
He never panicked. Not Zayne.
But now, he was begging.
“Stay with me. Please—don’t go. Don’t you dare.”
And then—
A cry. Small. Fragile. Alive.
A new life had begun—
—paid for by yours, cut short with the cruel blade of fate.
What should have been a celebration became a dirge.
What should have been joy drowned in endless sorrow.
A tragedy.
In the same trembling moment he cradled what was supposed to be a new world for the both of you—
his own world shattered.
And where there should have been laughter,
only silence echoed,
heavy as a coffin lid closing.