My Husband Was Brain Dead, Yet I Didn’t Save Him

The car accident unfolded in a blur; my husband lunged forward, shielding me, only to be struck and tossed aside by a roaring truck.

He was rushed straight into the operating room. I, however, remained seated, calmly scrolling through a game on my phone as though the world hadn’t just shattered.

Moments later, Odette Hewitt, my husband’s attending physician, burst through the doors in a frenzy, her face a mask of desperation.

“Dr. Scott, your husband is brain dead! Only you can handle this; please, come with me!”

Her words cut through the silence like glass shattering, her pleading gaze fixed on me.

After all, I was the only doctor in the entire province who had successfully treated a braindead patient.

Without glancing up from my game, I replied in a calm, detached tone, “Since the patient is my husband, hospital regulations forbid me from performing the surgery.”

My motherinlaw collapsed to her knees before me, her forehead striking the cold ground over and over as she pleaded desperately.

“Verena, please save Matias! He ended up like this because he was trying to save you!”

I dodged her trembling hands, lifting my swollen right wrist for her to see, a faint, bitter smile curling on my lips.

“Unfortunately, I accidentally severed my wrist tendon today. I can’t hold a scalpel anymore.”

——

Blood slid down my wrist in thin, gleaming streams, its vivid red stark against my pale skin.

Matias Campbell’s parents’ expressions shifted in an instant.

My motherinlaw, Milana Campbell, turned deathly pale, her trembling voice laced with suspicion.

“Verena, how could a doctor like you accidentally sever your wrist tendon? Are you trying to trick us with a fake wound and fake blood because you’re afraid of losing your job?”

Her sharp gaze bored into me, her doubt cutting like a blade. It wasn’t hard to see why, after all, hospital regulations strictly forbade doctors from operating on close family and earning a position at the provincial hospital had taken me years of grueling effort.

Under her piercing stare, I calmly extended my injured wrist, letting the truth speak for itself.

A deep, bonedeep gash marred my wrist, raw, real, and impossible to fake.

Milana’s gaze sharpened as she leaned closer, but the moment the truth registered, her eyes welled with tears. In a breath, she crumbled.

“You… you really can’t perform surgery now.” Her voice cracked, giving way to gutwrenching sobs. “What’s going to happen to my son? My poor son! Is he just supposed to wait here and die?”

Her wails filled the corridor as she pounded the ground with trembling fists, a portrait of a mother’s grief that moved the onlookers to silent pity.

But I simply smiled faintly, my voice calm, unnervingly steady.

“Then this must be Matias’ fate. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

I lowered my head again, my attention fixed on the glowing screen in my hands.

The battle raged on, and my hero crouched in the shadows of the bushes, waiting to ambush an unwitting enemy. One strike was all it would take to land the fatal blow. But luck wasn’t on my side. My teammates were floundering, and in the few minutes I had been distracted, the game had tilted heavily against us.

A frown tugged at my lips as I refocused, eyes narrowing, fingers dancing across the screen with silent precision.

The indifference in my posture must have been unbearable because Alastor Campbell’s face turned ashen. A man once known for his quiet kindness now stood a portrait of defeat.

Then, with a dull thud that broke the stillness, he fell to his knees before me, his pride crumbling at my feet.

The middleaged man bowed his back, a back that had never bent for anyone in his life. His voice quivered, raw and trembling with desperation, his reddened eyes locked on me.

"Verena, I’m begging you. Please… save Matias!"

"He’s your husband. You can’t just stand there and watch him die!"

His voice cracked, breaking through the murmurs of the onlookers. "Even if your hand is injured, even if you can’t hold a scalpel, at least… at least guide them! Tell them what medications to use!"

The weight of his plea hung in the air, heavy as stone. Around us, the crowd grew restless, their sympathy impossible to contain. Several young women wiped at their tearstreaked faces, unable to bear the scene unfolding before them.

Odette frowned, her gaze piercing and filled with disapproval. Her voice cut through the tense air, each word a blade aimed at me.

"Verena, you’re the only doctor here with experience treating braindead patients. Is your career really worth more than saving your husband’s life?"

"Especially when he ended up like this trying to save you!"

Her tone grew sharper, laced with both judgment and disbelief. "Saving lives is a doctor’s duty, your duty. And this isn’t just any patient. This is your husband!"

"Brain death has a 99% fatality rate. Are you really willing to let Matias die just to protect your job?"

The weight of her words crashed over the room like a tidal wave. Milana and Alastor turned ghostly pale, their faces drained of all color. Without hesitation, they dropped to their knees, their trembling hands reaching toward me as they pleaded, their voices broken with desperation.

I kept my gaze fixed on the screen, ignoring the chaos around me.

“Defeat!”

The game’s failure notification blared from my phone, loud and mocking. I stared at the screen as the crystal shattered into pieces, then flung the phone aside in frustration.

“This is all your fault! You just couldn’t shut up, could you?!”

“That was my promotion match, and you ruined it! Buzzing around like flies, so damn annoying!”

Alastor knelt at my feet, trembling. His onceproud face was now creased with desperation as he looked up, his voice weak and pleading.

“Verena, please… As long as you save Matias, we’ll give you anything—anything you want…”

Around us, the crowd began to stir, their whispers swelling like ripples in still water. Realization dawned on their faces, their expressions shifting—some with pity, others with suspicion.

A few elderly women exchanged disapproving glances, their faces pinched with judgment as they looked me up and down.

Before I could speak, the door to the hospital room burst open.

A young nurse came rushing out, her face drained of color, panic etched in every line of her expression.

“Dr. Hewitt, Dr. Hewitt, his blood pressure just dropped! He might not survive!”

Her voice wavered with a sharp edge of panic.

Odette turned to the nurse, her eyes flashing with irritation before she shifted her dark, penetrating gaze back to me.

“Verena,” she began, her tone hard, “I’ll ask you one last time: are you sure you won’t go in to see him?”

I held her gaze, silent.

The wound on my wrist pulled painfully, fresh blood trickling out, vivid and red.

Under the weight of Odette’s stormy gaze, I slowly nodded, the action deliberate yet filled with resolve.

Seeing this, Alastor grabbed my arm in a desperate, frantic motion. Before he could utter a word, Milana’s wail cut through the air, raw with emotion.

"How can you be so heartless?"

Her voice cracked, trembling with grief.

"Matias dated you for seven years, never once caring that your family was poor!"

"He’s handsome, welleducated, with countless women vying for his attention, yet he chose you, he insisted on marrying you!"

"From the moment you two began dating, wasn’t everything you ate, everything you wore, bought by my son?"

"When you married, you brought nothing, a poor family, no dowry, but we never looked down on you."

"Even your tuition for your master's and doctoral studies came from Matias’s pocket! Now his life hangs by a thread, and you..."

Milana’s words sliced through the air, each one heavier than the last, dripping with sorrow and fury.

By the end, she could no longer hold back, her sobs spilling over in a torrent of despair.

The crowd could no longer hold their tongues. One by one, voices rose in condemnation, their words sharp with disapproval.

"Young lady, is your job really more important than this? You can always find another job, but if your husband dies, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life!"

"Exactly! He treated you like gold, loved you with every ounce of his heart, and now you’re just going to turn your back on him? How can you forget where you came from?"

"Saving lives should always come first, especially since he got hurt trying to save you. What’s there to hesitate about? I just don’t understand!"

"How could she be so coldhearted?"

The whispers around me grew louder, a wave of judgment crashing over me.

I sat motionless on the bench, my lips pressed tight, unyielding like a stubborn rock.

When I didn’t respond, Alastor, on the brink of collapse, clung to my pant leg, his grip desperate as he begged.

"Verena, how about this?"

"You go in and save him, and as a token of our gratitude, we’ll transfer the house and the car to your name..."

At the mention of the offer, I finally raised my gaze.

Noticing my expression soften, Alastor’s face lit up with relief, his chest heaving as he pounded it in victory.

"Verena, don’t worry, I swear on it!"

"As long as you save Matias, the house, the car, even all our savings, they’re yours!"

A ripple of astonishment spread through the crowd.

Everyone was moved by the depth of Alastor’s fatherly devotion.

I looked down at him, my thoughts calculating quietly behind my gaze.

The combined worth of his house, car, and savings easily ran into the millions.

Selling my career for that wasn’t the worst trade.

But, I raised my eyes again, my voice softening with a touch of reluctance.

"Alright, I’ll save him. But..."

Alastor’s face brightened instantly, his eyes locked on mine with an eager hope.

I drew out my words, speaking deliberately, as if each syllable weighed on me.

"But you’ll need to sign a contract with me first. Without that, what if you decide to go back on your promise?"

At this, Alastor’s smile faltered, disbelief flashing in his eyes.

Milana couldn’t hold herself back any longer; her voice quivered with raw emotion as she cried out.

"Matias is in critical condition! How can we waste time on a contract?"

"My poor son! How could he end up marrying someone so ungrateful?"

I gave a helpless shrug, my tone unwavering.

"No contract, no surgery."

The crowd murmured again, their voices thick with condemnation.

Some of the more fiery onlookers looked as though they were about to lash out in their frustration.

Just then, another nurse burst through the door, her uniform streaked with blood.

Her voice shook, a mix of shock and urgency in her words.

"The patient just lost consciousness. Before he did, he asked me to deliver a message."

"He told me to stop pressuring Verena. He knows how hard she worked to get this job."

The mention of Matias losing consciousness sent Milana collapsing to the floor, her grief too heavy to bear.

Her face was ashen, her body trembling so violently that words seemed impossible to form.

Tears streamed down Alastor’s face, his pain evident as he dropped to his knees, his head bowing to the ground with such force it seemed he might choke on the weight of his own grief.

Between clenched teeth, he rasped, his words barely escaping.

"His life is on the line. I’ll keep every promise. Just... please..."

I glanced at the elderly couple, their faces etched with worry and exhaustion, and for a brief moment, doubt clouded my mind.

My parents had passed when I was young, and the concept of familial love had always felt distant.

But when I met Matias, things were different. He had introduced me to his parents early on, and their warmth had been something I’d never known.

The Campbells, so kind, so genuine, had never once made me feel inferior because of my background. They had taken me in as one of their own, showing me a care that left an impression I could never forget.

The year I was preparing for my postgraduate exams, Matias, always feeling sorry for me, would often bring over homecooked meals made by his parents.

Each meal was a feast in itself, four dishes and a soup, perfectly balanced with both meat and vegetables. Milana even took the time to learn how to cook the dishes I loved, always going the extra mile to make me feel at home.

They were warm, kindhearted people, offering me a love and care that felt like a balm to my soul.

When Matias and I married, I had nothing to my name, no job, no car, no house, and even my tuition fees were covered by the Campbell family.

At the wedding banquet, a few of Matias’s relatives couldn't hide their judgment. Some distant cousins exchanged sharp words and whispered behind my back, looking down on me for what I didn’t have.

Matias’s parents didn’t hold back in the slightest. In front of everyone, they made their stance crystal clear.

"Verena is a good girl, the daughterinlaw we’ve chosen for our family."

"Anyone who dares speak ill of her will never cross the threshold of our house again."

At that time, I was young, uncertain, and overly sensitive. Hearing their words struck a deep chord within me.

At that moment, I made a silent vow to always honor Matias and his parents for the rest of my life.

They had given me something I’d never known before: a complete family and a taste of the kind of love I had longed for.

And now, Alastor and Milana knelt before me, their faces worn with age and desperation. Their eyes pleaded with me, silently begging.

I lowered my gaze, unable to look them in the eye any longer.

The wound on my wrist pulsed painfully, each throb making it hard to catch my breath.

As the elderly couple continued pleading on their knees, Odette rushed to their side, her movements swift and urgent.

"Verena, what are you doing? Not only are you refusing to save your husband, but now you’re trying to take away this elderly couple’s assets?"

"For the sake of money and your job, you’ve completely abandoned your conscience? How disgusting."

With a sharp glance in my direction, she raised her voice, brimming with selfrighteousness.

"Don’t waste your breath begging her. I, Odette, will risk my career and reputation to save the patient. Not just because it's my duty as a doctor, but because I still have a conscience!"

Her impassioned words rang through the crowd, sparking applause.

People praised her, lauding her as a model doctor, and at that moment, I felt small and selfish in comparison.

A faint smile curved my lips as I ignored the sharp sting on my wrist and joined in with the applause.

"Then I wish you the best of luck."

Odette shot me a venomous glare, her eyes burning with hate before she turned and walked toward the operating room.

It wasn’t until her figure vanished behind the closed door that I slowly reached for my trembling wrist. Cold sweat beaded on my forehead, and the pain in my body was now more than just physical.

Alastor and Milana, too preoccupied with their worry for Matias, helped each other to their feet and hurried off, determined to gather money for his treatment.

The crowd began to thin, the chatter dying down as people trickled away.

My vision blurred, and my consciousness began to slip away like sand through fingers…

When I finally opened my eyes again, I found myself lying in a hospital bed.

Maevie Yesron, my close colleague, was sitting beside me, her face etched with concern.

"Dr. Scott, you’re finally awake!"

"You’ve been asleep for a whole day and night; you scared us to death."

Still groggy, I propped myself up, surprised at how much time had passed.

Clearing my throat, I spoke, my voice hoarse and weak. "Matias... How is he?"

Maevie hesitated for a moment before responding cautiously.

"Dr. Hewitt spent ten hours fighting to save him. He made it through and is out of danger now."

A weight settled in my chest, and I wasn’t sure whether to feel relief or disappointment.

I threw the covers aside and rushed out of the ward, my heart pounding in my chest.

Behind me, Nurse Maevie’s anxious voice echoed down the hallway.

"Hey, Verena, where are you going?"

"So much happened yesterday! The internet is full of people calling you ungrateful and coldhearted for not saving your husband!"

"Don’t, don’t go looking for Matias, they’re—"

I ignored her words; my focus locked on the path ahead as I made my way to Matias’s hospital room.

When I pushed the door open, the scene that greeted me was unexpected; the room was filled with people.

Matias sat propped up in bed, his face pale, yet his smile was soft and reassuring.

Alastor and Milana stood at his side, their faces alight with pride as they handed a banner of gratitude to Odette.

The hospital director patted Odette’s shoulder with warm approval, a look of pride spreading across his face.

"Dr. Hewitt showed exceptional courage under pressure and saved a patient on the brink of brain death. When your department head retires, you’ll be the perfect fit to take over."

The door creaked open, drawing everyone’s attention toward me, and I froze midstep as all eyes turned in my direction.

Matias was the first to notice me. His smile faltered, freezing awkwardly on his face.

"You're awake. Look, Mom even brought our daughter over."

The baby, barely a year old, wailed uncontrollably, her cries filling the room.

I ignored his words, striding in with a steady, deliberate pace.

The director’s frown deepened as his impatience seeped into his tone.

"Verena, with all the negative publicity surrounding you lately, maybe you should take some time off. It’s better not to be here for now."

I glanced briefly at the camera in the middle of the room, broadcasting the entire scene to the world. A faint smile tugged at my lips.

"Negative publicity?"

"Are you referring to the accusations that I’m ungrateful and heartless for not saving my husband? Or the claims that I’m in this for fame and fortune?"

The livestream had originally captured the Campbell family presenting their banner of thanks to Odette. But with my arrival, the viewership had spiked.

The screen flooded with furious comments, each one sharper than the last.

"Isn’t this the patient’s wife? I heard she’s a doctor, yet she refused to save her own husband!"

"I saw the video! Her husband was fighting for his life, and she was just sitting outside, playing games!"

"And it’s because of her that he got into that accident in the first place. How could she be so indifferent? It's disgusting!"

"How could scum like this even deserve to live? She should just die already!"

"What kind of family raises such an ungrateful brat? Her parents should die, too!"

At the sound of my question, Matias’s eyes turned red, and his tears flowed freely. His voice was cold but tinged with bitterness.

"Verena, I understand why you didn’t save me at the time," he began, his words heavy with resentment.

"But after all, I got hurt trying to save you. And now, you haven’t shown a hint of concern for me; you’re more worried about your job, aren’t you?"

His voice cracked, and the words came tumbling out in a rushed torrent.

"Have you ever thought about our daughter? She’s still so young... How could you bear to let her grow up without a father?"

I raised an eyebrow, unable to hide the cold amusement that surfaced.

"Our daughter?" I echoed, my voice a sharp question hanging in the air.

His face turned ashen, though he seemed ready for what was coming. With a slow, deliberate motion, he pulled out a paternity test.

The white paper was stamped with a bright red seal, official, unmistakable.

"I know you’ve never been fond of our child," he began, his voice tinged with bitterness.

"But you can't deny her parentage!"

"Look, it’s all right here in black and white. If she’s not your daughter, then who is she?"

"Don’t you even care about me or about our child?"

The comments on the livestream exploded, scrolling so quickly they blurred together.

I glanced at the view count, a small smile curling on my lips as satisfaction washed over me.

"Care? Of course, I care," I replied, my tone cool and detached.

"Not just about the child; I also have something special for you."