The Flower That Grew from Ashes novel Chapter 1

"Dr. Lehman, the ultrasound results are in. Fetal development is normal, and it's implanted perfectly in the uterine cavity. It's not an ectopic pregnancy."

A nurse's voice carried an undeniable hesitation, trailing upward at the end as if waiting for confirmation.

The operating room fell dead silent for two seconds.

Annelise Sargent lay on the operating table, her consciousness supposedly buried deep in the dark void of anesthesia, but at some unknown point, she had woken up.

She wasn't fully awake. Her eyelids refused to open, her fingers wouldn't twitch, her tongue felt nailed to the roof of her mouth, and even her breathing was entirely out of her control.

But she could hear. Every word, every single syllable, poured into her ears with crystal clarity.

She heard the faint electrical hum of the surgical lights above her, the rhythmic beep, beep, beep of the heart monitor, and the sharp clink of metal instruments on a tray.

And she heard the nurse's words.

*Not an ectopic pregnancy.*

It felt as though someone had violently slammed the pause button on Annelise's brain.

Three days ago, Hackett Lehman had sat on the edge of her bed holding her medical report. He had taken her hand, his tone overflowing with gentle heartbreak as he said, "Annelise, it's an ectopic pregnancy. We have to operate immediately, or your life will be in danger."

She had cried then. Married for four years, desperately trying for a baby for four years, and she had finally gotten pregnant, only for it to be ectopic.

Weeping, she had asked him, "Is there really no way to save it?"

Hackett had pulled her into his arms, resting his chin on the top of her head. His voice had been so deep, so reassuring. "I want this baby more than anyone, but I absolutely will not gamble with your life."

She had believed him.

How could she not? This was her husband, the man she had loved fiercely for six years and been married to for four. He was the youngest Deputy Chief of Surgery in the city, the brilliant "Dr. Lehman" everyone spoke of with reverence. With him personally performing the surgery, she had even felt a twisted sense of comfort.

But now, the nurse was saying that it wasn't an ectopic pregnancy.

Annelise told herself she had to be dreaming. It was a hallucination caused by the anesthesia.

Yes, it had to be a hallucination.

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