While I was on my way home, I decided to stop by the supermarket. We were already running low on supplies at home. I pulled over to the side of the road to call Wilson, but he didn’t answer, so I just sent him a text instead.

“What viand do you want? I’m stopping by the market today,” I texted him, then waited for his reply.

A few moments later, he responded.
“I can’t think of anything. It’s up to you.”
“Okay, Wilson. Take care on your way home later.”

I was about to delete the last thing I typed, but I accidentally sent it.
“You too, take care. I still have a lot to do,” he replied.

I didn’t respond anymore and just put my phone back in my bag.

When I arrived at the supermarket, I parked and did the grocery shopping. After that, I went to the wet market to buy chicken and meat for our stock. Wilson doesn’t eat any kind of fish, so I didn’t buy any.

Then I suddenly craved boiled corn, so I crossed the street where a vendor was selling some. While I was choosing, I noticed a pregnant woman walking who looked like she was having a hard time. One hand was supporting the underside of her belly while the other held her waist.

“Please wait a moment,” I told the corn vendor as I approached the pregnant woman. She was drenched in sweat.

“M-Ma’am? Are you about to give birth?” I asked.

She nodded. “Please help me. I think I’m about to give birth. It hurts so much. I can’t take it anymore.”

I suddenly trembled at what she said. “Okay, I’ll bring you to the hospital. I’m a doctor, but I’m not an OB doctor,” I explained.

She suddenly grabbed my arm. “I-I think the baby’s coming. The baby’s coming out!”

I shouted for help, but people only stared at us.

“Help! The baby’s coming out!”

Then fluid started running down her thighs.

“My car is far from here. Please help! She’s giving birth!”

“Araaaayyyyy!!!” she screamed.

A man finally stepped forward to help us carry her.

“Let’s bring her to my car so I can take her to the hospital,” I said.

He nodded while the pregnant woman kept groaning and screaming. We almost ran just to get her to my car, but—

“I’m really giving birth now! Just do it here! I can feel the baby!”

“What do we do, Miss? She says she’s giving birth now. The baby might come out any second!”

“Lay her down by the side. Here. There’s a cardboard box over there! Please get it, hurry!”

He carefully lowered her down and grabbed the cardboard where I laid her. I didn’t know anything about delivering a baby, but we had no choice. The man helped me position her, and I removed her underwear.

“Take deep breaths! I can see the baby’s head!”

She pushed hard and screamed loudly, and suddenly a very cute baby came out. The man quickly took off his shirt so we could wrap the baby.

“Thank you so much. Please carry her, and I’ll take care of the baby. Let’s bring them to my car.”

“Okay.”

As we headed to my car, many people stared and whispered. Once we placed the woman inside and handed her baby to her, I turned to the man who helped us.

“Thank you so much. Really, thank you.”

“Here’s your meat and chicken too,” he said.

“Thank you. There were so many people earlier, but no one wanted to help.”

“Good thing I passed by.”

“Very good thing. I’m Audrey, by the way,” I introduced myself, offering my hand. “You don’t even have a shirt anymore.”

“Joshua,” he said, shaking my hand. “It’s okay. The important thing is we wrapped the baby.”

“I hope we see each other again,” I said.

He smiled and nodded, so I got into my car and drove the mother and child to the hospital.

“Doc, thank you so much. And thank you to that man who helped us.”

“You’re welcome. By the way, is there anyone we can call? Your husband?”

“I don’t have a husband.”

“What?”

“My grandmother is gone too. She was the only person I had my whole life. I sold myself to pay for her treatment, but… she still passed away. And I didn’t expect… that I would get pregnant by that man. It only happened once.”

“So you’re alone now? Who will take care of you?”

“I don’t know.”

I couldn’t say anything else until we arrived at the hospital. The mother and baby were immediately attended to.

Then Wilson suddenly called.

“I thought you were going home? Why did I get home before you?” he asked.

“I went back to the hospital. I helped a pregnant woman earlier. I’ll be home soon.”

“Okay,” he simply replied and hung up.

I just sighed. Wilson had always been so cold. Sometimes I wondered if he still loved me—or if he was just forcing himself to stay with me.

Before leaving, I checked on the mother and baby in the ward. She was lying down, and the baby was sleeping peacefully beside her. They seemed stable. I spoke to the nurse on duty and told her I would handle their initial expenses. I couldn’t bear to leave them, especially after learning her story.

As I was about to leave, I realized I had left my wallet in the car when we rushed into the hospital earlier. I went back to the parking lot.

It was already dark there. I opened my car door and searched for my wallet on the driver’s seat. Finally, I found it under the seat.

I was about to close the door when something in the backseat caught my eye.

It was the pregnant woman’s bag. It must have fallen when Joshua carried her into the car.

I picked it up. It was old and faded. I decided to open it to see if there was an ID or any contact number so I could call the man who got her pregnant—even if she said it only happened once. Maybe he would change his mind if he knew he had a child.

I rummaged through the bag. There were a few coins, old receipts, and a small coin purse.

I opened the purse. There was no ID, but there was a folded piece of paper.

I unfolded it. It was a photograph.

A photograph of a man.

My world collapsed at what I saw. It felt like my heart stopped beating, like the air had been sucked out of my lungs.

The man in the photograph… the man she said got her pregnant…

Was none other than Wilson.

My husband.