I Woke Up From A Six-Month Coma, And My Husband The Orthopedic Surgeon Never Visited Me Once
I Woke Up From A Six-Month Coma, And My Husband The Orthopedic Surgeon Never Visited Me Once
I deleted his contact from my phone on the way to the airport.
Left the class group chat. The one where my former classmates celebrated my accident as “relief for Michael.” Where they whispered about me coming back to torment him again.
I went to a small town in the south, where my cousin lived with her daughter Emma.
“Did you fight?” my cousin asked, eyeing my suitcase.
“We ended things.”
“But you loved him so much.”
I gave a bitter smile. “Love is a two-way street. When it’s just one person giving, it’s nothing more than self-deception. And it might even put pressure on the other person.”
She hugged me. “You finally understand, you silly girl.”
Six months passed.
I opened a pharmacy. My cousin and I took turns running the store. Life was slow. Peaceful. The knots in my heart loosened with each sunrise over the small town streets.
I stopped checking my phone for his messages.
Stopped dreaming about him.
Stopped hoping.
Then Maria called.
My only friend from university. She was getting married in Beishi.
“You have to come. You know I don’t have many friends. If you don’t come, I’ll feel really regretful.”
“Alright. Send me the hotel address.”
The wedding banquet hall was full of people from the Third Hospital.
I hadn’t realized so many of my former classmates had ended up there. Or that the groom was a doctor at the same hospital.
I took a glass of red wine, swirled it, took a small sip.
“Everyone’s here. I didn’t realize before how influential I am. Even the big shots from the hospital are here.”
“Look, even the usually busy Michael made it.”
The wine turned bitter in my mouth.
I looked up. Across the room, our eyes met.
Michael stood there in a black suit, holding a gift envelope. Beside him, looking pale and nervous, was Emily.
Emily was back.
I had prepared myself for this moment. But the sight of them together still made my chest tighten.
Only for a moment.
Then I looked away, focused on the wisteria flowers hanging outside the window, and let the wind carry away whatever was left of my heart.
Everyone had always said they were a match made in heaven. Maybe now, finally, they would have their happy ending.
I ate in silence. I didn’t join the conversations. I didn’t look in their direction.
After the ceremony, as people began to leave, I heard footsteps approaching.
“A year has passed,” Michael said, standing beside me with a glass of wine. “If it weren’t for Maria’s wedding, you weren’t planning to come back?”
I hadn’t expected him to come over.
We locked eyes.
“Come back?” I said. “I don’t have a home here.”
“No home?”
I noticed Emily looking over, worry evident in her eyes.
“Sorry,” I said, picking up a dessert. “We don’t seem to have anything to talk about.”
I left the dessert table and went to say goodbye to Maria.
The parking lot was cold.
I hailed a cab to the airport.
“Isabella!”
My arm was grabbed. Hard. I spun around.
Michael stood there, breathing heavily. Emily was twenty feet away, her face pale.
“Don’t go.”
“What are you doing? I need to catch my flight.”
“Are you getting in or not?” the taxi driver called out impatiently.
Michael spoke to the driver. “Sorry, we’re not going.”
“Not going? Then why call a cab and waste my time?”
The driver cursed and drove away.
I stared at Michael. “What do you mean by this?”
He tightened his grip on my arm. “What do I mean? We’re still legally married. Where are you planning to go alone?”
“I never signed those divorce papers.”
My expression tightened. “You’re hurting me.”
He loosened his grip.
He drove us to the seaside.
I rolled down the window, letting the salty air fill my lungs. The vast ocean stretched out in front of us, dark and endless.
“Why didn’t you sign?” I asked. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”
His hands clenched the steering wheel.
“What I wanted?”
“Just say what you need to say.”
He suddenly reached out and tightly grasped my hand.
“What I wanted,” he said quietly, “was you.”
We went back to the apartment that night.
The place that had been covered in dust the day I left was now spotless. Bright. His Volvo was parked outside in the morning—he had slept in his car.
I told him we would go to the Civil Affairs Bureau tomorrow. Monday. Divorce.
He said nothing.
Then his father called. Birthday dinner. His heart condition had relapsed twice.
“I don’t want to go,” I said.
“His heart has relapsed twice. He really wants you to visit.”
My phone buzzed. Then buzzed again. A message from my father.
“Isabella, please come back and have a meal. Dad asked Auntie to make all your favorite dishes. A few days ago I was diagnosed with pulmonary congestion. Adding up all my illnesses, I might not have many years left. I know I failed you and your mother, and you hate me, and you should. But Dad still cares about you. He just wants to see if Michael is treating you well.”
I turned off my phone and tossed it aside.
At the Wang family home, Michael’s stepmother was warm. His half-brother Marco showed me his goldfish.
But I noticed Michael’s expression when he looked at my father—a strange, almost hateful look I had never understood.
Until Daniel arrived.
Daniel was my childhood friend. He had once been like a brother to me. He had also been in love with me.
And he had done something unforgivable.
“What were you talking about?” I demanded, standing in the courtyard after overhearing them.
Daniel’s face went pale. Michael’s jaw tightened.
“What do you mean by ‘bring my father back to life’?” I stared at Michael. “What did Daniel do to your father? What did my father do?”
Daniel broke first.
“I’m sorry, Isabella. I liked you for a long time. When you fell for Michael, I was young and impulsive. I tried to humiliate him with money, told him to stay away from you. He refused. So I felt insulted. I found out his father worked in this city. I hired people to beat his father severely.”
I slapped him across the face.
“Bastard.”
“I’m sorry. If it makes you feel better, you can slap me as many times as you want.”
“Hitting you would only dirty my hands. You’re inhuman. Do you even realize that it wasn’t Michael who stayed away from me? I liked him. I approached him. You beat him and heartlessly attacked his father. Why didn’t you just kill me first?”
“Get out. I never want to see you again.”
But I wasn’t done.
“Who else was involved?” I demanded. “It was my father, wasn’t it? You two came up with this together—beat Michael’s father, hoping Michael would hate me.”
Silence.
The truth, when unveiled, was bloody.
Michael’s father had died of brain cancer, not the beating. But the beating happened. And my father—the man who claimed to love me—had orchestrated it with Daniel, hoping to chase Michael away so I would marry someone “suitable.”
Someone wealthy. Someone from a “good family.”
Someone I didn’t love.
I ran out of the house.
Drank until my mind went numb.
Michael found me at a bar, carried me home, held me while I sobbed.
“I’m sorry,” I kept saying. “I’m sorry on behalf of my father. Please don’t hate me. It would have been better if you had never met me. Then your father wouldn’t have died.”
He wiped my tears. “My father died of cancer. The beating was superficial. You have to believe me.”
“But your father still suffered because of my family.”
“From the beginning, you were innocent. You bore the greatest pain.”
The next morning, I woke up in our apartment.
Michael had made hangover soup. He smiled at me like I was the most precious thing in the world.
“We should stick to the agreement,” I said, picking up the divorce papers. “Go to the Civil Affairs Bureau on Monday. End our marriage.”
He lowered his head.
“So you’re going to leave me?”
“It’s not about leaving. I just can’t face you anymore. We’re the ones who wronged you. Emily is a better match for you. She’s back.”
He frowned. “Is this because you saw us together at the wedding? You misunderstood. Emily and I only met at the entrance. We didn’t interact beyond that. And did you ever think about why I ultimately chose to marry you? You probably think I did it to get back at your father. But what if I told you it was because I love you so much that even my conscience couldn’t stop me from being with you? Would you believe me?”
I pressed my lips together.
He continued. “I know I didn’t treat you right after we got married. I didn’t fulfill my responsibilities as a husband because I was constantly torn apart inside. I wanted to keep you close, but I also hated your father. Sometimes I felt like I was going to break.”
“When you had that car accident, I was out of town. When I heard about it, I was stunned. I rushed back. Seeing you lying in the operating room unconscious, I felt like my world was falling apart.”
“When I found out the accident happened because you ran a red light while mentally distressed—because my coldness made you doubt yourself—I felt even more guilty. I hated myself. I thought once you woke up, we should get a divorce. Being with me only brought you pain. So I didn’t dare give you any more hope.”
“But when you brought out those divorce papers and were about to push me away, I felt like my heart was bleeding. I realized then that no amount of hate could compare to the value of having you by my side. I couldn’t sign those papers. I can’t lose you.”
“After you left, I searched for you everywhere. Finally, I found you in that small town. You had opened a pharmacy. You were doing better every day. I had hurt you so much that I didn’t have the courage to appear in front of you and shatter your peace.”
“When I heard Maria was getting married, I was excited. I guessed you would come back. And when I saw you at the wedding, I panicked when you were leaving. I ran after you. This time, I couldn’t let you go.”
His grip on my hand tightened.
“Let me hold onto these papers for now,” he said, pulling the divorce documents from my hand. “I hope you’ll reconsider, Isabella. Just remember—I love you. I want to grow old with you.”
I left that day. Wandered the streets. Then my cousin called—Emma was missing.
I went back to the small town.
The divorce was put on hold.
Another six months passed.
Michael’s team won the grand prize at the Medical Olympics. The hospital rewarded them with an all-expenses-paid ten-day trip to Sanya. Family members could come.
“Will you come with me?” he texted.
I put down my phone. A customer walked in with a stomachache.
By the time I remembered his message, I had already made a decision.
The beach in Sanya was soft and white.
I adjusted my hat, took a few landscape photos with my phone.
“Hey beautiful, can I get your contact info?”
A man in a floral shirt appeared beside me. Before I could refuse, an arm wrapped around my waist.
“Sorry, she’s already taken.”
I spun around.
Michael stood there, smiling.
I huffed and turned my head away, trying to play it cool. “How did you know it was me? I never said I was coming.”
“I could tell by your silhouette. How could I not recognize the one I love?”
“Then why didn’t you come find me earlier? I didn’t know anyone here. I was so bored.”
He pulled my hat brim lower, kissed my lips, then pressed his forehead against mine.
“Earlier? You just got to the beach. I wanted to see you sooner, but you showed up two days late. I was already planning to leave.”
“Already planning to leave?”
“Yeah. I thought you weren’t coming, so I was about to fly to your city to visit you at the pharmacy.”
“Wouldn’t that be a bad trade? Ten days of vacation here, all expenses paid.”
“Without you, even the most fun place loses its charm.”
He lightly bit my earlobe.
EXTRA CHAPTER
Three months later, I handed the pharmacy over to my cousin. She hired someone to manage the store. I returned to the city and joined the pharmacy department at the Third Hospital.
Every day, I could go to and from work with Michael.
One night, his phone lit up.
He picked it up, replied, and put it down.
“Who’s messaging you so late?”
“Someone unimportant.”
In the middle of the night, I got up to go to the bathroom. With a small light on, I glanced at his phone and unlocked it. His phone had my face registered for recognition.
The chat window popped up.
Emily: “Michael, I’m so scared. Can you come and keep me company? Talk me through this?”
Michael: “I’m not obligated to.”
I smiled, put the phone down, and went back to bed.
The first Qingming Festival after we reconciled, we drove to sweep Michael’s father’s grave together.
On the way, Michael told me something I had never known.
“Back in college, that night you were dragging me to watch the stars on the field, my father came to the school to see me. You went to the bathroom, and he came over. He had already seen us together. Seeing that you were there, he didn’t want to disturb us. He brought me some clothes.”
“Oh,” I said, my face flushing. “That night I bit your arm. I hope he didn’t see that. It was frustrating. The news predicted a meteor shower, and I wanted him to watch it with me. But he was particularly cold to me during that time. I was angry, so I grabbed his hand as he tried to leave, bit him, and hid in the bathroom.”
Michael raised an eyebrow. “Do you think he didn’t see it?”
“That was his first impression of me. He must not have liked me very much.”
After a moment, Michael chuckled. “Do you know? After that, he increased my living expenses by 500 yuan a month.”
“Why?”
“He said you looked too skinny and told me to make sure you were eating well.”
“So Dad thought I was your girlfriend back then?”
“Hmm.”
“So you didn’t deny it? You considered me your girlfriend from the start, but you never acknowledged it in school. You’re so difficult.”
“And am I as difficult as you? Remember our first date? Someone wore high heels, got blisters, and still pretended to be fine in front of me to look ladylike.”
I huffed. “Bringing up old embarrassing stories?”
He handed me a card.
“What’s this?”
“This card has the 500 yuan Dad gave me each month for you. I opened an account and saved it all in here. Now it’s yours. Buy whatever you want.”
I was stunned. The thin card felt heavy in my hand. This was the acknowledgment from Michael’s father. The man who had been beaten because of my family.
“Did Dad ever know who beat him up?” I asked quietly.
“They warned him to keep his son away from you. What do you think?”
“Then Dad must have hated me and disapproved of our relationship.”
Michael shook his head. “In his life, he never did anything particularly notable. But his greatest trait was his sense of right and wrong. He would never blame a young girl who didn’t know anything.”
He slowed the car and pulled over. He took my hand—the one that had been injured by a scalpel during surgery.
“Especially not when that girl hurt her hand for his son and even gave up her beloved career. With such a wonderful girl, how could I ever let go?”
I was shocked. “How did you find out?”
“When that scalpel fell, it cut your index finger. Everyone thought it was just because you happened to be standing there. But I realized later—you had deliberately reached out to block the sharp scalpel from falling onto my head. I always thought it was an accident until a similar incident happened in the operating room, and I understood you had intentionally protected me from disaster.”
I looked down at the scar on my finger.
The scalpel had slipped due to Emily’s improper handling. Michael was adjusting the lifting device. I raised my hand without thinking and took the blade.
The cut went deep to the bone. After the stitches were removed, my hand trembled when holding a scalpel.
I had to give up my dream of becoming a surgeon.
But I didn’t regret it. If someone had to give up their dream that day, I would have chosen myself. Michael would always go further in medicine than I could.
“You gave up everything for me,” Michael said softly. “Your career. Your hand. Your peace of mind. And I repaid you with coldness and silence.”
“You were hurting too.”
“That’s not an excuse.”
“Maybe not. But we’re here now.”
I placed my hand on my belly and smiled.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
I teased him with a little mystery. “What do you think?”
Michael froze for a moment, then his eyes went wide. “Could it be… There’s a hospital up ahead. Let’s go check.”
After the examination, the doctor handed us the results with a smile.
“Congratulations. You’re pregnant.”