The Deadly Scalpel

Chapter One

My husband, Tom, he’s a stay-at-home.

My parents only had me, so it was kind of a deal we made.

After ten years of trying, I finally got pregnant at thirty.

Dad was so stoked he drove me to the clinic in his Cadillac.

He had a meeting, so he took off early, leaving me to go in alone.

I barely got through the front door when I heard this commotion, the kind that makes the whole building rumble.

This young woman, looked like a doctor, and a bunch of nurses were carrying signs and a funeral wreath, yelling about some home-wrecking skank.

She looked fresh out of med school, maybe just started her residency.

“I hate to do this in the hospital,” she was saying, voice cracking.

“We’re doctors, we’re supposed to be saving lives, not getting our husbands stolen by some tramp!”

“But this is too much, this girl’s sleeping with the chief of staff and shows up here for a check-up like she owns the place!”

“A little hussy like that, I’m gonna teach her a lesson she won’t forget!”

A bunch of people around chimed in, egging her on. “Yeah, trash like that doesn’t deserve to walk free!”

Curiosity got the better of me, so I edged closer.

That’s when I saw the black and white photo on the wreath, and I froze. The banner even had my name on it – Sarah Miller.

That was me! Could Tom be cheating on me?

I stared at the woman’s twisted face, a knot forming in my stomach. Never been so humiliated in my life.

I texted Tom, fingers shaking: “Are you messing around with someone else? I’m at the clinic and someone is saying that I’m the other woman!”

“You better have a damn good explanation, or we are done!”

Before I could even catch my breath, they were on me, claws out.

“You’re the one!” one of them screamed, “You no-good, husband stealing home wrecker!”

She yanked my hair and slapped me hard. Instinctively, I shielded my belly.

That only made her madder. She grabbed my head and started banging it on the floor. “Bet you think you’re so smart, knock off little ho!”

My face was burning, and I tried to pull away. “I’m not…”

Blood started trickling down my forehead. Nobody stepped in to help, just stood around gawking.

The stares made me want to crawl under a rock.

It was the most humiliating thing that had ever happened to me, and the anger started boiling.

I saw the woman’s name tag: Ashley Carter, intern. Great, a wannabe doctor was doing this.

I couldn’t help myself. “What makes you think I’m the other woman?” I yelled.

She shoved a photo in my face, one of my dad opening the car door for me. “Take a good look!”

Her crazy rant made me snap. I wrenched myself free. “That’s my dad! The chief of staff is my mom!”

Ashley just laughed. “Never heard of him having a daughter like you. Daddy’s got money, doesn’t he? Must be how you got your claws in him.”

Right then, she chucked her phone at my face. It hit me hard, and her eyes lit up like Christmas.

She grabbed the phone and started smashing it against my teeth. Blood spurted out, and one of my teeth broke off.

My phone tumbled out of my purse, showing my Dad as the screensaver.

Her face went red when she saw the photo. “Still lying! You even got him as your screensaver, I bet that iPhone is the newest model too and you didn’t pay for it!”

She slammed it on the ground. “A piece of trash like you doesn’t deserve it. And I’m keeping this for evidence, I bet it’s full of things you don’t want the cops to see!”

She was making such a racket that everyone in the clinic stopped to watch.

Maybe afraid things would get out of hand, she grabbed my arm and dragged me across the floor. “I’m just gonna take her somewhere private for a little talk, don’t worry folks!”

Someone spoke up. “Hey, you’re gonna be a doctor soon. You can’t go around hurting pregnant women!”

Ashley glared at them. “Oh, what, you got a thing for this slut too? She’s got the face for it, doesn’t she? I bet you’re another one of those guys who keep a mistress on the side! Get out of my way!”

The person just shook their head and backed off.

All I could do was scream “Help me! Help me!” but nobody dared to get involved.

She and her posse dragged me into a room and started a live stream. “Hey everyone, it’s Ashley Carter, your friendly neighborhood doctor!”

“I just caught the chief of staff’s mistress!”

“If you want to see me kick some tail, hit that like button and send some gifts!”

I tried to say something, but the blood in my mouth choked me, making me cough all over the place.

“See!” she said, all excited. “Look at her! She isn’t even hurt and is faking it already!”

I glared at her, rage building inside me. “Shut your mouth! I told you, the chief of staff is my mom! Her husband is my dad!”

She stuck the phone in my face again, not caring. “Everyone take a good look at this face! She’s a home wrecker, make sure to spit on her in the street!”

Furious that she was streaming this, I swatted the phone out of her hand. “No wonder you are just an intern! Someone like you doesn’t deserve to be a doctor, not even an assistant…”

Before I could finish, she grabbed a urine basin and dumped it on my face, then pried open my mouth and started pouring it down my throat.

The taste of pee nearly made me gag. She looked like a demon, pure evil.

“That will shut you up! All you sluts are good for is drinking pee!”

Then she shoved me onto the floor.

Her friends took off their scrubs. Turns out, they weren’t even real nurses.

They were all in on it!

I screamed towards the door and into the live stream. “Please, someone find my mom! She’s the chief of staff! I swear I’m not the other woman!”

“The nurse is a fake, they want to hurt me!”

My pleas only made them angrier, and they all closed in on me.

Someone started banging on the door, trying to stop them.

Ashley turned and yelled, “My mentor is the chief of staff, so stay out of it! I think I know what her daughter looks like!”

Mentor? I remembered my mom mentioning an intern named Ashley Carter.

But this girl was nothing like the Ashley my mom described. My mom always said she was a sweetheart.

I knew something was wrong.

Everyone who heard her stopped trying to help, just shook their heads. “Maybe she is the other woman, who knows,” someone mumbled. “Not my problem.”

My last hope vanished.

Hearing the doubt in their voices gave Ashley confidence.

She pulled out a scalpel, doused it in alcohol, and said with a creepy smile, “Back in the old days, women like you would be drowned in the lake, you gotta mark them!”

“Today, I will bring justice and give you what you deserve!”

A real doctor, even an intern, would know about sterilization and anesthesia, otherwise something bad could happen.

My doubt grew with each passing second.

I swallowed hard. “Aren’t you going to give me anesthesia?”

She laughed. “What anesthesia? I’m just writing on you!”

She sliced through my clothes, and I screamed as she carved something into my skin.

I thrashed around, trying to get away.

She slapped me hard. “Don’t move! This is nothing, compared to what you deserve.”

Blood trickled out of the cuts, spelling out the word “SLUT”.

“See how you like that, what are you gonna tell people, and I’m not done yet.”

I struggled, but I was no match for all of them.

She climbed on top of me, straddling my stomach, and carved the word “WHORE” into my forehead.

I squeezed my eyes shut, unable to scream, unable to say anything.

I couldn’t believe that just having my dad drop me off could lead to this.

Seeing me silent, she assumed I felt guilty. “You’re done!”

In the harsh light, she looked like a righteous judge, ready to punish me.

As I saw her reach for my stomach, I screamed, “I’m not the other woman! You said you were my mom’s intern! She’s the chief of staff! And her husband is my dad! Please don’t do this!”

She roared with laughter, sounding like something from hell. “Who would believe a lying tramp like you? You’re just trying to get ahead because you’re pregnant!”

“Well I’m not letting you win!”

“You damn tramp!”

She waved her hand. “You know what? We should all be part of bringing justice today!”

“If we hurt her, we are set for life, right?”

“Come on, let’s all jump on her, sluts need to suffer!”

I crawled towards the door, almost made it, when someone grabbed my ankle and dragged me back. I screamed as loud as I could. “Murder…”

Ashley slapped me and shoved her dirty sock in my mouth. “Shut up!”

They were all around me.

One by one, they took turns jumping on me.

The pain was so intense that my fingers dug into the floor, ripping my nails, blood running everywhere.

I wanted to scream that I wasn’t the other woman, but no sound came out.

I was mute, helpless as they tormented me.

This was the child I had wanted for so long! How could they do this to me?

Unable to scream, I struggled to raise my head, begging them to stop.

I would give up everything, even my pride, if they would just save my baby.

But they mistook my desperation for guilt.

She had everyone come at once and jump on my stomach.

Blood pooled beneath me, a river of blood.

Her twisted look made me even more suspicious of her. A real doctor wouldn’t do this.

I would figure out the pieces later.

Right now, I needed to save my baby!

Maybe they were tired, or maybe it was the sight of blood, but they stopped.

I thought she was going to let me go, but then she saw the gold chain around my neck. She stood up again. “What’s this, huh? Looks like a lot of money? Your clothes are Chanel, your shoes are LV, your watch is Patek, you must have scammed her for a lot!”

She was getting angrier and redder in the face, then reached out and ripped my dress apart. “Not only do you sleep with the chief of staff’s husband, but you have her money too! You don’t deserve any of this!”

After her attack, I was down to my underwear.

Hair a mess, covered in blood, I looked like I had crawled from a grave.

“Bet you have white skin, huh? It’s how you got them in the first place, right?”

“Think that having a baby means that you will win? Don’t get your hopes up! Let me tell you something, if I don’t ruin your image today, my name isn’t Carter!”

“I knew a skank like you had something to hide!”

Though I had no idea if the baby was still alive, as long as there was hope, I would fight.

Forgetting about my exposed body, I wrapped my arms around my belly, as they hit me.

“That’s for being the other woman!”

As I lay there hopeless, my phone rang. It was Tom.

I forced myself to make a sound, hoping he would hear something wrong.

She answered the phone. “Honey, what did you mean by those messages? I didn’t cheat on you!”

Ashley immediately hung up, walked over, and patted my cheek. “So pathetic, you are really the other woman? Husband? Is he another guy you are sleeping with!”

“One wasn’t enough, so you got two!”

“You dirty thing, I bet you are a slut even in ancient times!”

Again, I was in a pool of blood, desperate and weak.

She opened the door and threw me out. “Oh gosh, so much blood! This tramp knew what she did and is trying to abort the baby! Look at all the blood!”