During my twin pregnancy, I collapsed from severe pain, but my husband refused to help, saying it was “not his problem.” A close friend drove me to the hospital just in time. My husband stormed in shortly after, furious and accusing me of trying to drain his money. When I stood up for myself, he grabbed me and lashed out. I screamed, and the reaction from the hospital staff changed everything in a way I never expected.
The pain came like a blunt knife twisting deep in my lower abdomen. It wasn’t like the fake Braxton Hicks contractions I’d read about in books. This was something insidious, wrong, and tasted of death.
I was 32 weeks pregnant with twins. Two girls.
I hunched over on the expensive Persian rug in the living room of my penthouse overlooking Elliott Bay. Cold sweat poured down, soaking my silk maternity dress.
“Mark…” I whispered, trying to reach for the Italian leather sofa where my husband sat.
Mark, 40, CEO of a burgeoning biotechnology company, was still glued to his iPad screen. He was checking the stock market. He had AirPods in his ears, but I knew he heard me. He always heard everything, he just chose to ignore it.
“Mark… please…” I groaned louder, the pain blurring my vision. “It hurts so much. Something’s wrong with the babies.”
Mark leisurely removed one of his earphones, turning to look at me with a weary expression, as if I were a noisy cat.
“What is it now, Elena?” he sighed, his voice icy cold, devoid of any warmth. “You’ve been complaining all week. The doctor said it’s just pregnancy stress. Don’t overreact.”
“No… this time it’s different…” I sobbed, feeling like my insides were being torn apart. “I think I need emergency room. Right now.”
Mark smirked. He took a sip of red wine.
“Call an Uber,” he said, then put his earphones back on. “That’s none of my business. I’m busy closing a $10 million deal. Don’t bother me with your weakness.”
I was speechless. Not because of the physical pain, but because of the inhuman cruelty of the man I called my husband. He didn’t care about me, and worse, he didn’t care about the two lives growing inside me – the children he boasted about in Forbes magazine as his “heirs.”
I tried to crawl toward the landline phone, but darkness enveloped me. I collapsed to the floor. The last thing I remember is the doorbell ringing and the panicked voice of Sarah – my best friend, who had promised to drop by and bring me some old baby supplies.
Chapter 2: A Race Against Death
When I woke up, the blinding white lights of the hospital dazzled me. The smell of disinfectant filled my nostrils. I was lying in a hospital bed, covered in tubes and wires.
“Elena! You’re awake!” Sarah clutched my hand, her eyes red.
“My baby… where’s my baby?” I asked, my voice hoarse.
“She’s still in your womb. The fetal heartbeat is stable, but weak,” Sarah said quickly. “The doctor said you have acute multiple organ failure. They’re trying to find the cause. If you had arrived 15 minutes later, all three of us would have…” Sarah choked up.
The hospital room door burst open violently, slamming against the wall with a loud bang.
Mark walked in.
He didn’t seem worried at all. He was wearing a custom-designed suit, his hair perfectly styled, but his face was flushed with anger.
“What are you doing?!” Mark roared, lunging towards the hospital bed. “Who did you call Sarah here to put on a show for? You want to humiliate me?”
“What are you saying?” Sarah stood up and blocked Mark’s path. “Your wife almost died! If I hadn’t arrived in time…”
“Get out of the way!” Mark pushed Sarah aside, causing her to stumble. He leaned closer to my face, his breath reeking of alcohol and contempt.
“I just got the insurance notice,” Mark hissed, waving the hospital bill in front of me. “Special emergency service? VIP intensive care unit? Do you think my money is worthless?”
“Mark… I almost died…” I whispered, tears welling up.
“You didn’t die!” Mark yelled. “You’re just trying to extort money from me! You know I’m preparing for a divorce to protect my assets, so you’re playing the victim, right? How much more do you want to blackmail me with this pregnancy?”
He was delusional. He was so obsessed with money that he’d lost all humanity.
“I don’t need your money,” I said, trying to sit up, my anger giving me some strength. “I just need you to get out of here.”
“Get out?” Mark laughed maniacally. “I’m the one paying for the bed you’re lying in! You’re a parasite! A leech!”
He lunged forward, grabbed my patient by the collar, and lifted me upside down.
“Mark! Stop!” Sarah screamed, trying to pull him away.
But Mark was much stronger. He swung his arm and slapped me hard across the face. It was a devastating blow that sent my head spinning, the metallic taste of blood filling my mouth. He then grabbed my hair and yanked it back.
“You think you can escape me? I’ll show you what real pain is!”
I screamed. A scream of utter despair, pain, and terror.
“HELP ME! HE’S GOING TO KILL ME!”
The door to the patient room opened again. But this time, it wasn’t just one person.
A group of hospital staff burst in. Two large male nurses, a stern-faced head doctor, and… two hospital security guards.
I expected them to pull Mark away, to intervene in the fight like in typical domestic violence cases.
But their reaction changed everything.
It happened in a way I never expected.
They didn’t intervene.
They rushed in to subdue and arrest him.
Chapter 3: The Medical Twist
“MARK SULLIVAN! STAND STILL AND TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF THE PATIENT IMMEDIATELY!”
The stern voice of the head doctor, Dr. Aris, rang out like a verdict.
Mark flinched, letting go of me. He turned around, adjusted his vest, trying to regain his arrogant demeanor.
“What are you doing? This is a marital matter. I’m disciplining my wife. I’ll sue this hospital if you dare touch me!”
The two security guards didn’t say a word. They closed in, twisted Mark’s arms behind his back, and pinned him against the wall. The cold sound of handcuffs clicked.
“Let go of me! I’m Mark Sullivan! I’m a millionaire! Do you know who I am?” Mark yelled.
Dr. Aris stepped forward, a thick stack of medical records in his hand. He didn’t look at Mark with the eyes of a doctor looking at a patient’s family member. He looked at him with the eyes of a judge looking at a murderer.
“We know very well who you are, Mr. Sullivan,” Dr. Aris said coldly. “And more importantly, we know what you did.”
“What did I do? I just raised my voice…”
“No,” Dr. Aris interrupted. He held up the file.
“We have the blood and stomach fluid test results for Elena.”
The room fell silent.
“She didn’t have a typical pregnancy-related ailment,” Dr. Aris said, each word clear. “She suffered acute poisoning.”
I was stunned. “Poisoning?”
“Elena’s blood contains a high concentration of thallium—an extremely toxic, colorless, odorless, and tasteless heavy metal,” Dr. Aris continued. “It was commonly used in old-fashioned rat poison and is now very strictly controlled.”
Mark stopped struggling. His face turned from red to as white as a sheet.
“Thallium causes hair loss, excruciating pain in the limbs, and multiple organ failure. That’s exactly what Elena is experiencing,” the doctor looked Mark straight in the eye. “And interestingly, your biotechnology company, Sullivan BioTech, just imported a batch of thallium for ‘research’ purposes three months ago. Right around the time Elena’s health started to deteriorate.”
“You… you’re making this up!” Mark stammered, sweating profusely.
“We’re not making this up. We reported it to the Seattle Police Department as soon as we got the test results an hour ago. They’ve obtained a search warrant for your home and your office,” Dr. Aris said. “And you know what? Your breaking in here, assaulting the victim right here in the hospital, in front of medical staff, is the final piece of the puzzle we need to arrest you immediately without waiting for the police.”
Sarah’s jaw dropped. I lay in bed, feeling like the world was collapsing around me.
My husband wasn’t just heartless. He wasn’t just unfaithful or stingy.
He tried to kill me.
He poisoned me day by day, little by little, perhaps through those “healthy” smoothies he occasionally made me in the mornings. He wanted me dead, and he wanted my two children dead too, so he could inherit the huge life insurance payout he’d just bought for me, and avoid any division of assets during the divorce.
The fall at home… the pain… the refusal to help… it was all part of the plan. He wanted me to die at home. He didn’t expect Sarah to come. He didn’t expect me to be taken to the hospital and undergo toxicology testing by the best doctors.
Chapter 4: The Fall of a Demon
Two police officers entered the room. They had been waiting in the hallway as instructed by the hospital.
“Mark Sullivan, you are under arrest for intentional homicide, aggravated assault, and illegal use of poison,” said Officer Miranda.
“No! No! Elena! Save me! You know I wouldn’t do that!” Mark yelled, turning to me and pleading. His arrogance vanished, replaced by the cowardice of a cornered rat.
I looked at him. At the man I had once loved and trusted. At the man who had cruelly said, “It’s not your problem,” when I was writhing in pain from the poison he himself had administered.
I remembered the slap. I remembered his cold gaze.
I slowly pulled down my oxygen mask.
“Mark,” I said, my voice weak but firm. “You’re right. This…”
I pointed to the handcuffs on his wrists.
“…It’s not my problem.”
Mark was dragged roughly out of the hospital room, his screams echoing down the hallway, but no one felt any sympathy.
Dr. Aris approached me, checking my vital signs.
“You’re safe, Elena. We’ve started the antidote treatment with Prussian Blue. Luckily you arrived in time. The poison hasn’t seeped into the placenta enough to be fatal to the babies. They’ll be fine.”
I placed my hand on my belly, feeling the gentle kicks of two tiny lives. They had fought alongside me.
Sarah hugged me, sobbing. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know… I thought he was just a bad guy…”
“It’s okay,” I stroked her hair. “You saved my life. And the doctors… they saved my soul.”
Chapter Conclusion: A New Dawn
The Mark Sullivan case shocked Seattle. With undeniable evidence…
Based on medical tests, his history of chemical dealings, and witness testimony, Mark was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. His company collapsed, and all his remaining assets were used to compensate me.
I gave birth to two healthy and beautiful girls, Luna and Stella. Although the recovery process from thallium poisoning was long and painful – I had to undergo physiotherapy to regain feeling in my legs – I have never felt stronger.
One year later.
I sat in the park, watching my two children taking their first steps. The warm sunlight shone on us.
I remembered that moment in the hospital room. The medical staff’s reaction that day was not just intervention. It was salvation. They didn’t see me as a mere victim of domestic violence. They saw through the nature of the crime with the eyes of science and conscience.
If they had just kicked Mark out, he probably would have found another way to kill me. But they kept him, exposing his true colors right where he thought he had the most power.
I smiled, breathing in the air of freedom. Mark had once said my pain wasn’t his problem. Now, his existence in prison wasn’t my problem either.
My only problem now is: How to love these two angels as much as possible, to make up for the dark days we’ve been through together.
