- 9 hours ago
Delivery Room Betrayal Ep
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00The surgical light burned into my eyes. I lay on the delivery table, listening to my own blood pouring out
00:05of me. Not an exaggeration.
00:08Eight years of medical school meant I recognized every signal of a blood pressure cliff dive.
00:13She's hemorrhaging. Where the hell is her husband? Isn't he supposed to be here?
00:16The attending's voice came from somewhere far away. I wanted to say that Dominic was a doctor, that something must
00:22have come up.
00:22But I couldn't speak. Then my phone lit up.
00:25Amber Thompson, his high school friend, the woman he trusted most in this world, had sent me a photo.
00:30A wedding photo. Hers and Dominic's.
00:33Thanks for lending me, Dominic, sis. Best day of our 18-year friendship.
00:37Don't worry, we won't actually sleep together. Promise.
00:41In the photo, Dominic was wearing the suit I'd had custom, made for him.
00:45His arm was around Amber's shoulder. They were both smiling at the camera.
00:48Their old high school crew stood around them. Grinning like this was the happiest day of their lives.
00:53My contraction monitor started screaming. A nurse glanced at my phone and went pale.
00:58BP 7080, she's losing blood fast. We can't reach the husband. Take her to the OR now.
01:04As they wheeled me away, my phone lit up again.
01:07Amber had sent another photo. A hotel lobby, all gold and crystal, with a massive flower arch.
01:13Dominic was fixing her veil.
01:15He said he owed me a ceremony.
01:17You don't mind?
01:18Do you, sis?
01:19I stared at the screen. The pain of the contractions and the pain in my chest blended together until I
01:24couldn't tell them apart.
01:25Dominic, my husband of seven years. The father of my child. He was playing groom for another woman.
01:31The moment the OR doors closed, I heard a nurse shout,
01:34Call him again! Keep calling until he picks up!
01:37I closed my eyes.
01:38My consciousness started to fray. Memories shattered like broken glass, the shards cutting everywhere.
01:43Seven years ago, on our wedding day, he was two hours late.
01:46He said the hospital had an emergency.
01:49I believed him.
01:50Five years ago, he said Amber had just gone through a breakup and needed him.
01:54He stayed with her for a week, came back wearing a scarf she'd knitted him.
01:57A friendship scarf, he called it.
01:59I believed him.
02:01Three years ago, the day I got my medical license,
02:03Amber just happened to get into a minor car accident.
02:06He left my celebration dinner to go to the R with her.
02:09Didn't come back until morning.
02:11I still believed him.
02:12Because I loved him.
02:14Because I thought seven years together meant more than a so-called high school friend.
02:17Until this moment, I reached for my phone with everything I had left.
02:21Not to ask him to come.
02:22Not to confront him.
02:24I just wanted him to know.
02:25I was dying.
02:26The mother of his child was dying.
02:28And he was playing groom for another woman.
02:30The message went out.
02:32Red, no reply.
02:33We've got blood!
02:35Starting transfusion!
02:38BP's still understable.
02:39Does anyone have consent from family?
02:40Forget consent.
02:41We're operating.
02:42I'll take responsibility.
02:43The attending's voice sounded like it was underwater.
02:46I dimly realized it was familiar.
02:48Then a face appeared in front of me.
02:50Samuel.
02:51My senior from medical school, two years ahead of me.
02:54Known as the Ice King.
02:55In the lab, he'd made me cry three times.
02:58Jessica, listen to me.
03:00Your situation is critical.
03:02But my team and I are going to do everything we can.
03:04The only thing you have to do is stay alive.
03:07Your baby is in the NCU waiting for you.
03:09I couldn't move.
03:10But tears slid down my face.
03:12He wiped them away.
03:13Don't cry.
03:14You don't have the energy to waste.
03:16Then he turned and started giving orders.
03:18Fast.
03:19Precise.
03:19Like a scalpel for the first time.
03:21I thought maybe I wouldn't die.
03:22I don't know how long the surgery took.
03:24When I woke up, Samuel was standing beside my bed, checking my monitors.
03:28Your husband called three times.
03:29I answered for you.
03:31What did he say?
03:33He said...
03:33He said he couldn't get away.
03:36He booked a beachfront suite.
03:37He'll take you there when you're discharged.
03:39I waited.
03:40That's it?
03:41Oh.
03:41He also said to feed Amber's cat.
03:43She forgot to leave food out.
03:44I stared at the ceiling.
03:45Samuel?
03:46Yeah?
03:47Help me draft divorce papers.
03:49He looked at me.
03:50No surprise.
03:51No pity.
03:52Just the quiet calm of someone who'd been waiting for this.
03:55Okay.
03:55He said...
03:57The messages from Amber didn't stop during my hospital stay.
04:00They weren't accidents.
04:01I knew that.
04:02She sent photos of Dominic cutting her wedding cake.
04:05Of their high school care drinking champagne.
04:07Of fireworks over the ocean at 3 a.m.
04:0935 never looks so good when you've got your best friend by your side.
04:13I didn't reply to any of them.
04:15On the sixth day, she sent a message with an invitation attached.
04:18My first solo exhibition, sis, you have to come.
04:22The invitation read, birth, the truth and courage of the female body.
04:26I stared at the invitation.
04:27Something sank in my chest.
04:29I opened her social media.
04:31Pinned at the top was a preview.
04:33Three photos.
04:34All black and white silhouettes, faces hidden.
04:36The caption read, to all the brave mothers out there, including my dearest sister.
04:41Below it, hundreds of comments.
04:44Amber's work is always so powerful.
04:46This is what real female art looks like.
04:47I didn't reply to the message, but I asked Samuel to look into it.
04:51Two days later, he came back with answers.
04:54That exhibition, he said, his voice flat.
04:56But I could hear the anger underneath.
04:58Is centered around your maternity photos.
05:00I stopped breathing.
05:01The ones Dominic took when you were eight months pregnant.
05:03Amber turned them into a series called Raw Beauty.
05:06He paused.
05:07She didn't ask for your permission.
05:09Twelve photos.
05:10All blown up to four feet by four feet.
05:13Hanging in the center of the gallery.
05:14I set down my water glass.
05:17The reception is Friday?
05:19Yeah.
05:23Get me an invitation.
05:24Samuel looked at me.
05:25You don't need an invitation.
05:26He said.
05:28You're the subject.
05:31You just show up.
05:32Friday night, 7 p.m.
05:34Lightbox Gallery, Chelsea.
05:35I wore a black trench coat.
05:37Pushed the stroller up to the entrance.
05:39Jason was asleep inside it.
05:41His tiny fists clenched.
05:42I handed him off to Samuel.
05:45He was waiting outside.
05:46The gallery was packed.
05:48Art world types.
05:49Media photography critics.
05:50Amber's old high school crew.
05:52All of them.
05:52A three-tiered champagne tower.
05:54Perfect lighting.
05:55Every photo matted and framed.
05:57Hanging on white walls.
05:58My photos.
05:59Twelve of them.
06:00Me at eight months pregnant.
06:01Belly huge stretch marks like worms crawling across my skin.
06:05Some photos I was in lingerie.
06:07Some I was wrapped in sheer fabric.
06:08Some were taken while I was changing.
06:10Angles I never knew existed.
06:12Every photo blown up to life size.
06:14Every photo labeled with one word.
06:16Wrong.
06:17People stood with their champagne glasses.
06:19Pausing in front of my four-foot body.
06:21Commenting.
06:22Nodding.
06:22Power.
06:23Amber's vision is extraordinary.
06:26This is what real female art looks like.
06:28Amber stood beneath the largest photo.
06:30White suit.
06:31Champagne flute.
06:32Perfect smile.
06:33Her high school friends crowded around her.
06:35Phones out.
06:36Amber, this is incredible.
06:37This is going to put you on the map.
06:39Does your sister know?
06:41Is she going to be mad?
06:41Amber smiled.
06:42Her voice was light.
06:44But I heard every word from the entrance.
06:46She won't mind.
06:47She said it herself.
06:49These photos are beautiful.
06:50They shouldn't be hidden.
06:51I did say that.
06:53But I said it to Dominic.
06:54To my husband.
06:55When I trusted him enough to give him my most vulnerable self.
06:58I didn't say it to her.
07:00I didn't say it to everyone in this gallery.
07:02I pushed open the door and walked in.
07:04My coat caught a champagne glass of the entrance.
07:07It shattered on the floor.
07:08Everyone turned.
07:10Amber's smile froze when she saw me.
07:11Jess.
07:13What are you doing here?
07:14You just had the baby.
07:15I'm out of the hospital.
07:16I said.
07:17Her voice faltered.
07:18You got my invitation?
07:20I was going to...
07:21You were going to what?
07:23I walked toward her.
07:25You wanted me to come and play nice?
07:26Or you wanted me to stay away so your art could keep selling?
07:30The gallery went silent.
07:31Everyone with champagne.
07:32Everyone with phones.
07:33Everyone who had been nodding and commenting all staring.
07:35Amber's face went white-rissing.
07:37Then recovered.
07:37Jess, let me explain.
07:39She reached for me.
07:40Her voice suddenly loud.
07:41Like she wanted everyone to hear.
07:43This series is about the raw truth of the female body.
07:46I asked you back then and you said it was fine.
07:48Let me ask you something.
07:50Quiet, but every word clear.
07:52The photos you took while I was changing.
07:54When did I say those were fine?
07:56She froze.
07:59Four of these 12 photos were taken without my knowledge.
08:03You had Dominic keep shooting while I was changing clothes.
08:06You think I didn't know?
08:07I turned to the crowd.
08:08You want to know how this art was made?
08:11The day I almost died giving birth, her photographer, my husband, was playing groom for another woman.
08:17While I was bleeding out on an operating table, she was sending me wedding photos.
08:21These photos were taken because I trusted my husband to document our child's arrival.
08:26I gave him my most vulnerable self.
08:27I didn't give it to her.
08:29I didn't give it to any of you.
08:31I turned back to Amber.
08:32You call this art?
08:34Her lips were trembling.
08:35She couldn't speak.
08:36Her high school friends looked at each other.
08:38A few started backing away.
08:40I pulled an envelope from my coat pocket and placed it in your hand.
08:43That's a cease and desist.
08:45You used my image without consent for commercial gain.
08:49Take down the exhibition.
08:51Apologize.
08:52Pay damages.
08:53I pulled out my phone.
08:54Opened a document.
08:55Held it up so everyone could see.
08:57It was a surrogacy contract.
08:59It was a surrogacy contract.
09:01Client, Dominic Harrison surrogate.
09:03Amber Thompson relationship.
09:05High school friends note.
09:07Embryo provided by client.
09:09Five prior attempts.
09:10Current pregnancy confirmed.
09:12This, I said.
09:13You signed a surrogacy contract with my husband.
09:15You started trying on our wedding day.
09:17Seven years.
09:18Five rounds.
09:19The gallery was dead silent.
09:21No champagne glasses clinking.
09:23No whispers.
09:24Amber's face went from white to gray.
09:26Dominic pushed through the crowd.
09:27His face was ashen.
09:28Jess, what are you doing here?
09:30I came to see the show.
09:31He opened his mouth.
09:32Nothing came out.
09:33I looked at them.
09:34Both of them.
09:35My husband.
09:36The woman I thought was my friend, standing beneath my photos.
09:38The gallery lights on their faces.
09:41Caught like thieves at the scene.
09:42I pulled the divorce papers from my coat.
09:44Held them out to Dominic.
09:46I pulled the divorce papers from my coat.
09:47You keep nothing.
09:48The baby is mine.
09:50Child support according to the law.
09:51His hands were shaking as he looked down at the papers.
09:55Amber grabbed his sleeve, her voice going sharp.
09:57Dominic, don't sign!
09:59Sign.
10:00He signed.
10:01He signed.
10:02I took the papers and turned to leave.
10:04I stopped in front of the largest photo.
10:07Four feet by four feet.
10:08My belly, my stretch marks.
10:10My body, hanging on a wall like merchandise.
10:12I reached up and took it down.
10:14The frame was heavy, but I could carry it.
10:16No one stopped me.
10:17I carried my photo out of the gallery, into the night.
10:20Samuel was leaning against the car.
10:22Jason was still asleep inside.
10:24He saw the frame in my hands, didn't say anything.
10:27Just open the trunk.
10:28Done?
10:28He asked.
10:30Done.
10:31Get in.
10:32I put the frame in the trunk.
10:34Climbed into the back seat.
10:36Jason stirred in his car seat.
10:37Opened his eyes, looked at me, and smiled.
10:39A gummy smile, soft, simple.
10:42I smiled back.
10:43After the divorce, I took Jason and moved to the West Coast.
10:48Samuel found me a job, obstetrics attending at a private hospital.
10:51Don't waste what you learned.
10:53He said.
10:54I didn't.
10:55As for Dominic and Amber, I thought the divorce closed that chapter.
10:58I was wrong.
10:59Amber disappeared from social media for two months.
11:02I thought she'd finally back down.
11:03Then she came back one post.
11:05New chapter.
11:06The photo was a marriage certificate.
11:08The groom wasn't Dominic.
11:10It was Warren Foster.
11:12Another member of their high school crew.
11:14Family money.
11:15The guy who gave us the biggest wedding gift.
11:17I stared at that photo for a long time.
11:19Amber was carrying Dominic's baby.
11:21But she married Warren.
11:22I called Samuel.
11:23He asked.
11:24You saw it?
11:25I saw it.
11:25Voice had an edge.
11:26There's more?
11:27Warren signed a prenup three days before the wedding.
11:30Amber takes half his asset.
11:31I was quiet for a moment.
11:33Does Dominic know?
11:35You tell me.
11:36I didn't know.
11:37But I guessed it wouldn't matter if he did.
11:39He'd never said no to Amber.
11:40Mom!
11:41I put down my phone and went back to you from Jason's bottle.
11:44This wasn't my problem anymore.
11:45But it didn't stay that way.
11:47Six months after the divorce, I got a text from an unknown number.
11:51Jessica.
11:52It is Warren.
11:53Can we talk?
11:53I hesitated.
11:54Then I called back.
11:56Warren's voice wasn't how I remembered it.
11:58Harder.
11:58Colder.
11:59I need a favor.
12:01What kind of favor?
12:03Amber is suing me for divorce.
12:04She hired the best lawyers in the city.
12:06They're coming for half my net worth!
12:08My lawyers say, if I can prove she married me under false pretenses, I have a case.
12:14What does that have to do with me?
12:16I need what you have.
12:17The surrogacy contract.
12:19The photos.
12:20The messages she sent you.
12:21I was quiet for a long time.
12:23You want to use them against her?
12:24I want to use them to protect what's mine.
12:28I'm not asking for charity.
12:29I'm offering a deal.
12:31You help me.
12:32I put her down for good.
12:34She never comes near you again.
12:36I'll think about it.
12:38I hung up and sat by the window.
12:41Watched Jason chase a butterfly in the yard.
12:43Samuel came out of the kitchen.
12:45Handed me a coffee.
12:47Warren called.
12:48How did you?
12:49Lucky guess.
12:51He sat next to me.
12:52He wants your evidence.
12:54Give it to him.
12:56You're not going to tell me to think it over?
12:58No.
12:59Samuel took a sip of coffee.
13:01People like Amber don't stop.
13:03You let her go, she comes back.
13:05Warren's got the resources and the motive.
13:07Let him do the work.
13:08I watched Jason catch the butterfly.
13:11He crouched down to look at it.
13:13Then he let it go.
13:14Okay.
13:15I said, yeah.
13:18I gave Warren's lawyers everything.
13:20The surrogacy contract.
13:21Every photo Amber sent.
13:23Every message.
13:24The exhibition invitation.
13:25The call logs.
13:27And the night I was hemorrhaging.
13:28Warren's team put it together in one thick file.
13:30Three months later, the case went to trial.
13:33Three months later, the case went to trial.
13:35I didn't go.
13:36Samuel did.
13:37He told me what happened.
13:38Warren's lawyer played a recording in court.
13:40Amber's voice came through.
13:41Sweet as honey.
13:42The way I knew too well.
13:44Dominic's baby is my baby.
13:46Warren's just a name on paper.
13:48It is not like he cares.
13:50He just wants the company anyway.
13:52The courtroom went quiet.
13:53Amber sat in the defendant's chair, white as paper.
13:55Dominic took the stand.
13:57The opposing lawyer took him apart piece by piece.
14:00Mr. Harrison, where were you on the day your wife nearly died giving birth?
14:04At Amber Thompson's birthday party.
14:06Your wife was dying and you were at a party?
14:08He didn't answer.
14:09Mr. Harrison, did your wife know about the surrogacy's contract
14:12with Amber Thompson?
14:14Did she?
14:17No.
14:18How many attempts did you make?
14:20Five.
14:22When did you start?
14:24On my wedding day.
14:26Someone in the courtroom gasped.
14:29The judge's expression didn't change,
14:32but Samuel, her voice was colder than usual.
14:34Warren won.
14:35Amber got nothing.
14:36She had to pay Warren damages for fraud.
14:39Dominic was suspended from the hospital pending investigation.
14:42He'd used his position to arrange private medical services.
14:45Their old friend Leo published a long post on social media.
14:47He called it,
14:48I thought we were friends.
14:49Amber played everyone.
14:50He wrote,
14:51Dominic was her accomplice.
14:52They used the group,
14:53one for money,
14:54one for biology.
14:55The post went viral,
14:56but that didn't undo the damage.
14:58What happened after was almost too dramatic to believe.
15:01Amber lost everything.
15:03Her marriage.
15:04Her reputation.
15:06Lightbox canceled her show permanently.
15:08She went to Dominic,
15:09but Dominic had nothing left to give.
15:11The hospital didn't fire him,
15:12but they sent him to a satellite clinic in the middle of nowhere.
15:14He spent six months there.
15:17Drank too much.
15:18Sent gifts for Jason.
15:20I sent them all back.
15:21When Jason was three,
15:23Dominic came back.
15:25He was thinner.
15:26I took Jason to the park.
15:28Let him watch from a distance.
15:31Jason was playing in the sandbox.
15:33He built a crooked castle,
15:34turned around,
15:35and yelled,
15:36Dad!
15:37Dad!
15:37Dominic stood 30 feet away,
15:39watching,
15:40crying.
15:41I didn't go to him.
15:43He left.
15:44A year later,
15:45Amber died in a car accident.
15:47She ran a red light.
15:48A truck hit her.
15:49She was alone in the park.
15:50Samuel saw the news.
15:51He was quiet for a long time.
15:54What are you thinking?
15:58I'm thinking about Dominic.
16:02I waited.
16:04After the surrogacy news broke,
16:06the pregnancy didn't stick.
16:07All five rounds.
16:08Nothing.
16:09By the time Amber married Warren,
16:11she'd given up on the baby.
16:12Dominic ended up with nothing.
16:13The voice was calm,
16:14like he was analyzing a case.
16:17No.
16:18You.
16:19No baby.
16:21No Amber.
16:22No friends.
16:25You feel sorry for him?
16:30No.
16:31I'm thinking about how a person
16:32can destroy their own life like that.
16:34I didn't say anything.
16:36Jason was stacking blocks on the floor,
16:38humming to himself.
16:39Mom, look how high.
16:41That's high.
16:42I'm going higher.
16:44Okay.
16:45Samuel looked at me and smiled.
16:47He rarely smiled.
16:48The ice king who'd made interns cry in the oar.
16:51Who'd yelled at patients' families in the AR.
16:54Who'd pulled me back from the edge of death
16:56on a delivery table.
16:57But he smiled then.
16:59Jessica,
17:01have you ever thought...
17:02Thought what?
17:04Nothing.
17:05Forget it.
17:06When Jason was five,
17:07I got a letter from Dominic.
17:09Handwritten.
17:10Messy.
17:11He said he was working at a small clinic
17:13in a rural town.
17:14Didn't make much, but enough.
17:16He said he'd stop drinking.
17:17He said he sometimes dreamed about the day in the park,
17:20watching Jason play in the sand.
17:21He said he'd replayed that moment a hundred times,
17:24and every time he wanted to walk over,
17:26and every time he couldn't move his feet.
17:28I read the letter,
17:29put it on the table.
17:31Jason came over,
17:32picked it up,
17:33flipped through the pages.
17:34Mom, what's this?
17:36A letter from someone.
17:39What someone?
17:40You don't know him.
17:41Why is he writing to you?
17:44I thought for a second.
17:45Because he did something wrong.
17:47He wants to say sorry.
17:49Jason tilted his head.
17:51Did you forgive him?
17:53I was quiet for a moment.
17:55Not yet.
17:56When will you?
17:59Maybe never.
18:00Jason nodded like that made perfect sense.
18:04Then don't.
18:05Then he ran off to play with his dinosaurs.
18:07I watched him go.
18:08I remembered what the nurse said in the delivery room.
18:11Your baby is waiting for you in the NEQ.
18:13That was the only reason I fought to live.
18:17Now that reason was running around the house telling me not to forgive his father.
18:20That was enough.
18:22I put the letter in the drawer.
18:24I didn't reply.
18:25When Jason was seven, something happened.
18:28His school had an event.
18:29Parents were supposed to bring a family photo for the classroom wall.
18:33Jason came home and told me while I was cooking.
18:37Mom, we don't have a family photo.
18:40Yes, we do.
18:41We took one when you were little.
18:43That one has just you and me.
18:45The teacher said a family photo needs a mom and a dad.
18:48I turned off the stove, crouched down to look at him.
18:52Jason, your father.
18:54I know.
18:55He's not a good person.
18:56You don't have to explain.
18:58He looked at me eyes clear.
19:00But what about Samuel?
19:02Does he count?
19:03I didn't know how to answer that.
19:05That night, after Jason fell asleep, I sat in the living room and thought,
19:10Samuel, he'd been there since the night I almost died.
19:13He'd drafted the divorce papers.
19:16He'd investigated Amber's exhibition.
19:19He'd found me a job on the West Coast.
19:21He'd helped Jason get into a good school.
19:25Every birthday, he came with gifts and a cake,
19:27sitting beside Jason with his cold, unsmiling face while he blew out candles.
19:31He'd never said anything.
19:33I'd never asked.
19:34I wondered if we were both waiting for the right moment,
19:37for one of us to speak, for Jason to get a little older.
19:41For, for what, I didn't know.
19:43The turning point came sooner than I expected.
19:46Jason was eight.
19:47His school had career day.
19:49Parents were invited to come talk about their jobs.
19:52Samuel came.
19:54White coat.
19:55A model surgical setup.
19:57He demonstrated a heart surgery for the kids.
20:00Fake, of course, with a pig heart and teaching tools.
20:03But Jason's eyes went wide.
20:05After the event, Jason held Samuel's hand and walked him around the schoolyard.
20:09Lap after lap, I stood at the gate and watched.
20:12The sun was setting.
20:13Their shadows stretched long.
20:16Jason said something I couldn't hear.
20:18Samuel bent down to listen.
20:21And then, he smiled.
20:24Not the polite, tight-lipped smile he used with patience.
20:28A real smile.
20:29His eyes crinkled.
20:30His whole face softened.
20:32Something in my chest cracked open.
20:34On the way home, Jason was in the back seat.
20:36He said,
20:38Mom, Samuel was happy today.
20:40How do you know?
20:42He smiled.
20:43He never smiles.
20:44But today, he smiled a lot.
20:46I glanced at him in the rear view.
20:48Do you like Samuel?
20:49Of course.
20:51He's a million times better than that guy.
20:55What guy?
20:56The guy who wrote you that letter.
Comments