Chapter 226: Whatever Night Swallows Me, I Don’t Give Up

[FROLO]

On the surgeon’s face were the bruises that the professor also had, only that his were a bit deeper. Cheeks and lips were purple, and he had a bandage covering a section of his head.

Someone had definitely beat the shit out of him.

"Raise your right hand," the court clerk said once the doctor stepped into the witness stand.

And he did.

"Do you swear that the testimony you are about to give before this court shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"

"I do," he said, and the clerk stepped away.

"Doctor Abdul Hamid, what is your specialty?" the Chief Justice asked.

"Obstetric and fetal surgeon. Twenty-three years of practice."

Justice Orlov just nodded before turning to Prosecutor Rostova.

"Proceed."

The prosecutor stepped forward, and unlike the thin file she had stepped forward with while cross-examining the professor, this one was thicker, almost like it carried the weight of a trusted surgeon’s sins that he had leaned into willingly without regarding the mental health of his patient.

"Doctor Hamid, how many surgeries did you personally perform on Chairman Romanov?"

"Three."

"Three surgeries... would you describe them as medically necessary?"

The doctor looked at his fellow witnesses, then turned to the prosecutor.

"No."

Expectedly, the court erupted into murmurs again, prompting the court marshal.

"Order!"

"Why were they performed?"

"To support the given diagnosis."

"Which diagnosis?"

"Infertility."

Katya couldn’t breathe.

And Svet rubbed his back gently, even though she knew it wouldn’t help as much. The trial that was expected to be quick was now exposing the kind of things that no one had ever thought possible in a city like Frolo.

But gods was it a hell even as they tried to listen to the prosecutor again.

"A diagnosis we now know never existed... Correct?" Rostova asked as she opened the file in her hands.

"Yes."

"Let’s discuss the final pregnancy that is listed in the records as ’the anniversary pregnancy.’ Do you remember it?"

The bench where Yaroslav was seated screeched, almost like he was slowly learning the pain that Katya had gone through.

The beta couldn’t help but scoff lightly in disbelief at what he was hearing.

He looked at Milan, the woman he had gone to because he needed something to keep Katya sane, the same thing that had now fucked his love with Katya. And he was even confirming that all that was not necessary.

Someone just decided it was fun to play with his omega.

And Yaroslav...

A low growl erupted from his chest.

The court marshal didn’t say a word. Not even to order him down. The judges paused while the prosecutors looked at him as if to beg him to let this continue.

Because honestly, this would not end if a Moskowsky interrupted. Moskowskys always asked for blood. Always did get what they wanted, but fuck, this was cruel.

The growls got louder, more intent, and the witnesses shrank in their positions like they were considering what was next. The journalists who had come seemed to step back from where they had been standing.

It was all done so quietly as Yaroslav breathed heavily.

Everyone was tense.

And then...

"Yaro..." Katya breathed, and the court held its breath. Even the feared judges stiffened in their seats.

Yaroslav turned slowly to his ex-husband, to the man he had given the world before, and it still meant nothing because people interfered.

"Baby..."

Milan stiffened beside Yaroslav, pulling her hand from Yaroslav’s hold like she was being forced into a reality that no one would ever accept. Well, just her anyway.

"Sit with me," Katya offered.

Yaroslav froze, his growls long gone, and in their place was a dumbstruck man who looked like he had just been offered God, and he didn’t know what to do with it.

The Romanov camp looked at Katya like he was insane, but at the same time, a part of them had always known that Katya would always be the line between sanity and insanity for the Moskowskys.

So they didn’t say anything.

Instead, they watched with bated breath like everyone else, as the beta got up from where he was seated and came to the second row to sit with Katya.

One of the people in the second row gave up their seat, and Yaroslav settled beside Katya, with Katya’s hand on his, squeezing gently as if to remind him that this time they had each other.

"I’m sorry," Yaroslav apologised, and everyone suddenly relaxed.

The prosecutor turned to the surgeon again.

"Let’s discuss the final pregnancy that is listed in the records as ’the anniversary pregnancy.’ Do you remember it?" she asked, and the surgeon’s jaw tightened.

"Yes."

"Was Chairman Romanov pregnant when he arrived at your operating theatre?"

"Yes."

"Was the pregnancy medically confirmed?"

"Yes."

"Was there a present heartbeat?"

"Yes."

The courtroom fell into uncomfortable silence for another time.

Yaroslav squeezed Katya’s hand as if that was the only thing standing between him and completely turning this court into a bloodbath.

"Stronger, Doctor... The court needs to hear you."

"The fetus had a heartbeat."

Yaroslav began breathing heavily again, and Katya’s hands in his stopped moving.

For the first time, that day was coming back. Each haunted by something else, but Yaro... he could only remember Milan bouncing on him while the love of his life suffered at the hands of people he should have rooted out.

Andre sighed in rage, slowly looking away.

Ahead of them, the prosecutor was doing her job.

"Was the fetus alive when surgery began?"

"Yes."

Again, whispers broke out in the courtroom.

"Silence!" a tired court marshal said as he looked at the audience. By the time the court adjourned, the man would probably have lost his mind, shouting order and silence across the courtroom.

"Did your surgical team know that?"

"Yes... At the beginning."

"At the beginning?"

"Yes," Doctor Hamid began before continuing when the prosecutor stared flatly at him.

"We prepared for an emergency procedure to stabilize both the patient and fetus. But..."

"But what... Was that your intention?"

"No," the doctor breathed.

The courtroom went impossibly still again.

"Tell this court exactly what happened inside that operating room," Prosecutor Rostova said, and Doctor Hamid gripped the rail tighter this time.

"I was the lead surgeon... The fetus was alive and with a stable heartbeat when we began. Everyone in the OR believed we were trying to save both lives. So I waited till they were focused on controlling Chairman Romanov’s bleeding.

"I shielded the view of the fetus from them, repositioning myself..."

"Why?" Rostova asked, and everyone held their breath.

"Because they would have stopped me."

Masha Romanova let out a strangled sound this time, a tear sliding down her face.

"Stopped you from doing what?"

Doctor Hamid looked at Katya, their eyes holding.

"Ending the pregnancy."

And the courtroom erupted for the nth time, while the court marshal stared like this was not what he signed up for. Well, he did, but damn would he have quit the day today.

"ORDER! ORDER!"

The judges stared defeatedly at each other for the first time since they stepped into the courtroom. This was not just another case they were trying, or even that it was the trial of the century.

This was the question of humanity and gods, for a doctor who was meant to protect lives; this one did shit to make things better.

And the judges waited for the court to calm down, because even they needed a moment to take this all in.

"Doctor Hamid," Rostova began, taking a breather like she, too, was affected by all of this. Still, she composed herself and continued the questioning, a small sniffle escaping her as she embraced the job at the moment.

"Did the fetus die naturally, or because of something you deliberately did?"

Doctor Hamid didn’t answer.

"Witness, answer," Justice Reginia said.

"Because of me."

And in that moment, Yaroslav lost it.

He had been calm with Katya, keeping himself sane, but that admission, it had the Beta jumping past the bar to the witness stand in seconds. It was a crazy sight that had even Katya staring in shock.

Yaroslav didn’t wait.

His hands found the surgeon’s neck, pressing harder than anyone had ever seen a neck being pressed.

"You hurt my husband. You stole his smiles... all... all those fucking times he trusted you. He believed you. He let you cut through him THRICE before that, and for what?

"Answer me!!!!!!" Yaroslav insisted, pressing hard.