The General's Replacement Doctor Wife

Chapter Thirty-Four

Olivia still had nightmares.

Every night, without fail, she found herself standing on that lake again.

Sometimes she was already in the water when the dream began. Sometimes she was still standing on the wooden deck, staring at the invisible depths beneath the rippling water, with the cold wind brushing against her face.

But it always ended the same way. The water would give beneath her. She would fall. Cold water would swallow her whole, filling her mouth before she could scream, dragging her farther and farther from the surface.

And Clayton would be there.

She could always see him through the water, impossibly clear despite the haze blurring her vision. His broad shoulders cut through the lake with every powerful stroke, his body straining as he crossed the distance that seemed to stretch endlessly between them.

She believed he would save her.

She always did.

But Clayton would reach for Caroline instead. His arms would close around her, pulling her safely against his chest as Olivia struggled a few feet away. She would stretch one hand toward him, her mouth opening around his name but no sound would come.

Her lungs would tighten. Her chest would burn. She would kick and claw at the water, watching helplessly as Clayton carried Caroline farther away, never once turning back.

The last thing she would see was her husband holding another woman in his arms. Then the lake would close over her head. And she would wake.

Tonight was no different.

Olivia jerked upright in bed, dragging in a breath so sharp it hurt her chest. Her heart pounded violently against her ribs as the remnants of the dream clung to her, vivid enough to feel real.

She convinced herself that she was no longer beneath the cold water. She was safe. But her lungs still remembered what it felt like to drown.

She wondered how many nights it would take before she stopped dreaming about that lake. A month? A year? Or would she still wake from the same nightmare ten years from now, still reaching for a man who had already chosen someone else?

Olivia pushed the blanket aside and got out of bed. She grabbed a bottle of water from her mini fridge and drank it in one desperate swallow.

She turned on the bedside clock.

3:30

She knew she would not sleep again.

Olivia sat back on the edge of the bed. She stayed awake, watching the darkness slowly give way to dawn, one hand resting protectively over her still-flat belly. Her fingers move in slow, soothing strokes.

She promised herself she would raise her child alone, no matter what it took. Even if she had to do it alone, without the help of her soon-to-be ex-husband.

~✧✦✧~

Olivia slipped her white coat over her shoulders as she walked toward the neurosurgery department.

"Dr. Hilton."

She glanced over her shoulder and saw Nurse Jessy hurrying toward her, only a few feet away.

"Good afternoon Jess."

"Good afternoon, Dr. Hilton."

Nurse Jessy fell into step beside her, adjusting the files tucked against her chest. Then, as if remembering something, she turned toward her. "Someone was looking for you. He came in earlier this morning. I told him you hadn't arrived yet, so he said he'd wait."