I didn’t tell anyone outside of my family. I simply stated the facts.
Monica had breached patient confidentiality. She had shared private, sensitive medical information without consent.
While my case hadn’t ended in tragedy, another patient might not be so lucky.
A soft breeze drifted through the open window, stirring the papers on the table, brushing my skin like a nudge forward.
I took a deep breath and clicked submit.
At the OB’s office, the manager listened carefully, her face grave and still.
Later, I learned that Monica had previously completed, and signed, a mandatory confidentiality training, explicitly reaffirming that she understood the rules she had broken.
They took it seriously. Very seriously.
A few days later, Monica was placed under internal investigation and suspended while the clinic decided her fate.
At dinner one evening, my mom twisted her fork through her mashed potatoes, her voice barely above a whisper.
“She’s losing everything, Mischa. Her job.
Her reputation. She called me earlier today.”
I stared down at my own plate, the food untouched and cold, feeling both heavier and lighter at once.
“I didn’t do that,” I said quietly. “Monica did.”
There’s a difference between being kind and being a doormat.
There’s a difference between forgiveness and allowing someone to hurt others just because they didn’t hurt you badly enough.
Forgiveness doesn’t erase consequences.
It just means that you don’t let their actions define your future.
Weeks passed.
The early spring sun grew warmer, wrapping the afternoons in gold. My belly grew. My excitement grew.
And so did my confidence.
I told people about my pregnancy on my own terms, in my own words, in my own time. Not because someone stole the story from me. But because I chose to share it.
The first time I posted my ultrasound photo online, I hesitated, staring at the screen, my thumb trembling slightly over the button.
Tiny fingers.
A curled-up nose. A future that was still mine to shape.
I smiled.
Not everyone deserves access to every part of your story. Especially the parts you’re still writing.
What would you have done?
Source: amomama
