Chapter 2 - The Sterile Ward
St. Jude’s Memorial was an endless blur of fluorescent lights, squeaking gurney wheels, and frantic medical terminology. Tyler was pushed back into the waiting corridor as the trauma team swarmed Maya. Every closed door felt like a physical blow.
He looked down at his hands. Smudges of hallway dust and faint smears of blood marked his palms. For five years, Tyler had worn the badge with unwavering discipline, believing the world was divided neatly into order and chaos. He had patrolled rough neighborhoods, de-escalated violent disputes, and pulled victims from mangled cars. Yet evil had not come from an alleyway; it had stepped out from the drawing room of his childhood home, dressed in haute couture.
The swinging doors parted an hour later. Dr. Charles, the veteran obstetrician, pulled down his surgical mask, his brow furrowed with exhaustion.
"Officer Vance," the doctor said, keeping his tone professional yet gentle. "Your wife suffered severe abdominal blunt-force trauma. There is a partial placental abruption."
Tyler felt the floor drop from beneath him. "And our child?"
"The fetal heartbeat is unstable, but holding. Maya is stabilized for now, but she has entered preterm labor. She is barely thirty-two weeks. The next forty-eight hours will decide everything. We are administering steroids for the baby's lungs and medications to halt contractions, but you need to prepare yourself."
Tyler nodded numbly. Walking into Maya’s room, the steady, rhythmic beep-beep-beep of the fetal monitor was the only sound anchoring him to reality. Maya looked so small beneath the heavy blankets, monitors taped across her abdomen. When she opened her eyes, tears immediately tracked down her hollow cheeks.
May you like
"I didn't give her the code, Tyler," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "She wanted me to sign away our child's inheritance into her offshore shell company. When I refused, she snapped."
Tyler took her cold hand, kissing her knuckles. "Nothing matters except you and our daughter. Nothing."
