Chapter 7 - A Fragile Heartbeat
At 2:00 AM, the monitors in Room 314 began to screech.
Tyler bolted awake from the vinyl recliner beside Maya’s bed. Nurses poured into the room, their faces taut with practiced urgency.
"Fetal decelerations! Heart rate dropping into the sixties!" a nurse called out.
Maya was writhing, clutching Tyler’s hand with astonishing strength. "Tyler! It hurts... something’s wrong!"
Dr. Charles arrived within seconds, checking the sonogram monitor. "The abruption is expanding. The placenta is separating completely. We can't wait any longer. Prep the OR for an emergency cesarean section right now!"
The bed was unlocked, wheels screaming down the hall toward the surgical suite. Tyler ran alongside, refusing to release Maya's hand.
"Look at me, Maya," Tyler pleaded, tears blurring his vision. "Keep your eyes on me. You are the strongest person I have ever known. Our daughter is going to live. You hear me? She is going to live."
May you like
"I love you, Tyler... protect her..." Maya gasped before the double doors swung shut, cutting Tyler off at the sterile red line.
He stood in the empty corridor, dropping to his knees against the wall. He had faced armed suspects without flinching, but here, utterly powerless, he wept into his hands, praying to whatever grace governed the universe to spare the lives of the two innocent souls who defined his world.
