I don't know how long I sat there.
Time meant nothing. The hallway was cold. My hands were covered in her blood.
And our baby was dead.
The door opened.
I looked up. Dr. Chen stood there, exhausted. Blood on her scrubs.
"She's stable," she said. "For now."
I couldn't speak. Couldn't form words around the grief choking me.
"Kade." Dr. Chen knelt in front of me. "I need you to listen very carefully."
I nodded. Barely.
"I kept working after you left. Tried everything I could think of." She paused. "And I found it. The faintest flutter. So small I almost missed it."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
"The baby's heartbeat. It came back."
The words didn't make sense. Couldn't make sense.
"That's not possible."
"I know. But I'm looking at the monitor right now. Weak. Irregular. But there."
