Chapter 13 - Six Weeks Early
Everything after that happened too fast.
Ryan shouted for help.
A courthouse deputy brought a chair.
An ambulance arrived.
The hospital staff rushed me upstairs.
I was only thirty-four weeks pregnant.
Too early.
Not impossibly early.
But early enough to scare me.
Ryan stayed beside me.
“You're okay.”
I looked at him.
“You don't know that.”
“No.”
He pressed his forehead against mine.
“But I'm here.”
Hours passed.
The doctors slowed things temporarily.
Then the baby's heart rate changed.
The room filled with people.
I heard medical words.
Decelerations.
Position.
Monitoring.
Possible delivery.
Ryan's hand never left mine.
Our daughter arrived just after midnight.
Small.
Angry.
Beautiful.
She cried immediately.
I cried harder.
They took her to the neonatal unit for observation.
Ryan followed her only after I told him to.
When he returned, he had tears all over his face.
“She grabbed my finger.”
I smiled weakly.
“What did you tell her?”
“That her mother is the bravest person I know.”
I rolled my eyes.
“She's one hour old.”
“She agreed with me.”
For one brief moment, Diane disappeared from our world.
Then Ryan's phone rang.
His attorney.
He stepped into the hallway.
When he returned, his expression was grim.
“What?”
“My mother wasn't arrested.”
“Why?”
“The detective questioned her, but the financial investigation isn't ready.”
I sank back against the pillow.
Ryan continued.
“She left Charlotte.”
“Where?”
“No one knows.”
Then he looked toward the neonatal unit.
“We'll find her.”
I reached for his hand.
“No.”
He frowned.
“Claire—”
“Don't spend our daughter's first day chasing your mother.”
His face softened.
I squeezed his fingers.
“She has taken enough.”
Ryan nodded.
For three days, we focused on our baby.
We named her Grace.
She gained strength.
She breathed without help.
She wrapped her tiny fingers around Ryan's thumb.
Then, on the fourth morning, a nurse entered my room carrying flowers.
“Delivery for Mrs. Carter.”
I saw the card.
My chest tightened.
No sender.
Ryan opened it.
WELCOME TO THE FAMILY, GRACE.
Underneath was another sentence.
YOUR GRANDFATHER WOULD HAVE WANTED THE TRUTH TO COME OUT.
Ryan stared at the card.
Then he turned it over.
An address was written on the back.
Charleston.
May you like
Evelyn's address.
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