Chapter 10 - THE PREMATURE DELIVERY
The contractions intensified before dawn.
Dr. Patel examined me and found early cervical changes.
The trauma, sedative exposure, and stress had triggered premature labor.
Medication slowed it temporarily.
It did not stop it.
At 5:46 a.m., one baby’s heart rate dropped.
The room filled with nurses.
Dr. Patel took my hand.
“We need to deliver now.”
Fear swallowed every thought.
“They’re too small.”
“They are strong enough to have a chance.”
Elias stood at the doorway.
“I’ll be outside.”
I grabbed his sleeve.
“Don’t disappear.”
“I won’t.”
The operating room lights were painfully bright.
An anesthesiologist explained the procedure.
I heard words about blood pressure and neonatal teams.
Then a clear barrier rose between my face and the surgeons.
At 6:12 a.m., a cry cut through the room.
Small.
Angry.
Perfect.
My daughter was born first.
My son followed forty-three seconds later.
He did not cry immediately.
The neonatal team worked around him.
I stared at the ceiling and begged every person I had ever loved to keep him alive.
Then he made one sharp sound.
The entire room seemed to breathe.
Both babies were taken to intensive care.
I saw only a glimpse of tiny faces beneath hospital caps.
When I woke in recovery, Elias sat beside me.
“They’re alive.”
“Both?”
“Both.”
I began crying.
He bent his head over my hand.
Detective Bennett entered minutes later.
Graham and Vivian had received notice of the delivery.
Susan Bell sent it before police reached her.
A forged transport team was already moving toward the hospital.
Rather than stop the vehicle outside, investigators allowed it to approach.
They wanted everyone involved.
At 7:03 a.m., a private ambulance entered the service bay.
Two men wore paramedic uniforms.
Susan sat in the front passenger seat.
Dr. Lane waited in the rear with two empty infant carriers.
Graham and Vivian followed in another car.
They believed I was unconscious.
They believed the twins’ records had been changed.
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They believed they were minutes away from leaving with my children.
Instead, federal agents closed the garage doors behind them.
