Chapter 2

"Incompetent fools!"

Nicole’s shrill voice echoed from the direction of the NICU. She came storming back down the corridor.

"My grandson is in a plastic box with tubes down his throat!" she screamed at a terrified young nurse trailing behind her. "This hospital is an absolute disgrace! The butcher who performed that surgery probably damaged him!"

"Ma'am, the baby is only thirty-two weeks," the nurse stammered, backing away. "The doctor saved his life—"

"Don't you dare talk back to me!" Nicole shrieked.

An elderly woman, leaning heavily on a silver walker, was slowly making her way down the hall. Startled by Nicole's sudden, violent outburst, the woman froze, her walker clattering loudly against the wall.

"Move out of my way, you old bat!" Nicole snapped. She raised her heavy designer handbag, ready to shove the frail woman aside.

Instinct overrode my devastation. I rushed forward, stepping squarely between the terrified patient and my raging mother-in-law.

"Back away from her," I ordered. "You are completely out of control."

"How dare you speak to me!" she spat. "You are nothing!"

Before I could brace myself, Nicole lunged. She planted both of her manicured hands firmly on my chest and shoved me with all her strength.

The sheer force caught me off guard. My rubber-soled shoes slipped on the freshly waxed linoleum.

I flew backward, my arms flailing wildly for a handhold that simply wasn't there.

I hit the ground hard.

My lower back slammed brutally against the sharp metal edge of a crash cart before I crumpled to the floor.

A blinding, white-hot pain ripped through my lower abdomen. It was a sharp, tearing agony that instantly stole the breath from my burning lungs.

I gasped, curling into a tight, defensive ball on the freezing tiles.

Then, I felt it. A warm, terrifying trickle of liquid pooling between my thighs. Blood.

"Mom! What is going on?"

Nathan. He rushed down the hallway, his face pale, still wearing the oversized scrubs from his pathetic fainting spell in the OR.

"This... this quack is assaulting me!" Nicole lied smoothly, pointing an accusatory finger at my crumpled, agonizing form. "She ruined Victoria's delivery and now she's physically attacking the patients' families! Call security!"

Nathan didn't hesitate. He never did when it came to his mother. He marched over to me, completely ignoring my desperate, breathless gasps of pain.

He grabbed my upper arm. His fingers dug into my flesh like iron vices. He yanked me upward, his grip bruising and merciless.

"Apologize to my mother right now," Nathan demanded, his voice dripping with arrogant venom. "You incompetent hack. You almost killed the mother of my child, and now you're harassing my mother? I will end your pathetic career."

I couldn't speak. The pain was too intense. The blood was soaking through my green scrub pants, warm and sticky against my skin.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Nathan roared.

In his blind fury, he reached out and violently ripped the surgical mask and cap from my head.

My dark hair tumbled down around my shoulders. I forced my heavy eyes open, meeting his furious, self-righteous gaze.

The silence that followed was deafening.

Nathan froze. The color completely drained from his face, leaving him looking like a terrified ghost. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. His brutal grip on my arm loosened, his fingers going entirely slack.

Behind him, Nicole gasped loudly. Her expensive handbag slipped from her grasp, hitting the floor with a dull thud.

She had recognized me earlier, but seeing me broken and bleeding at her own hands finally pierced her wicked delusion.

"Candice?" Nathan whispered. His voice was a fragile, broken thread. "What... what are you doing here?"

He looked at my pale face, then down at my scrubs. His eyes widened in absolute, unadulterated horror as he finally registered the massive, spreading pool of crimson blood on the floor beneath me.

"Candice, you're bleeding," he stammered. He took a step back, his hands shaking violently.

I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to tell him that I delivered his bastard child. I wanted to tell him that I knew everything about his filthy lies.

But the pain flared again, sharper and more vicious than before. The edges of my vision began to blur, turning black and fuzzy. The sterile hospital lights above me spun wildly out of control.

"Help her!" Nathan suddenly screamed, panic finally breaking through his thick skull. "Somebody help my wife!"

His pathetic words faded into a distant echo. The darkness rushed in, swallowing the pain, the betrayal, and the sight of my husband's terrified face. I collapsed completely, letting the void take me.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The rhythmic sound of a heart monitor pulled me from the heavy, suffocating darkness.

I forced my heavy eyelids open. The harsh fluorescent lights blinded me for a moment. I blinked, trying to clear my blurry vision. I was in a recovery room. The familiar smell of antiseptic and clean linens surrounded me.

My body felt incredibly heavy, anchored to the bed by a profound, hollow ache in my lower abdomen.

I turned my head slowly.

Sarah, my closest colleague and the head of the OB-GYN department, was sitting in the chair beside my bed. She was clutching my hand tightly between both of hers.

Tears were streaming down her face, leaving shiny tracks on her cheeks.

"Sarah?" I croaked. My throat was dry and scratchy. "What... what happened?"

Sarah choked back a sob. She squeezed my hand, her eyes filled with a devastating, unbearable sorrow.

"Candice, I am so, so sorry," she whispered, her voice breaking.

Panic spiked in my chest. "What is it? Am I injured? The fall..."

"You were bleeding heavily when they brought you in," Sarah explained, her voice trembling. She took a shaky breath, struggling to get the words out. "We did an ultrasound immediately. Candice... you were pregnant."

The world stopped spinning. The air vanished from the room.

"Pregnant?" I echoed. The word sounded foreign, impossible. "No. That's impossible. Nathan and I... we tried for seven years. I'm barren. The specialists said..."

"The specialists were wrong," Sarah cried, tears falling freely now. "You were exactly eight weeks along. It was a miracle baby, Candice. A perfectly healthy, growing little miracle."

My free hand drifted down to my stomach. It was flat. Empty. The hollow ache suddenly made terrifying, agonizing sense.

"Was?" I whispered. The word tasted like ash in my mouth.

Sarah let out a heartbreaking sob and bowed her head. "The trauma from the fall. The violent impact. It caused a severe placental abruption. We tried everything, Candice. We rushed you into emergency surgery, but the damage was too extensive."

She looked up at me, her eyes reflecting my own shattered soul.

"You lost the baby, Candice. I'm so sorry. You miscarried."

A deafening roar filled my ears. It was the sound of my entire universe collapsing into dust.