Chapter 2
The ambulance doors opened before the vehicle had completely stopped.
Doctors pulled Khloe through the emergency entrance while Harrison ran beside the stretcher.
“Her blood pressure is dropping,” a paramedic shouted.
“Possible placental abruption.”
Khloe heard the words, but she did not understand them.
She understood only the silence inside her body.
Her baby still was not moving.
A nurse blocked Harrison at the operating-room doors.
“You need to wait here.”
“She’s terrified.”
“We have to move now.”
Khloe reached toward him.
“Harrison!”
He caught her fingers for one final second.
“I’m right outside,” he said. “You fight for that baby.”
The doors slammed shut between them.
Inside the operating room, bright lights burned above Khloe’s face.
A doctor leaned over her.
“Khloe, your placenta has separated from the uterus. Your baby isn’t getting enough oxygen.”
“Save her.”
“We’re going to perform an emergency cesarean.”
“Do whatever you have to do.”
A nurse placed a mask over Khloe’s mouth.
“Count backward from ten.”
Khloe reached ten.
Then nine.
She never reached eight.
Outside, Harrison paced the hallway with blood on his shirt.
He called their mother, Diane.
When she answered, he could barely speak.
“Mom, you need to come to St. Matthew’s.”
“What happened?”
“Vanessa pushed Khloe down the courthouse steps.”
Silence filled the line.
Then Diane whispered, “And Richard?”
“He watched.”
Diane arrived twenty minutes later.
Her hair was uncombed, and she was still wearing her house slippers.
“Where is she?”
“In surgery.”
“What about the baby?”
“I don’t know.”
Diane sat down, but she could not remain still.
She stood again and faced her son.
“You told me Richard was cruel. I should have listened.”
“This isn’t your fault.”
“I kept telling Khloe marriage required patience.”
“You didn’t know he would do this.”
Diane covered her mouth.
“I knew he was hurting her.”
Harrison froze.
“What do you mean?”
“Last month, I saw bruises on her wrist. She said she had fallen against a door.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because she begged me not to.”
Before Harrison could respond, two detectives entered the waiting area.
Detective Lena Ortiz introduced herself.
“Vanessa Cole is being held on suspicion of aggravated assault. Richard Hale is being questioned.”
“Suspicion?” Harrison said. “There were witnesses.”
“There’s something else you should know. Richard claims Khloe planned the incident to influence the divorce.”
Diane stared at her.
“He says my daughter threw herself down the stairs?”
“Yes.”
Harrison stepped forward.
“That monster.”
Detective Ortiz remained calm.
“The courthouse cameras recorded everything. His story won’t survive.”
“Then charge him.”
“We intend to. But we found messages between him and Vanessa discussing Khloe’s pregnancy.”
Harrison’s anger turned cold.
“What kind of messages?”
The detective hesitated.
“They were worried the baby would affect a financial agreement.”
A doctor appeared before she could say more.
Harrison and Diane rushed toward him.
“Khloe survived the surgery,” he said.
Diane burst into tears.
“And the baby?” Harrison asked.
The doctor lowered his voice.
“A girl was delivered. She weighs four pounds, three ounces.”
“Is she alive?”
“She is, but she was without adequate oxygen. She’s in the neonatal intensive care unit.”
Harrison closed his eyes.
“Can we see Khloe?”
“She’s unconscious. There were complications, and she lost a dangerous amount of blood.”
“How dangerous?”
The doctor looked at both of them.
“The next twelve hours are critical.”
A nurse led them to a window overlooking the neonatal unit.
Behind the glass, a tiny baby lay inside an incubator.
Tubes covered her body.
A machine breathed for her.
Diane pressed her palm against the glass.
“That’s my granddaughter.”
Harrison stood beside her.
“She’s fighting.”
His phone rang.
The caller was Richard.
Harrison almost ignored it.
Then he answered.
“What do you want?”
Richard’s voice was low.
“If Khloe wakes up, tell her to drop the charges.”
Harrison tightened his grip on the phone.
“Your daughter is on a breathing machine.”
May you like
Richard paused.
Then he said, “That changes nothing.”
