Chapter 19 - Before the Cry
Daniel reached the hospital before the ambulance did.
He was waiting at the emergency entrance when Emily arrived, pale and furious at the universe.
“This is too early,” she said as nurses wheeled her inside.
“I know.”
“I’m only thirty-three weeks.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying you know.”
“Okay.”
She gripped his hand through another contraction.
“Don’t let go.”
“I won’t.”
The doctors moved fast.
Medication.
Monitoring.
Questions.
The baby’s heart rate dipped, recovered, then dipped again.
Emily saw concern pass between the nurses.
“What is happening?”
Her obstetrician stepped closer.
“We are watching the baby carefully. Right now, she is recovering between contractions, but if that changes, we may need to deliver quickly.”
Daniel’s hand tightened around hers.
Emily turned toward him.
“She?”
The doctor smiled despite the tension.
“You wanted the sex to be a surprise, correct?”
Emily laughed and cried at the same time.
Daniel bent over her hand.
“A girl.”
Another contraction hit.
Hours blurred together.
At 2:18 a.m., the baby’s heart rate dropped and did not recover quickly enough.
The room changed instantly.
The doctor made the call.
“We need to deliver now.”
Daniel went white.
Emily grabbed his shirt.
“You stay with her if they take her.”
“What?”
“If she needs the NICU, you go with her.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Emily—”
“Daniel. Promise me.”
His eyes filled.
“I promise.”
The emergency C-section happened under bright lights and clipped voices.
Emily could not feel pain, only pressure and fear.
Then came silence.
One second.
Two.
Three.
Emily looked toward the medical team.
“Why isn’t she crying?”
Daniel stood near her head, frozen.
Then a tiny sound broke through the room.
Thin.
Angry.
Alive.
Their daughter cried.
Daniel made a sound Emily had never heard from him before and pressed his forehead to hers.
“She’s here.”
The baby weighed four pounds, six ounces.
She needed breathing support and was taken to the NICU.
Daniel followed, exactly as promised.
Hours later, he returned with a photograph.
Emily touched the image with one finger.
“She’s so small.”
“She’s strong.”
Emily smiled weakly.
“What are we naming her?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Your choice.”
Emily stared at the photograph.
“Grace.”
Daniel smiled.
“Grace Hale.”
His phone buzzed.
A message from Leah.
Margaret had changed her mind after Emily left.
She was cooperating fully.
May you like
And she had just admitted something no one had known.
The forged credit line had not been the first account opened in Emily’s name.
