Chapter 17 - The Longest Night

The storm had closed the coastal highway in one direction.

Nathan drove the other.

Emma gripped the door handle through each contraction while rain hammered the windshield.

"Slow down."

"I'm doing forty."

"It feels like ninety."

"Okay. Thirty-five."

"Nathan! Not that slow!"

For one wild second, they both laughed.

Then another contraction hit and Emma screamed.

At the hospital, Priya met them in scrubs.

Labor was not gentle.

Fourteen hours blurred into pain, ice chips, monitor alarms, and Nathan asking permission before every touch.

"Can I hold your hand?"

"Yes."

"Can I rub your back?"

"No."

"Got it."

At hour eleven, Emma grabbed his shirt and snarled, "If you ever tell anyone I said I wanted a natural birth, I will kill you."

Nathan nodded solemnly. "I have never heard you say those words in my life."

Then the baby's heart rate dropped.

The room changed instantly.

Nurses moved faster.

Priya's voice became sharp.

"Emma, I need you on your side."

Nathan stepped back as ordered.

The monitor recovered.

Then dropped again.

"We may need an emergency C-section," Priya said.

Emma looked at Nathan, terrified.

"The baby?"

"We're moving now."

Nathan followed until a nurse stopped him outside the operating room.

"You'll wait here."

"I'm her husband."

Emma, already being wheeled through the doors, called out, "Let him come if he can."

The nurse checked with Priya.

A moment later, Nathan was changing into scrubs with shaking hands.

Inside the operating room, Emma's blood pressure suddenly crashed.

"Nathan?" she whispered.

He leaned close.

"I'm here."

"If something happens—"

"No."

"Listen to me. If something happens, you protect the baby from all of this. From the company. From the family. From anyone who thinks money makes them entitled."

Nathan's eyes filled.

"I promise."

"And don't turn him into you."

The words hit hard.

Nathan nodded anyway.

"I promise that too."

A thin cry suddenly cut through the room.

Their son.

Nathan covered his mouth.

Emma started sobbing.

"Is he okay?"

A nurse lifted the tiny, furious baby.

"He's beautiful."

Then Priya's expression changed.

"Her bleeding is heavier than I want."

Nathan looked from his son to Emma.

The room filled with urgent voices.

A nurse carried the baby toward him.

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Nathan did not reach out.

"Take care of her first," he said. "Please. Take care of Emma."