Chapter 6 - THE HOSPITAL SIEGE
The snow storm had escalated into a full blizzard by the time Daniel reached St. Jude’s Memorial Hospital.
Blood dried on his forehead from the cut above his eye, his jacket was torn, and his heart was pounding against his ribs like a sledgehammer. He burst through the main hospital doors, ignoring the security guards at the front desk who shouted for him to stop.
He ran directly toward the restricted high-risk maternity wing on the third floor.
As he rounded the corner near the nurses' station, he saw Arthur Vance standing outside Room 312, quietly speaking on a cell phone while holding a stack of legal documents.
Vance turned, saw Daniel running toward him covered in blood, and immediately hung up his phone, stepping into the center of the hallway.
"Mr. Carter, I told you—" Vance began, raising his hand.
Daniel didn't slow down. He grabbed Vance by his expensive lapels and slammed him heavily against the wall, pinning him in place.
"Julian Croft is currently in handcuffs at my office," Daniel growled, his face inches from Vance's. "I have his recorded confession. I have the wire transfer logs. And I know you're on his payroll. If you don't step away from that door in three seconds, I will personally throw you through that glass window and let the police deal with what's left of your legal career."
Arthur Vance’s face turned gray. He looked at the blood on Daniel's face, saw the absolute, unhinged fury in his eyes, and slowly raised his hands in surrender.
"Room 312," Vance whispered, sliding sideways down the wall. "She's... she's in distress. The doctors are prepping her for emergency surgery."
Daniel let go of Vance, turned the handle of Room 312, and pushed the door open.
The room was filled with medical equipment. Beeping monitors filled the space with rapid, high-pitched alarms. Two nurses and an attending obstetrician were hovering over the hospital bed where Emma lay.
She looked small, frail, and terribly pale. An IV line was taped to her arm, and an oxygen mask covered her mouth and nose. Her eyes were half-open, glazed with pain and exhaustion, her fingers clutching the bedsheets tightly.
"Sir! You can't be in here!" the doctor barked, turning around. "This is a sterile prep area!"
"Emma!" Daniel cried out, ignoring the doctor and rushing to the side of her bed. He dropped to his knees, grabbing her cold hand and pressing it to his cheek. "Emma, I'm here. I'm right here."
Emma’s head turned slowly toward his voice. Through her blurry vision, she saw his bruised face, the cut above his eye, and the raw tears streaming down his cheeks.
She pulled off her oxygen mask with trembling fingers, her voice barely a whisper. "Daniel...? What... what are you doing here? You were... with her..."
"No, Em. No," Daniel sobbed, pressing his lips to her knuckles. "It was all a lie. All of it. Julian framed us. He sent those emails to you. He stole that money. I never loved anyone but you. I never left you."
Emma stared at him, her chest heaving as she processed his words. "The... the offshore account... the photos..."
"Fake. All created by Julian to tear us apart," Daniel said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. He hit play on the recording of Julian's confession.
Julian’s recorded voice echoed through the quiet hospital room: “The target is unstable... Emma Carter’s blood pressure is spiking as planned... She’ll leave him before the new year...”
The attending doctor listened to the recording, his eyes widening in shock. He looked at the nurse, then at Daniel.
"Doctor!" a nurse called out, looking at the main cardiac monitor. "Her blood pressure is spiking! 190 over 120! We have fetal heart deceleration!"
The monitor began screaming with a flat, continuous warning tone.
"We don't have time!" the doctor shouted, grabbing a syringe. "The placenta is detaching! We need to perform an emergency C-section right now or we lose both of them!"
Emma gasped, her hand tightening around Daniel's with surprising strength. Fear filled her eyes as she looked at her husband.
"Daniel..." she wept, pain tearing through her body. "Save our baby... please..."
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"I'm staying with you," Daniel said, standing up and grabbing her face in both hands, looking directly into her eyes. "Look at me, Emma. Do not close your eyes. You and Maya are coming home. Do you hear me? We are going home together."
The medical team began wheeling the bed violently toward the operating room doors. Daniel ran alongside them, holding Emma's hand until the double metal doors slammed shut in his face, leaving him standing alone in the cold, sterile hallway.
