h! Inhale,

with tension, a strange mix of clinical precision and raw human emotion. Monitors beeped steadily, tracking the rhythm of life

y and reassurance, her face glistening with sweat despite the coolness of t

ut she refused to scream-her strength was both silent and fierce. Every breath felt like it might tear her apart, yet she kept going, holding on to the thought of the life she was about to bring into

m birth o

o appear strong. She wiped Audrey's forehead with a damp c

is. "You're almost there," she murmured, e

h the nurse. "Heart rate's dropp

ontraction surged. Her cry filled

the doctor

rey pushed. Time fractured. Sec

cry pierc

over the room l

delicate and translucent, with fused eyelids, his tiny

glimmering in her eyes as she handed the bab

freely. The silence she'd feared was replaced by t

eyes softening. "You did b

red across her face. So tiny. So warm. So real. Her fingers curled instinctively around Audrey's thumb, and in that inst

ife. She had been so certain, so set in her ways. But seeing Audrey like this-fierce,

of a name?" the

r voice barely a

tiny face in her

reign lit

ad, the warmth of her love transcending the uncertain

thief as mother and child were whisked away to the neonatal intensive care unit, where the harsh lights and beeping machines became the new real

as far f

ing shallow, her skin pale. A red code rang out. Nurses scrambled. Blood bags were ordered, an

losin

fingers like sand as she anxiously awaited the news with the weight of uncertainty. She needed no crystal ball to foresee the danger when she saw her daughter being wheeled away on a

thick with tension, punctuated only by

hief surgeon's voice

illatio

es charging echoed

oc

l no

Another injectio

t a peaceful one. A terrible, unrelent

etching painfully long as hope began to feel like a distant dream. Exhaustio

the spark of life within her, the harsh t

to meet her maker, her spirit slippi

d that had fought fier

Years

grueling night he'd spent at Constellar. Three surgeries back-to-back had sapped him dry. He slumped into the de

hone

mories of 13

rey, laughing on a mountaintop trail, su

ia," he

move on, but like a haunting melody

lldozed. Developers had erased it from the map like it never ex

led to a dead end. Somewhere in the shadows of his mind, suspicion simmered-Melissa, could

her?" his father had asked, d

strongly affirm each t

disappearance. He had sincerely clung to the hope that Audrey would return one day-just one day! Days turned into weeks, weeks into mont

o reality by a beep

dead," fr

of blue light, which had deteriorated his vision. He reached for his glasses, peacefully lying on the gla

orld

g away the dam of denial he had clung to for years. S

y sound between them. Max had insisted on driving. His thoughts were too heavy-memories of Audrey, questi

ered home, the air felt like it was holding its brea

ofa, elbows on knees, hands clasped. T

, don'

tur

en biscuit in one hand, his e

eaven, right? " Does tha

r-those same curious eyes, the dimple when he smiled. It broke him and healed

little cous

oss from her in the dim kitchen. The tea between them had long gone

gth, and her dreams of leaving. About Beatrice's quiet forgivenes

ned the child! It wa

low, eyes distant. And it all happened too

'd like to take your little cousin back with me to Salock.

slightly as she set it down. A lifetime of sec

pered, "has her spir

ed, eyes

omise me you'll give him the li

said. "With eve

d be left in gentler hands. She prayed that Regan, growing up beside his un