Chapter 10 - TOO EARLY
The drive to the hospital felt endless.
Daniel sat beside Elena in the ambulance.
“Stay with me.”
“I’m here.”
“Look at me.”
She did.
His hand held hers.
“I'm sorry.”
Elena shook her head.
“Don't.”
“I should've known.”
“How?”
“I should've questioned everything.”
“You were lied to.”
“So were you.”
Another contraction came.
Elena squeezed his hand.
Daniel leaned closer.
“You're not doing this alone.”
At the hospital, doctors rushed Elena upstairs.
Daniel was left standing beneath fluorescent lights with blood from a small cut on his hand and ash still covering his shirt.
Rachel arrived twenty minutes later.
“Vanessa is in custody.”
“Marcus?”
“We got him.”
Daniel nodded.
“And Elena?”
Rachel asked.
“Thirty-two weeks.”
Daniel stared at the operating room doors.
“They're trying to stop the labor.”
Rachel sat beside him.
“There’s something else.”
Daniel looked over.
“We found additional recordings in Marcus's home.”
“What kind?”
“Your father.”
Daniel's expression changed.
Rachel hesitated.
“The medical examiner is reopening Charles's case.”
Daniel looked down.
“Do they think Marcus killed him?”
“We don't know yet.”
A doctor suddenly appeared.
“Mr. Whitmore?”
Daniel stood.
“How is she?”
“Stable.”
Daniel exhaled.
“And the baby?”
The doctor smiled.
“For now, still exactly where we want her.”
Daniel blinked.
“Her?”
The doctor nodded.
May you like
“You're having a daughter.”
For the first time that night, Daniel smiled.
