Saving lives is my bottom line as a doctor. It always has been.
"No. I gave birth to a healthy son. I want you to give me back a healthy son.
"Without him, Clint will find out I cheated. He won't marry me.
"I'm going to be a rich man's wife. I'm going to live in luxury."
She bared her teeth, her eyes bloodshot, fingers twisting the sterile green drape beneath her.
In her eyes I was the one robbing her of a lifetime of wealth.
She lurched to her feet on the surgical table, hunched over me, and locked both hands around my throat. "Find a healthy baby and bring it here. Or I'm dragging you down with me."
The child was nothing to her but a bargaining chip to claw her way up. As long as she could use it, as long as the lie held, nothing else mattered—not a trace of a mother's love for her own son.
A chill ran through me.
Whatever patience I'd been holding onto burned away in an instant.
But before I could pry her hands off, her strength gave out and she collapsed back onto the table with a dull thud.
I stared her down, every syllable dropping like ice. "If you're still refusing surgery, fine. We bring your family into this. Are they here yet?"
"You haven't given me back a healthy son. You have no right to tell my family anything. Don't you dare contact him."
She probably didn't realize that in a situation like this, the hospital would have notified her family immediately.
Just then, Head Nurse Carter opened the door and came in, finding an excuse to pull me aside near the entrance.
A quick glance toward Rowena—satisfied she wasn't listening—and Helen pressed her mouth close to my ear. "The baby was found in a trash can in the men's restroom. They're trying to resuscitate him, but..."
Her gaze fell. A tear hung at the corner of her eye, and her voice came out scraped hollow. "He's not going to make it."
The door slammed open.
Clint barged in.
Our eyes met, and he recognized me instantly.
"Muriel, who's not going to make it?"
Whoever had hurt the baby might still be somewhere in the hospital.
I suggested checking the security footage, and Helen Carter took the chance to hurry off to the security office.
Rowena flung herself out of bed—hemorrhaging, barely upright—and crumpled to the floor after two steps. Her eyes flooded red, tears pooling. "Clint, I begged them for so long. They knew I was hemorrhaging, knew my life was on the line, and they still refused to save me.