Chapter 7 - DELIVERY DAY
Labor began before the scheduled procedure.
At 2:17 A.M., Leah woke with sharp pressure across her abdomen.
Mae checked her immediately.
Within minutes, the room filled.
The baby’s heart rate dipped.
Dr. Rusk was called.
Leah did not want her.
There was no time.
A second obstetrician, Dr. Howard Lee, arrived and assumed emergency care.
That may have saved everything.
Leah was taken for urgent cesarean delivery.
Nathan appeared in surgical clothing.
He stood beside her head.
For one moment, he looked like the husband she remembered.
Scared.
Tender.
Human.
“I’m here.”
He whispered.
Leah stared at him.
“Are you?”
His face changed.
Then the surgeon said.
“Baby’s coming.”
At 3:06 A.M., a cry filled the operating room.
Leah began sobbing.
Her son was lifted where she could see him.
Red-faced.
Angry.
Alive.
“Hello.”
She whispered.
Nathan started crying too.
They named him Owen.
The name had been chosen months earlier.
For a few minutes, none of the rest existed.
No Doreen.
No psychiatric flag.
No trust.
No Simone.
Only Owen.
Leah touched his cheek.
Then anesthesia pulled her into a deeper fog.
When she woke, the room was dim.
Owen was not beside her.
She panicked.
“Where is my baby?”
Mae appeared immediately.
“Nursery assessment.”
“Why?”
“Routine.”
Leah tried to sit.
Pain tore through her incision.
“Bring him back.”
“I will.”
Mae’s expression told Leah something was wrong.
“What happened?”
Mae lowered her voice.
“Dr. Rusk entered an emergency psychiatric consultation.”
Leah went cold.
“On what basis?”
“She documented that you became combative after surgery.”
“I was unconscious.”
“I know.”
“Who said I was combative?”
Mae looked toward the hallway.
“Nathan.”
Leah stopped breathing.
Minutes later, Owen returned.
Mae rolled the bassinet close.
“Keep him beside you.”
“What happens now?”
“Administration is reviewing everything.”
“Is Adrian here?”
“Downstairs.”
“Why isn’t he here?”
“Doreen told security he wasn’t authorized as family counsel.”
Leah stared at her.
“She’s controlling access.”
Mae nodded.
Then footsteps approached.
Dr. Rusk.
Nathan.
And an unfamiliar man carrying a psychiatric evaluation form.
Mae looked toward Leah.
Then at Owen.
Something in her face changed.
“Stay here.”
She stepped into the hall.
Voices rose.
Five minutes later, Mae returned.
She locked the wheels of Owen’s bassinet.
Grabbed Leah by the elbow.
May you like
And whispered.
“Inside.”
