Chapter 6: The Baby’s Heartbeat Disappeared
Daniel ran through the hospital doors shouting Emily’s name.
A nurse tried to stop him. “Sir!”
“Move!”
He reached the room and saw doctors surrounding Emily’s bed.
Emily was crying. “Daniel! I can’t hear the heartbeat!”
The monitor showed a flat silence.
Daniel gripped the bed rail. “No. No, no, no.”
The doctor shouted, “Prepare emergency delivery!”
Emily screamed, “Save my baby!”
Daniel grabbed her hand. “Look at me. Stay with me.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know. I’m here.”
A nurse rushed in with papers. “Consent form.”
Daniel signed without reading.
The doctor turned to him. “We need to operate now.”
Emily pulled him closer. “If you have to choose…”
“No.”
“Daniel—”
“I’m not choosing. You both come back.”
They pushed her toward surgery.
In the hallway, Detective Lane stopped Daniel. “We found the false medication order.”
“Who signed it?”
Lane looked grim. “Your mother’s personal physician.”
“Where is he?”
“Gone.”
Daniel punched the wall. “Find him.”
Michael, pale but awake on a nearby bed, called out, “Daniel…”
Daniel rushed to him. “You should be resting.”
Michael held up his phone. “Clara just sent me this.”
It was a video.
Clara stood in Emily’s hospital room earlier, wearing a nurse’s coat.
She whispered to the camera, “Victoria said Daniel will forgive me when the baby is gone.”
Daniel nearly dropped the phone.
Michael said, “She recorded herself by accident. Sent it to me instead of your mother.”
Detective Lane took the phone. “This is enough for an arrest.”
Daniel looked toward the operating doors. “Then arrest her.”
Hours felt like years.
Finally, the surgeon came out.
Daniel stood. “Emily?”
“She survived.”
Daniel almost fell with relief. “The baby?”
The surgeon’s face softened.
“We delivered a baby girl. She is alive, but weak. She needs NICU care.”
Daniel covered his mouth.
Michael cried from his bed. “A girl?”
Daniel laughed through tears. “A girl.”
Then the surgeon added, “There is one more thing.”
Daniel froze. “What?”
“The medication did not come through hospital supply.”
Detective Lane frowned. “Then where?”
The surgeon held up a sealed bag.
“It was injected through Emily’s IV by someone wearing a staff badge.”
Daniel looked at the badge inside the bag.
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The name printed on it was not Clara.
It was Victoria Hart.
