Chapter 4 - So Am I|
“Where is my daughter?”
The question was spoken with such terrifying, icy composure that Nurse Priya involuntarily backed away from the desk, almost dropping the receiver.
“She’s... she’s in the maternity unit at St. Catherine’s Hospital, Mr. Osei,” Priya stammered, her voice shaking. “She has blunt force injuries, and she’s experiencing severe contractions. The obstetric team is assessing her now.”
There was a long silence on the line.
It wasn't the panic of a frantic parent. It was the deliberate, calculating silence of a apex predator measuring its distance from its prey.
“Put the attending physician on,” Marcus ordered.
Dr. Hargrove, the chief of obstetrics, snatched the phone from Priya while keeping his eyes locked on my fetal monitor.
“This is Dr. Hargrove,” he said crisply.
“Give me an immediate medical summary,” my father said.
“Your daughter has sustained blunt-force trauma to her shoulder and upper thigh,” Hargrove explained quickly. “At thirty-three weeks, our primary concern is placental abruption and induced premature labor. The baby’s heartbeat is spiking, but it remains stable for the moment.”
“At the moment,” Marcus repeated.
“Yes, sir.”
“Is Mara conscious?”
“She is.”
“Hand her the phone.”
Dr. Hargrove stepped close to my bed and pressed the receiver against my ear.
“Dad?” I whimpered, the tears finally overflowing and dripping down my bruised cheeks.
“Mara,” my father breathed.
Hearing his voice—the same steady voice that had read me bedtime stories and taught me how to change a flat tire—completely broke down my emotional walls.
“I’m so sorry, Dad,” I sobbed into the receiver. “I should have told you... I should have told you Silas was turning cruel. I thought I could fix it myself.”
“Listen to me, Mara,” my father replied, his tone softer now, wrapped in a profound tenderness that made my chest ache. “You never apologize for surviving something you did not cause. Do you understand me?”
A violent contraction ripped through my lower body, causing me to gasp loudly for air.
Marcus heard it instantly.
“Are you afraid, my girl?” he asked softly.
“I’m terrified, Dad,” I whispered. “I’m so scared for my baby.”
On the other end of the line, six thousand miles away, the man who had secretly brought down corrupt governments without blinking took a slow breath.
“So am I,” Marcus confessed softly.
The admission stunned me. My father had always seemed invincible.
“I am coming to you now,” Marcus continued, his voice hardening into solid steel. “Until I arrive, listen to the doctors. Tell the police everything. Do not protect Silas. Do not protect his company. And do not protect me.”
“What do you mean, don't protect you?” I asked, confused.
May you like
But the line had already gone dead.
|
