Chapter 13 - The Melody of Life
The stretcher finally arrived. The paramedics, moving with practiced, urgent efficiency, carefully lifted me onto a rigid spinal board to prevent any further injury to my battered ribs and spine. Every slight movement sent blinding flares of pain through my torso, but I bit my lip, refusing to scream.
"Do not let anyone into the trauma bay," Dr. Mendoza commanded as they wheeled me rapidly down the corridor, leaving the frantic screams of Doña Carmen behind the locked doors of the waiting room.
The trauma bay was a small, brightly lit room filled with monitors and stainless steel equipment. They transferred me onto the main bed. Nurse Lupita was already standing by with the portable fetal Doppler machine in her hands.
My entire universe had shrunk to the space inside my womb. Since the slap, since the brutal fall to the linoleum, I hadn't felt a single flutter. Mateo, who was usually so active in the mornings, was completely and terrifyingly still.
Had I killed him? Had the trauma finally been too much for his tiny heart to bear?
"Valeria, take a deep breath through your nose and let it out slowly," Dr. Mendoza instructed, his voice incredibly calm, trying to anchor my spiraling panic. "I am putting some cold gel on your belly. We need your heart rate to drop so we can hear the little guy."
I nodded weakly, tears leaking from the corners of my tightly squeezed eyes.
The cold gel hit my hot, bruised skin. Dr. Mendoza turned on the Doppler monitor. The room filled with the hissing sound of white static. Shhh... shhh... shhh.
He gently pressed the wand against my lower abdomen, deliberately avoiding the massive purple contusions.
Nothing. Just static.
He moved the wand to the right side. More static. He moved it down near my pelvis.
Thump... thump... thump...
"That is your heartbeat, Valeria," he murmured, his eyes glued to the small digital screen. "It's elevated because you're terrified."
The silence stretched on. Ten seconds. Twenty seconds. It felt like an eternity. Finding a heartbeat at thirty weeks should take seconds.
"Lupita, go get the portable ultrasound machine right now," Dr. Mendoza said, his voice tightening with barely concealed worry. "I don't like this."
"No!" I screamed, a raw, primal sound of absolute terror ripping from my throat. I tried to sit up, fighting against the pain. "Please don't say that! Tell me he is alive! Please!"
Lupita gently but firmly pushed me back by my shoulders. "Calm down, sweetheart. Sometimes they hide when there is a trauma. Don't stress yourself more."
Dr. Mendoza applied more gel and moved the wand higher, pressing slightly deeper just under my ribs, right next to a fading cigarette burn.
The static hissed. And then, faintly cutting through the white noise...
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.
It was fast. Like a tiny horse galloping in the distance.
A sob so massive and profound tore through my chest that I felt I might choke on my own relief. I wept openly, my body shaking violently on the hospital bed.
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"There he is," Dr. Mendoza smiled, letting out a massive sigh that revealed just how terrified he had been. "There is our champion. His heart rate is 130. He is scared, but he is strong. He is clinging to life, just like his mother."
It was the most beautiful melody in the entire world. It was my only reason to keep fighting.
