Chapter 18 - The Hospital Vigil
"We have a pulse!" the paramedic shouted on the pool deck. "It's weak, but he's back! Get the oxygen mask on him! We need to move, now!"
Valeria collapsed against Aunt Elena, sobbing with an overwhelming, crushing relief as they loaded Daniel onto a stretcher. The nightmare at the estate was finally over, but the battle for Daniel's life had only just begun.
Hours later, the sterile, glaring white lights of the intensive care unit at the city's premier hospital hummed quietly. Valeria lay in a specialized maternity bed, hooked up to a myriad of IV lines and fetal monitors. The steady, rhythmic thump-thump-thump of her baby's heartbeat filled the room—a beautiful, defiant sound of survival.
Aunt Elena sat in a chair beside her, holding a cup of hot tea in her trembling hands.
"The doctor said your baby is perfectly fine, Valeria," Elena said softly, offering a comforting, tired smile. "You protected her. You both did."
"Where is he, Elena?" Valeria whispered, staring at the ceiling. "I need to see him."
"He is in the critical care ward down the hall. They have him on a ventilator to help his lungs heal from the water. He was deprived of oxygen for a very long time."
Valeria pushed the blankets off her legs, gritting her teeth against the exhaustion radiating through her bones.
"Valeria, what are you doing? You need to rest!"
"I am not resting while my husband is fighting for his life alone in a room," Valeria stated with absolute, unyielding determination. "Get me a wheelchair. Please."
Elena knew better than to argue with a mother who had just survived hell. She flagged down a nurse, and together, they wheeled Valeria down the quiet, polished corridors of the ICU.
May you like
They stopped outside a glass-walled room. Daniel lay perfectly still on the bed, surrounded by a terrifying array of beeping machines and monitors. A thick plastic tube was taped to his mouth, breathing for him. Valeria wheeled herself right up to the edge of the bed. She reached through the tangle of wires and took his pale, cold hand, pressing it against her cheek.
"I'm here, Daniel," she wept quietly. "I'm right here. You have to wake up. We still have a life to build."
