Chapter 2 - A Cold Welcome
The blinding fluorescent lights of the emergency room rushed past me in a dizzying blur.
Nurses shouted medical codes, pushing my gurney through the double doors with frantic urgency.
The pain was no longer coming in waves; it was a constant, suffocating ocean.
“Get her to delivery room four, stat!” a doctor barked, reviewing the notes the paramedics handed him.
They transferred me to the hospital bed, hooking up monitors that immediately began to beep frantically.
Suddenly, the heavy doors swung open again, and my stomach plummeted.
Marcus strode into the room, followed closely by his mother, Eleanor.
“What is the meaning of this?” Marcus demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Sir, you need to scrub in or step outside,” the head nurse commanded without looking up.
Eleanor scoffed loudly, her silk scarf fluttering as she rolled her eyes.
“She’s barely thirty-five weeks, this is obviously just a false alarm for sympathy,” Eleanor sneered.
I gripped the bed rails, finding a sudden burst of rage to fight through the pain.
“Get them out of here!” I screamed, my voice cracking under the strain.
Marcus glared at me, his eyes devoid of any warmth or paternal instinct.
“You’re still my wife, and I have legal rights to be in this room,” he threatened coldly.
“Not anymore,” a deep, commanding voice interrupted from the hallway.
Judge Sterling stood in the doorway, having followed the ambulance in his personal car.
He flashed a judicial badge to the hospital security guards flanking the entrance.
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“Remove this man and his mother; they are a threat to the patient’s well-being,” the judge ordered.
Security grabbed Marcus by the arms, and for the first time, I saw genuine fear in my husband's eyes as they dragged him away.
