Chapter 7 - The Valley of the Shadow
The hospital corridors seemed longer and darker as I ran toward the maternity ward.
The peaceful thump-thump of the heart monitor I had heard earlier was gone,
replaced by the frantic chirping of alarms.
Nurses were rushing in and out of Gwen’s room,
their faces grim and determined.
I was stopped at the door by a nurse who placed a firm hand on my chest.
"Mr. Dawson,
you need to stay back,"
she said.
"Her placenta is abrupted."
"She's hemorrhaging."
The world turned into a nightmare of white coats and metallic clanging.
I saw Gwen through the window,
her face as white as the sheets,
her eyes rolling back as they prepped her for an emergency C-section.
She looked at me for one split second,
a look of pure,
unadulterated fear.
"Save the baby,"
she mouthed,
before the oxygen mask was placed over her face.
I was pushed into a small waiting alcove,
the silence there even more terrifying than the noise in the hall.
I fell to my knees,
the same way Gwen had been forced to do,
but I wasn't picking up bones.
I was praying to a God I hadn't spoken to in years.
I promised everything—
my wealth,
my company,
my own life—
if only she and the baby could survive.
The minutes stretched into an hour.
Then two.
The sun began to rise,
casting a pale blue light over the hospital parking lot.
It was a new day,
but for me,
it felt like the end of the world.
Every time a doctor walked by,
my heart stopped.
Every time a phone rang,
I jumped.
Finally,
Dr. Aris came out,
his surgical mask hanging around his neck.
He was covered in blood,
and his eyes were red with exhaustion.
He didn't say a word.
He just walked over and put his hand on my shoulder.
The weight of his hand felt like a death sentence.
"Lucas,"
he breathed.
"It was touch and go for a while."
"She lost a lot of blood."
"The malnutrition made it harder for her body to clot."
I couldn't breathe.
"And the baby?"
I managed to whisper.
The doctor smiled,
a small,
weary flicker of light.
"He’s a fighter,
Lucas."
"He’s small,
only four pounds,
but he’s breathing on his own."
"And Gwen?"
"She’s in recovery."
"She’s stable,
but she has a long road ahead of her."
I slumped against the wall,
the tears finally coming,
unbidden and uncontrollable.
I had almost lost them.
Because of a folder,
I had found them.
May you like
Because of a prayer,
I had kept them.
