Chapter 6 - THE UNSPOKEN QUESTION
Dominic stopped, his hands pressing against the cool glass of the double doors, his head hanging low as he fought to regain control over his trembling body.
"She called me," Dominic whispered, his voice cracking slightly—a rare, fragile sound that no man in Chicago had ever heard from the head of the Vale empire. "She disappeared eight months ago without a word... and then she called me ten minutes ago. She said her baby was being born."
The Older Nurse looked at him for a long, silent moment. She observed the raw pain in his dark eyes, the soaked wool coat dripping onto the linoleum, and the utter lack of malice or deception in his frantic posture.
She realized, with a sudden pang of deep sorrow, that the powerful, intimidating man standing before her had been kept completely in the dark.
She lowered her voice, taking a small step closer so the Young Nurse couldn't hear.
"You really don't know why she called you, do you?" the Older Nurse asked softly, her eyes searching his face.
Dominic went completely, utterly still.
The rain continued to pour against the high hospital windows outside. The hum of the fluorescent lights seemed to grow deafeningly loud.
He slowly turned his head to look at her, his dark brows drawing together in profound confusion. He looked at the nurse's sympathetic face, then down at the closed aluminum chart clutched in her hands—the secret pages hidden beneath her fingers, content that the camera and the world would never be allowed to read.
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"What...?" Dominic breathed, his heart stopping in his chest. "What are you talking about?"
The Older Nurse didn't answer. She simply closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and turned back toward the labor ward doors, leaving the terrifying truth hanging suspended in the cold hospital air.
