Chapter 7 - THE BLOODLINE SECRET
The heavy silence hanging between Dominic and the Older Nurse was shattered by the sharp sound of a heart rate monitor accelerating wildly behind the double doors. The steady beep... beep... beep turned into a frantic, high-pitched alarm that echoed through the delivery suite's ventilation system.
Medical staff inside began shouting muffled orders.
"BP is dropping! 80 over 40 and falling!" a doctor’s voice shouted through the door. "We're losing the fetal heart tone! Prepare an emergency vacuum extraction!"
Dominic’s eyes widened in horror. He didn't ask for permission again. He shoved the double doors open with both hands, bursting into the delivery room despite the protests of the medical team.
"Sir, you can't be in here!" a surgical technician shouted, but Dominic paid no attention.
The room was bathed in harsh, blue-tinted overhead surgical lighting. On the central delivery bed lay Hannah.
Her long, dark brown hair was damp with sweat, clinging to her pale cheeks and neck. She wore a thin, light pink maternity gown that was soaked through. Her face was contorted in intense physical suffering, her lips dry and cracked, her hands gripping the steel side rails of the bed so hard her knuckles were bone-white.
"Dominic..." Hannah gasped, her brown eyes fluttering open as she heard his heavy boots on the floor.
Dominic was at her side in a split second. He dropped to his knees on the hard floor beside her bed, throwing off his wet suit jacket. He reached out with both hands, wrapping his large, warm fingers around her trembling, icy-cold hand.
"I'm here, Hannah. I'm right here," Dominic breathed, his voice thick with emotion as he brought her hand to his lips, kissing her wet knuckles. "I'm not going anywhere."
Hannah looked up at him through a veil of tears, her breath coming in short, agonizing ragged gasps as another contraction ripped through her body.
"I tried... I tried to run, Dom..." Hannah wept, her body shaking uncontrollably. "I tried to keep them away from you..."
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Dominic’s heart shattered. He reached up with his left hand, gently wiping the damp brown hair away from her forehead. "Who, Hannah? Who were you running from?"
Before she could answer, the primary obstetrician stepped between them, checking the monitors. "She's fully dilated! Hannah, I need you to push right now! On three! One... two... three, push!"
