Chapter 2 - THE HUSBAND WHO CAME BACK TOO LATEThe ambulance arrived four minutes later.
By then, Evelyn’s contractions were so close together that she could barely form a complete sentence.
Paramedics rushed through the broken doorway.
Victor gave them a concise account.
Thirty-eight weeks.
Twins.
Breech second baby.
Membranes ruptured.
Severe contractions.
Locked inside.
The final detail made both paramedics look at him.
One of them turned toward Evelyn.
“Your husband locked you in?”
She nodded.
The humiliation was almost worse than the pain.
Saying it aloud made everything real.
Garrett had not panicked.
He had not misunderstood.
He had looked directly at his heavily pregnant wife while she begged him to stay.
Then he had shut the door.
Evelyn was placed on a stretcher.
Victor followed.
“You can’t come,” a paramedic told him.
Victor nodded.
“I’ll follow.”
Evelyn grabbed his wrist.
“Don’t disappear.”
He looked surprised.
She was surprised too.
She didn’t know him.
But at that moment, she trusted the stranger who had broken down the door more than the man whose children she was carrying.
Victor’s expression softened slightly.
“I won’t.”
The ambulance tore toward St. Andrew’s Medical Center.
A fetal monitor was strapped around Evelyn’s abdomen.
Two heartbeats.
Fast.
Beautiful.
Then one began dropping.
The paramedic leaned forward.
“Come on.”
Evelyn saw his face.
“What?”
“We’re losing Baby B intermittently.”
Her terror became immediate.
“What does that mean?”
“It could be positioning.”
“Could?”
“We need the obstetric team ready.”
“Is my baby dying?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“But you didn’t say no.”
The paramedic squeezed her hand.
“We’re getting you there.”
At the hospital, Evelyn was rushed into labor and delivery.
A doctor met her.
“Dr. Naomi Patel. Evelyn, Twin A looks stable. Twin B is showing fetal distress. If the heartbeat doesn’t improve, we may need an emergency C-section.”
“Do whatever you need.”
“Understood.”
They began preparing her.
Then someone shouted in the hallway.
“My wife is in there!”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Garrett.
Of course.
He appeared seconds later.
Perfect charcoal suit.
Expensive watch.
Perfect hair.
The same man who had stepped over her.
Now he looked concerned.
Almost convincing.
“Evelyn.”
“Get out.”
His expression faltered.
“Sweetheart—”
“Don’t.”
Dr. Patel stepped between them.
“Sir, we’re preparing for possible emergency surgery.”
“I’m her husband.”
“And she has asked you to leave.”
Garrett stared at Evelyn.
“You called the police?”
“No.”
“Then why was the front door destroyed?”
“Victor broke it.”
The name changed Garrett completely.
He went pale.
Not confused.
Afraid.
“Victor?”
Evelyn saw it.
“You know him.”
Garrett recovered too quickly.
“I know of him.”
“Who is he?”
“Someone you shouldn’t trust.”
Evelyn laughed bitterly.
“You locked me inside while I was in labor.”
“That’s not what happened.”
“What happened, Garrett?”
“I thought you were exaggerating.”
“I was on the floor.”
“You’ve had false contractions for weeks.”
“My water broke five minutes after you left.”
His jaw flexed.
“That doesn’t mean I knew.”
“You locked the door.”
“To keep strangers from entering.”
“While I was inside.”
“Evelyn, you’re emotional.”
There it was.
That word.
Emotional.
He had used it whenever she questioned him.
Emotional when he disappeared overnight.
Emotional when Eleanor insulted her.
Emotional when she asked why Garrett controlled their accounts.
Emotional when she wondered why her father’s old friends had mysteriously stopped contacting her.
Evelyn looked at him differently.
Maybe pregnancy had not made her paranoid.
Maybe Garrett had simply spent years teaching her not to trust herself.
Dr. Patel checked the monitor.
“We need to move now.”
Garrett suddenly pulled a document from his jacket.
“I have her medical power of attorney.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“What?”
Garrett handed it to Dr. Patel.
“If she becomes unable to make decisions, I’m authorized.”
Evelyn’s heart started pounding.
“I never signed that.”
Garrett looked at her with practiced patience.
“You did.”
“No.”
He pointed to the signature.
It looked almost perfect.
Almost.
But Evelyn knew her own handwriting.
“That’s forged.”
Garrett’s face barely moved.
“She’s under extreme stress.”
Dr. Patel looked from Garrett to Evelyn.
“She is conscious, coherent, and currently capable of making medical decisions.”
Garrett lowered his voice.
“Doctor, surgery should only be performed if absolutely necessary.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“Why?”
“What?”
“Why are you trying to stop them?”
“I’m protecting you.”
“From saving our babies?”
His mask finally cracked.
“Evelyn, stop.”
The elevator doors opened.
Victor stood on the other side.
Beside him was an elderly man carrying a leather briefcase.
Garrett stopped dead.
Victor stepped out.
“Still forging signatures, Garrett?”
The older man opened his briefcase.
“I’m Samuel Price.”
Evelyn knew that name.
Her father had mentioned him years ago.
Samuel removed a sealed envelope.
Across the front were words written in handwriting Evelyn recognized instantly.
Her dead father’s handwriting.
For Evelyn, when her first child is born.
She forgot how to breathe.
Garrett whispered:
“No.”
Samuel looked directly at Evelyn.
“Your father left instructions that this be delivered under very specific circumstances.”
Evelyn gripped the bed rail.
“What circumstances?”
Samuel looked at Garrett.
“If someone tried to stop you from safely giving birth.”
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And Garrett’s expression told Evelyn something terrifying.
He already knew.
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