“Two minutes. Maybe less.” I can barely speak through the pain.
She’s cutting the zip ties off my wrists and ankles with surgical scissors. Blood rushes back into my hands and feet, the sensation agonizing. “Okay. We’re going to get you through this. I’m Sarah, and I’m a labor and delivery nurse. Mr. Volkov brought me in case—” She glances at Ledger. “In case this happened.”
“The baby’s early.” I’m crying again. “Thirty-two weeks. He’s too small. He won’t?—”
“Thirty-two weeks is viable. I’ve delivered babies younger than this who went home healthy.” Sarah is checking my pulse, lifting my dress to assess the situation. Her face goes serious. “You’re fully dilated. This baby is coming now.”
“Now?” Ledger’s voice is tight. “How long?”
“Minutes. Maybe less. She’s in active labor and he’s crowning.”
Another contraction hits. This one is different—overwhelming, all-consuming, my body pushing without my permission. I scream, the sound ripping from my throat.
“I need you to push with the next contraction,” Sarah says. “Can you do that?”
“I can’t. I can’t do this here. Not like this.”
“You don’t have a choice. This baby is coming whether we’re in a hospital or a warehouse.” She looks at Ledger. “I need you to support her back. Get behind her.”
He moves immediately, sitting behind me and pulling me against his chest. His arms wrap around me, solid and strong.
“I’ve got you,” he says into my ear. “You can do this. You’re the strongest person I know.”
“Ledger, I’m scared.”
“I know. But I’m here. I’m not leaving you.”
A figure appears in the doorway. Dmitri. Blood on his suit, gun in his hand, eyes wild.
For a second, everything stops. Ledger’s body goes rigid behind me. I feel his hand move toward his gun.
Dmitri raises his weapon, pointing it at us. “You destroyed everything,” he says. His voice is hoarse, breaking. “Everything I built. My brother’s legacy. All of it.”
“You took my wife.” Ledger’s voice is ice. “What did you think would happen?”
“I thought—” Dmitri’s hand shakes. “I thought I’d have more time. I thought?—”
Gunfire erupts from somewhere behind him. He jerks, looks back, then runs. Just turns and runs deeper into the warehouse.
Ledger starts to move, starts to go after him.
“Don’t,” I gasp, grabbing his arm. “Don’t leave me. Please.”
He stops. Looks at the doorway where Dmitri disappeared. Looks down at me.
And he stays.
“Silas!” he shouts. “Dmitri’s heading east through the building. Don’t let him leave.”
“On it!” Silas’s voice echoes from somewhere in the chaos.
Another contraction. The strongest yet. My body is pushing whether I want it to or not, bearing down with a force I can’t control.
“That’s it,” Sarah says. “Push. Good. Keep pushing.”
I push. Scream. Feel something shift, something move.
“I can see the head,” Sarah says. “One more push. One more and you’ll have your baby.”
