Chapter 7 - Dug from the Dark
The extraction took twenty agonizing minutes. Paramedics and officers worked with their bare hands around Elena's abdomen to ensure no tools struck the baby. As the crushing weight of the soil was finally lifted from her chest, Elena gasped, drawing her first full breath of clean air in nearly twelve hours.
They lifted her trembling body onto a backboard, wrapping her in thermal blankets and securing an oxygen mask over her face. Her limbs were bruised and pale from restricted circulation, but as the paramedic placed a portable fetal Doppler against her stomach, a steady, rhythmic heartbeat filled the air.
Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump.
Tears of profound relief flooded Elena’s eyes.
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As they wheeled the gurney toward the waiting ambulance, Michael was being escorted to a cruiser nearby. He caught her eye, his expression twisted with bitter defeat.
Elena pulled down her oxygen mask just enough to whisper: "It’s over, Michael."
