Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Outside the trauma room, Preston fought wildly against Officer Grant's grip.
"You don't understand!" he shouted. "I'm a cardiac surgeon! I can help her!"
Officer Grant didn't budge.
"You're done here."
Preston's voice cracked.
"She's my wife!"
"No," Officer Grant replied coldly. "She's your victim."
Two security officers arrived and took hold of Preston's arms.
He struggled harder.
"You can't keep me out!"
Dr. Malcolm Reed stepped forward.
His expression was colder than anyone had ever seen.
"You forfeited the right to stand beside her the moment you struck her."
Preston stared at him.
"I made one mistake!"
Dr. Reed's eyes narrowed.
"No."
"You made a choice."
Inside Trauma Room One, chaos erupted.
Ava's blood pressure continued to plummet.
"Eighty over forty."
Then—
"Seventy."
Another nurse hung a fresh unit of blood.
"Massive hemorrhage."
Dr. Linda Evans scrubbed in immediately.
"We don't have time to move her upstairs."
"We operate here."
The emergency physicians transformed the trauma bay into an operating room within seconds.
Bright surgical lights flooded the room.
Sterile drapes were thrown into place.
Every pair of hands moved with practiced precision.
I stood beside Ava, squeezing medication into her IV line.
Her breathing became weaker.
"Stay with us, Ava," I whispered.
"You have to stay with us."
She opened her eyes for only a second.
"Please..."
"My baby..."
"We're doing everything we can," I told her.
Then she lost consciousness.
Dr. Evans made the first incision.
The room fell completely silent except for the rhythm of the monitors.
Seconds felt like hours.
Finally—
"I've got the baby."
A tiny infant was lifted from the incision.
She wasn't crying.
She wasn't moving.
She was blue.
The neonatal team rushed forward immediately.
"No pulse."
"No spontaneous breathing."
"Start resuscitation."
One physician began chest compressions using two tiny fingers.
Another provided gentle ventilation.
Another prepared emergency medication.
No one spoke above a whisper.
Across the room, Ava's condition suddenly worsened.
"She's crashing!"
The cardiac monitor screamed.
Then—
A flat line.
"Asystole!"
For one horrifying second, the entire room froze.
Then training took over.
"Start CPR!"
Chest compressions began immediately.
"Epinephrine!"
"Charging defibrillator!"
Although the rhythm wasn't shockable, every second mattered.
Blood continued pouring through suction tubing.
More transfusions.
More medications.
More desperate prayers whispered beneath surgical masks.
We were fighting for two lives at the same time.
Minutes passed.
They felt endless.
Then, from the neonatal corner of the room—
A cough.
A tiny gasp.
And suddenly...
A weak cry.
The smallest sound I had ever heard.
But in that moment, it was the most beautiful sound in the world.
"Heart rate coming up!"
"We've got her!"
The entire neonatal team exhaled at once.
The baby was alive.
Only seconds later, another voice shouted from Ava's bedside.
"We have a rhythm!"
Everyone looked toward the cardiac monitor.
A heartbeat.
Slow.
Weak.
But real.
Ava's heart had started beating again.
For a moment, no one moved.
Then the room erupted with relief.
Some of the doctors laughed through tears.
Several nurses openly cried.
Even Dr. Malcolm Reed, watching through the glass doors, lowered his head as tears rolled down his face.
Outside, Preston saw the medical team begin to smile.
He tried to push past security again.
"What happened?"
"Tell me!"
"Is my baby alive?"
Officer Grant looked directly at him.
"They survived."
Relief flooded Preston's face.
It lasted only a second.
"You're still under arrest."
The handcuffs clicked tightly around his wrists.
As he was led down the hallway, every employee who had once admired him stepped aside without saying a word.
Not one person looked at him with respect anymore.
Only disappointment.
Only contempt.
The brilliant surgeon who once believed he was untouchable walked out of St. Andrew's Medical Center in handcuffs.
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And everyone knew his life would never be the same again.
(End of Chapter 3)
