Chapter 6 - The Collapse
Standing alone in the center of the empty hospital room, Graham felt the floor suddenly vanish beneath his feet as an overwhelming wave of chest pain and dizziness seized his body. The polished linoleum rushed up to meet him as his knees buckled, sending his body crashing hard against the floorboards in a desperate, uncoordinated heap. Gasping for air, he clawed at his collar, his expensive white dress shirt suddenly feeling like a tight iron band crushing the life out of his lungs.
The psychological shock of absolute abandonment—combined with the crushing weight of his own calculated cruelty—triggered a massive panic attack and stress-induced cardiac arrest. He reached out a trembling hand toward the empty bassinet, his fingers scraping uselessly against the cold metal wheels as his vision darkened at the edges. With no nurses nearby and his phone left out of reach in his suit pocket, Graham lay helpless on the floor of the room he had forced his wife to flee, realizing too late that money and power could not buy back a family.
