. CHAPTER 5 — The Hospital Room
The hospital room smelled like antiseptic, plastic flowers, and fear.
Ethan hated it.
He had spent too much of his childhood in rooms like this, watching machines blink beside people he loved. Now Khloe lay in a white bed with monitors strapped around her belly, her hair loose on the pillow, her face pale but stubbornly alive.
A nurse moved quietly near the monitor.
The baby’s heartbeat filled the room.
Fast. Strong. Defiant.
Ethan lowered his head into both hands and shook.
Khloe turned toward him. “Hey.”
He looked up immediately. “Are you in pain?”
“I’m scared,” she admitted.
The honesty nearly broke him.
He stood and kissed her hand, careful not to touch the bruised area near her wrist. “I should have been home.”
“You were tricked.”
“I should have known.”
Khloe studied him. “You can’t put a security camera inside every person’s heart.”
Despite himself, Ethan gave a tiny, painful smile. “That sounds like something my therapist would charge eight hundred dollars to say.”
“She should pay me commission.”
The nurse smiled at the monitor, relieved by the sound of them teasing each other. “Baby looks stable. The doctor will explain everything, but right now that heartbeat is exactly what we want.”
Khloe’s eyes filled.
Ethan whispered, “Thank God.”
Outside the room, voices rose. Vanessa’s voice was one of them, sharp even through glass.
“She is not coming in,” Ethan said before the nurse could ask.
A security officer opened the door slightly. “Mr. Monroe, Ms. Vale is demanding to speak with you. She says she slipped by accident and wants to file charges.”
Ethan laughed once, cold and humorless. “Of course she does.”
Khloe’s fingers tightened around his. “Don’t go out angry.”
“I’m past angry.”
“That’s why I said it.”
He looked at her, and the rage bent under the weight of love. He nodded.
In the hallway, Vanessa stood wrapped in a hospital blanket, wet hair clinging to her face, mascara streaked down her cheeks. Even soaked and humiliated, she tried to look royal.
“You pushed me,” she said.
Ethan held up his phone. The security footage was ready to play.
“No,” he said. “The truth did.”
May you like
Vanessa’s mouth opened.
Then the police officers at the end of the hall began walking toward her.
