Chapter 4 - The Mother Who Wanted the Baby First
Rachel pushed my bed against the interior wall and placed a chair beneath the door handle.
The hallway lights remained on, but the electronic lock indicator had gone dark. Someone with administrative access had disabled the maternity security zone.
Nora called the police officers stationed near the main elevators.
No answer.
A fire alarm began ringing on the floor below.
Staff moved toward emergency stations.
Through the small window in the door, I saw Vivian walking down the corridor beside Ethan.
She wore the same cream blouse from dinner. Not a drop of blood marked it.
Ethan’s face looked pale.
Vivian stopped outside my room.
“Olivia, open the door. We need to resolve this before you damage the baby.”
Rachel stared at her through the glass.
“You are not authorized to enter.”
Vivian ignored her.
“Ethan has the right to be present for his daughter’s birth.”
“I do not want him here,” I said.
My husband moved closer.
“Olivia, Grant is in jail because you exaggerated what happened.”
“He punched our baby.”
“He punched you.”
The distinction destroyed whatever remained of him.
Vivian whispered something into his ear. He straightened.
“We can still fix this. Sign the temporary trust agreement. Mom withdraws the guardianship request. We tell police Grant acted alone.”
“And if I refuse?”
His eyes moved toward my belly.
“You are already in labor.”
I was not.
At least, I had not been before the unapproved medication appeared.
A contraction tightened across my abdomen.
Then another followed four minutes later.
Rachel checked the monitor.
“Someone may have administered something before she arrived.”
The ambulance had inserted an intravenous line. The bag came from sealed emergency stock, but the paramedic who connected it had spoken to Vivian at the house before loading me.
Nora requested toxicology on the remaining fluid.
Vivian heard through the door.
“You are wasting time. Dr. Harlan is prepared.”
“Dr. Harlan is suspended from my care.”
“You do not control a hospital because you are frightened.”
Nora stepped beside the window.
“Olivia controls the land trust beneath two of this hospital’s surgical buildings. Perhaps you should stop assuming she has no authority.”
Vivian’s face changed.
She had expected the trust to matter only after Lily’s birth.
Nora had found an emergency clause my mother inserted years earlier. If any beneficiary faced coercion inside a medical facility tied to trust property, the trustee could freeze contracts, suspend private access, and demand external oversight.
I signed the activation on Nora’s tablet.
The hospital administrator received it thirty seconds later.
Every monitor on the floor displayed a legal preservation alert.
Dr. Harlan’s orders froze.
The private surgical entrance locked.
Security access logs began uploading to an external server.
Vivian stepped backward.
“What did you do?”
“What you were afraid I would do if I remained conscious.”
Police reached the corridor through the emergency stairwell. Vivian attempted to leave with Ethan.
They were stopped.
Ethan raised both hands.
“I came to see my wife.”
Nora showed officers his earlier trust request, the false guardianship form, and the edited patient profile.
He looked at me through the door.
“Mom handled the paperwork.”
“You gave her access.”
“She said this was the only way to protect the company.”
“What company?”
His face tightened.
Nora answered.
Cole Medical Development had borrowed eighty million dollars using anticipated Hawthorne contracts as support. The loans matured at midnight.
If Ethan gained temporary control of my trust, he could extend the leases and direct new projects toward Vivian’s company.
If he failed, their lender could seize everything.
Vivian needed Lily born before midnight.
She needed me incapable when it happened.
The assault was designed to send me into labor.
The hospital was prepared to complete it.
An officer placed Vivian in temporary detention while legal counsel reviewed the conspiracy evidence. Ethan was separated for questioning.
A clinical toxicologist called.
The ambulance fluid contained a labor inducing medication not listed on the emergency inventory sheet.
The paramedic who administered it had disappeared.
My contractions were now three minutes apart.
Rachel checked the tracing.
Lily’s heartbeat began falling again.
I needed an operating room.
May you like
The only available surgeon on the floor was Dr. Harlan.
Continue to the next part: Olivia must choose whether to enter surgery under the doctor who prepared the trap or risk waiting while Lily’s heartbeat continues to weaken.
