I will be grateful to the end of my days that, for once, I did not.

Chapter 4 — Room Four-Seventeen

I barely remember the drive up to Tennessee; my mind was a single unbroken loop of racing thought and deepening regret.

When I finally reached Saint Thomas Memorial, Dr.

Lindqvist was waiting outside the maternity unit.

“Before you go into room four-seventeen to see Ms.

Holt,” she said, with a direct and solemn gaze, “I need you to understand something.

She went through almost this entire high-risk pregnancy completely alone, without a partner beside her.