Chapter 6 — The Sound of Life

I drove three blocks before the adrenaline crashed and the panic arrived. I pulled over under a streetlamp, hands shaking too hard to work the seatbelt, and pressed my palms into my belly, terrified I’d find blood.

Nothing. No bleeding. No contractions. Just my own heart going sideways.

I skipped the ambulance — the wait would have been worse — and called my mother instead, telling her to meet me at the ER of the hospital where I work.

Because I was staff, they took me straight into a trauma bay. The minutes between the gel going on my stomach and the ultrasound booting up lasted a year.

Then it filled the room.

Swoosh-swoosh-swoosh.