Chapter 9 - The Cry of Caroline
Twenty-two minutes later, the air was shattered by a sound that instantly wiped out every ounce of pain, betrayal, and exhaustion in my world.
It was a sharp, furious, beautiful wail.
"It’s a girl," Dr. Chen laughed, lifting a small, glistening, kicking body into the warm air. "A healthy, loud, incredible baby girl."
Tears spilled over my temples, soaking into the pillow behind me. I lifted my trembling arms as the nurses quickly dried her off and placed her naked, warm skin directly onto my bare chest.
She was tiny, her face wrinkled and pink, her dark hair plastered to her scalp in wet curls. But her lungs were ferocious. The moment she felt my skin, her screaming softened into tiny, breathless snuffles. She rooted blindly against my chest, seeking comfort, finding my heartbeat.
"Hi, Caroline," I whispered, my voice breaking completely. "I'm here. You're safe. Nobody is ever going to hurt us again."
Outside the glass window of the delivery suite, Richard Bell stood in the corridor. The veteran lawyer took off his glasses, wiping a stray tear from his eye, before pulling out his phone to ensure the legal noose around Eric Miller was pulled completely shut.
For two golden hours, the world faded away.
The nurses cleaned us up, moved us to a private recovery room on the secured ward, and brought me ice water. Caroline fell into a deep, peaceful sleep swaddled in a striped flannel blanket, tucked safely into the clear bassinet right beside my bed.
I looked at her tiny chest rising and falling.
She had my mother’s chin. The same stubborn, determined little line.
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A soft knock came at the heavy wooden door of the recovery room.
I tensed instinctively. "Who is it?"
