ous silence of the room. He slid the consent form and the pe

id, his voice devoid of a

inside Cam

e's eyes darting to the door. Was that a warning?

arm across the table. The folder, the papers, the pen-they all went

ed, each breath a ragged, painful gasp. Tears streamed down her face, hot and fu

chanted, the words a desperate mantra meant to convince herself. She l

rom her lower back, a familiar ache magnified a hundredfold

side of the bed, the effor

ss Conner, your condition is not

with a strength she didn't know she possessed.

ant, heavy anchor. But the pain in her heart was sharper, a blade twi

he door. Her only goal, her only thought, was to find Carlisle. To see his face, to hear

ollowed a few paces behind, his silence a heavy

g, closed around the cold, steel handle. She took a

His voice. Carlisle's. And another, deeper and more h

d, his professional calm frayed at the edges. "She's carrying qua

e held her breath, pressing her ear aga

rough the air with chilling finality. "I'v

ice pressed, his voice rising slightly.

ted, desperate, for his answer. A part of her, a small, foolish,

lway. It was a sound completely devoid o

mocking cruelty she had never imagined possibl

ring the last, thinnest thread of hope she had clung to. Outside, the rai

ing her children close. These children were

astating rush. Her legs gave out, and she slid down the

time when she was small and frightened. "Mama's here. Don't be af

as t

ve was

ren were

efully constructed was nothing but a bloody,

er stomach. The physical pain from the contractions and the emotional agony in her chest mer

omed it. The physical pain was easier

e didn't scream.

sorrow, beyond heartbreak, into a vast, empty waste

pped fighting the truth. Sh

no longer made sense. They were just a meaning

e had loved, the man she had promi

sacrifice her, and the four lives she carried,

se, but the cold ins