There was blood on the front of her gown.
Ryan stopped breathing.
Caleb took one step forward.
Patricia’s hand clamped around her handbag.
Dr. Mercer pulled down her mask.
“Hannah is alive.”
Ryan closed his eyes.
For half a second, the hospital vanished.
Then he opened them.
“The babies?”
Dr. Mercer’s expression softened.
“Twin A is alive. She’s small, but breathing with support. Twin B was in severe distress. We got her out. NICU is working on her now.”
Ryan’s throat moved.
“Can I see Hannah?”
“She’s still under anesthesia. We had significant blood loss, but she’s stable for now.”
“For now?” Caleb repeated.
Dr. Mercer looked at him.
“Yes. For now.”
Caleb arranged his face into concern.
“My daughters?”
Dr. Mercer’s gaze did not warm.
“NICU will update family shortly.”
“I’m their father.”
Ryan stepped beside him.
“And I’m the medical proxy for their mother.”
Caleb’s head whipped toward him.
Ryan did not blink.
“You thought this ended at the OR doors,” Ryan said quietly. “It doesn’t.”
The next hour passed in fragments.
A NICU doctor named Dr. Samir Patel came out with careful words and tired eyes.
Lily Rose weighed three pounds, four ounces.
Emma Grace weighed two pounds, eleven ounces.
Both were alive.
Emma needed more help.
Hannah remained sedated.
Caleb asked three times about birth certificates.
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