Chapter 2 - The Red Alert
The sterile quiet of the examination room fractured instantly. Dr. Rebecca Sloan’s hand slammed against the wall-mounted emergency call button, the harsh, pulsing red light above the door flashing into life with a mechanical hum that made my blood run cold.
“Dr. Sloan, what is it?” I gasped, my fingers gripping the paper-lined examination table so hard my knuckles turned white. “Is the baby okay?”
Adrian was already moving.
The dazed, broken man who had fallen to his knees minutes earlier vanished, replaced instantly by the apex predator Chicago’s underworld feared. His bodyguards outside the door reacted to the flashing light before anyone could speak, the heavy oak door bursting open as his security chief, Matteo, scanned the room with a drawn firearm before realizing there was no human assailant.
“Stand down, Matteo,” Adrian ordered, his voice dropping into a register so dark and cold it commanded absolute obedience. He didn't look at his men. His eyes were locked entirely on Dr. Sloan, who was already sliding the ultrasound transducer across my taut stomach with shaking fingers while tapping a tablet to summon the high-risk obstetric team.
“Mrs. Moretti—Elena—look at the monitor,” Dr. Sloan said, her voice tight with suppressed panic. “There’s an acute deceleration in the fetal heart rate. The umbilical cord has looped twice around the baby’s neck, and we’re seeing signs of early placental abruption. At thirty-four weeks, if we don't deliver her within the next ten minutes, we risk catastrophic oxygen deprivation.”
The world tilted on its axis.
“No,” I whispered, tears instantly spilling over my lashes. “No, she was just moving. She was just kicking a minute ago—”
Adrian didn't panic. He didn't shout. But the veins in his neck stood out like thick cords, and his chest heaved as he stepped directly beside the exam table, ignoring protocol, ignoring the nurse who tried to push him back. He placed his large, warm hand over mine, his grip anchoring me to the earth.
“Elena, look at me,” Adrian commanded softly, his dark eyes burning with fierce intensity. “She’s a Moretti. She’s a fighter, just like her mother. She’s not going anywhere.”
“Mr. Moretti, you need to step out so we can prep Mrs. Moretti for an emergency C-section!” Dr. Sloan yelled over the rising wail of auxiliary monitors being wheeled into the room by a team of rushing nurses.
“I’m not leaving her side,” Adrian stated, his tone leaving zero room for argument. He looked up at Matteo. “Get the director of this hospital on the phone. Tell him I’m buying the entire wing, and if my daughter or my wife doesn't walk out of this hospital breathing and healthy, I’ll bulldoze this building by sunset.”
“Adrian, no,” I gasped, clutching his sleeve as a wave of contraction-like pain slammed into my lower back. “Don't threaten them... they’re trying to save her.”
His expression softened instantly as he looked down at me, brushing a stray lock of hair from my damp forehead with a tenderness that defied every rumor whispered about him across the city.
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“I won't let anything happen to either of you,” he whispered fiercely against my temple. “I already lost you once, Elena. I won't survive losing you both.”
Before I could answer, the surgical team hoisted my gurney into motion, wheeling me down the sterile corridor toward the operating suites at a breakneck speed, with Adrian walking right beside us, his hand never leaving mine.
