CHAPTER 1 The Empty Chair
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The first thing I heard was a machine beeping beside my head.
The second was a baby crying somewhere beyond the darkness.
I tried to open my eyes, but my eyelids felt impossibly heavy. My throat burned. My body felt hollowed out, as though someone had taken every part of me apart and put me back together incorrectly.
“Claire?”
The voice was gentle but urgent.
I forced my eyes open.
A woman in blue scrubs stood beside my hospital bed. Her brown hair was pulled into a loose bun, and exhaustion showed beneath her eyes. She looked relieved when she saw me move.
“Claire, I’m Dr. Patel. You’re at St. Catherine’s Medical Center. You had an emergency cesarean section.”
My hand moved toward my stomach.
Pain answered instantly.
The room tilted.
“My baby.”
“Your daughter is alive.”
The words should have filled me with relief, but Dr. Patel did not smile.
“She was born in severe distress. She inhaled blood and fluid during delivery, and she’s currently in the neonatal intensive care unit. She’s breathing with assistance, but she is fighting.”
A daughter.
I had a daughter.
I turned my head toward the empty chair beside my bed.
A charcoal suit jacket was not draped over it. Ryan’s expensive shoes were not beneath it. His hand was not waiting for mine.
The chair was completely empty.
“Where is my husband?”
Dr. Patel looked toward the nurse.
Neither answered immediately.
My heart began to race.