Chapter 2 - A Heartbeat in Danger
The elevator ride to the maternity floor lasted less than one minute.
For Marcus, it felt endless.
Khloe lay beneath a white hospital blanket with one hand over her stomach and the other locked around his fingers.
Her breathing was shallow.
The fetal monitor continued producing irregular tones.
Marcus had negotiated billion-dollar acquisitions without raising his voice.
He had watched companies collapse.
He had stood in courtrooms, boardrooms, and crisis meetings while everyone around him panicked.
None of it prepared him for the fear he felt now.
Dr. Reed guided the stretcher into an examination room.
“Mr. Thorne, I need you to stand back.”
Marcus obeyed.
Barely.
A nurse raised Khloe’s dress enough to position an ultrasound probe.
The screen came alive.
Khloe stared at it.
“Please.”
Dr. Reed studied the image.
Marcus watched her expression.
“What do you see?”
“The fetal heartbeat is present.”
Khloe closed her eyes.
A tear slid toward her ear.
“But?”
Marcus heard the hesitation.
Dr. Reed looked at him.
“There appears to be a partial placental separation.”
Khloe’s eyes opened immediately.
“What does that mean?”
“It means the impact may have caused part of the placenta to pull away.”
Marcus went still.
“Can you stop it?”
“We can monitor it.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“Marcus.”
Khloe’s voice was weak.
He looked at her.
Fear filled her eyes.
He forced himself to soften.
Dr. Reed continued.
“Our goal is to stabilize Khloe, prevent further bleeding, and keep the baby inside as long as it remains safe.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“Then we deliver.”
“At seven months?”
“We have an excellent neonatal team.”
Khloe looked toward the monitor again.
The tiny shape on the screen moved.
That movement gave her something to hold onto.
Marcus bent and kissed her forehead.
“You’re both getting through this.”
Khloe looked at him.
“You don’t know that.”
“No.”
His voice broke for the first time.
“But I know I’m staying.”
A nurse entered quietly.
“Dr. Reed, police are asking whether Mrs. Thorne can give a statement.”
Marcus turned.
“No.”
Khloe surprised him.
“Yes.”
He looked back at her.
“You need to rest.”
“She’ll lie.”
“Samuel has the cameras.”
“I want my own words on record.”
Dr. Reed considered it.
“Five minutes.”
Marcus wanted to argue.
Khloe squeezed his hand.
“I need to do this while I remember every word.”
Twenty minutes later, Detective Aaron Mills sat beside the hospital bed with a small recorder on the table.
Khloe described Isabella entering the suite.
She described the insults.
The threat.
The shove.
The second attack.
The heel striking her side.
Her voice trembled only once.
That was when she repeated Isabella’s sentence.
“You were supposed to smile for the cameras, give him the child he wanted, and disappear.”
Marcus looked away.
Detective Mills noticed.
“Had Ms. Rossi made similar comments before?”
Khloe hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Did you tell anyone?”
“My husband.”
Marcus turned back toward her.
Shame spread across his face.
Detective Mills looked at him.
“And what did you do?”
Marcus answered without defending himself.
“Not enough.”
Khloe closed her eyes.
That hurt more than the admission should have.
Because it was true.
For weeks, she had told him Isabella’s behavior was becoming dangerous.
Marcus had insisted Isabella was merely bitter over a failed business partnership.
He had believed distance would solve it.
He had believed civility would contain it.
He had been wrong.
A knock sounded at the door.
Samuel entered carrying a tablet.
His face was grim.
“We recovered the footage.”
Marcus stood.
“What does it show?”
Samuel looked at Khloe first.
“Exactly what she said it would.”
May you like
The room fell silent.
“And more.”
