# Chapter 17: The Waiting Room
The emergency room doors exploded open.
Nurses and doctors swarmed the gurney before Adrian even fully let go of it.
“Severe placental abruption,” a doctor yelled.
“Fetal heart rate is dropping rapidly.”
“We need to get her to the OR right now!”
Adrian tried to follow the rushing medical team.
Two security guards blocked his path.
“Sir, you cannot go in there,” one guard said firmly.
Adrian shoved the man against the wall.
“That is my wife!” he roared.
“Mr. Cross, stop!” a stern voice commanded.
It was the head surgeon.
She glared at him over her surgical mask.
“If you come in there, you will distract my team.”
“If you want your wife and child to live, you will stay right here.”
Adrian froze.
His hands dropped to his sides.
He watched helplessly as the double doors swung shut, swallowing Evelyn into the sterile white hallway.
He collapsed into a plastic waiting room chair.
His white shirt was covered in her blood.
Time lost all meaning.
The ticking clock on the wall sounded like a hammer striking an anvil.
Three hours passed in agonizing silence.
Bianca Vale walked into the waiting room.
She looked battered and exhausted.
She sat two chairs away from Adrian.
“They caught my father,” Bianca said quietly.
Adrian did not look at her.
“They arrested him at the airstrip,” she continued.
“He is going to prison for the rest of his life.”
“I don’t care about your father,” Adrian whispered.
He buried his face in his bloody hands.
“I only care about her.”
The OR doors slowly pushed open.
The head surgeon walked out.
Her scrubs were stained, and she pulled her surgical cap off her head.
Adrian stood up instantly.
His heart hammered wildly in his chest.
He could not read her expression.
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“Doctor?” Adrian asked, his voice breaking.
The surgeon took a deep breath and looked him directly in the eyes.
