Chapter 5 - THE FIRST ALARM
At eleven seventeen that morning, Noah’s monitor began to sound.
The soft warning tone became sharper.
Dr. Pierce crossed the room immediately.
Nurses surrounded the incubator.
I tried to stand.
Pain tore through my abdomen.
My grandfather caught my arm before I fell.
“What’s happening?” I asked.
Dr. Pierce remained focused on Noah.
“His oxygen level dropped.”
A nurse adjusted a tube.
Another checked the ventilator connection.
Noah looked impossibly small beneath their gloved hands.
I could not hear anything except the alarms.
My grandfather guided me back into the chair.
“Let them work.”
“He needs me.”
“He needs you alive and recovering.”
Those words stopped me.
For two days, I had thought only about the twins.
I had ignored the weakness in my own body.
I had ignored the headaches, the dizziness, and the pain because none of it seemed important compared with their struggle.
But Noah and Elise needed a mother who survived.
The alarm finally slowed.
Dr. Pierce leaned over the incubator for another minute before turning toward me.
“He is stable.”
My breath broke.
“What caused it?”
“A mucus obstruction affected the airflow.”
She removed her gloves.
“It can happen with babies this premature.”
“Will it happen again?”
“It might.”
She answered honestly.
“We will be watching him every second.”
My grandfather placed one hand on my shoulder.
Dr. Pierce looked toward Elise.
“Your daughter is doing a little better today.”
She showed me the screen beside the incubator.
“Elise has tolerated a small feeding.”
Relief washed through me.
It was a tiny victory.
Inside the NICU, tiny victories meant everything.
A security officer approached my grandfather.
“Chairman Whitmore, Mr. Halston is refusing to leave the building.”
My grandfather’s expression changed.
“Where is he?”
“In the main lobby.”
“He says he will speak to reporters unless Mrs. Halston meets with him.”
I stared at the officer.
Grant was using reporters while our son fought to breathe.
My grandfather looked toward me.
“You do not have to respond.”
I thought about the divorce papers.
I thought about the emptied accounts.
I thought about the way Grant had glanced at Noah and Elise as though their lives inconvenienced him.
“Let him speak,” I said.
My grandfather studied my face.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because every time Grant believes he is in control, he reveals more than he intended.”
Miriam Cole returned with her phone.
“He has already contacted a local news station.”
She turned the screen toward us.
Grant stood in the hospital lobby beside Vanessa.
The green disposable robe was gone.
Someone had brought her another coat.
Grant looked directly into a camera.
“My wife’s powerful family is trying to keep me from my children,” he claimed.
Vanessa stood beside him with one hand protectively over her stomach.
Grant continued.
“I only asked for a peaceful divorce.”
My grandfather watched the screen without emotion.
Then Grant made his worst mistake.
He accused Beacon Crest Medical Center of holding him against his will.
My grandfather handed the phone back to Miriam.
“Release the security footage.”
Miriam’s eyebrows rose.
May you like
“All of it?”
“The public should see exactly how peaceful he was.”
