Chapter 6 - THIRTY-SIX WEEKS
Emma called Nathan.
He answered before the first ring ended.
“Are you okay?”
“Come to the bookstore.”
He arrived ten minutes later.
Emma placed Olivia’s flash drive on the table.
Nathan stared at it.
“She came here?”
“Yes.”
His jaw hardened.
“She had no right—”
“Stop.”
Nathan stopped.
Emma told him everything.
Including the possibility that someone inside Whitmore Global had confirmed her location.
Nathan’s expression became cold.
“I’ll find out.”
“Nathan.”
“No destruction.”
His mouth tightened.
“No destruction.”
He called Daniel Mercer.
The conversation lasted twenty minutes.
By the end, Nathan knew three senior executives had been aware Emma was in Oregon.
One had learned through a company travel-security system that Nathan himself had used during his first desperate week searching for her.
Nathan stared at the wall.
Emma understood before he said anything.
“You did investigate me.”
“Not after you told me not to.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Nathan rubbed his forehead.
“The first week after you disappeared, before Mom told me you wanted privacy, I asked corporate security to check travel records.”
Emma’s face changed.
“You searched for me.”
“Yes.”
“Using company systems.”
“Yes.”
Nathan did not minimize it.
“I was panicking.”
“That does not make it okay.”
“No.”
“Who had access?”
“Too many people.”
The answer made Emma furious.
“You put me in that system.”
“I did.”
“You made me traceable.”
“I did.”
“And now somebody found me because of it.”
Nathan’s voice cracked.
“I know.”
Emma turned away.
Then pain tightened across her abdomen.
She stopped.
Nathan saw it.
“Emma?”
She held up a hand.
Another pain came.
Stronger.
Nathan moved toward her.
She grabbed the table.
“My back.”
“How bad?”
Emma breathed through it.
“Call the doctor.”
The hospital admitted her within the hour.
Her blood pressure was dangerously high.
The baby’s heart rate remained stable.
But the doctor no longer spoke about waiting five weeks.
She spoke about days.
Possibly hours.
Nathan sat beside Emma’s bed.
He did not touch her until she reached for him.
At 2:14 a.m., the doctor returned.
“We’re going to induce.”
Emma’s face drained.
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
“The risks of continuing the pregnancy are now greater than delivering.”
Nathan looked terrified.
Emma squeezed his hand.
Not because she had forgiven him.
Because she was scared too.
Nathan bent close.
“I’m right here.”
Emma looked at him.
“Don’t promise me everything will be fine.”
Nathan swallowed.
Then he nodded.
“You’re right.”
He pressed her hand between both of his.
“I’m right here for whatever happens.”
Hours passed.
Nothing progressed normally.
At 6:43 a.m., alarms suddenly sounded.
Nurses rushed in.
Emma looked at Nathan.
“What’s happening?”
The doctor appeared.
“The baby isn’t tolerating labor.”
Nathan’s face went white.
“We need to deliver now.”
Emma’s fingers locked around Nathan’s hand.
The doors opened.
A nurse asked Nathan whether he was coming.
Nathan looked at Emma.
She nodded once.
May you like
And for the first time in months, she said the words he had almost forgotten how badly he needed to hear.
“Stay with me.”
