Instead, the word came out before pride could stop it.
“I’m her husband.”
Her eyes moved to the chart. “Our records say ex-husband.”
I leaned closer. “Room number.”
The nurse swallowed. “Three-forty-seven.”
The room sat at the end of a quiet hallway.
I pushed open the door and stopped.
Hannah lay in the bed like someone had stolen the life from her body and left only the outline behind. Three months ago, she had walked out of our home furious, beautiful, heartbroken, and too proud to let me see her cry.
Now her skin looked almost transparent beneath the fluorescent lights. An IV ran into each arm. There were bruises around one wrist. Her cheekbones were too sharp. Her lips were cracked.
But her hand rested over the small curve of her stomach.
Even unconscious, she was protecting our child.
Something inside me cracked so violently I almost reached for the wall.
A doctor entered moments later, a woman in her fifties with gray at her temples and no softness in her eyes.
“Mr. Callahan?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Dr. Rebecca Lawson.” She checked Hannah’s monitor, then looked at me. “Severe dehydration. Malnutrition. Iron deficiency anemia. Little to no prenatal care. The baby’s heartbeat is strong for now, but your ex-wife is in dangerous condition.”
Each word hit like a bullet.
I stared at Hannah’s thin face.
“What happened to her?”
Dr. Lawson’s mouth tightened.
Before she could answer, Ryan stepped into the doorway, holding Hannah’s cracked phone in a plastic evidence bag.
“Jack,” he said quietly. “You need to see this.”
The screen was shattered, but one message was still visible.
Stay away from him, Hannah. You and the baby were warned.
The sender’s name made my blood turn to ice.
My brother.
And then Hannah’s heart monitor began screaming.
…The entire story is in the comment
and “”””Comment YES if you want to read the full story
