Chapter 4 - Echoes of the Past
The steady, rhythmic beep of the heart monitor was the only sound in the dimly lit ICU room. Brin looked so small in the center of the massive hospital bed, surrounded by wires, tubes, and machines doing the work her body couldn't.
Cormack sat in a plastic chair beside her bed, holding her pale, cold hand in both of his. For three days, he had not left the hospital. He had conducted a multi-million-dollar criminal empire from a waiting room chair, authorizing shipments and threatening rivals in a hushed whisper so he wouldn't wake the other patients.
Earlier that morning, the nurses had brought the baby—a tiny, squirming bundle of warmth with Cormack’s dark hair and Brin’s delicate nose—into the room so Brin’s scent could be near him. Holding his son for the first time, Cormack had openly wept, his tears falling onto the baby’s soft blanket. He had named him Leo, meaning 'brave'.
On the evening of the fourth day, Brin’s fingers twitched against his palm.
Cormack’s head snapped up. Her eyelashes fluttered, fighting against the heavy sedatives. Slowly, painfully, her brown eyes opened. They were glassy and unfocused at first, staring at the acoustic tiles on the ceiling. Then, she turned her head.
When she saw Cormack, her heart monitor spiked into a frantic, panicked rhythm.
“Brin,” he breathed, standing up and leaning over her. “Brin, it’s me. You’re safe. You’re at Northwestern.”
She tried to speak, but her throat was too dry. She weakly pulled her hand out of his grip, her eyes wide with terror and anger. The rejection was absolute.
“My... baby...” she rasped, her voice barely a whisper.
“He’s safe,” Cormack said quickly, his chest aching at the fear in her eyes. “He’s beautiful, Brin. He’s healthy. He’s down the hall in the nursery.”
Tears spilled over her cheeks. She looked at his expensive suit, the Rolex on his wrist, and then turned her face to the wall. “Get out,” she whispered.
“Brin, please—”
“Get out!” she forced the words out, coughing weakly. “You left me. You don’t get to come back just because I’m dying. You don’t get to claim him. Leave us alone.”
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Every word was a knife, but Cormack knew he deserved every single cut. He backed away from the bed slowly. “I’m not leaving you, Brin. Not this time. Never again.”
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