Chapter 1 - THE CLICK
The cramp came again.
This time it was so sharp that I gasped.
I grabbed the balcony railing with both hands, trying to stay upright. The metal was so cold it burned my palms.
“Ryan!”
My voice came out weak.
I pounded on the glass again.
“Ryan!”
Inside, I could see shadows moving across the kitchen. Someone laughed. A plate clattered against the sink.
Nobody turned around.
I looked at Melissa.
She was still standing there.
Watching.
Waiting.
She didn't look nervous anymore.
She looked amused.
“Please,” I whispered.
Melissa shrugged.
“You'll be fine.”
Then she walked away.
I couldn't believe it.
My own family was on the other side of that glass.
My husband was twenty feet away.
And nobody knew I was freezing outside.
I pressed my hands against the glass.
“Ryan!”
My teeth were chattering so violently I could barely speak.
The wind cut through my sweater and jeans. My body had started trembling uncontrollably.
I was twenty-eight weeks pregnant.
My doctor had warned me not to expose myself to extreme cold or stress.
But now none of that mattered.
I could feel pressure building low in my abdomen.
Another cramp.
I doubled over.
“No…”
I whispered the word to my baby.
“Please don't come yet.”
I rubbed my stomach with shaking hands.
“Mommy's here.”
The balcony blurred.
For one terrifying second, I thought I saw a light flicker behind the glass.
Then everything went black.
When I opened my eyes, there was a ceiling above me.
White.
Bright.
Moving.
Someone was speaking.
“She's coming around.”
Another voice said, “Blood pressure is dropping.”
I tried to move.
Pain shot through my body.
“My baby.”
The words barely escaped my throat.
A nurse leaned over me.
“Mrs. Carter, don't move.”
“My baby…”
“We're taking you to the hospital.”
I heard sirens.
Then the world disappeared again.
Ryan was standing in the apartment when the ambulance arrived.
He had no idea what had happened.
His father had been the one who found me.
He'd gone outside to throw something into the trash and noticed the balcony door was locked.
At first, he thought I was joking.
Then he saw me lying on the floor.
He screamed.
“Open the door!”
Melissa had been in the kitchen.
She froze.
Ryan ran toward the balcony.
“What happened?”
Nobody answered.
He unlocked the door and rushed outside.
“Emma!”
He carried me inside, but my body was limp.
His father called 911.
And Melissa stood against the kitchen counter, pale and silent.
Ryan looked at her.
“You were the last person with her.”
Melissa shook her head.
“I didn't do anything.”
“What happened?”
“She went outside.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Ryan stared at her.
“Melissa.”
“I said I don't know!”
His father looked at the locked balcony door.
Then at Melissa.
His expression changed.
“You locked it.”
Melissa swallowed.
“No.”
“You locked that door.”
“I didn't.”
Ryan looked down.
There were fingerprints on the glass.
Mine.
Dozens of them.
My frozen palms had left streaks across the surface.
Then Ryan noticed something else.
The lock.
It was turned from the inside.
His face went white.
At the hospital, doctors worked for nearly an hour to stabilize me.
I was suffering from severe hypothermia.
My blood pressure had crashed.
And the contractions had become dangerously close together.
A doctor finally came out.
Ryan stood up.
“How is she?”
The doctor looked at him carefully.
“Your wife is stable.”
Ryan exhaled.
“And the baby?”
The doctor hesitated.
“We're monitoring the fetal heart rate.”
Ryan's face drained of color.
“What does that mean?”
“It means we're not out of danger yet.”
Then the doctor said something that made Ryan stop breathing.
“We found something unusual in your wife's bloodwork.”
“What?”
“She appears to have been exposed to a substance that can trigger uterine contractions.”
Ryan stared at him.
“What substance?”
“We're running additional tests.”
Behind Ryan, his father slowly turned toward Melissa.
She was sitting in a hospital chair.
Her arms were crossed.
But for the first time that night, she looked afraid.
Very afraid.
May you like
Because she knew exactly what the doctors were going to find.
And she knew exactly what she'd put in my drink.
