Madison spoke again.
“She’s pregnant.”
The man answered.
“Then maybe she should stop driving like she’s not.”
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Then Ethan whispered, “Oh my God.”
Lauren looked at him.
That was when she felt the contraction.
Hard.
Low.
Different.
She gripped the edge of the table.
Naomi stood immediately.
“Lauren?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.”
Another pain moved through her abdomen.
Ethan stepped closer.
Lauren raised one hand.
“Do not touch me.”
The words stopped him instantly.
Detective Mitchell called for a wheelchair.
Lauren refused it for approximately seven seconds.
Then another contraction hit.
By 9:04 a.m., she was back in obstetric triage.
The baby’s heartbeat remained strong.
Her cervix had not changed.
Hannah blamed dehydration, exhaustion, stress, and Lauren’s pathological inability to sit down.
“You are going home,” Hannah said.
Lauren looked toward the hallway where a police officer now stood outside her room.
