Chapter 2: Seven Hours of Truth
Chapter 2: Seven Hours of Truth
At the hospital, doctors fought to stabilize Lucy.
The baby survived.
Barely.
Lucy required emergency treatment for severe dehydration, oxygen deprivation, and premature contractions.
Alex sat outside the operating room.
Still holding the ring.
The chief of the fire department arrived an hour later.
"I've reviewed the body camera footage."
Alex looked up.
"The rescue followed protocol."
The chief was silent for a long moment.
"Mostly."
He placed a tablet on the chair beside Alex.
The footage began.
The elevator opened.
Alex entered.
He never performed a medical assessment.
Never identified the highest-risk patients.
Never looked for his pregnant wife.
He heard Valerie call his name...
...and immediately carried her out.
Everyone watching the footage saw the same thing.
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He had stopped being a rescue officer.
He had become a man rescuing someone he personally cared about.
