Chapter 8: Two Heartbeats

Rodrigo Escalante read the first page of the papers in the back of the car.

Then he read it again.

His mother's lawyer had met him at the airport gate with a leather folder and a pen.

*Petition for Provisional Guardianship of Unborn Children.*

Under it was a paragraph that said his wife was mentally unfit to care for them.

At the bottom of the page was a line with his name under it.

"Sign here, don, and the court will move on Friday," the lawyer had said. "Doña Aurora has arranged everything."

"My mother said Valeria was in the hospital."

"She is. The petition covers the hospital stay."

"The children," Rodrigo said slowly. "What children?"

The lawyer did not answer, because he had realized his mistake.

Rodrigo capped the pen and put it in his pocket.

He did not sign.

"Hospital Santa Lucía," he told the driver. "Fast."

It was ten past five when he came through the emergency doors.

He was shaking so badly that he had to hold the rail.

A tall woman in jeans stood in front of a curtain with her arms folded.

He knew her from his own wedding. She had made a toast about how he'd better be worth it.

"Fabiola."

"Five minutes," she said. "Then I call the guard. I'm not joking."

"I'm not here to fight."

"Your mother said it too."

She stepped aside by half a step.

He pushed the curtain back.

Valeria lay on the bed with her hair loose on the pillow and one arm over her stomach.

She was looking at him, and he had never seen her face so tired.

From the monitor beside her came two sounds, one quick and one steady, overlapping.

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