Chapter 273: Madness

Chapter 273: Madness

Lily stood a few steps away from Zola, her fingers ice cold.

She couldn't bring herself to move any closer. More precisely, she couldn't bring herself to look at the small, white-sheeted figure on the hospital bed.

When the baby was born, she was still crying. Still waving her tiny fists. Still staring out at the world with those unfocused newborn eyes.

But now... now there was nothing.

Zola was on the floor, her whole body draped over her daughter's tiny form, shoulders shaking violently, not making a single sound.

That silence was worse than any wailing. It was like she had swallowed every ounce of grief whole, like something was tearing her apart from the inside, and she didn't even have the strength left to scream.

Lily took a slow breath and finally made herself walk over. She crouched down and gently pressed her hand to Zola's shoulder. "Zola, come back to your room and rest, okay? You're going to break down if you stay like this."

Zola didn't respond. She might as well not have heard a word.

Her fingers were locked around the edge of the white sheet, knuckles drained of color, the joints so sharp they looked like they might split through her skin. Lily noticed her lips trembling nonstop, cracked and peeling, with thin lines of blood seeping through in places.

"Zola." Lily called her name again, softer this time, gentler. "Listen to me. You need to rest. You've already—"

"Why isn't she crying?"

Zola spoke suddenly, her voice so hoarse it barely sounded human.

She lifted her head slowly. Her eyes were so red they looked like they were about to bleed, and two streams of tears rolled down her swollen cheeks.

When Lily saw her face, something clenched hard in her chest. In just a few hours, Zola looked ten years older. The fine lines at the corners of her eyes were filled with dried tears, and her face was so swollen Lily almost didn't recognize her.

"She used to cry so loud. The whole floor could hear her." Zola looked down at the small blue-tinged face beneath the sheet, her voice eerily calm. "Why isn't she crying now? Is she cold? Is my baby cold?"

Lily opened her mouth and found nothing to say.

She made herself look at the baby. One glance, and she looked away.

The tiny infant lay perfectly still, lips purple, skin an ashen gray, nothing like the wrinkled, living newborn she had been. Those small closed eyes would never open again.

"Zola, please." Lily fought back her tears and took hold of Zola's arms, trying to pull her up. "Please get up. Your incision is going to tear open. You just had surgery—"

Before she could finish, Zola lurched to her feet.

The sudden movement caught Lily off balance and she stumbled back a step. Before she could steady herself, she watched Zola bend down and scoop the baby up, white sheet and all, pulling her tightly against her chest.

"Zola, what are you doing? Where are you going?" Lily cried out.

Zola turned and walked toward the elevator, holding that small, still body against her.

She moved with such careful tenderness it was heartbreaking, like she was carrying something irreplaceable and fragile. One hand cradled the back of the baby's head. The other arm held a body no bigger than a cat.

The C-section wound must have been tearing with every step. Her face went white, a fine sweat breaking out across her forehead. But she pressed her teeth together and kept moving, one step at a time, like she couldn't feel any of it.

Lily rushed after her and tried to block her path, but Zola shoved her away with a strength that had no obvious source.

The push sent Lily hard into the doorframe. Her shoulder throbbed with pain, but she didn't stop. She pushed off and followed.

The hallway lights were harsh and white. Zola walked barefoot on the cold tile floor, the back of her hospital gown soaked through with sweat and blood, her hair hanging loose and tangled around her face.

When she passed the nurses' station, the nurse on duty froze for a second, then shot to her feet, her expression shifting fast.

"Zola, you can't—"

Zola didn't stop. Didn't even glance over.

Her eyes stayed fixed on something straight ahead, as though she was being pulled forward by an invisible thread, step by step toward the elevator, toward the ground floor, toward the hospital lobby.

Lily ran behind her, calling her name over and over, but Zola seemed not to hear any of it.

Her whole world had narrowed down to the small, cooling body in her arms. Everything else had faded to noise.

The elevator doors opened and Zola stepped in. Lily rushed in after her and stood at her side, watching as Zola bent her head and pressed her lips to the baby's forehead, holding them there against that pale, purplish skin for a long, long moment. Lily's tears finally spilled over. She turned her face away and couldn't look anymore.

The elevator reached the ground floor. The doors slid open.

The lobby was busy. A long line had formed at the registration window. A young woman at the information desk was answering a patient's question. A security guard leaned against a pillar, scrolling through his phone. Everything was ordinary. Everything was normal. And then Zola walked out.

She stopped in the middle of the lobby, like a statue that had appeared from nowhere.

Then she spoke.

"Where are the doctors?"

Her voice wasn't loud, but in that open space it carried clearly. A few people walking by slowed down and looked at her.

"Where are the doctors?" Zola's voice climbed higher, taking on a sharp, unsettling edge. "Give me back my daughter! Give me back my daughter's life!"

The entire lobby went silent for a beat, then erupted.

Everyone was staring. Staring at her standing barefoot on the cold tile. Staring at her, covered in blood, holding a baby that was clearly no longer alive. Staring at that swollen face hollowed out by despair and something close to madness.

"My daughter was only two days old!" Zola's voice tore through the air, rising until she was screaming. "Two days! You ran your tests, you said her heart wasn't right, you said she needed surgery! We signed the forms! We did everything you told us! And now my baby is gone! My baby is gone!"

The tears were streaming down her face but she didn't wipe them away. She just held on tighter, as if she was afraid someone would come and take the baby from her. Her whole body was shaking. Her knees kept buckling, nearly giving out, but she held herself upright by sheer force.

"She had just come into this world. She hadn't even learned to say mama yet. She hadn't even had the chance to see my face clearly, and you killed her!" Zola's voice had gone completely raw, broken and jagged like shattered glass. "You doctors in your white coats, are your hearts made of stone? Do you sleep at night without nightmares?"

The crowd around her grew. Some people looked away, unable to watch. Others whispered to each other. A few raised their phones. Lily pushed through and grabbed Zola's arm, pulling hard. "Zola, stop. Please calm down. The baby is already—"