Chapter 190 This Is a Precipitous Birth
Caroline struggled to lift her head toward Kenna, about to speak, when she suddenly felt something warm flooding down her inner thighs.
She looked down and stared blankly at the crimson spreading rapidly beneath her. Her hand moved stiffly to her contracting belly.
Kenna followed her gaze and screamed.
"She's bleeding! Oh God! Get the doctor! She's going into labor!"
"Now! Stretcher! Prep the delivery room! Alert the entire medical team--all hands on deck immediately!"
The villa erupted into chaos.
Caroline was rushed into the delivery room. The doctor who arrived took one look and went pale.
"Damn it!"
Kenna grabbed his arm. "What?! What's wrong?! Doctor, tell me!"
"She's in precipitous labor! She's fully dilated--I can already see the baby's head!"
Caroline must have been feeling contractions for hours but said nothing because she was too worried about Alexander.
Now it was too late. The surgical suite they'd prepared was useless. There wasn't even time for anesthesia. She'd have to deliver this baby on her own strength alone.
Kenna's eyes filled with tears. She tried to rush to Caroline's bedside.
"Oh, Mrs. Hamilton!" Tears streamed down her face.
"What are we going to do?!"
The doctor blocked her path. "No! You need to stay calm! Mr. Hamilton isn't here--you and Felix are the only ones who can hold Mrs. Hamilton together right now! Get scrubbed in immediately and stay with her through delivery!"
He turned to Felix. "Lock down the entire island. No one gets in. No one."
Felix nodded and left.
Kenna wiped her tears and followed the nurse to change into sterile scrubs.
When she returned, Caroline was already drenched in sweat, her face twisted in agony.
Her hands gripped the delivery bed rails so hard her knuckles had gone white. Eyes squeezed shut, teeth clenched, she pushed with everything she had, following the midwife's rhythm.
Kenna rushed to her side and grabbed her hand.
"Mrs. Hamilton, don't be afraid... I'm right here with you."
Caroline's grip was crushing. Kenna felt the bones in her hand grinding together.
But that pain was nothing--not even a fraction of what Caroline was enduring.
Kenna had given birth before. She knew this pain. And Caroline's body was already weak, now thrown into sudden labor after extreme trauma.
"Push! Mrs. Hamilton, push! I can see the baby's hair!"
"Breathe! Follow me--breathe in, breathe out, push!"
"The head's almost out! For your baby, hold on!"
The delivery room descended into controlled chaos.
Caroline felt like her lower body was being ripped in half. Searing pain radiated from her pelvis down through her thighs.
Sweat drenched her. The air reeked of disinfectant and blood--so much blood.
Every contraction felt like a freight train running over her bones, crushing her into the mattress.
She pushed with everything she had, following the midwife's commands, but the baby's head seemed stuck. Every inch of progress came with blinding, tearing pain.
"Fetal heart rate dropping! 110! Still dropping!"
"She's hemorrhaging! Get the coagulants! Increase the IV flow!"
The doctor's forehead was beaded with sweat, his voice shaking.
Caroline's vision started to fade. The voices around her grew distant and muffled, like she was underwater.
The pain began to numb. A heavy exhaustion spread through her limbs, dragging her down into cold, dark water.
Kenna's shouts and the midwife's instructions sounded like they were coming from another world.
And she was drifting away from that world...
"Mrs. Hamilton! Don't you dare close your eyes! Look at me! Stay awake!"
Kenna squeezed her hand desperately, refusing to let go.
She could feel Caroline's grip weakening. Her hand growing cold. Finally going limp.
Kenna's voice cracked with terror.
"Mrs. Hamilton!"
She kept calling her name, tears pouring down her face.
"Don't give up! Your baby needs you! He's waiting for you to hold him!"
The doctor slapped Caroline's face, trying to rouse her.
"Mrs. Hamilton! Wake up!"
But Caroline's eyelids grew heavier. The anxiety faded from her blue eyes. Her pupils began to dilate. Her hand slipped from the rail.
Her consciousness flickered like a candle in the wind.
She closed her eyes, exhausted.
It's over...
Everyone's hearts sank.
At that critical moment, the delivery room door slammed open.
A blood-soaked figure stumbled inside.
The sharp smell of fresh blood filled the room instantly.
Everyone looked up in shock. The man's black shirt was drenched in crimson. A ragged bullet wound in his left shoulder was still bleeding, dripping down his arm onto the floor.
His face was deathly pale. His lips cracked and dry. His hair plastered to his forehead. Nothing remained of his usual polished appearance.
Only his eyes--those dark, piercing eyes--blazed with an intensity that was almost frightening when they landed on the dying woman on the bed.
Alexander.
After a stunned silence, Kenna was the first to react.
Tears flooded her face as she cried out like a drowning woman finding shore. "Sir! You're back! Your wound--"
Alexander didn't hear her. His eyes saw only Caroline.
He staggered to the bedside.
"Edith... no, Caroline... my Caroline..."
His hand trembled as he reached for her cold fingers, wrapping them carefully in his blood-stained palm.
He leaned down, pressing his face against her pale cheek. Scalding tears mixed with blood dripped onto her skin.
"It's me. I'm here... I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I was late... I'm sorry you had to go through this alone. Please, look at me. Don't sleep... don't leave me and our baby. I'll never leave you again. Never. I'll spend the rest of my life making this up to you, loving you, protecting you. Please, Caroline, my love, wake up... look at me..."