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Gabriel slowly got to his feet, continuing to cradle his daughter in his arms

Dr Rubio directed him to place the baby in the bassinet, and then she wheeled the contraption in front of her

He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped at his face, ignoring the initials that had been eift froenerous of spirit and generous of heart Hoished he’d worn the Star of David she’d given to him as an anniversary present Surely he could have derived soh a series of rooe space that had a number of hospital beds in it

“Here she is”

Gabriel stopped abruptly

Julianne was lying in a hospital bed and a nurse was leaning over her, giving her an injection

He could see her legs shift beneath the blanket He could hear her moan

He blinked rapidly, as if the tears in his eyes had caused a e

He felt his body sway

“Professor Emerson?” Dr Rubio took hold of his elbow in an effort to steady hiht?”

She called to the nurse and asked her to place a chair next to Julia’s bedside They helped Gabriel to the chair and wheeled the bassinet so that it was next to him

Someone pushed a plastic cup of water into his hand He stared at it as if it were a foreign object

Dr Rubio’s voice, which had been hazy in his ear, suddenly became clear

“As I said, your wife lost a lot of blood We had to give her a transfusion When I made the incision for the cesarean section, I encountered one of her fibroids, and unfortunately it bled quite a bit We had to do soical repair afterward, which is why the procedure took so long”

“Fibroids?” Gabriel repeated, his hand over his ht at the place where weand stitched her up, but it made the c-section aniello, the surgeon on call, scrubbed in Your wife is going to be fine” She placed a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder “And there doesn’t appear to be any per up soon but she’ll be woozy We’ll be giving her medication to control the pain I’ll check on her toratulations on the birth of your daughter She’s a beautiful little girl” Dr Rubio patted his shoulder and left

Gabriel stared at Julia, noticing that the color in her skin had returned She was sleeping

“Mr E?”

He shook his head, quickly wiping his face with the back of his hand “I thought she was dead”

“What?” The nurse’s tone was sharp

“No one told ht”

The nurse came a step closer, a look of horror on her face “I’m so sorry Someone fro There was another eency c-section at the same time as your wife’s, but that patient lost her baby”

Gabriel lifted his eyes to meet the nurse’s

“That isn’t an excuse,” the nurse said quietly “Soht I’ve worked in labor and delivery here for ten years and we lose very few mothers Very, very few And e do, there is an immediate inquest and everyone is extremely upset”

Gabriel was about to ask what “very few”from Julia’s hospital bed He put the cup of water aside and stood over her