Chapter 2 — The Hospital Lights
Chapter 2 — The Hospital Lights
Northwestern Memorial Hospital felt colder than the apartment ever had.
Bright lights. Clean floors. Fast footsteps. Everything moving except Mariana, who now lay still on a proper hospital bed, connected to stable monitoring systems.
Diego never left her side.
Not for a second.
A nurse adjusted the IV while a doctor reviewed the scans at the foot of the bed.
“The baby is stable,” the doctor finally said. “But this should not have been handled at home this long.”
Diego’s jaw tightened.
Mariana didn’t defend herself this time.
She just stared at the ceiling, quietly absorbing every word like punishment she had already accepted.
Later that afternoon, Diego stepped into the hallway alone.
He leaned against the wall, exhaling for the first time in hours.
A nurse passing by noticed him.
“You’re doing well staying calm,” she said gently.
Diego gave a faint, tired smile.
“I’m not calm,” he replied. “I’m just afraid to fall apart in front of her.”
That was the truth he hadn’t said out loud until now.
When he returned to the room, Mariana reached for his hand immediately.
For the first time in weeks, she didn’t pull away from help.
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And for the first time, Diego didn’t feel like he was guessing what was wrong.
He finally felt like they were facing it together.
