The Seal

3 -Audre

sh! Inhal

hope. Her tone was firm but compassionate, layered with both urgency and reassurance. T

. Bright fluorescent lights cast sharp reflections off gloved hands and metallic instrume

there!" she called out, her voic

on fire, caught in a storm of contractions that rolled through her like tidal waves. Pain

thought of the life she was about to bring into the world. Each contraction brought

rth at twent

o appear strong. She wiped Audrey's forehead with a damp c

s," she murmured, even as her own heart t

h the nurse. "Heart rate's dropp

ntraction surged. Her cry filled t

the doctor

udrey pushed. Time fractured.

ll cry pier

reath as a fragile baby boy emerged, delicate and translucent, with fused e

ars glimmering in her eyes as she handed t

ing freely. The silence she'd feared was replaced by

s softening. "You did beautif

blue blanket. When he was placed in Audrey's arms, a heave

instant, everything shifted. The pain, the fear, the heartbre

e. She had been so certain, so set in her ways. But seeing Audrey like this, fierce, v

of a name?" the

r voice barely a

e in her arms and smiled.

. The warmth of her love transcended the uncertainty of

k season was slowly creeping in like a thief. Mother and child were whisked away to the neonatal int

warmth and monitoring devices, the obstetrician l

had lost over a thousand milliliters of blood. Her

ut through the ho

vels monitored frantically. Her pulse danced erratic

g her!" some

s hunched from anxiety, her legs numb, her eyes burning with unshed tears. Time slipped throug

surgical bed. Oxygen tubes fit snugly in Audrey's nostrils, her lifeless eyes staring at the ceil

thick with tension, punctuated only by

rgeon's voice cut through th

es charging echoed

oc

l no

Another injectio

ternity. And then, silence. Not a peacef

body la

etching painfully long as hope began to feel like a distant dream. Exhaustion

air like a heavy fog. She had crossed the threshold, gone to meet her maker. Her spirit had slipped

-

Years

in protest, each movement a reminder of the grueling night he'd spent

office, a space more suited for a CEO than a surge

zzed with a

ries of Thirte

and Audrey, laughing on a mountaintop trail. The sun kis

e whispered to

, but like a haunting melody, she returned in moments of s

it from the map like it never existed. The people were scattered to the winds. No one had a

path led to a dead end. Somewhere in the shadows of his mind, suspicion simmered. Could

her?" his father had asked, d

irm his suspicions each tim

his mother of orchestrating his girlfriend's sudden disappearance. He

ars. There was neither a sign nor signal of her. Each day, ho

o reality by a text

from Beatrice: "

developed myopia, and he reached for his glasses, which lay peacefully on the glass table.

tilted o

the dam of denial he had clung to for years. She was gone. A

-

the hum of Max's car the only sound between them. Max had insisted on drivi

hadn't dared to ask, emotions too complicated to n

red home, the air felt like it was holding its breath

ws on knees, hands clasped tightly. The oppress

, don'

around,

n one hand, his eyes wide with innocent wi

heaven, right? Does tha

those same curious eyes, the dimple when he smiled. It broke him and healed him al

cousin Audrey had le

r in the dim kitchen. The tea between them had long gone cold, forgotten in the

r dreams of leaving their small town behind. They discussed Beatrice's quiet forgiv

he child. It remained her

voice low and distant. "And it all happened

'am," he said gently, "I'd like to take her little cousin back with me

d slightly as she set it down with trembling hands. A lifet

t," she whispered. "You

es growing glassy

romise me you'll give him the l

conviction. "With every

spoken truths. She knew her time was limited, and soon she wo

stumble upon the truth about his parentage. And when that day came, she hoped he woul

on, she wondered if some truths were meant to remain buried forever.

exact nose, his stubborn cowlick, and the same distin