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Reborn on My Due Date：I Caught the Woman Who Stole My Baby
Novelix
Completed
The day I visited my son's grave, a woman I'd never met was kneeling at his headstone. Then she told the dead boy she'd swapped him at birth for my healthy child. My real Child. I woke up thirty years in the past. In the delivery room. Contractions two minutes apart. This time, I fight. I keep my baby. And everyone who stole my first life pays for it.
Chapters (2)
第1章
The morning I went to visit my son's grave, a woman I'd never seen before was kneeling at his headstone.
My breath caught.
Her profile. The slope of her nose, the set of her brows... Every line on that face belonged to my dead son.
"Sorry, baby. Mama's late." She said.
"Thirty years ago, you were born with the liver disease I passed on to you. I had no choice but to... swap you for a healthy child."
"Please don't blame me. I had no money to treat you."
"Look at your adoptive parents. Rich as they were, they still sold their house for your liver cancer. Every penny. Gone."
My mouth opened. "You... you monster—"
The rest of my voice was swallowed up. She rushed at me and shoved me into the lake.
"You shouldn't have come. Now you know. So die."
"Go in peace. Your child will take my son's place. He'll be a good, dutiful boy for us."
Water closed over my face. Then it all went dark.
When I opened my eyes again. I saw a ceiling. Fluorescent tubes buzzing.
My lower belly cramped, hard, like someone was wringing a wet towel inside me.
This was thirty years ago. The night I gave birth.
I turned my head. Greg sat in the chair beside me. Young. Not yet crushed to death by the mountain of medical bills.
That woman's face flashed through my mind. Her voice, still ringing: swap you for a healthy child.
I grabbed Greg's hand instantly.
"Greg, I'm not delivering here. Take me to another hospital."
...
Greg's head snapped up.
"Another hospitals? Now? Honey, you're four centimeters dilated."
"I know. But I have to."
In my first life, I delivered a healthy boy in this room. But a year later, a doctor found his liver disease.
After that, we chased doctors. We sold the house. Drained every account. Thirty years of paychecks, gone.
Then Greg.
He worked himself to death. All of it for the son of the woman who stole ours.
At this hospital. On this night.
And here I am again.
"Nora? Nora?"
Greg's hand passed in front of my eyes. I blinked. "What?"
"I'm just saying, it's the middle of the night. Nothing's running out there. The nearest hospital is twenty miles away..."
He leaned forward, took my hand. His palm was sweating. "Switching hospitals is too dangerous. For both of you."
I didn't care. I knew what was waiting here.
Bleeding on the road was better.
I grabbed the side rail and swung my legs off the bed. The linoleum shocked cold through my bare feet.
"Then we go downstairs and wait for a ride."
"Honey—"
"I am not having this baby here."
Greg opened his mouth. Closed it.
He looked at me, eyes soft the way they'd always been. Then he grabbed my coat off the chair and helped me into it.
Two steps into the hallway, a nurse blocked my path.
Donna. Short. Square shoulders. Clipboard pressed flat against her chest.
"Where do you think you're going? You're next for the delivery room."
A contraction hit. I grabbed Greg's arm. My nails dug through his sleeve.
"I'm switching hospitals."
"What?" Her face darkened. She turned to the chart.
"The bed is prepped. You're in active early labor."
Her voice dropped into that tone. Calm. Firm. The voice you use on someone who isn't thinking straight.
"You can't just wander off."
I looked at her face. The set of her jaw. The way her eyes stayed on my belly.
I couldn't tell if she was worried about my baby, or about losing it.
There's no way that woman swapped my baby in a hospital all by herself. She had help. Absolutely.
My fingers dug harder into Greg's arm.
"Take me to another hospital."
第2章
The baby moved inside me. A slow roll, like a fist turning over.
I pressed my hand against my belly.
Don't be scared, baby. I'm getting you out of here.
But we hadn't even reached the nurses' station when Donna stepped in front of Greg.
"Your wife doesn't know what she's doing. You should know better." Her voice dropped.
"If something happens on the road, that's on you. For the rest of your life."
Greg's jaw worked.
He looked at me, then back at Donna. I watched the doubt crawl across his face.
"Honey, maybe we wait until the baby's born? The second it's out, I'll take you both to another hospital. I promise."
The moment he finished, Donna turned to me. Softer now. Gentle, even.
"Mrs. Whitfield, I understand you're nervous, first baby and all. But everything in the delivery room is ready. We'll keep you and the baby safe."
"So just take it easy."
Everything is ready.
My skin went cold.
Ready for what? To steal my baby?
The contractions were coming faster.
If I kept stalling, the choice would be made for me.
"Since when do hospitals hold patients against their will?" I looked straight at Donna. "Why are you so desperate to keep me here?"
A pause. Something shifted behind her eyes. Quick. Gone.
"I'm only thinking of your safety, Mrs. Whitfield."
"I don't need it. Never mind. Whatever happens after I walk out that door is none of this hospital's business."
I grabbed Greg's hand and pulled him toward the exit.
Then something hit my leg. A child came out of nowhere.
Small, fast, running from the opposite end of the hallway.
The impact hit me square in the belly. My feet went out. My back hit the floor. Something warm ran down my thigh.
My water...
Donna's voice rang out above me.
"She's delivering now. No time to transfer. Get her to the delivery room."
Nurses surrounded me. Hands lifted me onto a gurney. The ceiling started sliding past.
I grabbed Greg's wrist. Pulled hard.
"Come in with me."
"No. The delivery room is restricted. No men allowed."
Donna reached for my hand, trying to peel my fingers loose.
I didn't let go.
Instead, I dug my fingers into Greg's hand.
"I don't trust anyone in this hospital. He stays with me or I don't push."
Greg stepped forward. He turned to Donna. "Please. Just let me be there. I won't get in the way."
"Absolutely not. Hospital policy."
I clamped my legs together. Looked Donna dead in the eyes.
"Then I won't deliver. If I die right here on this gurney, with my baby inside me, just explain that to your hospital board."
Voices rose around me. Other patients. Other nurses.
"What kind of mother does that? The baby's right there, she's going to suffocate it!"
"Never seen anyone this dramatic. Every woman gives birth, you don't see the rest of us throwing fits."
I heard none of it.
"No husband in the room, no delivery."
A bead of sweat rolled down Donna's temple.
Her eyes flicked to the clock on the wall. Her jaw tightened.
"Fine. I'll make an exception."
She looked around the hallway.
"You all heard her. She demanded it. Whatever happens, it's on her."
The gurney pushed through the double doors. Greg walked beside me. I pulled his arm close.
"When the baby comes out, you watch. "
"Swear to me. Swear you won't look away. And nobody can carry the baby away. Nobody."
He nodded. "Don't worry, honey. I'll protect you and our baby."
The IV went into my hand. The Pitocin hit fast.
Pain folded over pain until there was nothing else. No room for thought.
Only Donna's voice counting breaths, and my body bearing down.
I don't know how long it took.
One last push.
Then crying. Small, sharp, furious.
My vision went white. Then dark.
When I opened my eyes, I was in a recovery room. Greg sat beside the bed.
"The baby." My voice came out in pieces. "Bring me the baby."
Greg lifted a bundle from the bassinet and placed it in my arms.
I looked down.
The blood drained from my face.
"Greg. This isn't our baby."
