Bound By A Broken Night novel Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Distant voices reached me, blurred and echoing, as if coming from the end of a long, collapsing tunnel. Darkness clung to me, heavy and insistent, pulling me deeper into its grasp.

It would have been so easy to let go.

But I couldn’t.

There was an innocent life depending on me on my strength, on my will to stay conscious. No matter how much my body begged to surrender to the pain, I forced myself to fight the darkness clawing at the edges of my mind.

“Hang on, Cassie. We’re almost at the hospital.”

The voice cut through the haze.

Zandrie.

Panic roughened his words, stripping away the usual ease and mischief that defined him. The man who lived with a careless grin and a reckless heart now sounded terrified for a woman and a child he was never supposed to care about.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, breathless. “I’m so sorry I didn’t hear your call the first time.”

Something tightened in my chest as his hand squeezed mine.

Only then did I realize I wasn’t on the floor anymore.

I was being carried–cradled against his chest inside a moving vehicle. The hum of the engine vibrated beneath me, every bump in the road sending sharp reminders through my aching body.

“Ugh…” A broken whimper slipped past my lips as another contraction seized me, stealing what little breath I had left.

“Can you go faster?” Zandrie snapped at the driver, his voice trembling despite his effort to stay composed. “She’s in so much pain.” 1

I wanted to tell him I could endure it.

That I had endured worse.

That I would endure this too–for my child, for the tiny life fighting alongside me. And yet, beneath the pain, something else overwhelmed me.

For the first time in my life, someone was genuinely worried about me.

Not out of obligation. Not out of convenience.

But fear.

“Hang on, Cassie,” Zandrie said again, softer now, desperate. “We’re almost there. I can see the

Chop A

+25 BONUS

hospital.”

He tried to steady his breathing, to sound strong–but I heard it anyway. The crack in his voice. The fear he couldn’t hide.

I focused on that voice. On the promise of light ahead. And I held on.

Everything blurred together, fractured and rushing, but I knew this much he lifted me the instant/ the car came to a halt, his steps hurried and uneven with panic as he carried me through the hospital doors.

Zandrie was panicking on behalf of the man who should have been here.

On behalf of the family that should have surrounded me in this terrifying moment.

Yet it was him.

He never left my side. Not once. He never loosened his grip on my hand, not even when the medical staff surrounded me, voices overlapping, hands moving with urgent precision.

“Can I go with her, Doctor?” he asked, his fingers tightening around mine as if letting go was unthinkable.

“Yes, Mr. Wallace,” the doctor replied calmly. “Husbands are allowed in the delivery room. Your presence will help calm the mother–and the baby.”

The words hit me harder than the pain.

Husband.

I nearly cried–not just from the contractions tearing through me, but from the sudden, constricting swell of emotion in my chest. Zandrie and I had only known each other for three months. Our marriage was born of necessity, strategy, pretense.

And yet…

Yes. His presence did calm me.

“Don’t worry,” he whispered beside my ear as they settled me onto the birthing bed. “I’m here, Cassie. Just squeeze my hand if it hurts too much.”

It was all I needed. Just someone who stayed.

Someone who didn’t walk away when things became ugly and frightening.

Someone who made me feel–if only for this moment–that I wasn’t alone.

“If I say push, you push with all your strength, Mrs. Wallace,” the doctor instructed firmly. “We’ll count to ten. Push until we reach ten.”

The words barely registered through the haze, but they carved themselves into me all the same. I clung to them, focused on them, like an obedient child following the only path forward.

Chapter

+25 BONUS

“Push!”

The command came–and I obeyed.

I gathered every fragment of strength left in my body, every ounce of will, and pushed with everything I had.

For the pain. For the fear. For the life waiting to be born. For my precious angel.

“Wahh!”

A powerful, shrill cry pierced the room–and suddenly, everything erupted into joyful chaos.

“Welcome to the outside world, baby Malakai Wallace,” the doctor announced brightly, her voice rising above the sound of my newborn’s cries.

The name settled into me like something sacred.

year.

“Malakai…” Zandrie whispered beside me, his voice trembling as he leaned close to my e That’s a beautiful name, Cassie.”

Co

“Congratulations, Mr. Wallace… and Cassie,” Dr. Bennett said warmly as she brought my baby to

1. me.

He was still uncleaned, his tiny body slick and mottled with the remnants of birth–but to me, he was perfection itself. The most precious, most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

I pressed a kiss to his soft cheek, my lips trembling. If only I had the strength, I would have pulled him into my arms and never let go.

“He’s looking for your warmth,” Dr. Bennett said with gentle amusement.

She carefully placed him against me, and almost instantly, as if he had always known where he belonged, the tiny figure snuggled closer. The simple instinctive motion made a smile bloom through my tears.

“My baby…” My voice came out hoarse, my throat dry and tight with emotion.

“Nurse him,” the doctor said softly, opening my gown with practiced care.

“He needs to feel your warmth, hear the familiar rhythm of your heartbeat.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify