My Boss’s Hidden Heir (Elara and Marcus) novel Chapter 159

Chapter 159

Marcus’s POV

The ambulance ride felt like it lasted forever on the road even though Marcus knew it was only fifteen minutes. He sat beside Elara holding her hand while the paramedic checked her vitals and asked questions Marcus could barely process.

How far along was she? Twenty-eight weeks. When did the bleeding start? Three AM. Was this her first pregnancy? Yes. Any complications? Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, Baby B already compromised

Elara’s face was pale and streaked with tears. She was trying hard not to let fall. Every time another cramp hit she would squeeze Marcus’s hand so tight he thought his bones might break, but he didn’t pull away. If she needed to break every bone in his hand to get through this, he’d let her.

“The babies,” she kept saying. “Marcus, what if we lose them?”

“We’re not going to lose them. We’re almost at the hospital and they’re going to take care of you. All three of you.”

But Marcus didn’t know if he believed his own words.

He’d seen the amount of blood on their sheets, and the amount of fear in the paramedic’s voice when she’d radioed ahead to the hospital. This wasn’t a false alarm or a minor complication. This was serious.

The ambulance pulled up to the emergency entrance and suddenly everything was moving too fast. Doors flying open, Elara being transferred to a gurney, doctors and nurses surrounding them asking more questions. and barking orders Marcus couldn’t keep up with.

“Are you the father?” someone asked.

“Yes. Marcus Thorne. My wife is twenty-eight weeks pregnant with twins, one of them already has heart issues from twin-to-twin transfusion, she started bleeding heavily about forty minutes ago…”

“We’ve got her file pulled up. Dr. Harrison is on her way now. We’re taking her straight to labor and delivery

They wheeled Elara down a hallway and Marcus tried to follow but a nurse stopped him. “Sir, you need to wait here while we get her prepped for surgery.”

“I’m not leaving her.”

“I understand, but we need to assess the situation first and get her ready. Someone will come get you as soon as we can, I promise.”

The nurse disappeared through double doors and Marcus was left standing alone in a waiting room that smelled like antiseptic and fear. He pulled out his phone with shaking hands and called Dante

“Marcus? It’s four in the morning, what….”

“Elara’s in emergency surgery. The babies are coming. I need you to handle the shareholder meeting”

Chapter 150

There was a beat of silence. “What happened?”

“She started bleeding. They’re doing an emergency C-section right now. Penelope or the company is the very last thing on my mind right now, Dante. I need you to take care of it.”

“Of course. Don’t worry about any of that. Just focus on Elara and the babies. Do you want me to come to the hospital?”

“No. Yes, I don’t know. Just make sure Penelope doesn’t destroy everything while I’m not there.”

Marcus hung up and sank into one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs. The shareholder meeting was supposed to be in ten hours. He was supposed to walk in there and expose Penelope for murdering his mother, for sabotaging his company, for every crime she’d committed over the years.

But none of that mattered now. The only thing that mattered was El and their babies surviving the next few hours.

A doctor came out twenty minutes later, a woman in scrubs with kind eyes. “Mr. Thorne? I’m Dr. Harrison. Your wife is asking for you.”

Marcus was on his feet immediately. “Is she okay? Are the babies…”

“We’re prepping her for surgery now. Baby B is in significant distress and we can’t wait any longer. I need you to understand that delivering at twenty-eight weeks carries risks, but keeping them in is more dangerous at this point.”

“What kind of risks?”

“Respiratory issues, developmental delays, infections. But we have an excellent NICU team and twins born at this gestational age have very good survival rates with proper care. Baby B will need immediate surgery for the heart condition, but we’re ready for that.”

Marcus felt like he might throw up. “Can I see her?”

“Come with me.”

Dr. Harrison led him through the double doors into a pre-op area where Elara was lying on a bed surrounded by monitors and IV lines. She looked so small and scared that Marcus’s heart broke

“Hey,” he said softly, taking her hand. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m terrified.” Elara’s voice was shaking. “What if something goes wrong? What if the babies are too small or too sick or-”

“Stop. Don’t go there. We’re going to get through this.”

“You don’t know that. Nobody knows that. They’re so early, Marcus. They’re supposed to have twelve more weeks to grow and instead they’re being born in the middle of the night because my body can’t keep them safe.”

A nurse came over and started explaining the procedure, talking about spinal blocks and incisions and

recovery times, but Marcus could see Elara wasn’t really listening. She was staring at the ceiling with tears running down into her ear.

“I need you to look at me.” Marcus said firmly.

Elara turned her head.

“I have three decades walked the face of this earth and can report, you have no twin. No one as angry, as stubborn as unaccommodating, as maddening…..”

“Sounds like trash to me…” Elara said.

As loving, “Marcus continued”, as dedicated, as thoughtful, as imperfectly perfect as you’ve become

You are the strongest person I know. You’ve survived corporate espionage and blackmail and a psychotic stepmother trying to destroy our lives. You can survive this. Our babies can survive this. We’re all fighters. remember? You told me that yourself.”

“What if I was wrong?”

“You weren’t wrong. Have a little faith, El.”

They wheeled her into the operating room and Marcus had to change into scrubs and a mask before he could follow. By the time he got in there, Elara was already draped and prepped, her face visible above a surgical curtain that blocked her view of her own body.

Marcus sat beside her head and held her hand while Dr. Harrison and her team worked on the other side of the curtain. He could hear the beeping of monitors, the quiet instructions being passed between surgical staff. the occasional clang of metal instruments.

“I can’t feel anything,” Elara said. “Is that normal?”

“That’s the spinal block working,” Dr. Harrison called out. “You’ll feel some pressure but no pain We’re starting now.”

Marcus had no idea how long the surgery actually took. It felt like seconds and hours at the same time

He kept his eyes on Elara’s face, kept talking to her in a low voice about nothing and everything Reminding her about the nursery they’d set up, about the names they’d picked out, about all the plans they’d made

“Almost there,” Dr. Harrison said. “Getting ready to deliver Baby A.”

And then there was a sound Marcus had never heard before. A tiny, angry cry that was the most beautiful thing he’d ever experienced.

“Baby A is out,” Dr. Harrison announced. “It’s a girl.”

Marcus looked over the curtain and saw an impossibly small baby being handed to a team of NICU nurses She was red and wrinkled and perfect.

“Is she okay?” Elara asked desperately. “Marcus, is she okay?”

17:02 Mon, May 11 M…

Chapter 159

:

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify