Hope Crawls Through Ruins by Kain Rowan Vale 14

For several seconds, the only sound was Shepard’s measured breath as the meaning of Charles’s words settled over him. 

‘She’s having our baby removed?‘ The thought slammed into him, cold and stunning. ‘She was pregnant? When? Why would she do this? Why wouldn’t she even tell me?‘ 

He had known nothing. The entire time, she had kept it from him. 

And yet, as he stood there in stunned silence, he realized there had been hints all along. 

Shepard pushed the thoughts aside and rose to his feet. “I’m on my way,” he said, his voice low and final, and then ended the call. 

Keys in hand, he was already moving. 

James was mid–knock when the office door was yanked open from the inside. 

Shepard strode past him without a glance. 

“Mr. Carter, where are you going? The executive meeting begins in ten minutes,” James said, sounding 

worried. 

“Cancel it,” Shepard replied, his voice ice–cold. 

He found himself understanding Briana less and less with each passing moment. 

Shepard sped toward the hospital, cutting through traffic with a single–minded urgency. 

When Shepard appeared down the hospital hall, Charles rushed to meet him. 

“What do we do? The surgery is still going on. I’ve been knocking and banging on the door, but no one answers,” Charles said, his voice tight with worry. 

“You and Briana have been married all this time, and now you finally have a child on the way. It’s precious. It would be such a shame if she lost it,” he added. 

Without a word, Shepard walked up to the operating room door. 

The light from overhead fell on his face, making his features look sharp and severe. 

His eyes were fixed on the door, staring with an intensity that could have bored a hole through it. 

It was a long moment before he finally spoke, “I wasn’t planning to keep it.” 

Charles stared, his mouth slightly agape. “What?” 

“But…” Shepard’s voice turned cold. “Briana doesn’t get to keep this from me and decide what happens on 

her own.” 

Her audacity was what truly enraged him. She hadn’t told him a single thing about the pregnancy, nor 

about her decision to end it. 

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It Charles hadn’t stumbled upon the truth by chance, Shepard might never have known. 

10 vouchers? 

The way he saw it, it was straightforward. If he wanted the child, she would have it. If he didn’t, then she would have to let it go, regardless of her own wishes. 

Since when was it her decision to make? The thought was absurd, and it only fed his rage. 

Shepard’s presence was so intimidating that no one dared to approach. 

Moments later, the hospital director rushed over, a wide, practiced smile on his face, “Mr. Carter…” he began, bobbing his head. 

Open the door, Shepard cut in, leaving no room for discussion. 

“Well, there’s an active surgery inside, the director said hesitantly, “Protocol strictly forbids opening that door 

My word overrides your protocol, Shepard said, his voice dangerously low. 

The director swallowed his protest and immediately turned to his assistant with an urgent look. 

The assistant scrambled for his key card and swiped it through the reader. 

The door slid open with a soft beep, and Shepard strode in before it was fully open. 

As soon as he got in, his eyes went straight to the operating table. 

He couldn’t see Briana’s face. All he saw was her slender hand hanging limp over the side of the table as the medical staff worked around her. 

Every doctor and nurse in the room had frozen, their eyes fixed on Shepard, 

No one had ever stormed into an operating room during surgery before. Shepard had just made history. 

The surgeon still held a metal tool, its surface smeared with fresh, vivid red, 

Shepard’s gaze turned hard. “And the baby?” he asked, his voice dangerously low. “It’s done?” 

The surgeon stared for a beat before giving a stiff nod. “Yes.” 

“How far along is the procedure?” Shepard pressed. 

“It’s almost over,” the doctor replied honestly. 

Shepard’s mouth set into a grim line as he realized he was too late. 

He didn’t step forward, standing his ground as he spoke with chilling calm. “I’m her husband. How dare you perform this procedure without my permission?” 

“We followed the protocol,” the head nurse said carefully. “Briana submitted the consent form. It has… your signature.” 

Instantly, the divorce papers came to Shepard’s mind. 

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He’d wondered why she needed his signature in so many places. Now it all made sense. 

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E10 vouchers 

As he realized she had tricked him, a sharp, cold anger rose in his chest, mixed with a grudging recognition of her cunning. 

He stared at the operating table, his gaze so intense that it felt like a physical weight. 

After a long silence, he asked, his voice quiet but firm, “Where is it?” 

The surgeon’s eyes moved to a nearby surgical tray. 

Shepard’s eyes followed and found the small, dark form on the tray, no larger than his palm, and he knew it was his child. 

Briana had gone ahead and done it without telling him, without giving him a say. The bitter irony of it curdled in his mind. 

Ever since the divorce, nothing Briana did was what Shepard expected. 

He had believed he knew her, but now he realized he might never have truly known her at all. 

After the divorce, the real Briana began to surface, piece by piece. 

“Finish it,” Shepard said, his voice cold. Then he turned and left the room. 

The whole thing was practically over anyway. All he could do now was wait for her to wake up, and then they would settle this. 

The door whispered shut behind him, closing on a scene he wished had never happened. 

Charles rushed over, hope bright in his eyes. “Mr. Carter, please tell me they stopped in time. The baby is still okay, right?” 

“It’s over,” Shepard stated, his voice devoid of emotion. 

Charles stared, his mouth agape in shock. “She really went through with it? Briana actually did it?” 

Until that very moment, Charles had clung to a sliver of hope. 

He thought he understood his sister. She was famously, hopelessly in love with Shepard. This pregnancy should have been her perfect card to play, her one chance to secure everything. 

He’d been sure it was just a bluff, a desperate grab for attention and sympathy. 

A child would lock in her future, and his by extension. The thought had been a comforting one. 

He was certain she’d be sensible enough to keep the baby safe. Yet, she had done the opposite. 

The truth settled on Charles with a heavier weight than it seemed to carry for Shepard. 

“No, that can’t be,” Charles insisted, shaking his head. “She loved you so much. She always said that even if 

didn’t love her, just having your baby would have been enough for her.” 

you 

“She’s changed,” Shepard said, his voice flat. 

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Now, he realized that he didn’t understand her at all. 

10 vouchers 

Before Charles could argue, Shepard turned and walked down the hall to the window, his gaze fixed on the Scenery outside. 

Charles watched him, unable to guess what he was thinking. 

Half an hour later, when the surgery was done, Briana was wheeled into a private room. 

Charles followed, but as he reached the door, two men moved to block his way. 

“Hey, what is this?” Charles said, frustration edging his voice. “Do you know who I am? You’re really going to stop me from going in?” 

“My apologies, Mr. Lane, Mr. Carter was very clear. No one is to enter.” 

“Not even me?” Charles pressed. 

“No one,” the guard replied, unmoved. 

Anxious, Charles stared at the unyielding door. A cold worry settled in his gut as he wondered what was going on in there. 

Outside, dusk was falling, the brilliant sunset fading into a deep twilight. 

Shepard had not left the room all afternoon. He was waiting, determined to confront Briana the moment she opened her eyes. 

All the while, the memory of what he saw in the operating room played on an unending loop in his mind. 

The sight that her pale hand hung off the edge of the table still tightened in his chest like a fist. The thought of that small, red clump, what might have been his child, did the same. 

Shepard took two hard drags from his cigarette, stubbed it out, and turned to face Briana on the bed. 

The evening sun fell through the window in warm strips of light. One of them lay across her face. 

Her eyelids trembled slightly, and he saw it. 

He checked his watch, knowing the anesthesia should be fading by now. 

He tossed the cigarette away and walked over to stand beside her. 

“Briana.” He said her name, his voice even and cold. 

“Briana, wake up now,” he ordered, leaning down to grasp her chin firmly in his hand. 

A faint sound of pain escaped her lips as she flinched. 

Shepard’s voice cut through her haze, pure command. “Open your eyes. Now.” 

Briana’s mind was thick with fog, trapped in the moment just before she went under. Her body felt heavy and weak, a dull ache settling low in her belly. 

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“Briana, wake up.” His tone was icy. “You can’t avoid this by pretending to sleep.” 

10 vouchers 

Confused, she frowned. ‘Shepard’s voice?‘ she wondered. ‘Why is he here in the hospital… in the operating room?‘ 

A sharp, sudden pain shot through her jaw, brutal enough to feel like it was being wrenched from its socket. 

Briana gasped, her face contorting. Her lashes trembled before her eyes drifted open. 

The light was blinding. She shut her eyes tightly against the sting. 

When she dared to look again, the room swam into a blurry view, and she saw a man standing over her. 

Briana’s vision was blurry. She could only make out a vague shape standing nearby. 

She blinked hard, trying to bring it into focus. 

“Charles?” she whispered. 

She assumed it must be her brother, as he was the only person likely to be visiting her in the hospital. 

But the voice that answered was a familiar, deep one. “Briana, did you just call me Charles?” 

In an instant, the fog in her mind cleared, and she was fully awake. 

‘What is he doing here?‘ she thought to herself. Shock jolted through her, and she pushed herself upright 

in bed. 

The sudden movement tugged at her IV line, making the stand rattle and the bag swing. 

The needle pulled loose, and an angry red bump swelled on her hand. 

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