Chapter 31
JACKSON
"Mr. Anderson, we need to discuss Dr. Carson's legal team. They're pushing the prosecutor to pursue maximum charges: aggravated assault, potential jail time. They want to make an example of you."
"What are my options?"
"Depends on the prosecutor. If Carson drops the charges, this goes away. But he's not dropping them, his lawyer is..." Papers shuffle in the background. "Aggressive. They're filing a civil suit as well, seeking damages for medical costs, pain and suffering, lost wages."
"How much?"
"Potentially millions."
I set down my coffee cup. "Millions."
"Yes. And that's separate from the criminal charges." He pauses. "There's something else. Maya Rivera's rape case is being reopened. If the prosecutor can prove Carson assaulted her, it could help your case, show your actions had justification. But..."
"But what?"
"But it also means Maya will have to testify, publicly, in court. Are you prepared for that? Is she?"
I glance upstairs where Maya's still asleep in the guest room. She's been through enough. The media circus, the public exposure. And now a trial where she'll have to relive the worst moment of her life.
"I'll talk to her."
"Do it soon. We need to know what we're working with."
I hang up and stare at my phone. Everything's falling apart. My career, my freedom. And now Maya's going to be dragged through court because of my choices.
Footsteps on the stairs. Chase appears, looking exhausted and panicked.
"Emma’s water broke."
I freeze. "What?"
"Her water broke, and it's too early. The baby's not supposed to come yet."
I'm already moving. "Did you call an ambulance?"
"Yeah, they're on the way. But Jackson, she's freaking out. She needs..."
I take the stairs two at a time. Emma's in the bathroom, sitting on the edge of the tub, face pale and terrified. There's fluid on the floor.
"Em." I crouch in front of her. "Breathe. Just breathe."
"It's too early. The baby's not ready, I'm only thirty-one weeks..."
"Thirty-two," Chase corrects, appearing behind me with shaking hands. "You just reached thirty-two weeks. The doctor said it has good outcomes, remember?"
"But it's still premature. What if… what if something's wrong? What if she can't..."
She stops mid-sentence, hand flying to her mouth.
"Wait," I say slowly. "She?"
Emma's eyes go wide.
"You're having a girl?" Maya's voice comes from the doorway, and when I turn, she's standing there in sleep shorts and one of my t-shirts, hair a mess but face alert. "Em, you're having a girl?"
"We were going to surprise everyone," Emma says, tears streaming down her face. "We had this whole party planned for next month. But I guess my daughter decided to come early and ruin her own party."
Despite everything, despite the panic and the fear, I feel something warm bloom in my chest. A niece. I'm about to have a niece.
Maya kneels beside Emma, slipping effortlessly into professional mode. "How far apart are the contractions?"
"I don't know. Maybe five minutes?"
"Okay. That's early labor, we have time." Maya's checking Emma's pulse, her eyes tracking something I can't see. "Is she moving?"
"Yes. A lot. She's... oh god, another contraction..."
Emma doubles over, and Maya's hand is on her back, steady and sure.
"Breathe through it. In through your nose, out through your mouth. That's it, you're doing great."
I watch Maya transform. This isn't the broken woman who showed up unexpectedly; this is the nurse, the professional, the person who saves lives.
The ambulance arrives. Paramedics flood the room with equipment and questions. Maya's answering everything: Emma's medical history, the pregnancy timeline, when contractions started, and how far apart they are.
"I'm a pediatric nurse," she tells them. "Worked in labor and delivery during training. She's thirty-two weeks, water broke approximately fifteen minutes ago, contractions five minutes apart and intensifying."
"We need to get her to the hospital now," one of the paramedics says.
"Wait, Ethan," Emma gasps. "We can't leave him here alone..."
"I'll get him," I say, already moving. "He can come with us."
I take the stairs two at a time, burst into Ethan's room where he's still sleeping peacefully, unaware that his little sister has decided to make her entrance early. I scoop him up, blanket and all.
"Uncle Jack?" His sleepy voice is confused.
"We're going on an adventure, buddy. Mommy needs us."
They load Emma onto a stretcher. Chase is beside her, holding her hand, looking terrified. I follow with Ethan in my arms, still half-asleep and clutching his blanket.
"I'm calling Mom from the car," I tell Chase. "She can meet us at the hospital."
Mom's been staying at a hotel nearby for the past week—Chase's idea, and he insisted on paying for it. Emma tried to tell her she was being ridiculous, that there were still eight weeks left, but our mom is stubborn. She wanted to be close just in case something happened.
Turns out she was right.
"Okay, okay, yeah. Good."
We follow the ambulance to Hartford Memorial. Maya rides with Emma and Chase while I drive with Ethan, who's waking up now and asking questions I don't know how to answer.
"Is Mommy okay?"
"She's going to be fine. Your baby sister decided she wants to meet everyone today."
"Baby sister?" His eyes go wide. "It's a sister?"
"Yeah, buddy. You're getting a sister."
"Cool."
At the hospital, they rush Emma to labor and delivery. Maya's right there, talking to the nurses, explaining the situation.
"Family?" A nurse asks.
"I'm her brother," I say. "This is Chase, her husband."
"And you?" She looks at Maya.
"Best friend. And I'm a pediatric nurse, but I have L we need you to be able to push."
"Fuck." Emma grips Chase's hand. "This wasn't the plan. None of this was the plan."
Another contraction, stronger this time. Emma screams.
"Do you want me to leave?" I ask, suddenly feeling like I'm intruding on something intensely private. "I can wait outside..."
"No. Stay. Please." Emma looks at me through tears. "I need you. I need all of you."
A different nurse appears. "Only the father can be in the room during delivery. Hospital policy."
"I don't care about hospital policy." Emma's voice goes hard despite the pain. "My brother stays, Maya stays. They're my family, and they're staying."
"Ma'am..."
"Did I stutter? They stay, or I'm walking out of this hospital right now and having this baby in the car park."
The nurse looks at the doctor. He shrugs.
"Fine. But stay out of the way."
Maya positions herself next to the monitors, reading the data like she's fluent in a language I don't understand. Chase is at Emma's side, holding her hand, whispering things I can't hear. I'm near the window, feeling useless.
"Nine centimeters," the doctor says after another check. "One more and we push."
Emma's sobbing louder now. "It hurts. It hurts so much."
"I know." Maya wipes Emma's forehead with a damp cloth. "But you're almost there, you're doing so well."
"The baby's too small. What if she can't breathe? What if..."
"She'll breathe. And if she needs help, the NICU team is ready; they're the best in Hartford." Maya's voice never wavers. "You've got this, Em. You're the strongest person I know."
Another contraction, worse than the others. Emma's grip on Chase's hand turns his fingers white.
"Ten centimeters," the doctor announces. "Time to push."
"I can't..."
"Yes, you can. On the next contraction, I need you to push as hard as you can."
The room shifts into chaos. Nurses position equipment, the doctor gets into place, and a NICU team assembles in the corner, ready for a premature baby who might need immediate intervention.
"Here comes the contraction," Maya says, watching the monitor. "Get ready, Emma."
"Push!" the doctor commands.
Emma pushes, screams, pushes again.
Chase is crying. I'm frozen, watching my sister fight to bring her daughter into the world eight weeks too early.
"I can see the head," the doctor says. "One more big push, Emma. Come on."
"I can't..."
"You can. Push!"
Emma bears down, face red, every muscle straining.
And then...
"Wait," the doctor says. "Stop pushing. Don't push."
"What? What's wrong?" Emma's panic is immediate.
"Cord's around the neck. I need to... hold on. Just breathe, don't push yet."
The room goes silent except for the monitors beeping. Maya's watching them, her jaw tight. Chase has stopped breathing.
"Got it. Cord's clear. Okay, Emma, next contraction, big push. Let's meet your daughter."
The words hang in the air.
Let's meet your daughter.
Emma's about to become a mother for the second time.
And I'm about to meet my niece.