Chapter 2

"Bullshit!" Spittle flew from Mr. Lockwood's mouth, nearly hitting my face.

"What scope of practice? Someone's dying! If she dies on campus, we're both finished! You're a doctor! You have to help!"

Mr. Lockwood's eyes went wide with panic. Without another word, he grabbed my shoulders and shoved me hard toward the bathroom stall with all his strength.

"Get in there! If she dies, we're all going down with her!"

I stumbled and crashed into the stall door. It rattled loudly against the frame.

The surrounding students stared at me like I was already guilty. Their silent judgment pressed against my back until I could barely breathe.

The horrors of my past life overlapped with the coercion of this one. In the end, I was still being forced back into the center of this nightmare, all in the name of saving a life.

I stepped into the stall. The metallic stench of blood hit me immediately.

Serena Anderson sat slumped against the cold tile, deathly pale. Beneath her spread a pool of blood that made my stomach turn.

The umbilical cord wrapped around the baby's purple neck. The tiny life barely had any breath left.

My heart clenched. In that instant, everything from my past life came rushing back. Her tearful accusations when she woke, Lynn's condemnation, the online mob, and the cold edge of a blade.

Every image crashed over me, nearly stopping me in my tracks. I couldn't let this happen again. But this was a dying mother and a suffocating child.

Then Serena seemed to regain a sliver of consciousness. "Save my baby. Please…"

I drew a sharp breath and dropped into a crouch, quickly assessing her condition. She was hemorrhaging badly, and the baby was in distress. She needed immediate intervention, but…

I pulled out my phone. "Listen, I'm the campus doctor. I need you to tell me who the father of your baby is."

Serena's lips moved, her voice barely a whisper. "It's Leo…"

"Dr. Kirk! You monster! Are you even human?"

Lynn burst into the stall like she'd lost her mind, swinging wildly to knock the phone from my hand. "Serena's dying and you're taking photos of her? You're disgusting!"

Her shrill voice filled the cramped space and carried to every eavesdropper outside.

I avoided her attack, resisting the urge to throw her out bodily.

Then Serena screamed again, her body convulsing violently. The situation spiraled toward critical. A thought flashed through my mind.

Rather than being forced to help and reliving my past nightmare, maybe…

I let Mr. Lockwood's next shove throw me off balance, stumbling toward the water pipe. "Stop pushing me!"

Then, in the split second before I hit the ground, I angled my left forearm—ulnar side first—directly at the pipe's metal joint and slammed into it with my full body weight.

Mr. Lockwood froze. "Dr. Kirk! What happened?"

Cold sweat instantly beaded on my forehead, my face draining of color. "My arm's broken! I can't even hold gauze steady now. How am I supposed to deliver a baby? You want me to use this useless arm and kill them both?"

I forced the words through gritted teeth, pain shooting up my arm. My gaze swept sharply across everyone present.

"Mr. Lockwood, and you, Lynn! You're the ones so desperate to save her, right? Then you'll do it. Follow my instructions exactly!"

"Me? I can't!" Mr. Lockwood's face went white. He backed away.

"You have to!" I snapped. "You're the closest ones here! Are you going to stand there and watch her die right in front of you? Listen to me and do exactly what I say! Now!"

I guided them through clearing the airway, carefully unwinding the cord from the baby's neck, then coached Serena when to push.

Every step was precarious. One wrong move, and they would both die.