Tethered To You

Two heartbeats. One womb. Dante’s words echoed louder than the machines humming beside her bed.Kelvin’s hand came down on the phone as if he could crush the message into nothing. His knuckles were white. The tendons in his wrist stood out like cords pulled too tight.How does he know? Ruby asked. Her voice sounded far away to her own ears, thin and trembling. The doctor just told us.Kelvin didn’t answer immediately. He paced once, the polished hospital floor squeaking faintly under his shoes. The smell of antiseptic burned her nose. Somewhere down the hall, a baby cried. The sound pierced straight through her.He has people everywhere, Kelvin said finally. Hospitals. Labs. Offices. Places I thought were secure.Ruby swallowed. Her mouth tasted metallic. Fear coated her tongue. So what now?He stopped pacing and looked at her. Really looked at her. His eyes were dark, unreadable, but she could see the tension beneath the surface. The fight he was having with himself.Now, he said slo

The canister hissed before it exploded.Not fire. Not shrapnel.Something worse silent, invisible, and already inside Ruby’s lungs.Kelvin slammed his shoulder into her, dragging her across the floor as a thick white fog burst from the small black device. It rolled fast, unnatural, spewing clouds that swallowed the room in seconds. The air changed instantly sharp, bitter, chemical. It burned Ruby’s throat and coated her tongue with a sickly sweetness that made her stomach flip.Don’t breathe! Kelvin shouted.Too late.Ruby coughed hard, her chest seizing as the gas forced its way in. Her eyes burned, tears streaming uncontrollably. The room spun. Sounds blurred alarms stretched into warped echoes, footsteps turned distant, like she was sinking underwater.Kelvin ripped off his jacket and pressed it over her mouth and nose, his hands shaking despite his control. Focus on me, he ordered. “Ruby. Stay with me.”She tried. God, she tried.Her body felt heavy, like her bones were filling w

Ruby’s feet barely touched the ground as Dante dragged her through the corridor.Her breath came in sharp, broken gasps, lungs burning as panic clawed its way up her throat. The hallway was narrow, dimly lit by emergency lights that flickered like dying stars. Sirens wailed behind them, muffled now, distant but not gone.Kelvin’s voice echoed in her head.I’ve got you.She twisted violently, nails digging into Dante’s wrist. “Let me go!” she screamed.Dante hissed in pain but didn’t release her. Instead, he yanked her closer, one arm locking around her waist, the other clamped over her mouth.“Stop fighting,” he growled into her ear. “You’ll hurt yourself.”Her body went rigid at the sound of his voice so close too close. Her skin crawled. Memories surged again, unwanted and sharp: the taste of drugged tea, the heaviness, the darkness.She bit him.Hard.Dante cursed, shoving her forward until her back slammed into the wall. The impact knocked the air from her lungs. He loomed over he

Morning arrived without mercy.No sunrise filtered through the windows only a sterile glow from recessed lights that hummed softly overhead. Ruby lay awake, every nerve alert, counting her breaths, counting the seconds between the small movements inside her. Each shift of her babies felt like a promise and a warning all at once.This was the day.She knew it the way you know a storm before the first thunder breaks your bones feel it before your eyes do.The door opened quietly.Lina stepped in, her face pale, her movements careful. “They’re ready.”Ruby sat up slowly. “Where is Kelvin?”Lina hesitated. That hesitation said more than words ever could.“He’s arrived,” Lina said finally. “He doesn’t know you’re awake.”Ruby’s chest tightened. “Does he know I’m here?”“Yes.”“Does he know what Dante is asking?”Lina swallowed. “Not yet.”Ruby pushed herself to her feet. The room swayed, but she steadied herself against the bed. “Take me to him.”“I can’t,” Lina said softly. “Dante said”“

The room was too quiet.Ruby noticed it the moment she woke no frantic footsteps, no urgent voices, no alarms screaming in the background. Just the soft hum of machines and the slow, steady beep of a heart monitor that wasn’t hers.Her own body felt hollow. Heavy. Wrong.She tried to move, and pain bloomed instantly, sharp and deep, stealing the air from her lungs. A broken sound escaped her throat.“Ruby.”Kelvin’s voice. Close. Strained.She turned her head slowly. He sat beside the bed, elbows on his knees, hands clasped together so tightly his knuckles were white. His eyes were red, rimmed with exhaustion and something darker fear he hadn’t allowed himself to release yet.“What happened?” she whispered.Kelvin didn’t answer immediately.That silence told her everything.Her hand flew instinctively to her stomach, fingers trembling as they pressed against the flatness beneath the hospital sheet. Panic surged, hot and uncontrollable.“No,” she breathed. “No, no, no…”Kelvin was on h