Page 102 of Shadows of Recovery

A man joined them, his expression unchanged. "We can’t jeopardize our way of life for one woman and child,” said Damon’s brother Nathan.

A wave of disgust washed over her. "Your way of life is barbaric," she spat, turning her attention back to the laboring patient. She washed her hands, grabbed a pair of gloves and offered a smile. “I’m Sophie, and I’m a doctor. Can I examine you?”

“I’m Emma, Damon’s wife. Please help me.”

Sophie examined her. “She’s at three centimeters. Kay, how long has she been like this?”

“Twelve hours,” Kay whispered.

Sophie’s eyes widened. “She’s got a fever. Have you given her anything?”

“No…I…” Kay mumbled.

Sophie ground her teeth. “Do you have ampicillin, gentamicin and erythromycin IV drugs?”

Damon roared at the woman in scrubs, “Get Sophie what she wants!”

Sophie asked if they had equipment. Kay nodded, showing her the fetal monitor and the sonogram machine shoved in a corner of the room, unused. Sophie quickly checked Emma and the baby, finding the baby’s heartrate stable. "We need Pitocin to help move her labor along. She’s been in labor for twelve hours already."

The woman in scrubs brought in a large duffel bag and dumped the contents on the floor. Sophie shuddered when she realized the bag was filled with the drugs stolen from Waverly County Hospital. She closed her eyes and did a visualization exercise. “Find Pitocin and morphine,” she exhaled through pursed lips.

Damon was growing frantic. “You have to save the baby.”

Nathan frowned as he looked at Kay. It was clear to Sophie that Kay had no idea how to set up the drip. As they worked, Kay apologized, her voice trembling. "I’m sorry for what happened at the Blackwell Institute."

Sophie’s nostrils flared as she set up the drip. Her voice was cold. "I don’t care about that right now. Where is Tristan?"

Kay glanced at Damon, who smirked, wrapping his arms around her. "If you want to know, you can switch places with him."

Kay scoffed at the suggestion, but Sophie’s eyes burned with defiance. "I’ll do it."

Damon laughed cruelly. "No, we need your medical skills."

Before Sophie could react, Damon pulled out a gun and shot Kay. The sound of the gunshot echoed through the room, and Kay crumpled to the ground. Sophie gasped, her eyes wide with horror.

Nathan and the rest of the Whitlock brothers were furious. "Damon, what have you done?" his brother shouted.

Damon shrugged, his face devoid of remorse. "She was useless."

Sophie rushed to Kay’s side, her hands trembling as she tried to assess the wound. Blood poured from Kay’s chest, and her breathing was shallow. She grabbed at Sophie’s hands and fought to speak. “Syphilis. Damon,” she muttered.

Sophie nodded in understanding. "You need to get her to a hospital," she said, looking up at Nathan. “You’re not a murderer.”

Nathan hesitated, torn between his duty to the sect and the life of the woman before him. Finally, he shook his head.

Sophie rolled her shoulders. “Get me a saline IV setup and look in that mess on the floor for BleedSolv dressings and trauma dressings.”

Everyone stood shocked and frozen.

“Move it!” Sophie screamed.

After Sophie pressed gauze to Kay’s wound and started an IV, two men put her on a stretcher that was dragged into the room. The Whitlock brothers, their faces masks of shock and anger, subdued Damon, wrestling the gun free. Shouts and curses filled the air as they tried to figure out what to do with him.

Forty

James Blackwell arrived home from the hospital to find Matt Langdon, Sophie’s nurse, on the porch, about to let himself inside. Matt looked up, his face etched with worry. "Sophie missed her check-in. I no longer stay at the house, but I speak with her every afternoon."

“It’s not like Tristan to not turn the lights on.” James felt a cold knot of fear settle in his stomach. He unlocked the door and flipped on the lights. The house appeared empty. "Let's call Chris Skylar.” He pulled out his phone and dialed Chris’s number, his hands growing sweaty.

---