Chapter 2 - The Door Closes
"Clear the perimeter!" Dr. Rao barked, his voice abandoning every ounce of gentle professionalism. The warmth vanished from the room, replaced by the mechanical clinking of steel trays and the slap of rubber-soled shoes against tile. Two orderlies entered at a sprint, their shoulders colliding with Julian’s frame, unceremoniously wedging him away from the bed.
Julian resisted, anchoring his heels to the floor, refusing to untangle his fingers from Clara’s limp, cooling grip. "No! I'm staying! You told me I could stay!" he shouted, his navy blazer catching on the IV stand, sending plastic tubes swinging like pendulums.
Nurse Elena grabbed his forearms with surprising force. Her eyes were sorrowful but immovably resolute. "Sir, you need to step out now. She’s in cardiac arrest and fetal distress. If you stay in here, you cost her seconds she doesn't have."
With a brutal heave, they pushed him out into the corridor. The heavy swing doors slammed shut, their magnetic seals locking with a hollow, pressurized thud. Julian stumbled backward against the painted concrete wall, sliding down until the cold linoleum chilled him through his slacks. His chest heaved as he stared at his right hand—it was smudged with dried saline and the faint, pale residue of Clara's skin.
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The hallway was quiet, save for the dull, distant wails of emergency sirens outside the ambulance bay. Then, a sharp, rhythmic sound cut through the hum of the ventilation shafts: the deliberate click-clack of high heels echoing on the hard floor. Julian lifted his head, his vision blurred by tears. Standing thirty feet away near the elevator bank was the woman in the crimson dress, staring directly at him with an expression devoid of grief.
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