Natalie’s loud movements woke Sally, who was sleeping on the couch in the ward.
Sally’s eyes instantly flew open as she snapped her head in the direction of the bed. She then saw
Natalie pulling the intravenous drip out of her hand and was about to jump off the bed. Alarmed, she
darted over to stop her.
“Nat, what are you doing?” Sally quickly helped Natalie back to the bed.
Nevertheless, Natalie refused to let her do that. As she thrashed against Sally, she shouted, “My baby’s
gone! I want to look for my baby!”
It was only then Sally realized why Natalie was adamant about leaving her bed. After letting a short
sigh of relief out of her mouth, she hastily replied, “The baby’s still with us. The baby’s still with us, Nat!”
“The baby’s still with us?” At that, Natalie halted in her motions. In the next second, she grabbed Sally’s
hand and anxiously asked, “Sal, are you saying that my baby’s still with us? But my stomach’s flat now,
and it has only been six months. If the baby’s gone from my stomach, isn’t the baby…”
“No, no. The baby’s still alive. He’s in the incubator,” Sally reassured as she patted her back.
Natalie’s lips parted. “The incubator?”
“That’s right. You were overwhelmed by Mr. Shane’s disappearance, so your womb contracted. That’s
why the baby came out earlier. Fortunately, the baby’s six months old. As long as the baby is healthy,
he’ll survive.” Sally gave her a nod.
Natalie touched her stomach as she lowered her gaze and muttered under her breath, “The baby’s a
premature baby… The baby was born four months too early.”
“There’s nothing we can do about it.” Sally sighed.
The tears that stopped earlier came back as Natalie sobbed, “This is my fault. I’m the reason for the
baby’s premature birth. This is all my fault.”
“There, there. Don’t cry.” Sharon hugged her. “Nat, this isn’t your fault, so don’t you start blaming
yourself. No one expected this. If you blame yourself, your mental state will affect your physical state.
Do you understand me? The baby needs you, and you have to rest well to recover. What will the baby
do if you collapse? What will Connor and Sharon do?”
Natalie stiffened when she heard those words.
She’s right. Not only did something happen to Shane, but the baby also came into this world too early,
forced to stay in an incubator.
If I don’t get myself together soon, who’s going to take care of the three kids?
When Sally saw Natalie closing her eyes and recollecting herself, she knew that the latter must have
heeded her words. She smiled.
“That’s right, Nat. All three of your kids only have you now. You must stay strong for them,” Sally
pointed out solemnly.
Natalie bit her lip and squeezed out a smile. “I know. I’ll do my best to recompose myself. Where’s
Connor and Sharon?”
“Silas brought them out for a meal, so they’ll be back later,” Sally informed.
Natalie nodded. After a beat, she said, “Sal, find a wheelchair for me. I’d like to see the baby.”
Sally wanted to point out to her that she had a wound on her stomach, but the determined look on
Natalie’s face made those words die in her throat.
Forget it. She’s the mother of the baby. If she doesn’t have a look at him, she won’t be able to rest well.
“Okay. Wait here for me while I get the wheelchair,” Sally said.
Natalie muttered her thanks.
Soon, Sally returned with a wheelchair, and she helped Natalie into it. Then, she pushed her to the
neonatal intensive care unit.
Standing outside the neonatal intensive care unit and looking at the reddened baby in the incubator,
Natalie covered her mouth as tears rolled down her cheeks uncontrollably.
Sally did not stop her from crying this time.
She could not, for even tears were brimming in their eyes to see the baby, let alone the mother of the
baby herself.
The baby was a sad sight to behold.
Natalie’s hand over her mouth was trembling. Evidently, she was trying to hold back her loud sobs.
She never thought a baby of six months would be that small.
“The doctor
said that the baby’s chances of survival are high. As long as nothing goes wrong, the baby will survive,”
Sally said to her.
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