Chapter 3
The sharp, brutal crack of Richard’s hand striking Maya’s fair skin echoed through the sterile hospital room. The sheer force of the blow sent Maya collapsing backward. She crashed hard against the hospital pillows, the oxygen mask swinging wildly around her neck. Her ears rang, and a dizzying wave of nausea washed over her. For a moment, the brightly colored room spun, the faces of her in-laws blurring into monstrous shapes.
“You ungrateful little bitch,” Richard sneered, adjusting his open-collar shirt with his free hand while the newborn continued to wail in his left arm. “I am the head of this family. I decide who raises the next generation.”
Maya lay dazed against the pillows. Her rosy skin was rapidly developing a fierce, angry red mark across her cheekbone. She didn't speak. She knew that screaming would only provoke another strike. Instead, moving with agonizing slowness so as not to draw their attention, she slid her hand down the side of the mattress. Her fingers brushed against the plastic casing of the bedside call button. With a silent, desperate prayer, she pressed the red emergency button, holding it down tight.
No dialogue was spoken in that agonizing span of seconds. The only sound was the frantic crying of the newborn in Richard’s arms and the soft whimpering of the other two infants in the bassinet, awakened by the noise.
Jessica stepped forward, her high heels clicking sharply against the floor. She moved past her husband, stepping directly toward the bassinet. She stared down at Maya with chilling impatience, a cruel, satisfied smirk playing on her pretty, fair face.
“Why are you making this so difficult, Maya?” Jessica asked, her voice sharp with smug contempt and deep-seated resentment. “We are taking him, and there is nothing you can do about it.”
“He belongs with his brothers,” Maya gasped, fighting through the dizziness to sit back up.
“He belongs in a house that can afford him,” Jessica snapped. She leaned closer, her eyes flashing with a sickening arrogance. “Stop crying. You're young enough to pop out a replacement.”
May you like
“Don't you dare touch my other children,” Maya hissed, throwing her body over the edge of the bed to physically shield the remaining two newborns in the bassinet.
“Nobody is touching the others,” Daniel said, moving to block the doorway, his arms crossed over his shirt. “We just need the one. Now stay quiet, Maya, before my father loses his temper again.”
