The screaming started at 3:47 AM.
Not mine. The alarms. Every emergency alert in the Integration Council medical wing going off at once like someone had just declared war on the building itself.
Which, apparently, they had.
"Scarlett!" Dr. Chen's voice cut through the chaos as she burst into our bedroom. "We need to move. Now."
I tried to sit up, but the pain that shot through my abdomen made me gasp. Something was wrong. Very wrong. The baby—our baby—was supposed to stay put for another six weeks.
"What's happening?" Alexander was already on his feet, pulling on clothes with one hand while checking his phone with the other.
"Labor. Early labor. And we've got incoming hostiles on three fronts."
"How early?" I managed to ask through another wave of pain.
"Thirty-four weeks. The baby's viable, but it's going to be complicated."
Alexander helped me stand, his hands steady even though I could feel his panic through our bond. "Define complicated."
