Chantel's hands trembled as she clutched her phone tightly, the cold metal frame digging into her palm as if anchoring her to reality. Her ears rang with the echo of the nurse's voice, words that had shattered the already fragile world around her. Tears streamed steadily down her cheeks, leaving streaks of salty sorrow that glistened in the morning light pouring through the car window. Her breath came in shallow, erratic gasps, the sound of it competing with the dull thudding of her heartbeat in her ears.
She could barely believe what she had just heard. The nurse's voice had been calm, professional even, but the words she delivered cut deeper than any blade. "Yes, Miss Chantel, the children are at Crestwood Memorial Hospital. They were brought in this morning."
Hospital. Her babies. Found. Those three words looped in her mind like a haunting chant.
