Chapter 1: The Numbers That Lied
The room remained silent after the doctor whispered those words.
"This is impossible."
No one moved.
Not because they didn't want to.
Because nobody understood what they had just heard.
The father stared at the doctor.
His grip on his wife's hand tightened.
"What does that mean?"
The doctor didn't answer immediately.
She had spent twenty years in delivery rooms.
She had seen emergencies.
She had seen miracles.
She had seen things that textbooks said were unlikely.
But never this.
She slowly placed the chart on the counter.
"I need everyone to stay calm."
Those words did the opposite.
The mother looked toward the bassinet.
Her voice was barely a whisper.
"My baby..."
The doctor immediately stepped closer.
"Your baby is alive."
The father exhaled.
A small moment of relief.
But it disappeared when the doctor continued.
"That's exactly why I'm confused."
She looked at the monitor again.
"The readings don't match the baby's condition."
The grandmother frowned.
"What are you saying?"
The doctor hesitated.
"The monitor shows a perfectly stable heartbeat. Normal oxygen levels. Normal rhythm."
She looked at the newborn.
"But the baby isn't responding the way a newborn should."
The room became colder.
The father looked at the bassinet.
"What does that mean?"
The doctor walked closer.
Carefully.
Slowly.
She checked the baby's tiny fingers.
The baby's skin.
His breathing.
Everything appeared normal.
Almost too normal.
Then she noticed something.
A small mark.
A faint birthmark near the baby's shoulder.
Her expression changed.
Not fear.
Recognition.
She looked back at the mother.
"Did anyone in your family have a similar mark?"
The mother looked confused.
"No..."
The father shook his head.
"Why?"
The doctor didn't answer.
Instead, she walked to the computer and entered the baby's information.
A few seconds later...
She froze.
The father noticed.
"What happened?"
The doctor stared at the screen.
"There is another problem."
The police officer near the door finally spoke.
"What kind of problem?"
The doctor turned slowly.
"The baby's medical record already exists."
Everyone looked confused.
The father stepped forward.
"That's impossible. He was born today."
The doctor swallowed.
"I know."
A long pause.
"That's why I don't understand."
She turned the screen toward them.
A name appeared.
A birth record.
A date.
A hospital.
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But the date was impossible.
Because it was from twenty-eight years ago.
