Chapter 2: The Secret Hidden Before Birth
The hospital room was no longer a delivery room.
It felt like an investigation.
The police officer stepped closer to the computer.
"Doctor, are you sure this isn't a system error?"
The doctor shook her head.
"I checked three times."
The father looked between them.
"My son has a record from twenty-eight years ago?"
Nobody answered.
Because nobody wanted to say the obvious.
The mother slowly sat up.
Her face was pale.
"What are you not telling me?"
The father immediately moved closer.
"Don't worry. We're going to figure this out."
But his voice lacked confidence.
The doctor looked at the newborn again.
Then at the mother.
"I need to ask you something."
The mother nodded.
"Anything."
"Did you receive any unusual medical treatment during pregnancy?"
The mother frowned.
"No."
A pause.
"Well... there was one thing."
Everyone turned.
The doctor leaned closer.
"What?"
"Three months ago, during an ultrasound, the machine stopped working."
The father's expression changed.
"I remember that."
The mother continued.
"The technician said it was strange because the image disappeared for almost thirty seconds."
The doctor looked disturbed.
"And did they say why?"
The mother shook her head.
"They said it was probably a technical issue."
The police officer exchanged a glance with the doctor.
Something was wrong.
Not with the baby.
With the history surrounding him.
The doctor walked toward the bassinet.
Then the baby moved.
Everyone froze.
A tiny movement.
A small hand opening.
The mother covered her mouth.
"My baby..."
The father smiled for the first time.
A real smile.
But the doctor didn't.
Because she noticed something else.
The baby's eyes opened.
And for a brief second...
The monitor changed.
The steady rhythm disappeared.
The screen displayed a different pattern.
The doctor stared.
Impossible.
The baby's heartbeat wasn't abnormal.
It was familiar.
The exact same pattern she had seen before.
Twenty-eight years earlier.
She whispered:
"I know this heartbeat."
The father looked at her.
"What?"
The doctor stepped back.
Her face lost color.
"I delivered a baby with this exact heartbeat."
The room went silent.
The grandmother slowly spoke.
"When?"
The doctor looked at the newborn.
"Twenty-eight years ago."
The mother shook her head.
"No..."
The doctor continued.
"That baby disappeared."
Everyone froze.
The police officer immediately became alert.
"Disappeared?"
The doctor nodded.
"Yes."
She looked at the father.
"The child was declared dead moments after birth."
The father's eyes widened.
"But that's impossible."
The doctor whispered:
"Exactly."
May you like
She looked at the newborn.
"Because this baby has the same heartbeat."
