Chapter 11 - YOU'RE MINE His mother screamed as officers restrained her.
"You're mine!"
David stared at her.
The words no longer frightened him.
They sounded empty.
"You are my son!"
David looked toward the operating room.
"I was."
Her expression collapsed.
"You don't mean that."
"My family is in there."
"She's stealing you!"
"No."
David swallowed.
"I gave myself to them."
The officers pulled his mother away.
She screamed his name.
Again.
Again.
Again.
But David didn't follow.
He didn't apologize.
He didn't look back.
Then the red light above the operating room went dark.
The doors opened.
A nurse appeared.
She was holding a tiny bundle.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then the baby cried.
Loud.
Fierce.
Alive.
David covered his mouth.
Tears filled his eyes.
His daughter had survived.
Leah had survived.
The nightmare hadn't won.
The nurse smiled.
"She's beautiful."
David laughed through his tears.
"She's perfect."
Hours later, Leah opened her eyes.
David sat beside her.
She whispered:
"Is she okay?"
He nodded.
"She's perfect."
Leah smiled.
"What do we call her?"
David looked toward the tiny crib.
"Maya."
Leah closed her eyes.
"Maya."
And somewhere down the hospital corridor, the woman who had spent decades controlling David finally realized something.
May you like
Her son had become a father.
And fathers sometimes become the people their parents can no longer control.
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