“I’ll get the incubator ready,” Dr. Evans said, turning on his heel.

Marcus led me up a concrete staircase to the second floor.

At the end of the corridor, another guard stood outside a heavy oak door.

He nodded to Marcus and unlocked it.

Inside, the room was dimly lit.

Two small cribs sat side by side near the window.

I walked over and looked down at my twin sons.

Leo and Toby were sleeping peacefully, their small chests rising and falling under the blue blankets.

I sank into a chair between the cribs, my hand reaching out to touch Leo’s soft hair.

The warmth of the room made me dizzy.

I stared at the door, waiting.

Marcus stood by the window, his phone in his hand, his brow furrowed as he watched the tracking screen.

The silence in the room was heavy, broken only by the soft hum of the medical monitors.

Ten minutes passed.

Then twenty.

Every second felt like an hour.

I kept looking at my watch, counting the minutes of the two-hour window Rowan had given me.

“Marcus?” I called out softly.