Page 283 of Lorenzo

I start to turn.

A gunshot tears through the night.

Chapter Thirty Six

Donna

The sound of the heartbeat coming from the monitor fills the room.

I clutch Lorenzo’s hand tighter and stare at the screen, terrified to look anywhere else.

There is something unbearable about sitting here with nothing to do except listen. Every beat seems too important, and I find myself holding my breath between them even though they keep coming rapidly, one after another.

They seem so fast. Are they too fast?

Is this normal?

My fingers are wrapped so tightly around his that my knuckles ache, but the discomfort barely registers.

I have not let go of his hand. I don't think I could if I tried.

The only sound in the room is the machine. I haven't said a word since it was turned on.

I am afraid that if I open my mouth, I won't be able to hold it together any longer, and everything will just come spilling out at once.

I keep my eyes fixed on the monitor instead, searching the shifting image for something I understand.

The woman sitting on the stool in front of the machine makes another adjustment, her attention focused on the screen while I wait for her to tell us what she sees.

My stomach twists.

“Is it…” My breath hitches, and I have to try again. “Is everything okay?”

She glances at me, then smiles.

“Everything looks exactly as it should.”

The breath leaves me so quickly that my eyes burn.

Lorenzo’s hand turns beneath mine at last, his fingers closing firmly around mine.

I look at him.

He is staring at the monitor with an expression I have never seen on his face before.

Then the woman points toward the grainy image on the screen.

“And that,” she says, “is your baby’s heartbeat.”

For several seconds, neither of us moves.

The sound that has had me wound so tightly fills the room again, impossibly fast and impossibly small.

Our baby.

I stare at the screen.

I let out a laugh that ends in a sob.