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got a close
look at the patient. The guy was beefy, hyper masculine and looked
like he lifted weights once an hour for half an hour each session.
He looked like he had XYY Syndrome. In fact, he had the same build
and appearance as Duane, that guy who harassed Alyssa the first
time Luke met her.
    The male nurse and the doctors from the
work station rushed up to the guy, who was sweating so hard his
spotless straitjacket was starting to get soaked.
    “ Call security! Get the
orderlies!” a black-haired doctor shouted to his
colleagues.
    “ Lemme outta here,” the
patient yelled. “Lemme me out or the nurse gets it!”
Luke stood up, his stomach twisted into a knot. He thought about
approaching the man, but then berated himself for such a stupid
idea. If he approached, his girlfriend would die. All it took was
one quick stab in the throat.
    He watched as Alyssa’s eyes grew
alarmed, then terrified. She twisted her body slightly, as though
plotting an escape.
    In the background, Luke could hear
gasps, whispers and then feet pounding on the linoleum
floor.
    The hostage-taker’s hand moved the
sharp pencil closer to Alyssa’s throat.
    What should I do? thought
Luke.
    The loudspeaker announced, “Code White!
Code White!”
    What could I do that won’t endanger Alyssa?
He wondered.
    The beefy orderlies arrived, all at
least six feet tall. They looked like martial artists.
    The doctor with black hair, the head
doctor, Luke assumed, raised his hands with his palms facing the
large man, as though surrendering. “We don’t want to hurt you. Why
don’t you put down the pencil, let go of the nurse and we can
talk?”
    “ You’ll let me go home?” The
man’s face was a mix of hope and frustration. He looked painfully
intense, as though he were concentrating on a particularly hard
calculus final exam.
    “ Yes, you can go home,” the
doctor said, forcing a smile.
    The patient glanced around frantically
and mulled it over. As he scanned his surroundings, the hand with
the weapon, whether deliberately or inadvertently, inched even
closer to Alyssa.
    Luke decided this would be the best
time to strike.
    But, before he could move in, the head
doctor signaled to the orderlies, who lunged at the patient. The
patient dropped the pencil and pushed Alyssa away.
    The orderlies tackled the man, and
restrained him.
    Luke stopped paying attention to the
man as soon as he had let go of Alyssa. He was prepared to catch
his girlfriend in his arms, but the man had pushed Alyssa in the
other direction.
    Luke watched helplessly as Alyssa hit
her stomach on the corner of a desk. She lay on the ground,
crumpled like a Raggedy Ann doll.
    He rushed over to her and inspected her
face. Strands of her hair were matted against her forehead. Her
eyes looked wild, even feral and her breathing sounded like a tea
kettle boiling on the stove.
    “ Are you OK?” Luke
asked.
    This is all my fault, Luke thought. If
I hadn’t looked into the room and provoked the patient….
    Alyssa pointed at her stomach, then
whimpered.
    Luke looked concerned. What was she
trying to say?
    He was distracted by something red on
the ground.
    A ketchup red stain, he saw.
    “ I think I just lost the
twins,” she said. “I felt them leave.”
    She looked down at her stomach, then
patted it once.
    “ Bye bye, my babies,” she
whispered, then closed her eyes.
    * * * * *

Chapter 8
    A few minutes later, Alyssa was placed
on a gurney and wheeled into the Intensive Care Unit of the
ER.
    Their obstetrician, Dr. Best, happened
to be on duty in the ER that night. After examining Alyssa and
running some tests on the ultrasound, he stood by her bed with a
grim expression plastered onto his wrinkled face. Luke hovered
nearby.
    The doctor scanned the test results,
frowning.
    “ I’m afraid I have some bad
news.” He looked right at Alyssa. “You’ve lost the babies.”
Alyssa’s eyes were barely open as she lay on the hospital
bed.
    Luke looked at his girl, and saw a
facial