.
One dizzy step.
One hand that missed the railing.
One violent fall that turned the whole staircase into a blur of white stone, pain, and panic.
Now she was on the cold floor in her nightgown, her hair half across her face, one slipper missing, her phone cracked in her trembling hand.
Her body hurt in places she couldn’t even name. Pain kept tearing through her abdomen in brutal waves. Her baby, who had always kicked with a steady rhythm, was moving strangely now—jerking, then going still for terrifying seconds that felt too long.
“Mateo…” she whispered, barely able to breathe.
She pressed call.
Rejected.
She called again.
Voicemail.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Each failed call felt less like neglect and more like a sentence being handed down.