The doctor’s hands shook as he carried that tiny, terrifyingly still body toward me, and my breath caught so hard I thought my heart would split in two. My arms were trembling, my whole body screaming in pain, but I held them out anyway because I didn’t care if I bled more, I didn’t care if I tore open again. I just needed him. I just needed my baby in my arms.
The second they laid him against me I sobbed so violently I almost choked. He was warm but too quiet, too still, and I pressed his tiny body against my chest like I could fuse him into me, like I could force my heart to beat inside his.
“Hey,” I whispered through tears that poured and poured, soaking his little face. “Why did you leave mummy, huh? Why?
“You’ve got Damon’s blood in you, you’ve got my fire, you’re supposed to be st
