Daniel leaned down and kissed Sophia’s forehead.
“Everything will be okay,” he said, trying to sound confident.
Inside, however, fear was louder than his words. Memories of past disappointments filled his mind. Sophia closed her eyes as another contraction came, silently begging that this time their dream would finally survive.
For a couple accustomed to winning every battle in business and life, this was the most important fight they had ever faced.
Elsewhere in the same hospital, far away from the private suites and executive waiting rooms, a young woman lived a completely different reality.
Lucia Santos, twenty-six years old, wore the simple green uniform of the hospital cleaning staff. She quietly mopped the basement corridor, working through the early morning shift.
She had arrived at five o’clock as she did every day, hoping to finish most of her work before the hospital became crowded.
Lucia had worked there nearly three years. To most people she was invisible—just another staff member passing silently through the hallways.
But to Lucia, the hospital meant something more than employment.
It was her classroom.