At the clinic gate, a 7-year-old collapsed, crying, “Mommy has been sleeping for three days, please save them.” The doctor rushed to help the newborn twins, but as he lifted them, his hands shook. Underneath the babies was a handwritten note from the mother that made the doctor freeze in terror…

to a doctor, caught me before I hit the floor. She crouched to my eye level. I clung to her shirt, my grip locking into place.

“Please,” I sobbed, the tears cutting clean tracks through the red dirt on my face. “Make them breathe. Please.”

“We have them, sweetheart. We have them,” Gertrude promised, her voice trembling slightly.

I stared at the closed continue reading …