I rushed into the room without even pausing to think, and when I got inside, the sight I saw nearly made my knees give out, but I pushed that aside and rushed to my wife.

“Kade,” she breathed as I grabbed her hand and squeezed it in reassurance.

She looked pale, her hair disheveled and sticking to her face from sweat.

So I pushed the hair aside, caressing her face. “I'm here, my darling. I'm here.”

“It hurts, Kade,” she cried, her eyes red. “It hurts so much.”

“You’ll be fine,” I soothed, patting her hair, my heart beating so fast that I feared it might beat out of my...