A Reborn Bride Pearl Emerging from Dust by Sally Garcia

Zelda was pacing back and forth in the stark hospital hallway, her heels clicking impatiently on the linoleum. She cornered the young nurse, clearly irritated by her calm answers.

"You don't know what's really going on with us!" Zelda snapped, her voice rising. "Calliope isn't exactly Mother Teresa, you know. For all we know, she could be plotting something, trying to hurt us!"

"She's heartless! Absolutely heartless! She'd stab her own brother in the back if she had the chance!

And don't even get me started. She's a total jinx. She attracts disaster like a magnet. Ever since she showed up, our family's luck has gone straight down the drain! I almost died giving birth to her, you know! From the second she took her first breath, she's been nothing but trouble for me!"

The nurse blinked, struggling to process what she was hearing.

Wait, Calliope's her daughter? She thought, stunned.

How could anyone blame a baby for a difficult birth? Most mothers, she thought, would have risked anything for their child, even their own life. But Zelda seemed to hold a grudge against her own flesh and blood just for being born.

The nurse found it almost impossible to wrap her head around this woman's logic. Still, she'd dealt with plenty of irrational people during her years on the job. She knew just how to handle Zelda.

"Ma'am, I understand," the nurse said smoothly. "Why don't you wait here? I'll go check on the doctor's progress, alright?"

Calliope to hurry up

let me know!" Zelda replied,

Please wait here. I'll keep you updated as soon as there's any

Zelda huffed, crossing her

doors, Zelda resumed her anxious pacing,

and there was still no sign

stringing us

a tough surgery; these things take time," Monty tried to

know," Zelda snapped, "but how do we know she's not stalling on purpose? Maybe she wants us to sit here and stew, to get all worked up and worried!" She shot

near Horatio. The thought of her precious son on Calliope's operating table made Zelda's stomach

hesitated, not

both

disaster, when finally, the doors swung open and Calliope appeared, looking exhausted

what the hell took you so long? What

Horatio? Don't tell me