Part 2Reborn, I Caught The Man Who Stole My Son

For the rest of the day, I held my son and refused to leave his side.

Feeding, changing diapers, burping him. I did it all myself.

When Evelyn woke up and saw me sitting on the sofa cradling the baby, her eyes grew red.

"Nolan, you have not slept in three days."

"I am not tired." I replied.

She reached out and touched my cheek. Her fingers were freezing.

"You look terrible. I am worried you are going to collapse."

"I will not collapse." I grabbed her hand, my voice coming out gravelly. "As long as you and the baby are here, I can handle anything."

Evelyn did not push it.

She knew me too well. Once I made up my mind, nothing on earth could drag me away.

That night, I pushed the crib right up against my side of the bed and locked the ward door.

I left a security camera running on the nightstand and synced my phone to my smartwatch so the slightest vibration would wake me.

By two in the morning, my sheer exhaustion caught up with me. My eyelids felt like lead.

I do not know how much time passed, but Evelyn's piercing scream practically blew my eardrums out.

"Nolan!"

I shot up from the mattress. The crib was empty.

Evelyn stood by the bed, her face the color of chalk, her lips trembling violently.

She threw off the blankets to get out of bed, but her legs gave out before her feet even hit the floor.

I caught her, my own fingers shaking uncontrollably.

"Do not panic. Just lay back down."

It was exactly like my past life.

The exact same empty crib. The exact same suffocating despair.

Evelyn had jumped. I had died in a gutter.

I stood there, my knees turning to jelly.

Evelyn sank to the floor and sobbed, muffling the sound against her arms.

"I did not watch him closely enough..."

"It is not your fault."

I knelt down and grabbed her shoulders.

"Look at me."

She refused to look up.

"Evelyn, look at me."

She snapped her head up, her face drenched in tears.

"Call the police."

"Right."

I pulled out my phone. First, I called hospital administration to lock down the building. Then, I dialed 911.

Evelyn sat on the bed, hugging her knees, burying her face in her arms.

The door to our room had been left wide open.

More and more people were gathering in the hallway outside.

Nurses, doctors, and family members from other rooms.

People peeked inside, catching sight of the empty crib, and gasped.

"Is the baby really gone?"

"What a tragedy, he was just born a few days ago."

"What kind of parents are they?"

"All that money, and they can not even keep an eye on their own child."

Evelyn's shoulders began to convulse.

She heard them.

I stood up, walked to the doorway, and pulled the door halfway shut.

Some people were still craning their necks to look inside.

A middle-aged woman stood in the corridor with her arms crossed, gossiping loudly.

"How do you lose a baby that big? Are we sure they are the real parents?"

Another man chimed in.

"They probably just did not care enough. Dressed all fancy, but too lazy to watch a newborn."

I looked back at Evelyn.

She hugged her knees tighter, burying her face even deeper, her shoulders violently shaking.

It was exactly like my past life.

After my son disappeared, people whispered the exact same things everywhere we went.

I pushed the door wide open and stepped out into the hall.

The corridor went silent for a moment.

The middle-aged woman scoffed. "Oh, here he comes. What do you want..."

I stared a hole right through her.

"What did you just say?"

She shrank back a step.

"I did not say anything. I just said..."

"Say it again."

She clamped her mouth shut.

The man next to her spoke up. "Hey, people are just showing concern. What is with your attitude?"

I turned my eyes to him.

"My son is missing. What exactly are you concerned about?"

He opened his mouth but could not find a single word.