“You’re still feeling the effects of the epidural after you just gave birth. It’s normal to hallucinate,” the others said.

I shook my head. “No! It all happened so fast. I didn’t even get a chance to have an epidural.”

Joe said, “Diane, there are so many babies in the hospital. Isn’t it normal for you to hear a baby crying?”

I felt doubtful when he said that. It was indeed normal to hear babies crying in the delivery room.

But the crying had sounded too close to me. I really felt like it was my baby crying.

I looked at Joe slowly, and that was when I realized he showed no hint of suspicion after I said our child might have been switched.

He kept telling me that my baby had been stillborn.

I looked at him suspiciously and asked, “The crying was really close to me. Could it have been the baby in the bed next to mine?”

“That’s right! It belonged to the baby in the bed next to you!” Joe said hesitantly.

I was dumbfounded. There had been no one giving birth next to me!

I stared at Joe and trembled.

Why would Joe lie to me?

Joe saw me frown and thought that I believed him. He reached out to me. “Diane, please come out. Let’s arrange our baby’s funeral. We can try again after you recover. We will definitely have babies in the future!”

I clenched my fists and said through gritted teeth, “Joe, where did you take my baby?

“That’s your baby, too! Why are you lying to me?! Who did you give my baby to?”

“What do you mean? How could I ever give our baby away? You don’t believe me?” Joe asked.

“I don’t!” I yelled at Joe. “My baby isn’t dead! You’re lying to me!”

After that, I pulled down the lever.

The temperature in the room suddenly dropped. I glared at the anxious people outside with bloodshot eyes.

“I’ll give you an hour to bring my baby back to me! Otherwise, we’ll all die here!”

Everyone outside immediately became frantic after seeing me pulling down the lever.

“What does my baby have to do with your husband lying to you?”

“Doctor Joe, what did you do with her baby? Why are you dragging us into this?”

“Diane, please calm down! If you let our babies go, we’ll help you find yours!”

“Doctor Joe, please tell us what’s happening! There are more than thirty newborn babies inside. If something happens to them, will you take responsibility for it?”

Joe looked anxious. “Diane, please calm down! Our baby’s dead. Even if you give me a lifetime, I can’t bring our baby back to life, let alone in an hour!”

I stared at Joe icily.

I had not given them an hour without a good reason. I knew that was all the time I had.

When I was drifting in and out of consciousness, I heard a strange voice saying, “An hour’s enough…”

I did not know what would happen to my baby after an hour.

I knew that my baby only had an hour to live.

“Richard Solomon, you’re finally here! Please talk some sense into Diane.” Joe’s voice snapped me back to reality.

My gray-haired father looked anxious. I cried, “Dad, please find my baby!

“She’s in the hospital somewhere. I know she’s still alive! We only have fifty minutes. If I can’t find her, she’ll be dead!

“Please don’t believe Joe. I know my baby wasn’t stillborn. Joe is behind all this!”

My father slapped Joe across the face.

He yelled, “You jerk! You knew that Diane wouldn’t take the news of her baby’s death lightly! Why didn’t you keep an eye on her?

“Look at what you’ve put my daughter through!”

I quickly said, “Dad, I’m not sick! My baby isn’t dead!

“You were in charge of my prenatal check-up. You know very well that even if my baby was born three weeks early, she was still healthy!”

My father looked at me guiltily.

“Diane, the reports showed that the baby wasn’t really healthy. There were some issues with her, but I let my ego get in the way. I thought that I could cure her.

“That was why I didn’t tell you the truth.

“However, I couldn’t do it. The baby was indeed stillborn.”

I was stunned. My parents were gynecologists too. As their only daughter, they took excellent care of me when I was pregnant, even more so than Joe.

My father, who doted on me, would not lie to me. Did I really give birth to a stillborn baby?

I pressed my hands on my lower abdomen. I vividly remembered hearing my baby cry. Tears streamed down my face.

“Maybe it wasn’t meant to be… Dad, was my baby beautiful?”

My father nodded with tears in his eyes. “She was exactly like you when you were a baby. She was fair and tiny. Her fists looked so much like yours when you were small. She was clenching them so tightly!”

I immediately tensed up as my body went numb. I stared at my father in disbelief.

“Dad, you’re lying to me.

“Why’re you lying to me like Joe? What’re you hiding from me? Why did you take my baby away?!” I roared at my father.

He was dumbfounded. “Diane, you’re my only daughter! Why would I lie to you?”

I broke down just then. I laughed and cried maniacally.

“That’s right! You did all my prenatal check-ups for me.

“But I went on a trip once. My friend, who’s a gynecologist, did a check-up for me on my request.

“That friend found that my baby had six fingers on one hand.

“My friend said that my baby had been clenching her fists so tight in the previous check-ups that we didn’t notice it.”

My father immediately said, “Your friend might have been mistaken. How could you doubt me?”

“Am I wrong? You’re all lying to me!” I yelled and woke the newborn babies in the room.

They started crying.

The parents were worried. They begged and tried to placate me. They pressured my father to tell the truth.

However, my father insisted that my baby was stillborn.

I took a deep breath and looked up. Tears streamed down my cheeks. I looked at the time.

“You have twenty minutes more. It seems you’re all willing to risk the lives of thirty babies instead of giving me back my baby!

“Why? Why would you be willing to let me die along with these thirty babies rather than give me back my baby?!”

The others pressured my father and Joe. They kept saying that my baby was dead.

They had no choice but to call the police.

Just as one of the parents was about to call the police, my mother snatched their phone away.

My mother knelt on the floor and begged, “My daughter’s just agitated because of her sorrow. She’s a mother who just lost her baby!

“I’ll convince her! Please don’t call the police.”

After that, she turned to me in tears. “Diane, please don’t do this. Come to me!”

I asked her, “Mom, can I really trust you?”

My mother was stunned. “Of course, you can trust me! You’re my baby. You’re my whole world!”

My mother’s knees were bleeding a little from kneeling on the floor. She was willing to put her life on the line for me, so how could I not believe that she loved me?

“Then, Mom, do you believe me?”

“Of course!”

At her firm affirmation, I said, “My baby’s still alive. She’s still in this hospital!

“Dad and Joe know the truth, but they’re not going to save her!

“I only have twenty minutes left! Please help me. Please find my baby, and I’ll turn myself in!

“I don’t want to kill anyone here. I didn’t want to kidnap all these innocent babies. I’m only doing this to save my baby!”

My mother was stunned. She looked at my father and Joe.

She frowned and said, “Diane, if this is true, I’ll definitely help you find your baby.

“I was so worried about your delivery that I requested to be in the room when you gave birth. I saw your delivery with my own eyes. Joe didn’t do anything.

“I saw that the baby in Joe’s hands was already dead.”

When I heard her sincere words, I was stunned.

Was my baby really stillborn?

“I know you’re upset, and you can’t accept the truth. But if you want, I’ll take you to the security room to access the surveillance footage. You can see for yourself and finally get some closure.”

My mother extended her arms toward me. “Come to me, my child.”

I was dumbfounded. I stared at my mother in a daze as I slowly walked toward the door.

Just when I was about to reach the door, I suddenly saw some blood on her!

“No, you’re lying to me too!

“When I was giving birth, there was another patient who lost a lot of blood. I remember you leaving the delivery room!

“Mom, why?!

“What is it that you’re hiding? Why did you switch my baby to a stillborn one?”

My mother was shocked. “Why would I do that?

“Diane, what’re you talking about? It’s okay if you don’t believe me. You can check the surveillance footage. Surely, that would answer your question?”

I sneered and said, “If my own family can lie to me, why would I believe some surveillance footage?

“If you let my baby die, we’ll all die here as well!”

Everyone outside panicked.

They begged on their knees for my parents to tell me the truth so that their babies could be saved.

They cried and yelled, “Diane, we’ll help you even if your family doesn’t! Please, let our babies go!”

I smiled bitterly. “There’s no time left to investigate.”

I took a deep breath and placed my hand on the lever that controlled the temperature.

I could hear howls and cries from outside.

Just as I was about to lower the temperature even further, someone suddenly shouted, “I know where your baby is!”