Key To My Heart (Love Conquers All)
Read Key To My Heart (Love Conquers All) Online
Authors: Victoria Wells
Key To My Heart
A Novel
Victoria Wells
Heart 2 Heart Publishing, LLC
Key To My Heart
Copyright© 2010 by Victoria Wells
Key To My Heart
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form. For information contact Heart 2 Heart Publishing Rights Department, P.O. Box 48186, Philadelphia, PA 19144
Other Titles by
Victoria Wells
A Special Summer
When Love Comes Around
Dedication
Dominic (1928-2006) and Rose Nicolosi, thank you so much for loving and accepting me into your hearts and into your family. I love you both so much.
Acknowledgments
Thank you Lord. Your mercy is never-ending.
To my family and friends, I so appreciate all you’ve done for me. This journey would have been impossible without your love and support.
A special shout out to Moments of Joy Book Club in Portsmouth, VA. You ladies have been with me from the beginning. I so appreciate the mad love you ladies have shown me.
To the wonderful ladies of Sister to Sistah Book Club in Philadelphia, PA. I’m still on cloud nine from our book discussion. Thank you so much for the warm welcome and support.
Finally, to all the wonderful readers who have shown their support. I thank you from the depth of my soul. I can’t even describe how your kind words of encouragement lifted me when my spirit was torn down. I truly thank God for you.
Peace and Blessings,
Victoria
Victoria Wells
resides in Philadelphia with her husband and three children. She has a Master’s Degree in Nursing and works as an adult nurse practitioner caring for adults with sickle cell disease. Victoria enjoys reading, writing, knitting, volunteering, and hanging out with family and friends. She loves to hear from readers and can be reached at
[email protected]
. Please take a moment to visit her website at
www.victoria-wells.com
where you can join Victoria’s Yahoo and Facebook groups and subscribe to her newsletter.
Table of Contents
Somewhere deep in the recesses of her mind, Ava struggled to wake from the endlessly taunting nightmare. Her restless body stirred and twisted, wrestling to keep the painful memories at bay.
The wailing cry of the healthy newborn pierced her trembling heart. What had she done? The question ricocheted throughout the corners of her mind as weary eyes followed the nurse who quickly wrapped the squirming babe and left the delivery room.
Noooo! Please, come back!
I changed my mind! I want my baby! I want my baby!
Ava bolted from the nightmare. Her nightgown was drenched in sweat, making the thin cotton fabric stick to her skin. Taking in deep gulps of air, she covered her face with her hands. Tears fell from her eyes, cascading down her cheeks despite her tightly shut lids.
The nightmare always ended this way. It always ended with her screaming for her baby. Unfortunately for Ava, this nightmare was all too real.
On the day Ava gave her baby up for adoption, she pleaded with the doctor and nurses to see her baby. They refused. Without an ounce of compassion, she was told it would be for the best that she didn’t bond with her baby. When she tearfully begged to at least be told the sex of her child, each of the healthcare workers remained silent as if she hadn’t said anything at all.
So what if she’d foolishly made the decision to put her child up for adoption. Did that mean she didn’t have the right to know if she gave birth to a girl or boy? What gave them the right to withhold this information?
Finally one of the nurses, who couldn’t ignore Ava’s anguish, gently whispered to her, “You had a little girl. She weighed six pounds, five ounces.”
After Ava was settled in a room on the maternity unit, desperate to get a glimpse of her daughter, she shuffled down the hall to the nursery. She didn’t know which pain was more devastating—the aches in her freshly post partum body, or the shredding of her heart into a million tiny pieces.
Tears followed the thick lump that formed in her throat as she realized none of the babies behind the glass sleeping so peacefully belonged to her. Three of them were baby boys, snuggly wrapped in blue blankets. The last one—baby girl Wu—contentedly suckled a pacifier in her sleep.