part 3
PART 3
The rescuer’s name was Gabriel Hart.
Peyton learned it in pieces between pain, oxygen, and rotor blades.
He rode beside her in the helicopter with one hand braced on the stretcher and the other pressed near her shoulder to keep her stable.
His face stayed controlled.
His eyes did not.
Every time Peyton slipped toward unconsciousness, he said her name.
“Peyton.”
“Stay with me.”
“Look at me.”
“You and the baby are not done yet.”
The pilot shouted that the hospital was eight minutes out.
The medic checked Peyton’s pulse.
Another rescuer called ahead to the emergency team.
Possible pelvic trauma.
Head injury.
Hypothermia.
Full-term pregnancy.
Prepare obstetrics.
Prepare surgery.
Peyton heard the words as if they belonged to someone else.
Then she looked at Gabriel again.
“How do you know me?”
His jaw tightened.
“I saw your birthmark.”
Peyton’s hand moved weakly toward her neck.
There, below her left collarbone, was a small crescent-shaped birthmark.
Her adoptive mother had always called it a moon kiss.
Gabriel’s eyes filled.
“My daughter had one.”
Peyton could barely breathe.
“I was adopted.”
“I know.”
He swallowed hard.
“I never stopped looking.”
The helicopter tilted through snow.
Peyton cried without sound.
She had spent her entire life believing her birth parents had abandoned her.
Her adoptive parents had been kind, but vague.
Closed adoption.
No records.
No story.
Only a sealed envelope her adoptive mother refused to discuss.
Then, three years ago, after both adoptive parents died, Peyton found one page in a bank box.
Infant female.
Possible name Peyton.
Mother deceased.
Father unknown.
Unknown.
That word had sat inside her like a locked room.
Now a man in rescue gear was holding her hand and claiming that room had a door.
The medic interrupted.
“Contractions are starting.”
Gabriel’s face snapped back into focus.
Peyton gasped.
“No.”
“Not here.”
Gabriel leaned close.
“Listen to me.”
“You survived the fall.”
“He survived with you.”
“You both fight until the doctors take over.”
Peyton gripped his hand.
“Nolan thinks I’m dead.”
Gabriel’s expression darkened.
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“Then let him keep thinking that until the police are ready.”
Read the full story 👉 Gabriel recognized Peyton’s birthmark, but her survival also became the key to trapping Nolan before he could collect the money.
