His heart had stopped twice on the table. The miracle wasn’t that he’d fallen asleep — it was that he’d survived at all.

The staff called him the Sleeping Hero. Families of other patients often slipped quietly into his room, whispering prayers or leaving flowers. Michael’s presence gave people hope. But then, something strange began to happen.

Nurse Amy was the first. Then Jenna. Then two more. All four women who had cared for Michael became pregnant — within months of each other.

At first, it was hospital gossip. Coincidence, maybe fate. Until the fifth nurse came forward, pale and trembling, clutching a positive pregnancy test.

“I haven’t been with anyone,” Laura Kane whispered, shaking. “I work nights. My life’s boring. I swear, Doctor, I haven’t—”

She stopped, choking on the words. “Except my shifts with Michael.”

Mercer stared