Chapter Thirty-Two
Emily sat upright on the examination table with the help of the female nurse. “Thank you.”
The gal with fine sandy-brown hair past her shoulders wore scrubs with Peanuts characters. She smiled at Emily. “Not much longer until you’ll be able to get up on your own and see your feet again.”
Emily pressed her lips together. Her level of nervousness increased with her due date approaching. While she eagerly wanted to return to her normal size and do things without any assistance, she feared she wouldn’t be able to take proper care of such a small defenseless creature. Babies were delicate and couldn’t communicate their troubles other than through cries. What if it didn’t want to eat? What if it ate too much? What if she strapped it in the car seat too tight or too loose? What if she clipped the nails too short? What if she accidentally hurt it? What if it got sick? What if it were born with cancer or some illness? Her worries continued to consume her thoughts.
Doctor Franklin sat on the small rolling stool near the desk. She finished writing in Emily’s folder and then twisted to face her. "Everything looks good. According to the information you gave us and the growth of the baby, I’d say your right on schedule. But that doesn’t mean you can’t go into labor early or past your due date. If you start to have labor pains, monitor them. Of course, if your water breaks, go to the hospital. Go ahead and make an appointment for next week before you leave just in case you don’t go into labor."
“Okay. Thank you,” Emily said before she slid from the edge of the table. Her dress rolled down to her ankles.
As the doctor and nurse left, she gathered her purse from the nearby chair. Relief swam through her. News about the baby’s good health always pleased her. Wobbling, thanks to the heavy weight in her womb, she left the room. She stopped at the counter near the exit and scheduled another appointment.
After she’d finished, she stepped from the back of the office and into the waiting area. Matt rose from his seat with a wide grin on his face. His excitement surpassed hers with the upcoming birth. If she didn’t have so many concerns, she would have felt overjoyed too. He hurried to the door before she could reach it.
“She said the baby looks healthy,” Emily said as she passed him. She stepped into the bright sun and the rays warmed her exposed arms.
“Did you find out about the sex?” he asked, walking beside her to the Jeep.
“Can you believe the baby had its legs crossed again?”
At every appointment the ultrasound had showed the baby at the wrong angle or with crossed legs. It seemed she would have to wait to learn the gender.
“Well, it doesn’t matter,” he said, stopping at the passenger door. He opened it for her. “As long as it is healthy, that is what counts.”
She nodded before she climbed into the vehicle with his help. She really couldn’t wait to pop the babe out and go back to doing things on her own.
“I’m not concerned with the color of clothes anyway,” she said after he settled into the driver’s seat. She strapped the seatbelt above her large belly. “I didn’t buy many pink outfits. Girls can wear blue. I don’t plan to take him or her out much for the first couple of weeks anyway. The onesies will suffice. I can buy the real clothes later.”
“Does the doctor think you’ll deliver on time?” he asked after he’d backed out of the parking spot.
“Yeah, but she said the baby could come sooner or later. If I start having contractions, I should monitor them.”
She wished Andrew were around to help her with labor. His nursing skills would’ve come in handy. They’d planned for him to help deliver the baby. Now, she had to rely on strangers. But she’d agreed to let Matt be in the room. This was his chance to be a father and he’d more than earned it.
He steered onto the main road from the doctor’s office lot. The traffic had increased with the noon hour approaching. A line of cars sat idle from the stoplight, forcing Matt to brake.
“Are you hungry?” Matt asked.
“Yeah, but let’s wait until we get closer to home. And I’m in the mood for Chinese.”
“I can stop at the one restaurant two blocks from the house.”
“That sounds good.”
The baby kicked hard and she flinched a little.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” She rubbed over the spot. Since they were stopped, she grabbed his hand and put it on her stomach. “This baby is strong.”
It nudged her again and Matt’s eyes widened. “It sure is. Maybe it’s a boy. Andrew had quite a bit of muscle.” He returned his hand to the wheel as the cars began to move.
“Could be.”
She recalled the many times Andrew would rub his hand over her belly. A few times he’d referred to the baby as her instead of it or him. She’d thought it strange and had wondered if he had some secret intuition. But even more bizarre was the fact the baby refused to give her a hint about its gender.
The row of cars cleared and they made it through the light. Matt continued on a path through town.
“Did she say if you should stop going on walks?” he asked.
“No, and I forgot to ask. I would think it’s okay since the babe is healthy.”
“Do you want to go to the park later?” He turned onto a larger road with two lanes on each side.
“Yeah, I wobble, but I enjoy the walks. They help clear my head.” All her fears and worries disappeared when she could sit at the top of one of the small mountains and gaze at the world below. Now more than ever she needed to remain calm and at peace.
Cars and trucks flew by as Matt accelerated. Foot heavy on the pedal, he pushed the Jeep past the speed limit for a few miles and then changed lanes so he could turn at the light. She braced her hand on the dashboard as he braked to reach the middle of the intersection. A midsize delivery truck and a semi cruised toward them. The baby kicked again and she hunched over slightly.
“Okay, I’m guessing the babe is hungry or something because—”
She lost her train of thought and speech as a loud smash came from the back and shoved the Jeep forward. Her head jerked and hit the cushion behind it. Gaze now up, the delivery truck on the other side of the road was speeding directly into the path of her vehicle. She took a deep breath as the large vehicle rammed into her side. Glass shattered and metal grinded from the force of the impact. Pain seared her hand and shot up her arm. The airbag on the door burst and she bounced against it. When her head hit something hard, darkness swallowed her.
“Emily! Emily!” said a familiar voice.
A thick fog clouded her thoughts.
“Emily!” the man said again.
She felt as if she were in a deep sleep and dreaming. But she needed to get up. She had something important to take care of. She forced her way through the murkiness.
“Someone call 911. She’s pregnant and needs an ambulance,” the man said in an urgent tone. “Someone please call now!”
She tried to recall his voice. She’d heard it recently. She’d been talking to him. The haze in her mind began to lessen and she recognized the man as a friend. Why did he sound distressed?
“Hey,” said a different voice. “Wake up.” He had an accent.
She felt taps on her shoulder.
“Wake up, Emily,” the man with the accent said.
She’d heard the British man before too, but couldn’t place where. Something about it concerned her. She forced her heavy eyelids to open. A haze clouded her vision.
“Snap out of it,” the man with the accent said.
She blinked to clear her eyes. Slowly, she lifted her head and it felt as if it weighed as much as an elephant. Her gaze began to clear and what she saw frightened her. The dashboard had been crushed with her hand in it and shoved too close to her body, not that she could see anything past her breasts. A deflated airbag from the side hid most of her arm. The windows in the front and next to her no longer existed.
“Look at me,” the British man said.
Inch by slow inch she turned her head. The man standing outside added beats to her heart, and not in a good way. Panic rose within her as she recognized Steven.
“You,” she said.
“Paybacks are a bitch. Am I right?” Steven said.
Her heart pounded. She tried to move and a world of pain she’d never experienced shot through her right side. She screamed as tiny sharp knives sliced and diced at her hand and forearm. Her leg throbbed and burned.
He grinned at her. “Tell him I said he’s welcome.”
She took deep breaths, hoping to calm the agony consuming her.
“Hey!” Matt yelled. “Get away from her!”
Steven took off running. Matt pursued for a few feet before he came to a quick stop. He turned and ran toward Emily.
Mind clearer, she surveyed the area around her. The driver’s side didn’t look nearly as destroyed as her side. The bags from the driver’s side door and steering wheel had deployed. They’d probably saved Matt.
The crumpled plastic and metal in front of her had devoured her hand. She couldn’t feel it, but she felt searing pain in her forearm. She couldn’t feel her right foot either. Every little move from her leg made it throb, but at least she could move it. When she lowered her gaze to her belly, fear shot her anxiety sky high.
“Emily, can you move?” Matt asked as he crawled into the driver’s seat.
“Get me out of here.” The words flew from her mouth. Her heart hammered within her so fiercely it hurt.
“Can you move?” he asked again as he unsnapped her seatbelt.
She used her left hand to rub her stomach. The baby had been active before the crash. Now, she felt nothing.
“Get me out of here,” she said, panicky.
“The police and an ambulance are coming,” he said.
She pulled on her right arm and white-hot pain shot straight to her head, forcing her to scream and cry. “No, no…” She attempted to move her legs. The left ached far less than the right, but she could move them.
Matt touched her shoulder. “Emily, look at me.”
Panting to the point of hyperventilating, she met his gaze.
“Calm down. An ambulance will be here soon. You’re going to be fine,” he said in a calm tone.
She shook her head. “We can’t wait. Matt, we have to go now.”
“What do you mean?”
“You have to get me out of here. I have to go the hospital now. The baby. The baby!”
“Calm down.”
“No. Get me out of here!”
“Can you move?”
She shook her head. “Not my arm. I can’t… I can’t feel my hand. It’s stuck. Cut it off. I don’t care. Get me the fuck out of here now!”
Matt backed out of the car and disappeared.
She smoothed her hand all over her belly, trying to find a bump, nudge, any kind of movement. If the crash hurt her baby, she had limited time to help it. Dear God, please let it be safe. Please let it live.
Matt appeared to her right, outside the Jeep. He tugged on several places of the crumpled door, and it didn’t budge an inch. Next, he removed the flat bag away from her arm and then felt along it until he touched the remains of the dashboard.
His gaze met hers. “They have to cut you out.”
“I know and we don’t have time. Get me out of here now,” she said as she grinded her teeth from the pain.
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. Cut my hand off. I don’t care. Save my baby.” She swallowed hard. “Please. Just do it before it’s too late. I have a switchblade in my purse near my feet. Get it.”
He disappeared from her sight for a few seconds and then reappeared on her left in the driver’s seat. He shoved his hand near her feet. Finding her bag, he pulled it out.
“Can you move your legs?” he asked.
She gave a jittery nod as he dumped the contents of her purse on the seat. Although the dash squeezed them toward the seat, she could move them enough. With his help, she thought she could free them. He snatched the blade and looked up at her.
“You’re the only one who can do this Matt. You can save my baby. Please,” she pleaded. “Do whatever you need to do to get me out of here.”
He backed out of the car with the weapon in his hand. Seconds later he emerged on her right, tugging his belt from his pants. “This is could kill you.”
“Waiting will kill my baby. Every minute that passes brings it closer to death. Besides, it’s just a hand. I have another.”
He removed his belt from his pants. His gaze never left hers as he hurried to wrap the band around her arm. He tied it tightly and put an end portion in front of her face. She didn’t need him to tell her what to do next. She opened her mouth and bit down on the belt.
“God, forgive me,” he said softly.
“He will,” she mumbled. If by some chance she landed upstairs, she’d make sure what he was about to do wouldn’t reflect poorly on his record.
The blade shot out from the casing. Although short, the sharp steel could slice through bone. He’d have to put some effort into cutting, but the former Marine had plenty of muscle.
Matt gripped her forearm with his left hand. He pressed the knife to her skin. She closed her eyes and prayed for her baby’s life. Just once, she hoped someone would listen.
She screamed and clamped her teeth on the belt as he sliced through her flesh and then drove the blade back and forth into her bone. Fire and excruciating pain consumed her. The throb in her head intensified. The world around her became dark and then her agony disappeared.
****
Loud voices pulled her from her deep sleep. There were so many. She couldn’t make out any words, but she could distinguish male from female and their tones. They sounded insistent and demanding.
Emily fought the pull to return to the darkness. Something important needed to be done. But what? Where was she? What happened? Her body felt weightless and her heart ached. It stung as if wasps had repeatedly attacked her. Breathing hurt and her throat felt raw. She forced her eyelids open. While everything appeared blurry, she could see bright lights passing high above her in a ceiling. Then they stopped and then someone moved her into a room.
A man with dark hair and wearing a white jacket bent over her. He flashed a light in her eyes and peered close for a few second. After he removed the bright beam, he spoke to the woman standing across from him, on Emily’s left. She wore blue scrubs and had scissors in her gloved hand. She gave a nod before she severed Emily’s clothes.
The nurse stepped away and Matt appeared. He took hold of Emily’s hand. He looked sad. His eyes started to build with tears.
Her thoughts were a jigsaw puzzle, and she slowly put the pieces together. She was in a hospital, which meant she’d made it out of the car. Matt had freed her. But what about her baby?
“Doctor, her pressure is dropping,” said a female in the room.
The doctor instructed her what to do and then faced Matt. “Who are you?” He took gloves from a woman in blue scrubs next to him.
“I—”
Emily squeezed his hand with as much strength as she could gather and he met her gaze. She blinked several times and hoped he’d understand.
“If you’re not family, you have to leave,” the doctor said in a more urgent tone.
“I’m the father of the child,” Matt said.
Emily nodded.
“Fine. Stay out of the way please,” the doctor said.
One of the nurses poured a cool fluid on her stomach. Another gave the doctor an instrument. The pain in Emily’s heart grew stronger. Her difficulty to breathe intensified. She fought the heavy tug to return to the darkness.
Nurses gathered on both sides of her. She held onto Matt’s hand as she watched the doctor slide the scalpel across her stomach. After handing the scalpel to the nurse, he dug inside her. Seconds later, he removed her baby and then handed it to one of the nurses.
Matt stared with wide eyes while a tear ran down the side of his face. Had the baby survived? He gave no indication. She feared Andrew’s baby hadn’t made it.
The pain in her chest overwhelmed her. She couldn’t breathe no matter how much she tried. Her mind wanted to shut down. Her vision became cloudy.
The soft cry from an infant pulled Emily from the dark tunnel she was falling into. She fought to gather air and to see. A nurse appeared with a bloody baby wrapped in a pink cloth. She handed the baby to Matt.
With a smile stretching from ear to ear, he turned to Emily. “She’s alive and she’s beautiful.”
Emily stared at the beautiful little girl in his hands. The baby had bluish-gray eyes like her father’s. Her nose and lips were similar to Emily’s. She tried to commit her babe’s facial features to memory, but she quickly lost the ability to focus. She wanted to fight the void trying to swallow her so she could stay with her child. The little girl needed her. But Emily’s efforts failed to keep her out of the darkness and the agony consuming her.