Annabelle
I woke up feeling like crap. My back was killing me and the stupid Braxton-Hicks contractions wouldn’t let up. “Slightly uncomfortable” my ass. These fuckers hurt. To top it off, apparently, I peed in the bed while I was sleeping. Heaving myself out of bed, I waddled to the bathroom and quickly realized two things. I hadn’t peed in the bed and I wasn’t having Braxton-Hicks contractions.
Wrapping my arms around my large belly, I doubled over in pain when the next contraction hit. As soon as I was able to take a breath, I screamed, “Octavius!”
He walked into the bathroom attached to my bedroom and studied me. His eyes held nothing but contempt. “What is it, Annelle?”
Was he fucking serious? “It’s time, Octavius. The baby is coming,” I gritted out.
He nodded. “Well, let’s get you over to see the doctor,” he said, sounding bored.
He took his sweet time covering the car seat with trash bags so I didn’t ruin the interior of his car with my “fluids of life,” his words, not mine. If I physically could have, I would have kneed him in the balls. Could he not tell I was in a significant amount of pain and needed medical attention ASAP? Of course, he could; he just didn’t care. I don’t know why I thought he might have some sort of compassion for me.
When we arrived at the clinic on the farm, I waddled inside without any assistance from Octavius. He walked right past the receptionist and through the door that led to the patient rooms in the back of the clinic, leaving me standing in the waiting room clutching my stomach and grunting with each contraction.
He returned a few minutes later and instructed me to follow him. He led me to a room in the very back corner of the clinic. It looked more like Dr. Frankenstein’s lab than any clinic room I had ever seen before.
“Climb up on the table, Annelle,” the doctor said.
“In case you haven’t noticed, that’s physically impossible for me to do at this time,” I snapped.
Octavius huffed. “Oh, fine. Just try not to drip on me,” he muttered in disgust as he reached under my arms to lift me onto the table.
I can’t say what happened next was my finest moment, but he deserved it and so much more. The moment my feet were off the ground, I pretended to have another contraction while I emptied my bladder all over his legs and feet.
He dropped me onto the table and started dancing around, squealing in horror. I barely managed to contain my laughter while I watched him hurry to remove his piss soaked socks and shoes.
I should have been paying attention to the doctor and not Octavius. Had I been, I would have seen him walking toward me with a syringe in his hand.
He jabbed the needle in my arm and said, “Annelle, I’m going to put you to sleep. You need to have a C-section.” I don’t know what he gave me, but I was rapidly succumbing to it. I didn’t even get a chance to ask how he knew I needed to have a C-section without examining me first.
When I woke, I was in a lot of pain and my mind felt cloudy. I tried to sit up, but was quickly pushed back down by a large, cold hand. “You can’t get up right now, Annelle,” Octavius said.
“Where’s my baby? Did everything go okay?” I asked.
He smiled at me. He never smiled. A sick feeling washed over me. Something was wrong. I just knew it.
When he continued to smile at me, I demanded, “Tell me where my baby is!”
“I’m sorry, Annelle. Your little girl was stillborn. The doctor tried to resuscitate her, but he said she had been gone too long,” Octavius said in an almost jovial tone.
A little girl.
I had a little girl.
Had.
Had.
HAD.
“I want to see her!”
“Unfortunately, that’s not possible. We’ve already removed the carcass from the premises.”
I slapped him across the face using every bit of strength I had. “Don’t you ever call my baby a carcass again, you sadistic son of a bitch.”
I slumped back into the bed. My physical pain was all but forgotten as I was consumed with an agony I didn’t know existed. A hurt so great, no one should ever have to feel it. My little girl didn’t make it. I did everything I could to make sure she was healthy. What went wrong? What did I do? How was I going to continue living without her? Why would I want to? I didn’t even get to hold her. I didn’t get to see her. I felt like I was suffocating as unanswered questions and powerful emotions consumed me. I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t want to breathe.
I vaguely heard Octavius saying something. Then, the doctor appeared beside my bed and put something into my IV. Moments later, I slipped into the darkness, in more ways than one.