CHAPTER FIFTEEN
WARD
Keep it together, man. They’re counting on you.
I hate that I have to remind myself of that, but this situation is affecting me more than it should. My heart is racing as I help Lily down the front steps to the driveway. Lou has gone to grab Ramona, which means I’m solely responsible for keeping Lily calm right now. It’s a tall order, considering how much my mind is spinning. I care about Lily, sure, but this isn’t my wife or my baby—so why have I gone into full fight-or-flight mode?
Because this reminds you of Lou’s pregnancy, you idiot, I think. I still remember the look in her eyes when she realized she was going into labor—she’s brave, my Lou, but even she was terrified at that moment. And I nearly puked up my guts on the way to the hospital. Neither of us had any idea what we were doing.
But if our past experience with the whole labor thing has made me agitated and restless today, it seems to have had the opposite effect on Lou. She seemed impossibly calm when she told me that we needed to get to the hospital. And when I look back toward the front door and see that she’s caught up with us, she gives me a reassuring nod as she brings Ramona down the steps toward the car.
Keep it together. You’ve got this.
The storm isn’t helping. The rain beats down on us as I help Lily into the backseat, and the thunder terrifies Ramona. She’s screaming as Lou straps her into her car seat. I hate that we have to take her out in this storm, but we have no choice. Lou buckles herself between Ramona and Lily as I slide into the front seat.
I hate driving in this weather. I can barely see ten feet in front of me, and there are too many precious things in the car with me. The water is already several inches deep on some parts of the road. Lou warned me that the road out to the estate could get rough during heavy rains, but bad storms are few and far between, and I’ve never had to drive to or from the estate in weather like this. Now I understand why she was in such a hurry to leave.
In the backseat, Lily lets out a groan. I glance in the rearview mirror for a split second—just long enough to see Lou take Lily’s hand. With her other hand, Lou continues to try to quiet Ramona.
“Don’t worry,” she says to Lily. “We still have plenty of time to get to the hospital. Your contractions are still about nine minutes apart.”
Even though she’s not talking to me, her soothing voice brings me some peace. My angel.
But Lily doesn’t seem any calmer.
“I can’t believe she’d just leave,” Lily mutters to herself. “I can’t believe he took her away without telling me.”
Lou filled me in on some of the details of the situation before she went to grab Ramona. I can’t believe it either—but then again, maybe I can. Everyone could see that Lily’s mother was causing issues. If it had been Lou in that situation, I would have done everything in my power to fix it. I would’ve given my life to make things easier for her.
A branch falls from a tree above and slams against the hood of my car. Both Lou and Lily cry out, and Ramona screams even louder, but I don’t stop. I don’t even slow. We need to get to the hospital. I’ll worry about my car later.
My hands tighten on the steering wheel. It’s dark out here, and even my brights don’t do much to light up the road in front of me. I can tell that the water is getting deeper, though, and that isn’t good. The road goes over the creek just ahead, and if we’re going to run into any trouble, it’ll be along this stretch.
I slow down as we approach the bridge. The rain is thundering against the car, and out my window I can see the water rushing along the road beside us, tumbling over itself toward the creek. It’s already too deep, and it’s still getting deeper.
Shit. Shit shit shit. I urge the car forward slowly, but I can already tell the water is too high to drive through. The banks of the creek must have overflowed. We can’t even see the bridge yet.
“What’s going on?” Lou asks.
“The water’s too high,” I tell her, trying to keep my voice steady. “I can try to keep driving, but it’s going to flood the engine. We’d just get stranded.”
Now that I’ve stopped the car, I risk another look in the rearview mirror. Lily and Lou have both gone still, and Ramona is still screaming and kicking her little feet in the air.
“It’s too dangerous,” I say, my voice so quiet that I wonder if they can even hear it above the rain and Ramona’s wailing. “If we get stuck out here…” I don’t need to go on.
“Then what are we going to do?” Lily says. I can tell that she’s trying to stay calm, but it’s clear she’s anything but.
“We go back to the house,” Lou says. “We call an emergency number from there.”
“If we can’t get through,” Lily says, “then an ambulance won’t be able to get through, either.”
“We can’t stay here,” I say. “The water’s only going to get higher.” I peer out through the windshield. My headlights show nothing but an endless sheet of rain. “We can’t drive through this water, which leaves us with three options. The first is to get out of the car and try to wade through the creek, which will probably be even more dangerous than driving—not to mention the fact that we’re still several miles from town. Our second choice is to find a spot to park a little ways back and wait for an ambulance to get here.” And hope they can figure out a way across the water. And pray that Lily doesn’t have the baby in the car in the meantime. “Our third option is to go back to the house.”
Ramona’s shrieks are getting louder and shriller with every passing second, in spite of Lou’s attempts to calm her. Lily has closed her eyes—in pain or in worry, I don’t know—and thunder crashes overhead, so close that all of us jump.
“We can’t stay here,” Lou says. “Not with the storm on top of us like this. A tree could fall.”
And the water is still getting higher. I nod. “I’m taking us back to the house.”
We both glance at Lily, but her face has contorted in pain. She’s gripping the handle on the door so hard that I’m afraid she’s going to rip it right off.
Jesus, we’re screwed.
Lou shoots a look at me, and I’m sure my expression reflects hers exactly—we need to get Lily somewhere safe. And fast. I shift the car into reverse and turn around, trying to avoid the streams of water rolling down the side of the road.
Forget screwed—we’re completely fucked. This is our only option, but it’s not going to be enough. It’s not nearly enough.
Lily lets out a strangled cry of pain, and I try to ignore it and focus on the road. I also try to ignore Ramona’s wailing—which has turned into heaving, gulping sobs. My poor little girl is terrified. And she isn’t the only one—Lou might be putting on a brave face, but she’s also afraid.
And fuck me, I’m terrified, too.