Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 96833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
One evening after I finished giving Abby a foot rub, she fell asleep on the couch. Lavinia chuckled as she looked over and noticed Abby out like a light.
As a light snore escaped through Abby’s dainty nose, I marveled at her beauty. “Isn’t she exquisite?”
I didn’t realize I’d posed the question aloud until Lavinia responded. “Indeed, she is.”
Abby stirred, and her eyes blinked open. She held her hand out for me to help her off the couch. “I have to pee.” She wobbled over to the washroom just off the kitchen.
When Abby reemerged, she clutched her stomach with a troubled look on her face.
“Abby?” I shot up from the sofa. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m getting the worst pain all of a sudden. It’s mostly in my back. But it definitely doesn’t feel normal.”
My pulse began to race. “Shall I call your doctor? He gave us his mobile.”
“Yeah.” She nodded, her breaths uneven. “You should.”
I took out my phone and sent an urgent text to Dr. Bonner, explaining that Abby was experiencing severe pain. He directed us to Reddington Hospital in Westfordshire. I would’ve preferred London, but we couldn’t afford the ninety-minute drive. Reddington was only about ten minutes from the inn.
Abby held her back. “I should bring the hospital bag I packed.”
“Uh…yeah,” I said, feeling disoriented. Remembering she had that bag in the corner of her room, I ran to fetch it before booking it downstairs again.
Lavinia’s voice shook as she saw us to the door. “What can I do?”
I looked her straight in the eyes and whispered, “Pray.”
I’d never driven so fast yet so carefully in my life, down the long, winding road through Westfordshire. Certainly, I’d never driven with my heart in my throat like this. Holding Abby’s hand, I kept insisting everything was going to be okay, even if my fear grew each time her pain worsened.
When we arrived at the hospital, I hadn’t a clue how we’d gotten there. Everything was hazy, the ride blurred by the intensity of my fear. Almost as soon as we passed through the sliding glass doors, Abby looked down at herself.
“There’s blood,” she cried.
“Blood?” A shooting pain passed through my body as I, too, saw red.
She clutched her stomach. “Oh God, I’m so scared.”
“We need to be seen immediately,” I yelled, my voice trembling.
Someone rushed over.
“She’s pregnant and bleeding!” I explained. “We don’t know what’s happening.” My voice shook as I begged, “Please.”
It took everything in me to hold it together, and all I could do was wrap my arms around Abby as we waited, helping her stand when she seemed so weak.
“Come right this way,” a nurse said, leading us down a hall and into an examination area.
Abby lay on the bed. More people entered the room in a frenzy.
“How far along is she?” someone asked.
I wracked my brain. It was January twenty-first. Abby wasn’t due for another few weeks. Not far along enough was the answer. “She’s due February tenth.”
Hospital staff surrounded her. And a doctor arrived to do a vaginal examination. After a moment, the doctor turned to me with a look of urgency. “We’re dealing with a placental abruption.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, my heart pounding.
She stood, removing her gloves. “It means she’s losing blood fast, and we need to get this baby out immediately.” She turned to her staff. “Prepare the OR.”
CHAPTER 48
* * *
Sig
Track 48: “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan
Feeling completely helpless, I caressed Abby’s hair as we waited for the next step. “Everything will be okay. They’re gonna get the baby out. And everything’s going to be fine.”
Terror filled her eyes. “I’m scared.”
“I know. I know, love. But I’ll be right here with you. I won’t leave you. I promise.”
A rush of people reentered the room. The next thing I knew, they were lifting Abby onto a bed with wheels.
I held her hand and walked in sync with the rolling of the bed, my pulse going a mile a minute as we headed down a hallway. When we got to the operating suite, a woman stopped me as I tried to follow them in.
“You’re gonna have to stay out here.”
“What?” I shook my head. “No! I can’t leave her. I promised I wouldn’t.”
“I’m sorry, sir. We can’t have anyone besides medical staff in the operating room. Hospital rules. You can stay right here outside the door and someone will keep you updated.”
“I need to be in there!” I yelled.
“Their lives could be in danger, sir. We need as few people in that room as possible so the doctor can do her job.”
Their lives?
Abby and the baby.
Their lives.
What. Is. Happening?
“Please. I can’t lose her.” My voice trembled. “Do whatever it takes to save her.” When the cold and heavy steel door closed, I shouted, praying she could hear me. “I’ll be right out here, Abby.”
I began praying and praying and praying under my breath. Praying to God. Praying to Britney. I’d never prayed to Britney before. I’d never asked her for anything. But I desperately needed her help. It felt like my soul had been sucked out of me and transported into that operating room.