by Mary Abshire
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 ba
by 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.
Chapter Thirty-Three
A loud pounding noise woke Andrew. He opened his eyes and looked around the empty living room. The curtains fluttered in front of the windows. Since the sunlight continued to spill into the house, he believed he hadn’t slept long. He sat upright on the sofa and wondered if he’d dreamed hearing the sound. Then he heard the thuds again and realized they were coming from his front door.
He snatched his gray shirt from the armrest and donned it on his way to answer the door. The only people who’d visited him were his parents, the counselor, and his neighbor. He couldn’t understand why any of them would feel the need to bang on his property. Reaching the entrance, he twisted the knob.
A young woman with long, wavy, blonde hair stood on his porch. She was short and had a thin build similar to Emily’s. Although the gal had dressed in white like the guards, her shirt had buttons and a pocket on the right side. And she didn’t have a stun stick strapped to her belt.
She greeted him with a smile. “Hi, are you Andrew Webster?”
“I am.”
“My name is Nicole. I’ve been knocking on your door for several minutes.”
“Sorry, I was sleeping.”
“Oh, right.” She nodded. “Well, you need to come with me.”
He narrowed his gaze at her. “Why?” Behind her, he spotted a taxicab on the side of the street in front of his property.
“Your appeal has been honored. I’ve been sent to take you the hospital so you can visit your baby.”
His mouth hung open. “Excuse me?”
She took a step back. “Do you want to see your baby, or not?”
Andrew stared in shock. Emily hadn’t been due for another week. “Are you sending me back to Earth? Did something happen to my wife?”
“I don’t know. My job is to bring you to the hospital, and someone else handles the rest. Are you coming?” She twisted to the side as she kept her attention on him.
Andrew couldn’t say no. If something had happened to Emily, he had to find out. “Let me grab my shoes.”
He hurried to the hall closet. From inside, he grabbed his tan slip-ons. He shoved his feet inside and then headed out the door, closing it behind him.
Nicole stood on the sidewalk next to the cab. She opened the passenger door and stepped in front of it as he drew near. “We aren’t allowed to have cars, so we have to take a taxi.” She gestured for him to get in the back.
Although he found her appearance and mode of transpiration out of the ordinary, he settled into the backseat anyway. She’d mentioned his appeal and seeing his baby. He couldn’t risk missing out on an opportunity to see his wife and child. Besides, he didn’t think God would send someone to lie to him.
The drive to the nearest hospital took only a few minutes due to the non-existent traffic on the road. Sure, the male driver had to go around a few bicyclists and people on roller skates, but otherwise the streets were clear. The driver stopped at the entrance and Andrew exited the cab with Nicole.
Past the sliding doors, the hospital looked like a typical one with a large waiting area and front desk. The older woman behind the counter smiled and gave a nod to them. A few people were actually sitting in the waiting room.
“Why do people come here if we can’t get sick?” Andrew asked as they strode toward the central part of the hospital.
“They have visitations.”
“Visitations?”
They stopped near a pair of elevators on each side.
She pressed the call button. “You’ll see.”
“Are they scheduled visitations?”
“Not exactly. We’re given a time frame the visit has to occur. Messengers like me have to make sure the visitor, i.e. you, arrives for the designated slot.”
The doors to one of the elevators opened. He followed her inside. She pressed a dial and stood near the panel. Andrew stayed in the back, wondering how many people got to visit and why had he not known he could before now.
“I never knew we could visit people on Earth,” he said.
“It’s rare. The approval has to come from the top. I think it also depends on the circumstances of the situation. We aren’t given a lot of details.”
He frowned, not surprised by her explanation. It seemed many of the staff lacked information to pass on. The guard who’d sent him back hadn’t shared much with him either.
The doors opened to another level in the hospital. Nicole led the way to the service desk. An African American man dressed in blue scrubs sat behind the counter. He greeted Andrew with a smile.
“Hello and welcome,” the man in scrubs said.
“This is Andrew Webster. He has a visitation,” Nicole said.
He looked down at a monitor. “Yes, room seventeen. Go around the corner and keep walking. The room will be on your left side.”
“Thank you,” Nicole said.
Andrew followed her. “This is so different from when I was sent back to Earth.”
“You were sent back?” she asked with her brows arched.
“Long story.”
He looked at the room numbers on the wall. Many of the doors were open, but some were closed. The one next to the label showing seventeen had been left open.
Nicole knocked as she strolled inside. “Hello?”
The small room had been set up like a typical doctor’s office with an examining table and chair nearby. He’d been to plenty with Emily while she’d been pregnant. A male nurse in blue scrubs sat at a small desk near a sink with a cabinet above and below. To Andrew’s right, he found a closed white door.
The nurse rose from his seat. He smiled at Nicole before he met Andrew’s gaze. “Andrew Webster?”
“That’s me,” Andrew said.
“Have a seat on the table,” he said before he turned to Nicole. “If you’ll sign the file, you can go.”
Andrew did as instructed. He watched Nicole move closer to the desk where a folder lay open. She lifted the pen from the counter and then scribbled on the paper.
“Good luck,” she said with a wave to Andrew on her way out.
The nurse shut the door.
“All right, let’s get you ready to visit your baby,” he said as he headed to the cabinet.
“Are you sending me back to Earth?” Concern and curiosity fought for dominance within Andrew.
“No, your body is staying here. You’re only going to visit your baby for a brief moment. We can’t have you stay too long.” He opened the cabinet above the sink.
“How am I going to visit if my body is here?” Andrew asked.
The nurse removed two items from the cabinet before he faced Andrew. “You’re going to visit in spirit form.”
“What? How?”
“I’m going to give you a shot. Then I’m going to escort you into the next room.” He pointed. "You’re going to feel lightheaded and a bit weightless. There’s a mirror, and you want to look at it closely. Do not speak. Do not touch. If you do either of those, I have to end the visitation. If you want to end it, look away from the mirror." The nurse turned to face the counter.
The instructions sounded too fantastical to Andrew.
“I’m going to be some kind of ghost?” Andrew asked.
“Something like that.”
Andrew shook his head, not liking the situation. He could see his baby, but he couldn’t talk or touch it. The rules seemed unfair.
“What about my wife? Did something happen to h
er? She wasn’t due to have the baby for another week?” Andrew asked.
The nurse approached Andrew with a syringe in his hand. “I don’t have any information on her. The paperwork states you are to see your baby. I don’t know anything else.”
Andrew sighed as he lifted the sleeve of his shirt. “I really wish employees had more details to give.”
The nurse put one hand on his arm. “Don’t move.” He jabbed the needle into Andrew.
Andrew clenched his teeth from the sting. The cold fluid spread like a vine through his arm and continued through his body.
After the nurse gave the shot, he tossed the syringe into the red trash bin. “Ready?”
“More than you’ll ever know.” Andrew rolled his sleeve down.
“Come on.”
Andrew slid off the table and followed him to the door next to the one he’d come in from. The nurse opened it and stepped to the side. Andrew passed him and entered the small room. Three of the walls were white. A floor-to-ceiling mirror took up the third wall. He stopped in front of the mirror and gazed at the reflection of the nurse.
“Remember, no talking and no touching,” he said.
“Right,” Andrew mumbled.
The nurse shut the white door.
Andrew shook his head in disbelief as he stared at himself. The whole idea of visiting his baby as a ghost seemed ridiculous. Yet, there he was in an empty room that looked ready for an insane person, except for the mirror.
He took a breath and noticed he seemed a little dizzy. In fact, he felt as if he were on some kind of high and floating. Did heaven corner the market on LSD?
He moved closer to the mirror and stared at the reflection of the door. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him, but it looked like it was open. And it wasn’t white.
He twisted to look at the door. “What the…” It was white and closed.
Swallowing, he returned his attention to the mirror. Now the room looked different. Instead of white walls, they were a soft yellow color and had blue and pink baby foot- and handprints about four feet up from the floor.
Andrew’s eyes widened as the room around him changed. It was as if some special technology had changed the reflection. He didn’t understand it and didn’t care to when he saw an empty rectangular bucket on top of a mini rolling table. He’d worked in hospital enough to recognize the baby bed. Shifting to his left, he saw Matt sitting in a rocking chair. He held an infant wrapped in a pink blanket.