18
Alyssia felt a wave of pain gripping her belly as if it were clamped in a vice. Maria and Douglas had left the room, presumably to discuss what to do with her, but that had been ages ago and they hadn’t returned. Her contractions were still far enough apart that she didn’t need to go to the hospital immediately, but she knew that they would only get closer and closer until the baby was born.
“Hello?” she called, gritting her teeth against the pain. “Is anyone there? Hello?”
The door banged open and Douglas strode in, his eyes full of pity and anger. He shook his head and gestured for her to stay quiet, as if trying to protect her. Maria stalked in after him, with what appeared to be a midwife in tow. The woman looked absolutely terrified, her eyes wide and her hands twisting around themselves nervously, but Alyssia tried to reassure her with a smile.
“Examine her,” Maria snapped, pointing at Alyssia. The midwife nodded silently and helped Alyssia to lie down on the floor before gently examining her. The floor wasn’t uncomfortable, but she would have preferred a bed, or at the very least a cushion.
“OK,you are about five centimetres dilated,” the woman said. “Baby appears to be breech, too, so you do need to go to the hospital, I’m afraid.”
“Can’t you deliver it here?” Maria asked.
The midwife shook her head, gently feeling the baby’s movements. The baby kicked hard, as if trying to throw her hands away, and she laughed a little. “It’s possible, but not advisable.” her reply was brief, watching as another contraction gripped Alyssia’s body. “There’s a chance the baby could go into distress unless it turns. If that happens, she’ll need a caesarean, and I amnotgoing to perform surgery outside of a hospital.
“So be it,” Maria said tersely, shaking her head in frustration. “Douglas, take her and the midwife to hospital. She’s to be checked in as Emily Fountain, you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Douglas said, nodding his head briefly at the midwife.
With that, he helped Alyssia to stand and gently walked her to the car, although every step felt like agony. Soon, they were speeding down the freeway towards the nearest hospital, Alyssia trying not to scream in pain.
“Where’s the nearest hospital?” he asked the midwife, who was sitting on the back seat next to Alyssia.
“Englewood Hospital’s nearest. Drive there,” she replied briefly. “How are your contractions?”
“Incredibly painful!” Alyssia shrieked, throwing her head back and panting. “It's like having my stomach ripped out from the inside!”
“That's completely normal,” the midwife soothed her. “My name’s Susan, by the way. You can call me Susie, if you like.”
“Thank you, Susie. I’m … Emily. You can check my licence if you don’t believe me.” she said, praying the midwife would understand what she meant. “It’s … in my notes ?”
Another wave of pain rippled through her, and she had to grit her teeth so as not to scream at the top of her lungs. The midwife nodded and quickly looked through her maternity notes, which had thankfully not been taken from her.
“OK … Emily … just hold my hand and breathe,” she said, winking at her. “We’re about five minutes away from the hospital now, so don’t worry. We’ll get you sorted, I promise.”
Antonio was fielding phone call after phone call from his brothers-in-law and father-in-law, each one more concerned than the last. Damon in particular waspractically frothing at the mouth, incandescent at the fact that his sister was somewhere in the state, possibly in labour, and he was unable to help her.
“I promise you, I am doing everything possible to find her,” Antonio told Damon, waving his father over to him. “My dad and I are about to follow the route that she and Douglas would have taken to Ricky’s, see if they broke down or something.”
“Brokedown? Withoutcallingsomeone? Have you completely lost what remains of your brain cells?” Damon spluttered, barely forcing the words out. “Fuck that, Blackwood. Sit tight, I’m coming over. Thenwecan go find my sister.”
“Damon, there’s nothing more you can do.”
“Screw you,” was all Damon could say, before hanging up the phone.
Antonio gripped the phone tightly, closing his eyes and cursing the fact that his brother-in-law was just as hot-tempered as he was. Most of the time, it was a good thing, but when both he and his brother-in-law lost their cool, the mix of Italian and Spanish fire made for some explosive fireworks.
“Bloody Spaniards,” he grumbled, shaking his head at his father, who smiled sympathetically.
“Spanish and Italian,” David corrected him. “Two of the most hot-tempered people on the planet. And you wonder why we all sat a respectable distance apart at your wedding!”
“You don’t have to remind me,” Antonio smiled wryly. “Damon’s on his way, says he and I are going to look for Alyssia.”
“Well, a better set of eyes can’t hurt – mine aren’t anywhere near what they were, and I’m probably more use here anyway.”
“I know, but having mycognatoin the car when he wants to murder someone isn’t exactly my idea of a fun time. I mean, what’s to stop him from pointing the gun at me?”
“Probably the fact that he’s more interested in rescuing his sister than in killing you, son. He’ll be fine, don’t you worry..”
