“Okay, I shouldn’t be long. I can grab some ice for you, if you want.”
Drake shook his head. “I have special packs at the house for this that will fit over my shoulder. I’ll take care of it when we get home.
Once I finally got my door unlocked, I had to pee. And after gathering up the portable crib-playpen hybrid, I realized I had to pee again. By the time I got back out to my vehicle and popped the trunk, Drake was sound asleep in the middle seat.
I heaved the playpen contraption up into the back and then pushed the button to shut the hatch. Honestly, all I wanted was a banana split and to fall asleep as quickly as my brother had. Unfortunately, that wasn’t exactly possible since it took so long to get into a comfortable position. Also, I had to drive him home and then come all the way back to my place before I could manage a nap.
When I pulled out of the apartment complex, a shiver ran up and down my spine. I glanced around to see if I could figure out why I felt weird all of a sudden, and there was a black mid-sized truck that followed us onto the road. The truck stayed behind me for long enough that I got paranoid about it and tried to wake Drake up.
“What?” he finally groaned.
“Get your seatbelt on. I think someone is following us.” I pushed the break to stop at the last red light before the turnoff to my family’s house. Drake slung himself up in the seat and flipped the seatbelt on as he turned to see what I was talking about. Before he could fully turn to see out the back window, the truck that had been following us rammed into the back of my SUV and pushed the vehicle out into the middle of the intersection. I didn’t even get the chance to put my foot on the brake pedal before I heard a horn blare and then the crunch and grind of metal on metal as something slammed into the passenger side of my SUV.
All I could think of was my little brother in the back. When he popped up and quickly put his seatbelt on, he had been sitting on the passenger side.
His book bag, that he had been using as a pillow, was flung forward and to the side just enough to crash into my right arm. It shoved forward just as the airbag deployed, and my arm was trapped between the two opposing forces at an odd angle. I heard the snap a second before I felt my arm break. My head whipped forward and to the left as all this happened, and I remember it bounced off the driver’s side window before a jolt of pain in my stomach caught my attention.
“My baby,” I cried as a man rushed to the side of my vehicle. I thought he said something, but my vision dimmed and darkness claimed me.
I felt weightless for a few seconds and then slowly, I opened my eyes to see that I was being placed on a stretcher. Panic set in as I tried to turn my head to search for Drake but couldn’t.
“Drake!” I yelled.
“It’s okay, we need you to stay calm, honey. You were in an accident,” someone explained.
“Where is my brother?” No one answered. “Where is Drake? He was in the back of my Highlander. Please, someone go check.”
“Your brother was already loaded into another ambulance. It took us a little longer to get to you.”
“His side was hit, not mine.”
“There was a woman with a knife,” someone mentioned.
“The black truck behind me. It followed me from my apartment and then pushed us into the intersection,” I mumbled.
“Got it,” someone said. “Do you know who it was or who it could have been?”
“Didn’t you arrest her?” I asked.
“She ran before the police made it on scene,” a woman said.
“Who would do this?” I asked.
“We were hoping you could tell us.”
“The only person who might want to harm me is the woman who raped my ex-husband,” I said because I’d be damned if I hid the truth.
“And who was that?”
“We need to get her to the hospital. You can ask your questions there” the woman who was taking care of me mentioned.
“Fiona,” I called out to him as the gurney was lifted into the back of the ambulance. The pain of being jostled must have done a number on me because I passed out again during the drive to the hospital.
I slowly woke to the sound of beeping and a very fast whooshing noise I recognized immediately. My baby’s heartbeat.
“Hello there,” a man’s voice said in a calm tone. “Looks like you had quite a scare.”
“More than just a scare, Doc.” I tried to move my arm, and it felt as if the damn thing were weighed down with a ton of bricks. “What is…”
