Without another word, he swept away, carrying a woman that he wanted in his arms. He had, again, fallen for her lies. She had pushed me, and yet, it was her he was taking care of. It was like me and our child didn’t matter to him at all.
And we didn’t, I realized as I tried to sit up. Nothing in the world mattered more to Alexei than Violet. She was the woman he chased over and over again. Finally upright, I tried to push myself up tostanding, and a shock wave of pain burst from my body. Forcing me back down again.
Over and over again, the pain came, a cramping vice of agony that twisted my body on the floor as I tried to get away from it.
There was no escape. None.
“Alexei,” I screamed his name, begging him to help me, even though I knew he was gone. He had gone to take care of Violet and their baby and left me behind.
My hands clutched at my nightclothes, my wet clothes. I lifted trembling hands to my face to see that they were covered in bright crimson blood. My head was spinning. It was such a pretty color for something that meant death. The death of my baby.
Vomit rushed up my throat, and I choked on it.
Oh God, he had taken Violet to get help and left me here miscarrying his baby. That’s how much he cared. Violet had won. My baby was dying, and maybe I was as well because I was feeling lightheaded. Darkness was taking up my vision so thoroughly that I couldn’t fight it.
I wasn’t even sure I wanted to. I was too tired, and there was no hope left. Alexei hadn’t chosen us. Violet had won. I fell back on the hardwood floor, the back of my head bouncing with a crack. My eyes closed.
“Oh, my God.” I heard Mrs. Cole’s voice coming closer and closer, but she still sounded so far away. “Oh my God, Amy.” Gentle hands stroked back my hair. “Just stay still, it’s going to be OK.”
It wasn’t going to be OK. Her voice was too panicked. “Micah,” she screamed. Footsteps pounded towards us, and wearily, I opened my eyes to find him staring down at me. My eyes drifted to Mrs. Cole’s distraught face.
“Holy shit.”
I watched sleepily as her old, lined eyes turned to him, a sort of pleading in them.
“We need to get her to the hospital.” She turned her attention back to me. “Just hold on OK, We are going to look after you.”
“The blood." Micah’s voice was a ragged whisper, but somehow, itwas the clearest thing I heard. Bending over me, he lifted me into his arms. Mrs. Cole threw a blanket over me. Micah didn’t walk, he ran, and I felt every single movement in my body like I was being zapped by electricity.
It wasn’t enough pain to take over from the agony going on in my stomach. My body spasmed, and this time I felt a fresh flood of blood gush from my body and soak his arms.
“Oh, Jesus.” he swore again, and this time I could barely hear it. My head fell back as I finally gave into the sweet oblivion of unconsciousness and everything went dark.
“Jesus, there’s too much blood.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Alexei
Pacing back and forth along the long, sterile corridor, I waited for someone to come out of Violet’s room and tell me what was going on. She hadn’t wanted me in there with her, and I had to respect that. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t going out of my mind with worry.
For both of them, I realized I probably should have brought Amy here as well for a checkup. But she had said she was OK. She had even sat up. It was Violet who was badly injured from falling down the stairs.
The fall down the stairs—head in my hands, I fell into one of the chairs and groaned. I couldn’t believe Amy had purposely pushed Violet. Hell, I didn’t want to believe it, but she had been acting crazy recently.
And even I had to admit that if she saw Violet coming out of my room, it might have sparked some unfounded jealousy. We had just been talking, that’s all. Still, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt.
Digging my phone out of my pocket, I rang her cell phone. No answer. The same with Mrs Cole’s phone and the house. No one was picking up.
A prickle of unease made me shiver. Why weren’t they answering?Even in the middle of the night, someone should be contactable.
I tried Mrs. Cole again, and down the corridor a phone blared to life. Turning my head, I stared in that direction but saw nothing. Whoever’s phone was ringing was around the corner. But it couldn’t be Mrs. Coles.
The line went dead, and the ringing stopped. Like a sleepwalker, I stumbled to my feet and headed in that direction, peering around the corner to the more public part of the emergency room.
“Micah?” Confused, I took a step towards him. There was a phone tossed onto a chair next to him. “What are you doing with Mrs. Cole’s phone?”
He lifted his bloodshot eyes. The look he gave me wasn’t friendly. I bristled. He was one of my trusted men. And not once in all the years we had known each other had he ever looked at me like that.
