The noise created by the fight in the back bedrooms masked the sound as Colleen ripped the Velcro straps off my ankles, then started unthreading the straps that held my upper body down.
“Where are your car keys?” I asked, panicked.
Colleen ran over to her backpack and unzipped another pocket, pulling out her car keys. She dropped them into the pocket of her scrubs and rushed back to the bed.
Not a second later, we heard a loud scuffle, and Madison screamed, “You bitch! I’ll kill you!”
Suddenly the fight burst out of the back bedroom and into the hallway, where Colleen and I could see some of what was happening from the bed. We watched with wide eyes; Madison had Jenna by the hair on the top of her head. Jenna’s hands were flailing around desperately and finally connected with Madison’s throat. I saw the veins in Madison’s face puff out and turn purple as Jenna squeezed.
Without taking her eyes off Madison, Jenna yelled, “Savannah! Get out of here! Get help!”
Colleen’s and my eyes met again, and though we didn’t speak, our message to each other was clear.
Now or never—it’s go-time.
CHAPTER35
COLLEN TUGGED ONthe final strap holding me down and flung it aside. Quickly, she lowered the railing on the left side of the bed. Next, she ripped the tape off the inside of my arm and removed the needle. She left it dangling from the IV stand, liquid dripping onto the floor.
She swung my legs around to the side and took my hands, pulling me up into a sitting position. Then she put her hand behind my back and carefully scooted me forward on my bottom until I was perched on the edge of the bed, close enough to slide the last few inches off and place my feet on the ground. My head did a full somersault as I finally stood upright, but I didn’t let it stop me, pausing only for a second as I waited for the world to stop spinning.
“Let’s go,” Colleen whispered.
She took my left arm, slung it over her shoulder, and wound her right arm around my waist. Then she started pulling me toward the door. My feet desperately tried to keep up with her steps. I felt a deep pain in the pit of my groin, and a growing pressure between my legs—I knew I didn’t have long.Please hold off just a little longer, baby. We’re going to get out of here so you can be born somewhere safe.
The fighting continued, moving back down the hallway in the direction of the back bedrooms, both women screaming and grunting. Something slammed against the wall, briefly shaking the entire cabin.
As we reached the door, Colleen strained with her left arm and managed to grab the doorknob, swinging the door open. I tasted cold October night air, and caught a glimpse of a green Subaru parked beneath a tree in the distance.
All of a sudden, we heard two small explosions in rapid succession, coming from the back of the cabin. It was so loud, Colleen and I both flinched and nearly lost our balance, falling against the inside of the doorjamb.
“Oh my God—what was that?”
Colleen’s eyes met mine, full of fear. “Gunshots. Keep moving.”
As we desperately tried to drag our bodies through the doorway, a section of the doorframe just over my right ear exploded, sending tiny splinters of wood flying in every direction. My head whirled around and I felt my blood go ice-cold.
Madison was pointing her gun right at me, a thin plume of smoke wafting up from the barrel.
“No!” Max, bleeding from the side of the head, bounded out of the back hallway toward Madison. “What are you doing? You can’t shoot Savannah! The baby!”
“She’s getting away with our child!”
Max and Madison struggled over the gun. “Stop it, Max! We can’t let them leave!”
Colleen and I kept moving. We stepped off the wooden front porch of the cabin onto the cold forest floor. Dry leaves crunched beneath my swollen, bare feet. Clinging to each other, we headed for Colleen’s car. Finally, both our fingers reached out and touched the cold steel of the hood—just as another contraction reared its ugly head, threatening to split me in half.
Not now!I threw my head back; my screams flew up into the dark night sky. I felt like I was being ripped apart as my body splayed across the hood of the car.
Colleen held me up from behind as my fingernails scraped the side of the car in agony.
“It’s okay, Savannah, you’re okay—breathe, breathe—we’ve got to get you into the car so we can get you to the hospital. We’re almost there.”
Unfortunately, my ill-timed contraction snapped Max and Madison back into focus as well, and they realized that while they’d been arguing, we’d been escaping. Suddenly I heard a loud, sharp pop, followed immediately by a clang of metal. I looked down and saw a bullet hole in the front bumper of Colleen’s car. I gasped.
“Get back here with my baby!” Madison moved toward the car, keeping the gun trained on us.
“Madison, God damn it, stop!” Max was right behind her.
