Olivia helped me down the stairs and then into her car. I felt another contraction, this one was a little longer and a little more intense. I knew it was way too soon for this, but the pressure between my legs seemed to disagree.
“You know Cane always wanted kids. He wanted them before I did. He wanted to start creating our family the moment he married me. So, we did.
We had tried to conceive naturally for years. Before I knew it, it had been four, and still no babies to show for it. So, we turned to science. I just wanted a baby, you know. I wanted to give my husband everything he deserved, but not only did you take that from me. You took him from me.”
“I didn’t take him from you.”
“So why did he ask me for a divorce?”
“He what?”
“He asked me for a divorce the other night.” She said. She continued on her rant, but my mind was stuck on the divorce. Why would he try to shoot her if he wanted a divorce? It didn’t make any sense.
“Can you believe that when I was holding down sheets onto his bleeding heart, he was looking for you! How could he want you when I was the one stopping him from bleeding out? How could he need you? Do you know how much that hurt? When he could die. No, when he was actually dying, he wanted you!”
“I’m sorry those were your last moments with him,” I said.
“Are you? Are you really fucking sorry?” She asked as she began to pass the speed limit. Life sped beside us. The green leaves, the clear sky, and the concrete all blurred. The wind that was once a cool caress became a hard thrash against my forehead. The yellow lines in the street were beginning to pass far too fast. I clenched the edge of the seat as she sped in and out of traffic.
She started to cry again. The tears ran over the lines from already-dried tears. We were now on the highway. The broken white lines on the ground blended into one as we chased green exit signs.
I watched as the hospital exit slipped past us. “Olivia!” I yelled. “Where are we going?” I panicked.
In between the pain of another contraction, I realized what she was doing. “Olivia, stop! Don’t do this.” I cried.
She glanced over at me, and for a second, I saw her heart. She was broken. That pain, that hurt, it couldn’t be fixed. So, she let go. Her fingers were no longer choking the steering wheel. Instead, they were raised in the air. “Olivia. Please!” I screamed.I closed my eyes and held my stomach. I didn't want to see the back of that four-wheeler.
Chapter 32
Snow
The screeching tires pierced my ears. With a hard jolt, the car halted, and the contraction subsided. Slowly, my eyes opened, and my body relaxed. I looked over at Olivia. She was sobbing uncontrollably against the wheel. I don’t know what stopped her from killing us, but I thanked God it did. I reached over and rubbed her back. “I'm sorry,” I said. “I am so sorry that I loved him."
“I don’t think it will ever stop hurting.” She cried.
“Me either,” I said. I felt the same. The only difference was that she was grieving his decisions, and I was grieving his death. The pain was so deep I could feel it in my bones. I could feel it running through my blood. She wiped her face and looked up at me. “We have to get you to the hospital.”
“Ok,” I said. Somehow, I didn’t even think I deserved that much from her.
-
Olivia pulled into the hospital parking lot and then ran over to the passenger side to help me. She held my hand and pulled me from the leather seat.
"Oh god." She gasped. I looked down to see the seat covered with blood.
“Am I losing them?" I asked.
"I don't know,” Olivia said as she walked me toward the emergency doors. "I need help!" She screamed.
"It hurts!" I said. These contractions felt like they were ripping something inside me. I sat in the wheelchair that was being placed under me.
Olivia struggled to keep up as I was rushed through the emergency doors. The doctors and nurses helped me onto the hospital bed.
A cold scissor cut through my clothes while doctors began asking me questions. I could barely focus, let alone answer them.
“She’s thirty weeks,” Olivia said. “Her contractions have been ten minutes apart.”
The doctors began sticking, prodding, and administering all types of drugs. I thought I was preparing to give birth, but they had every plan to stop it. Thank God.
