Page 114 of The Forsaken
“No. An ambulance will take me to the nearest hospital. I want to go to the London,” Quinn wailed.
“Right.” Gabe raced to the other room to wake Emma. Quinn followed him, walking slowly and holding on to the wall for support. She went to the bathroom and found blood on her knickers, but thankfully, she wasn’t bleeding heavily. She put in a sanitary napkin and grabbed a pair of maternity jeans she’d left hanging on the hook behind the door. Pulling them on took some doing, but she gritted her teeth through the pain and got dressed. She couldn’t go to the hospital in her underwear.
Emma was groggy with sleep as she took in her parents’ disheveled state. “What’s happening?” she muttered.
“It’s all right, darling. We just have to take Quinn to A&E,” Gabe explained as he lifted Emma out of her bed and wrapped a blanket around her.
“Is she hurt?”
“She’s just experiencing some pains.”
Gabe managed to hold Emma in his arms and support Quinn as they walked to the lift that’d take them to the underground parking garage. Quinn hunched over and pressed her forehead against the cool metal wall of the lift, willing it to move faster. The baby seemed much lower now, pressing down and creating unbearable pressure in her pelvic area. Gabe helped Quinninto the car and strapped Emma into her seat before jumping into the driver’s seat and starting the car.
“I want Mr. Rabbit. I forgot Mr. Rabbit!” Emma screeched.
“We can’t go back for Mr. Rabbit. There’s no time,” Gabe replied as he tore out of the garage.
Emma cried softy in the back seat, upset about Mr. Rabbit and probably frightened by Quinn’s moans, which were beginning to escalate into grunts. Emma clutched the blanket to her chest and used it to wipe her streaming eyes. “I want to go home,” she whimpered.
“We’ll go home just as soon as we get the all clear. Everything will be all right.” Gabe sounded authoritative and calm, but Quinn knew he was terrified. His hand trembled as he changed gears. Emma howled louder.
Quinn let out a gasp of pain and doubled over. She was panting, and perspiration covered her brow. “Oh, Gabe, I’m bleeding badly. Hurry.”
Gabe floored the gas pedal, tearing through nighttime London with a screech of tires. Quinn hoped that a traffic cop wasn’t waiting around the corner. They couldn’t afford to lose any time. She screamed as stab after excruciating stab slashed her uterus, and she felt the familiar flush spread from her chest to her face. Her heart was racing, and a pounding headache was building behind the eyes, nearly blinding her with its intensity.
Overwhelmed with pain and fear, Quinn began to cry. She sounded like a wounded animal, and Emma, spurred on by Quinn’s fear, began to shriek like a banshee while tearing at the straps of her child seat and reaching for Quinn.
“Let me out!” she screamed. “I want my mum.”
Hearing Emma call her “mum” for the first time should have been a special moment for Quinn, but the fact that Emma’s outburst was driven by her fear of losing Quinn made Quinn cryeven harder. She was trapped in a cocoon of agony, her treacherous body hurting from brain to groin. She doubled over as blood soaked through her sanitary napkin and bloomed on the denim between her thighs.
Gabe exploded into the parking lot of the Royal London, parking as close to the A&E entrance as he dared. He grabbed Emma from the back seat and supported Quinn as he maneuvered her toward the door. Two young doctors were standing outside, sneaking a cigarette when they saw the trio approaching, and instantly sprang into action.
“Oh, my God. We need a gurney out here,” one of the doctors roared into the open door as the other one reached for Quinn, steadying her.
Emma was thrashing and pushing Gabe away, demanding to be let down. She was screaming and crying, her eyes wild with fear.
“Darling, it will be all right. We’re here now.” Gabe tried to calm her, but Emma fought harder, screaming louder.
“It won’t! It won’t be all right! Stop lying to me!”
“I’ll call for a social worker,” one of the young doctors offered as they helped Quinn onto a gurney and began to wheel her through the A&E doors. “She might be able to help.”
Gabe nodded and followed the doctors into the waiting area.
“Please, remain here, sir,” a nurse instructed him as he made to follow Quinn. “Someone will come speak to you as soon as they are able,” the nurse hollered over Emma’s screams.
A young Black woman with dark almond-shaped eyes and long braids came rushing down the corridor. She flashed her identification card at Gabe before turning to Emma. “Hello, Emma.I’m Nina Daniels. Was that your mum that just came in?” she asked. Her voice was like warm honey and Emma stopped screaming for just a moment.
“Yes,” she finally replied, her voice small and shaky.
“Well, you have nothing to be frightened of. This is the best hospital in London.”
“Is it?” Emma asked through loud sniffling.
“Of course it is. That’s why your dad brought her here. Now, what do you say you and I play a game while Daddy visits with Mum? She knows this is the very best hospital, but she’s probably a little nervous anyway and would like to see a friendly face.”
“Are the doctors not friendly?”
