Genesis was scaring me to death, speeding down the highway on the way to the hospital. He lost himself in his panic.
I wrestled with my pocket for my cell phone. I jabbed Rufus's number into the keypad and held it to my ear.
"Hey!" Genesis shouted, so suddenly that I jumped in my seat. He was angry now. "Give me that," he growled. He reached over to try to pry the phone from my ear. I wriggled as far away from him as I could, pressing myself against the window.
"Watch the road, Genesis," I cried, my heart racing with every swerve.
"Give me the damn phone, Dacey!" he yelled.
"Hello?" said Rufus on the other line. "Dacey?"
"Rufus," I said, breaking into sobs, "help."
His voice was alert. "What's the matter?"
I was sobbing so hard I could barely speak. Between the painful contractions, my frustration, and my worry at Selah being born early, I couldn't stop crying.
Before I could explain, Genesis tore the phone from my hand and snapped it shut.
"Genesis," I sobbed, reaching for it. He rolled down the window and held it out over the highway.
"Don't you dare!" I shouted.
He glared at me. "Then it's staying with me." He shoved the phone deep into his pocket, ignoring it when it rang a second and third time.
I was furious and terrified. I sobbed as hard as my body would allow.
Genesis took my hand in his, kissing my fingers over and over. "Shh," he urged me, looking to me and then back at the road. "It's okay. We're gonna have a baby today. And then nothing will come between us." I was almost certain he was saying this to comfort himself, rather than me.
I groaned in pain, digging my nails into my thighs. "Just shut up," I growled.
Genesis reached over and rubbed my distended stomach. "Selah's a little troublemaker, isn't she?" he chuckled, though still visibly anxious. He cast me a sideways glance, suddenly cold. "But I'd like for her to be like that," he said, "rather than all prim and proper."
I knew what-whom-he was alluding to. "Don't talk about Rufus," I snapped.
"You're the one who married him," he muttered.
"He's none of your business!"
"You're his wife! And you're my business!"
He slammed on the breaks suddenly. I was thrust forward, but caught by my seatbelt. A few seconds with his eyes off the road and he nearly slammed into the guardrail on the side of the highway. I was shaking.
"Get me out of the car," I cried. "I can't take this anymore."
He squeezed my hand again. "We're almost there. Hush."
I pulled my hand away violently. "Don't touch me!"
"Rufus has really made you high-strung, huh?" he said, his words bleeding spite. "All those years of standing straight, shoulders back, chin up… Never got to speak your mind, right? And now you're taking it all out on me, the man who saved you."
I stared at him. Everything in me stopped. "You're crazy," I breathed. "You're goddamn crazy."
He got off at the exit for the hospital. "Good," he growled. "Because you used to be too." I watched the white and gray building pull into view. "Remember our past, Dacey?" he went on. "Thought you could paint yourself a new face and walk a new path in those skinny silver heels?"
He turned into the parking lot. I grunted at the sharp swerve.
"I'll bring you back," he resolved coldly. "I'll bring you back if it's the last goddamn thing I do."