I do not own the main characters (Lu, Marc, Lana, Peter, Andy, Nick and Robert) in this story, they belong to Lifetime. I also sometimes mix the original storyline with my own.
Chapter 5: A Step Back
It was a cold winter evening in January. The lights of cars reflected on the wet streets. A few people with umbrella's hurried down the sidewalks. The boring scene was suddenly disturbed by the sound of someone slamming the breaks. A cat ran over the street, right in front of a car. The cat got away. The car drove on. Everything and everyone continued. At least, so it seemed. Another sound emerged around the corner. The sound of an ambulance rushing towards Rittenhouse Hospital's ER.
"Okay, incoming! 18-year-old female, unconscious, head trauma, abdominal trauma, approximately 24 weeks pregnant!"
The loud voice of the paramedic was first replied to by Nick. "There's a spot in the back!" He hurried towards the gurney. "Okay guys, that's one of Lu's. Looks like she's been beaten up pretty bad. Nurse Masters, please page dr. Delgado. Come on guys, let's move it!"
The paramedics followed Nick's instructions and moved the gurney to the spot in the back, while Nick set up an IV.
"Vanessa Stanford!" Lu said loudly as she ran into the ER moments later. She reminded herself of a few months ago when Vanessa came in after falling down the stairs. This time though she found her in worse shape than she expected. "Oh my god, Vanessa.. What happened to her?"
"Subjected to serious abuse if you ask me," Nick said.
"Did anyone come with her?" Lu asked.
Nick shook his head. A paramedic answered the question instead. "Neighbours heard two people heavily arguing and called 911. When we got there, this is what we found."
Lu decided not to try and figure out what happened and who was involved. Instead, she put it off her mind and quickly examined Vanessa. "Okay, I want an CT, an x-ray on her arms and left leg. And get me a monitor here stat, I wanna know how her daughter is doing."
Shortly after that, nurse Masters came up to them with the ultrasound equipment. Lu carefully moved it over Vanessa's bruised stomach. "The baby's heartrate is a little low, but it's good enough for now."
Suddenly the other monitor started beeping. "BP's dropping, she's getting tachy!" Nick stated.
"Okay, get her on oxygen. One amp of epi, see if it'll bring her pressure up. Start a line, give her 150 milligrams lidocaine." Lu quickly responded. The monitor's beep went back to its regular pace, but after a little while it went back to a faster rhythm.
"Get her 10 milligrams adenosine, I.V. push!" Lu attempted. And this attempt seemed to work. Vanessa's heart rate and BP went back to normal. "Okay guys, call the OR, let 'em know we're coming."
'I'll be home at 8, so we can just eat and go to the movies at 9', she told him this morning. Marc sat on the couch, watching TV, wondering where his mom was. By now, it was 8.15, and he was sure they wouldn't make it in time anymore. He picked up the TV guide to see if there was anything interesting on, when suddenly the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hey Marc," Lu replied to her son.
"Oh hey mom. Where are you? We're never gonna make it in time to the"
Lu interrupted her son, aware of the time. "I know, I'm late. A patient of mine came in the ER today, she got beaten up. I was about to go home when they paged me that she just woke up."
"Right. And?" Marc knew she had to check her out, but he wondered if it'd take all night.
Lu grinned. "So, right now I have to talk to her, ask her what happened, and then I can go home, okay? That way we can still catch the 10 o'clock. So basically it doesn't even matter, right? We'll just move the plans an hour ahead," she assured her son.
"Okay." Marc sighed. He hated it when his mom was going to be late. However, he was relieved that she was still coming. She promised to take him to the movies.
"I'll see you later then. Bye honey."
"Bye"
Lu put down the phone. Could've been worse, she thought to herself. She hated it when she was going to be late. However, she was relieved it wouldn't be too late for the movies.
She picked up Vanessa's chart, took the elevator to the second floor and made her way to her room to talk to her. She entered with a soft knock on the door. Vanessa looked up. The left side of her face was black and blue.
"Hey Vanessa," Lu said.
"Hi Lu." Vanessa said in a weak voice, but with a question that desperately needed an answer. "My baby, is she.."
"She's just fine. No permanent damage." Lu assured. "How are you feeling?" She sat down.
Vanessa sighed. "Tired. It hurts all over.."
"I'll have the nurse give you something for the pain," Lu said. "I gotta ask you something though.. how did it happen?" Lu carefully asked. Deja-vu. She asked that when Vanessa came in after falling off the stairs. She wondered if that question should have gotten the same answer as she expected now: Zach, that's how. It wouldn't be her first case of domestic violence.
Vanessa, however, remained silent.
"You have to tell me."
"I can't!" Vanessa said. She could hardly hold back the tears coming up. How could he ask this of her? How could he blame her for being pregnant with their daughter? She thought he was there for her. Now he wants her to have an abortion?
The look on Zach's face went from worried to determined. A wave of anger visibly took over. "You're going to," he said, his voice lowered. "I'm telling you."
"No, I can't do that," Vanessa said softly. She took a deep breath in attempt not to cry. "No!"
She turned her head away. "That's when he struck me," she told Lu. "I got dizzy and hit the floor."
"But not the only time, was it?" Lu said, hoping for the rest of the story. She knew Vanessa's injuries were too severe for just one strike.
"No..." Vanessa said. She crawled away from him as she felt the strength pouring out of her. She knew that every step brought Zach closer to her. She wasn't fast enough.
"Stand up!" Zach yelled at her.
Vanessa pushed herself up from the ground, but lost her balance and nearly fell to the floor again. Zach however, grabbed her arms and pulled her up and against him. All Vanessa could think is how to get away from him. She wrestled in his arms, tried to pull herself out of his grip as she felt it tighten up. He kept going until his strength started hurting her, and beyond.
"Are you gonna calm down?" Zach's voice echoed loudly in her ears. "Huh? Are you!" he yelled.
Vanessa didn't know anymore. The only option left for her was to give in. She held still. Zach was so close to her that she could feel his breath in her neck. He lowered his voice to a whisper.
"You are not going to keep this baby."
The sharp pain that his fist suddenly caused in her stomach brought up a wave of nausea. She felt everything spinning inside herself and closed her eyes before falling to the ground.
PS Just in case, I wanted to add something about the medical terms & all that in here.. it isn't real, I sorta made up the numbers and picked the drugs that seemed right. I try to pay attention as much as I can, and pick up parts of what I hear, and combine what I know. So if you know the real works and you notice it doesn't make sense.. oh well. If it does, I probably payed a lot of attention..
