Pawnshops and Carousels

AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: Hello my wonderful readers! So we have a shorter chapter this week but we have a lot of action in this one too. I hope you guys are continuing to enjoy this story, don't forget to drop a fav, a follow or a review and I'll see you guys next week!

Chapter 36


Karen: I have never been so upset before. I'm so upset I've lost my perky demeanour. I can't believe that Ashley embarrassed me like that. She came right up to me, in the middle of a deal and freaked out on me over what I was offering… in front of the customer. But was I going to let her get away with this? Hell no, because then she'd never stop doing it. So, I'm going to put her in her place.


We're only off the floor for two seconds, the door has been shut behind us for less than half a second and Karen basically jumps down my throat.

"Okay, I love you to death and I've got nothing but respect for you in this business," she starts and I already like where this is going. It sounds like everything I'd want to hear. "But could you just like… maybe… not step into my negotiations like that, it's kind of embarrassing."

And now I'm confused, because I just did her a favour. She should be thanking me.

"What did I do?"

"You just kinda belittled me in front of those people like I had no idea what the hell I was talking about."

That's because she didn't and that is exactly what I tell her.

Nope she didn't like that. "All I'm saying to you is that when I'm out there negotiating stuff with customers if you could please not step in and step on my toes it would be greatly appreciated."

I must have made a face because Karen then says: "We're going to end the conversation there before it goes to the next level."

What the fuck does that mean? "Next level? What kind of next level?"

"No, we're not going there," she says trying to walk away but I won't let her. We don't actually get to argue though, we're interrupted.

The door opens again and now Sabrina is standing there. Sabrina, who shouldn't be out of her bed let alone out of the apartment, is now staring at us with eyes wide full of surprise because she wasn't expecting us.

"Oh, hello, is Seth in his office?"

"I think so," Karen says sweetly as I say: "I don't keep track of my brother."

Sabrina pushes past the both of us, not in an aggressive way but in a I'm-clearly-pregnant-and-can't-help-it sort of way and as she does, she says: "What's going on with you guys, you guys okay?"

"We're fine Sabrina," I say knowing that if she gets pulled into one of our arguments, I'll never hear the end of it.

But Karen says: "No, Ashley and I are discussing whether or not she should be stepping in while I'm negotiating."

At that Sabrina turns around and I frown, because, of course, now she's going to get involved. "Why? Did Ashley do that to you?"

"Sabrina aren't you here to see Seth?" I ask her just as Karen says: "Yes."

"Well yeah, but he's just going to be mad I left home," she says and then puts her hands on her hips. "Why would you step into one of her deals, Ashley? You and Seth used to literally get into screaming matches when he'd do that to you."

I decide to ignore Sabrina, even though Karen is now open mouth smiling like she's caught my hand in the cookie jar. "You didn't know the item and I had to step in."

"I'm simply asking you to respect me enough to at least ask if I need help," she said. "But now I want to discuss why you felt the need to do it to me if you clearly didn't like when it happened to you."

"She has a point."

"Oh, shut up, Sabrina," I snap. "Could you maybe get your nose our of everyone else's business for once in your life."

"As opposed to you who just steps into other people's deals."

"I'm just saying, Ashley, if you don't like it, you shouldn't do it to others," Karen says trying to deflect my anger onto her. But it doesn't work, because I am also very sick of Sabrina getting away with everything and everyone protecting her.

"If you're making mistakes, I'm going to step in," I cry and then turn onto Sabrina. "And you…"

"Oh what? I'm not the one caused this argument, you did. I don't know why you're being so difficult."

"Difficult? Me difficult? You are the definition of difficult. All you have to do is sit in bed and you refuse to do it. How do you think Seth feels? You think he wants to be at work all the time because you're unable to not be pregnant, or worried all the time because you can't follow the simplest of orders."

"Okay so for starters, I didn't get pregnant by myself, he helped,"

"Ew, Sabrina, Ew I don't want…"

"And secondly, I'm feeling much better today, and I just wanted to see if he wanted to go shopping with me or for lunch, and I don't know why you're yelling at me, you're the one who has problems sharing."

"I do not!" I cry. "What I don't like is having to deal with an idiot who should have never worked here o r in this industry, and my stupid brother's stupid wife who can't do anything right. I mean, where is your first kid huh?"

But that is the wrong thing to say to her, because her face goes red and I suddenly remember that Seth had mentioned that the baby hormones this time around were making her angrier than she usually is.

"That is one of the worst things you've ever said to me," she says and it's really not, I've said worse to her face and behind her back. "You are a terrible person you know that? You're terrible at customer service and at being a sister!"

Oh, those are some heavy words coming off of her today, I'm actually impressed. I think this is the meanest Sabrina has been like… ever.

"Then, leave, Sabrina, no one wants you here, so leave!"

"Why don't you leave!" she shouts back. "AJL runs smoother when you're not here, so GET OUT!"

And it's that right there that does it. Sabrina raised her voice, like a good volume, and with it she stomped her foot. Then she faltered. A sort of whimper of pain broke out and she began to fold into herself, her hands on her stomach.

Both Karen and I stop everything. I'm no longer angry, neither of us want to fight any more, we're both staring at Sabrina in horror as she whimpers out a few: "Oh… ow… ow…"

And then she gets a really strong pain and she lurches out for me. I grab her back bringing her to my side and staring down at her belly as if I could see through her coat and her skin to the source of the problem. I'm not Superman so I can't.

"Oh my god, it hurts… something's… something's… Seth," she screams. There is a pause where she clearly is going through another wave of pain and she begins to panic. "Seth!... SETH!"

My arm goes around her in a heart beat because her knees are buckling. This is not good. I can tell that she's in pain but her water hasn't broken. All I can think is that if something's happened to her Seth isn't going to let me go anywhere near her or their kids ever again.

Karen rushes off to get her a chair so we're not moving her, and already I can hear the mad scramble of Seth clamouring to answer his wife's cries for him.

The second he rounds the corner and spots her I see panic blossom onto her face. "What, what is it, what happened?" he asks, but Sabrina grabs at her stomach and bites back a cry of pain. He rounds onto me immediately. "Ashley what happened?!"

I don't know what to say. That we were all screaming at one another so badly that she went into labour a month and a half early? That there has to be some sort of complication to make it hurt like that? He might slap me where I stand.

"It hurts, something's wrong Seth, it hurts."

Karen is back with a chair, Seth carefully helps her into it had has her explain what exactly is wrong or what she's feeling and then he turns to me, worry etched permanently into his face now to say: "Ash call an ambulance!"

Karen and I go together, I call 911, she gets my dad who calls my mom before going over to help calm down Sabrina and Seth.

This is the second time Sabrina is being taken from AJL in an ambulance except this time it's all my fault.


Les: Something is really wrong, and I can tell. Firstly, if the baby is really coming now, he's almost two months early. Not only is Sabrina in pain, Seth is freaking out, and to be honest we're freaking out too. So as soon as they disappear in the ambulance, I send my girls off to the hospital while I pull in managers who can close the building up without me or one of my kids being there, then I head over to the hospital too, hoping that nothing has gone too wrong in my absence.


By the time the family gets there I'm a complete and utter wreck. I've had no update on either Sabrina or our son and I'm absolutely losing it.

When my family finds me in the waiting room, I can see on their faces that all of them can tell that something is wrong. They all rush to me, my dad at the head of the crowd.

"What's happening…"

"I don't know… they said that… there's some sort of complication that something was attached wrong and that something needed to be cut out. They said something about blood loss and… they kicked me out… told me to wait here and they haven't come back out…"

Ashley and my mom are immediately moving to the nursing station for more information, but my dad has me sit back down in the chair. A n ruse keeps putting me in it but I keep getting out to pace. I can't keep still.

He keeps a hand around my shoulders trying to keep me calm but I'm anything but.

"It'll be okay," he tells me. "Don't worry…"

But I can't help but worry. This is my wife, the love of my life and I'm about to lose her. Her and our son. How would I deal with that? How would I raise our daughter alone? All while mourning Sabrina? And what if the baby survives but she doesn't? Then I'm going to raise two kids by myself? I don't know how to do this any of this and I'm losing my mind with worry.

"I can't lose her dad… I can't… I can't do this by myself,"

"She's gonna be okay Seth, don't worry. Everything's gonna be okay."

We sit there for a bit and luckily no one comes to talk to me. Except the doctor.

"Seth Gold…"

The second he says my name he's surrounded. He's got my mom, my sister, and Karen up in his face. Problem is, none of them are me and he can tell that.

I push them aside, with my father beside me. "I'm Seth, is Sabrina okay?"

He looks to me and then the field of angry women behind me and he says: "I think we should go into one of the rooms, what do you think?"

I'm suddenly terrified he's giving me bad news. They only want to talk in private if its bad news. Now I don't want to be alone, I want the angry field of women behind me to come with me, except my mom has Sierra in her arms and if I'm going to break down, I don't want my daughter to see that even if she's not old enough to remember.

But I can't bring all of them, otherwise there's no point in going somewhere private. "Can my dad come?"

"Oh, I'm coming, let's go, let's do this," he said, keeping his arm around me and tugging me to his side and leading me off after the doctor. With my dad beside me I know that whatever I'm told it'll be okay because I will still have my family there to help me. And, oh boy, will I need them if things didn't end well.


Seth: Not only is my son born a month and a half earlier then he was supposed to be, there were complications with his birth. It's finally explained to me what exactly what had happened. She had something called Placenta Previa, which just meant that the placenta attached itself to the lower area of the uterus stopping my son from getting out. All the pushing she had done in the ambulance had ruptured it, which was causing her uterus to hemorrhage. They had to use a C-section to get my son out, and then they had to remove, not only the placenta but her uterus so she wouldn't bleed out and die. She'll never be able to have another kid.

And our Son, who I made sure was named Sebastian, just like she wanted, was in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit until further notice.

That's all the information they can give me. I don't know if my wife or my son are actually going to make it.

And let me tell you that's the worst feeling in the world.