"Yo'el Winters, age fifteen, six months along. Boyfriend says it started about ten minutes ago."

I groaned. He's not my boyfriend. I bit my tongue, trying not to scream. No, this can't be happening! I screamed in my head. Not this early! Not with Tom here!

"Yo'el, can you hear me?" The doctor asked.

"Doc, what's going to happen to my baby? I still have another three months! Why does it hurt?" I screamed again. "This doesn't feel right! They're not suppose to be this close together!"

"It will be okay, Yo'el. I want you to exhale now."

I did. "Where's Luke?" I whispered.

"Your friend?"

I nodded as they moved me past the ER. Toward Labor and Delivery. Not now, Edric. Alice said you were going to be okay. "I need him to call my father. To tell him to call the adoptive parents. Tell them their son is coming sooner than planned." I screamed again. "PLEASE!"

---- ------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------

"Lizzie?"

I had been crying for about an hour when Tom came in. "What do you want, jerk?" I'm too worried about my son to talk.

"There's a dark spot on Archer's brain scan. They don't know if he'll make it." He took a few careful steps toward me. "If he does, he won't be normal."

His name is Edric, I thought. Sobs overtook me again. I can't take this pain.

"Please, babe." He sat on the hospital bed beside me. "You need to relax." He leaned in closer.

------------------------------------------Warning: This Flashback is Brutal-----------------------------------------------------

His breath smelled of alcohol, and one of his friends snickered. "Dude, you didn't tell us your baby sister was so hot."

He pinned me against his bedroom wall with his legs. His left hand was on the wall beside me. "She's not my sister," he hissed. "She's the witch who ruined my life." He wrapped his other hand in my hair, forcing me to look him in the eyes. "Isn't that right, Ellie?"

I was shaking with fear. Please, no. The bruise from last time just healed. I began to cry. No, no, no. Please, someone please save me. I tried to nod, but his grip was too tight.

"I can't even get you to talk when your father isn't here." He pressed himself tighter against my body. "Do you guys mind going home now? It's time this little slut learned some respect, and I think I'll be her teacher."

With disappointed sounds, his 'friends' left the house. He punched me and my nose started to bleed. "Perhaps," he hissed in my ear. "Your room would be a better classroom." He chuckled at his own joke.

I started to shake harder. I could feel his—no don't think about it! He won't do that! He can't! My body vibrated with the loud, echoing sobs. Please, no. "No."

"It's too late now, Yo'el."

----------------------------------------------------End Brutal Flashback----------------------------------------------------------

Tom sensed the fear in my body. He pulled away. With the same, eerily calm voice he had used that night he asked, "What's wrong?"

I took a deep breath. I hope Luke's okay. "I'm in love." With Luke. I love Luke.

A smile spread across his face. "Is that a 'yes'? Will you be my wife?" He reached into his back pocket, and pulled out a ring box. "It's nothing to be ashamed of."

I want Luke to be the one asking me this, don't I? I nodded to my thoughts, not to his words. Oh, please be okay, Luke. I need you. "But…" I thought out loud. "I don't know you well enough. And we're still so young." The idea of getting married was just too much.

"We're old enough to be parents, aren't we? I'm nineteen. You'll be sixteen next week."

I suddenly realized who I was talking to. Luke doesn't know my birthday. "I can't think about you right now," I told Tom in all honesty. "I feel kind of dizzy."

He jumped off the bed and dropped the ring. "Do I need to get a nurse? Your dad just got here. He's talking to Archer's doctor."

I shook my head. "Don't bring Daddy into this. I just need some space." The shaking brought a nauseous acid into my throat. I coughed it down.

Tom reached over to the side of my hospital bed and pressed the 'nurse-call' button. "I'm worried," he whispered as he kissed my cheek.

The nurse came in. "What is it, Miss Winters?"

Tom grasped my hand, softly squeezing. "She doesn't feel well."

"That's expected, Miss Winters. Do you need something?"

I put my spinning head in my hands. "Ugh." Tom, just go away. "I just need time to think."

The nurse nodded (I think, I couldn't see straight.) "Perhaps, Mr. Anderson, you should go home. Get some rest. If something happens, we'll call you."

----------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Resting was out of the question for me. Tom had put the ring on my finger before he left and it scared me. No. I said 'NO!' I threw it under the bed.

Someone was closing the hospital window. When did that open? "Elle?" that someone whispered.

"Luke, you weren't caught," I whispered in amazement, "and you're here."

"You've been crying," he said in a strange matter-of-fact tone. "What happened?"

I blinked. "Huh?" He sounds like a lawyer.

"What did Tom do to you?"

I had never noticed that his eyes were black. It scared me. My instincts told me that he'd be pissed if I told him. "My baby's dying," I said instead. "Alice lied."

With his usual speed, he had his arms around me. He lightly put his hand on the back of my head. "Oh, Elle. This is my fault. I shouldn't have left you."

Naturally, I snuggled into him, ignoring his cold skin. "Don't blame yourself."

For a slip-second he looked at the floor and picked something up. He chuckled. "This diamond is at least a carat."

I groaned. "Oh, yeah. Tom can't get past the marriage thing."

He chuckled and placed it on the side table. "You said 'no'."

"Yes," I said. "Did you really think I'd go through with?"

"No," he whispered back. He looked at the ceiling, thoughtfully.

"You know," I said, without thinking. "Sometimes I wish I was a mind-reader like Edward."

"No," he said, flying to the other end of the room. "You're not supposed to know that."

"Luke, what's wrong with you?" I asked, carefully getting off the bed. "I was just wondering what you thought of me getting married." I ignored the the pain in my stomach.

"I hate the idea. You're too young."

"I'm turning sixteen next week," I said, trying not to sound like I wanted him to ask me. "I'm a mother who's about to lose her baby. Maybe I'll marry Tom just to prove that I can."

"No, he'll hurt you. I just know it!" He dug his fingers into his scalp. "You are so childish!"

I hadn't remembered how frightening he could be. Slowly, I stepped back to the bed. I started to cry again.

He mumbled something I couldn't hear. "I really don't mean to scare you so much," he said. "I just can't bear to see you hurt. Please, I love you."

I blinked in sudden surprise. "You. Love. Me?" YES!

He nodded.

"I think I better lie down," I sat down on the bed.

Luke quickly and gently tucked me in. "I'm not leaving your side again."