Chapter 13 Premature
After Lizzie's outburst, Sal locked Lizzie in her room for an indefinite amount of time. A few days into Lizzie's punishment, however, Kate paid Lizzie a visit.
"How did you get in here?" Lizzie asked Kate after she let herself in.
"Sal said that I could come and see you. He was hoping that I could convince you that he's not a bad person."
"Why can't he say it to my face?"
"Lizzie, Sal's ashamed. He feels guilty, and he wants you to cool down."
"I've been chilling in here for the past three freaking days. All of my meals have been delivered up to my room, I can't use my own damn bathroom without asking permission from the person freaking guarding my door. If Sal felt so guilty, he would have sent me flowers and a card or something, not a guard and some solitary confinement."
"I'm sorry, Lizzie. Sal wasn't sure what to do. He's never had to deal with demon possession before."
"Demon possession?" Lizzie asked, completely confused.
"Yeah. He told everybody that somehow a demon got into you and so he had to send you into solitary confinement to rid you of it."
"Which commandment do you suppose thou shall not lie falls under?" Lizzie was almost sure that Sal told Mary the slap was to remove the demon too. Great.
"What?"
"Do you seriously believe that I was possessed by a demon?"
"That what Sal said…"
"Well, Sal doesn't' exactly have a perfect record, either. Allow me to inform you of what commandments he had broken so far. We can start with thou shall not commit adultery-"
"Lizzie, I committed adultery with him. I'm just as guilty of that one."
"Yes, but he's our leader, our example. He should be stronger then that. He also slapped me. I do believe that goes under the thou shall not murder commandment."
"He slapped you?" Kate asked, incredulously. "What happened?"
"I wasn't sent to my room because of some demon. Sal invited me into his office because he wanted my Bible. He said it was preventing me from making friends, and God wanted that more than he wanted me reading the Bible. When I said no, he first started yelling until he got so frustrated that he slapped me. That's when Mary saw and I ran."
"Mary saw Sal slap you?"
"Uh huh, but I bet Sal told Mary that he was trying to get the demon out of me."
"Most likely."
"Does this mean that you believe me?"
"Lizzie, I'm torn. You are my friend, and you've never given me a reason not to trust you, but Sal is my husband. I mean, I'm having his baby."
"I don't think that's your issue, Kate. Your problem is that you are seven months pregnant with the other side of the story, and no matter how bad Sal is, you don't really want to leave him because you have nowhere to go."
"Maybe that's it, and maybe it's not, but you're right that the verdict remains that I'm not leaving. Ever." Lizzie and Kate were silent. Lizzie wasn't angry at Kate. She already knew how Kate felt and she could kind of see why Kate didn't want to leave.
"Lizzie, can I tell you something personal? I mean, it's probably nothing, but I think I would feel better sharing it with someone I trust."
"What's up?" Lizzie asked, concerned.
"Something's just doesn't seem right."
"With Sal"
"No. With my baby," Kate said, looking down at her stomach.
"Kate! You need to go to a doctor, now!"
"Lizzie, don't panic. It's probably nothing."
"I don't care if it's probably nothing. Your maternal instinct is telling you that something isn't right. Kate, this is your child we're talking about. Even if it is nothing, you should get it checked out. You or your baby's life could be in danger."
"Lizzie, I don't know what to do!" Kate wailed. "Even if I did want it to get checked out, I couldn't. Sal would never let me leave."
"Kate, we have to get you out of here."
"I already told you. I'm not leaving. This is home. My life is here."
"Kate, we're practically being held hostage here. How could you possibly not want to leave?"
"I get a place to live, a small amount of work, and three meals a day here. Life is easy."
"You would rather be locked up and have an easy life, than have some drama, but be free?"
"Yes."
"Well, regardless, you need to see a doctor."
"Lizzie, I can't."
"I have an idea," Lizzie said. Kate raised her brown in skepticism, but kept her mouth shut. "Tomorrow at dinner, you can be getting up after just having had your supper, and suddenly pass out. I'll rush to your side and tell Sal that you need a doctor. Sal will be so caught up in the moment that he'll undoubtedly call an ambulance."
"You know, that just might work, but one problem."
"What's that?"
"You're still locked in your room."
"Okay. Fine. Do it the first dinner I'm set free for."
"Sounds good. I'll go tell Sal that you're acting sane and that the demon is undoubtedly gone."
"Thanks. Add that I'm truly sorry for disobeying him, too."
"Okay." Kate got up and left Lizzie's room, locking the door behind her.
The next morning, Sal came into Lizzie's room.
"Good morning," he said.
"Good morning," Lizzie replied. She paused, then continued. "I just want to say that I am so sorry for the way that I defied you. You are practically God's right hand man." Sal smiled. "And whatever you say is always what's right. So, I'm very sorry, and I deserve to be locked up in here forever."
"Now Lizzie, God doesn't want me to put my followers in a prison. I was just concerned with your sudden outburst. Whether you felt it or not, a demon got into you. However, you seemed cured now, so I'll let you go."
Lizzie would have known if she was possessed with a demon, and she wasn't, but she wasn't going to say anything. She had to help Kate get to a doctor. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you," Lizzie gushed, throwing her arms around Sal's neck. "If it weren't for God, I'd worship you."
"Yes. Good. Now go downstairs and get your breakfast. The bell is going to ring in about 30 seconds."
"Thank you," Lizzie said again, and quickly pecked Sal on the cheek.
The second Sal was out of sight, Lizzie violently wiped her lips on her sleeve. Her acting set her free, but did she really have to kiss the slime ball? Lizzie hoped that she would never have to do something like that again.
At breakfast, Lizzie saw Kate silently eating her breakfast next to Sal. The silent meals Lamb of God had still freaked Lizzie out, but there was nothing that she could do.
All of a sudden, in the middle of breakfast, Kate said, "Oh my God. I think that I'm going into labor!" Her face was white.
Lizzie was confused. She thought that they were going to pull their stunt at dinner. Oh well. Lizzie stood up and said, "Kate! Are you okay?" Lizzie ran over to where Kate was sitting. Sal had grabbed Kate's hand and was staring at her.
Kate looked straight at Lizzie and in a completely panicked voice said, "No! Oh God, it hurts." Her eyes were huge. Lizzie had no idea that Kate was such a great actress.
"B-but you aren't supposed to have our baby for another two months," Sal said. He looked completely confused. He regained his composure enough to address everybody sitting at their tables. "Please take your breakfast somewhere else. I need everybody to leave, now." Everybody immediately picked up their plates and left. Not one person stayed to make sure that Kate was okay. The only people left in the room were now Kate, Sal, and Lizzie.
"What's going on?" Derek asked from behind Lizzie. Lizzie almost jumped. She had no idea that Derek had stayed.
"I-I d-don't know," Sal replied.
"She needs to go to the hospital," Lizzie said, urgently.
Sal gave Lizzie a withering look. "You know that God doesn't want anybody leaving this place."
"If that baby is born now, it will die without proper medical attention. It's still a month premature," Lizzie replied. Kate was breaking into a sweat now.
"Two months," Sal corrected.
"Right," Lizzie said, but she knew the truth. Kate had been pregnant for a month before her and Sal's wedding, so the baby was actually one month premature. "Two months."
"Sweetie, let me take you to our room," Sal said to Kate.
"I-I can't stand up," Kate said in a voice that sent chills down Lizzie's spine. Clearly, Kate was not acting.
"Call an ambulance, NOW!" Lizzie shouted. She grabbed Kate's hand. It was clammy, but Kate was still sweating.
"Lizzie, help me, please," Kate whispered.
"If you don't get professional help right now, you could loose Kate and her baby," Lizzie said to Sal.
"God will take care of her," Sal replied, confident.
"The same way He took care of the thousands of people who died in that tsunami thing? Sure, God will take care of her. I don't doubt that, but he doesn't have to let her live to do that. He could easily take care of her by bringing her to heaven."
"If it is God's will that he take Kate early, then far be it from me to stop him," Sal replied.
Kate just stared at Sal and coldly dropped his hand. "You would rather let me die than get me to the hospital?" Tears were streaming down her face.
Sal looked stunned. Lizzie finally had him. Just then, though, Kate let out a blood-curdling scream. "Kate, I need you to lay down," Lizzie said, sending up a short prayer to God.
A/N: What are you thinking? I'd love to hear from all of you. Also, nobody told me what type of stuff they want to read. I'm still interested in what kind of plots you want for my next fan fiction.
