Chapter 8 – Read All About It

It had been 4 days since I was released from hospital. I was perched sitting up in Kai's bed reading a book whilst Kai was sleeping on the couch. No matter how hard I had tried to convince him we were adults and he could share a bed with me, he kept refusing and insisted he'd sleep on the couch. He was currently in the process of organising renovations in the spare room to convert it to a guest bedroom so I could have my own room.

I let out a yawn and closed my book, marking the page and placed it on the bed side table. I glanced at the time, 10:45pm, and flicked off the light and snuggled into the spare pillow and shifted myself to get comfortable. It wasn't long before my eyes started to droop and I fell into the dream world.

Matt stood over me laughing mercilessly at me whilst I was covered in blood. He kept repeating over and over taunts. I cried, screaming for mercy.

"Matt, please stop. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please, I love you. Don't hurt me."

"You're pathetic, Hilary." He laughed again and lifted up a knife, plunging it into me. I screamed.

I awoke and sat up in the bed, clutching my stomach. The pain was intense and I had tears rolling down my eyes. I tried to yell out to Kai but as I did, a wave of pain hit me and I crumbled over whining. I placed my hand on the blankets and realised with a shock they were damp. Something was wrong.

Mustering up the strength, I screamed out.

"Kai! Help!"

It didn't take long; maybe 10-15 seconds before the door clung open and Kai barrelled in and flicked on the lights. I blinked a few times to adjust the new light before flinging back the blankets and staring in horror at the bed. I was sitting in a pool of fluid, blood and water. Kai took one look before reaching for the phone and dialling emergency services.

"I need an ambulance, NOW. My friend is pregnant and looks like she's gone into labour." I heard him pause. "No, she's not. She's 5 months."

He came over and put one hand on my arm and the other on my back and began rubbing soothing circles. "It's going to be okay, Hils. The paramedics are on their way."

My mind was in a blur. I was stupid, yes but not entirely naïve. Something wasn't right and I let out a yelp as another wave of pain hit me. I gripped the sheets and my knuckles went white from the intensity. I let out a ragged breath.

"Kai, what's happening? I'm scared."

Kai didn't answer. He merely stood there and brushed my hair from my sweaty face. He heard a knock at the door and took one look at me, straight in the eyes. "It's going to be okay." He sprinted from the room and I heard him open the door and began talking to the paramedics. I couldn't make out the words but it wasn't long before the room was occupied by two tall males in blue uniforms.

"Okay Hilary, we're going to get you onto the stretcher. Take a deep breath." I whined as I was lifted onto the cold stretcher and I glanced desperately at Kai. He reached over and grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze before I was wheeled away to the ambulance with Kai in toe.

The pain was getting worse. I couldn't stop screaming. I had doctors and nurses surrounding me. Kai wasn't allowed in the room and I knew he'd be pacing the waiting room in a panic. I needed him here. I wanted him here.

The doctor grabbed my shoulder and forced me to look him in the eyes.

"Hilary, you're in labour. I need you to start pushing when I tell you."

Labour? No! I wasn't in labour. I still had 4 months to go. I wasn't prepared. This wasn't supposed to happen. I didn't really get an option as the doctor ordered me to push and I let out a scream as I felt a pain I had never experience before take over my body. I had barely caught my breath when the doctor repeated his orders. I pushed and felt a release and suddenly my body felt drained. I fell back against the pillow and stared at the roof, black spots coming in and out of my vision. I heard a machine start screeching and I felt like I was floating whilst I heard yelling from the others in the room and that slowly began fading out until… nothing.

I heard beeping and my first thought was my alarm was going off for work. I groaned and went to reach my arm out to turn it off when I discovered two things; I couldn't lift my arm very well and I felt a hand gently push my arm back down.

I fluttered my eyes open and looked around and face Tyson, Max and Ray sitting next to me. I smiled at them. "Hey guys. What's going on? What are you doing here? I need to go to work."

Tyson gave me a confused look. "You don't have work, Hils…". Suddenly Maxie burst into tears and ran out of the room. I looked at Ray in panic and confusion. "Is he okay? What happened?"

Ray leant forward and took my hand in his. "What's the last thing you remember, Hil?" I thought hard but nothing came to mind. I felt groggy, like I'd had a big night at the pub. I tried to sit up but my body slummed back. I realised I was really weak. I thought hard again. I suddenly remembered the pain, the intensity, the fear. I shook my head and looked around the room before finally realising I was in a hospital bed. I forced myself to sit up, against the protests of Tyson and Ray. I lifted my hand and observed the IV drip connected to my hand and moved the blankets and stared at my nearly flat stomach. The boys went quiet whilst I just stared. Memories of the flashing red and blue lights came back and I looked at Ray in question.

"Ray, what happened? Fuck sake, someone tell me what's going on!" My screaming must have alerted a nurse because the door opened and a middle aged woman popped her head in and strolled into the room. "Hilary, it's good to see you're awake. How do you feel?"

I ignored her question. "Tell me where my baby is." I saw the nurse look at Tyson and Ray and the boys nodded slightly before standing up.

"We'll be back, Hils. We love you."

The nurse pressed a button on her pager and I let out a frustrated groan before the door reopened and a doctor I briefly recognised walked in. He stood next to me and placed his clip board down. "How are you feeling, Hilary?"

I let out a frustrated growl. "I swear if someone doesn't tell me soon what is happening I will go psycho crazy."

The nurse grabbed my shoulder and gave me a sympathetic squeeze. I gave her a confused glance and looked at the doctor. The doctor looked at his clip board before looking at me in such a way I felt my heard drop straight away. Oh no…

"You suffered from Post-traumatic stress disorder. The severity of it caused you to go into premature labour. Unfortunately due to your recent injuries, we nearly lost you."

My body felt numb and I felt the words slip from my lips, barely more than a whisper.

"My daughter…"

The doctor pursed his lips before placing his hand over mine. "I'm very sorry, Hilary. We couldn't save her."

Couldn't save her… couldn't save her… couldn't save her…

It hit me like a train and I fell forward and wept. My whole world came crashing down and I couldn't stop the pain inside my chest as I just cried controllably. I didn't hear the door open or notice the doctor and nurse leave. I didn't notice the 4 boys surround me until I was pulled into a massive hug. Through the tears I noticed Tyson, Ray, Max and Kenny standing by my sides. All of them had tears rolling down their faces too which caused me to cry even harder. Nothing was said as we just stood there; our team; usually so strong and powerful, broken and defeated.