17:20 27th February 2013 Lough, Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland
"Chas?" Cain asked, suddenly completely out of his depth. He just stood and stared at her, not able to properly process the information presented to him.
Chas squinted at him through exhausted eyes - seeing him looking so lost, she could almost believe he was the teenage Cain she used to know, the one that wasn't yet completely consumed by anger. Her head was swimming and it was a struggle to stay conscious and upright. This wasn't how she'd planned to give birth; in her bedroom, a month early, with concussion and a vengeful brother watching. Another contraction hit her and she bit her lip again, scrunching up her face with pain. Her legs couldn't hold her anymore and she fell to her knees on the wooden floor.
Cain became unstuck from his spot and moved forward to help her, but she instinctively covered her head and cowered away from him when she saw him move towards her. He realised just how scared she really was. "I'm not gonna hurt you, you daft cow. You need help" he told her.
"Not from you I don't. Just go away Cain, leave me alone" she tried to shout at him, some of the old Chas passion coming back. But she slurred her words slightly and her voice was hoarse. She looked down at her hands and they were covered in blood from her head. "Just ring me an ambulance and leave, please. You've got what you wanted now haven't you? Me on my knees begging? Well…"
She couldn't answer because another contraction hit her hard. She leaned against the bed, gripping the duvet as if her life depended on it, trying to breathe through the pain. She was forcing herself not to cry out, not to give Cain the satisfaction. She heard him talking on the phone.
"Yeah, ambulance please. It's my sister, she's in labour, she's also had a bang to the head, it's bleeding pretty badly. What? Erm, Lough, near Dingle. It's the old Fishing Cottage off the N86…she's 35…yeah she's awake, but she's a bit woozy…oh I dunno…Chas how many weeks…"
"nearly thirty five" she managed to grind out, anticipating the question. She had a feeling she knew what the next one would be too.
"nearly 35 weeks…what?...how far are what? I don't know, Chas…"
"less than a minute"
"less than a minute. What does that mean? Eh? What, now? I'm not looking down there mate, I already told you she's my sister…."
"Hang up the phone Cain" Chas tried to shout at him, but ended up whimpering. He did so anyway, and again tried to get near her. As much pain as she was in, she wouldn't let him touch her. "You've done enough" she growled at him, "now leave me alone".
"The bloke on the phone said the baby's coming right now. You need some help and I don't see anyone else here, do you?" Cain shot back.
"It's too early…" Chas said weakly as more pain flooded through her. She was starting to lose her focus, her head was floating and she couldn't see properly out of her left eye. "It's not even eight months…I can't…" she lost consciousness and Cain knew that this wasn't good. He caught her before she fell to the floor and dragged her as gently as possible onto the bed. He ran into the bathroom and filled a tub with cold water and grabbed as many towels as he could carry from a rail. When he got back in the room, he poured the cold water over Chas's face, shaking her and shouting her name. The water made the blood from her head wound run in ruddy rivulets down her face and she woke choking on the water, tangy from her own blood.
She was disoriented, the agony of childbirth warring with the need to sleep. A contraction hit and childbirth won the fight as she cried out with pain, becoming more lucid, as if her body knew what was needed from her mind.
Cain wasn't sure how he'd found himself in this mess; he'd come in revenge and been blindsided by this revelation. But he'd be damned if he was going to be held responsible for the death of a mother and child, especially when it was his sister whose life was in danger.
"Tell me what you need me to do Chas, I'm not going anywhere. Forget about everything else right now, I'm here for you, it's going to be alright" he said loudly as he pushed back her dark matted locks from her pale, wet, bloody face. She was too exhausted to argue, needing all her energy for what was to come, she spoke through quick pants.
"Large blue bag in my car boot. Keys are by the door" Cain seemed uncertain about leaving the room, "don't worry, I'm in no fit state to be doing another runner" she told him.
He left the room and she took a few seconds to gather herself and think about what she was about to do. She pulled herself onto all fours and then onto her knees, with the help of the wrought iron headboard to steady her. She unfolded the towels Cain had brought and laid some on the bed, then rolled her dress up to her thighs. She felt for a head and could feel a mop of hair where her baby's head was crowning. It was such a bizarre feeling, and she was sure if she wasn't in such a terrible situation, she'd marvel at human nature, but she had other priorities. She'd been fighting the urge to push for so long, but she knew now was the moment. Her next contraction hit her and she pushed as hard as she could, one hand holding onto the headboard, and one feeling what was happening. She felt a new, different but equal pain as the baby came rushing out in a burst of flesh and fluid. The tiny girl dropped safely onto the towels guided by Chas's hand, and Chas quickly scooped her up and held her close, not quite believing what she'd just done. She sat back on her heels and unwrapped the cord from where it had been caught around her daughter's ankle. The baby sneezed and coughed at the same time, expelling fluid from her passages and allowing her to take her first breath of air. Which was quickly followed by her first cry.
Cain had been looking frantically for Chas's keys, which weren't by the front door as she'd said, and weren't in the living room or the kitchen either. He was becoming increasingly frustrated, and worried that he'd left Chas alone when the emergency services man had told her she would be giving birth in the next few minutes.
The front door was still open from when he'd jimmied it before. He closed it to and saw the keys sticking out of a lever lock. He grabbed them and ran out to her car, an old banger that'd seen better days, unlocked the boot and retrieved the bag. When he got back in the house he heard a noise that stopped him in his tracks: the crying of a new-born baby. Realising he'd missed it, he ran back upstairs to find his sister, exhausted and covered in the blood that was still running from her head wound, but smiling with pride as she stared at the little towel-clad bundle she was holding. She'd done it on her own, like everything she ever did, he supposed. Cain was reminded of a time, many many moons ago, when a thirteen year old girl sat, shell shocked, with a baby in her arms, beseeching help from her big brother.
Cain's movement stirred Chas and her smile faded, fear flickering again across her features. He brought the bag slowly over to her and peered into the towel to see the tiniest baby he'd ever seen. She'd stopped crying now, her eyes were shut and one of her hands was opening and closing, as if she was waving at him. He couldn't help but smile.
Chas went into the bag with one hand as she held the baby close to her in her other arm. She pulled out a baby blanket and lay it down in front of her, then gave the baby a good wipe with the towel and placed her down onto the blanket. She wrapped the baby tightly and cuddled her close again. She was quickly losing the last of her energy, and prayed the ambulance turned up before she passed out again, not wanting to leave her baby with Cain.
"I take it this is the spawn of Cameron" Cain asked. He'd walked over to the window and was watching for the ambulance. She ignored him. "Is he shacking up with you now? Was this your plan all along? Is he going to turn up in a couple of minutes for you both to play happy families together, whilst Debbie sits at home alone?"
Chas shook her head tiredly, "I've not seen him or spoken to him since I left the village. It was over between us weeks before I left, he chose Debbie. He said he loved Debbie more. So I'm done with men that treat me like dirt, and that includes you. I've got all the family I need here now. Me and her, we'll be fine on our own. Do you really think I'd have run off for any other reason? I'm no coward, I face up to my mistakes, but from the moment I found out I was pregnant, she came first. And I'll die before I let you take her away from me, so do your worst Cain, but I'm going nowhere and neither is she."
"That's all very gallant" Cain told her, "but you're kidding yourself. If you don't care about the rest of your family back home, you wouldn't be sending gifts at Christmas and birthdays. You wouldn't be getting news from your little spies. Who is it, by the way? I thought for ages that it was Gennie keeping in contact with you, but now I'm not so sure."
He looked into the room at her when she didn't answer and saw that Chas's head was dropping and lifting as she battled to stay conscious. He rushed over and took the baby from her before she dropped her. Mother and daughter were still attached by the cord, so he sat next to Chas and patted her face with his free hand, shouting her name to keep her awake. She had been leaning against the headboard, but now sat forward and threw up over the side of the bed.
She couldn't control anything anymore. Her whole body was rebelling against her, her head banging, her vision swirling, her ears buzzing and her throat now burning. Her contractions were starting again, her body trying to expel the placenta, but it was too much pain and she couldn't take it anymore. She heard a voice in the distance, calling her name and she tried to reply.
"Please, please, please, keep her safe. Don't let them get her. Promise me, you'll not let him take her away"
"Shhh, shhh" was all Cain could say. He kept an eye on the baby, now sleeping in the crook of his arm, and an ear out for the ambulance.
"No, please" she slurred desperately, "if something happens, if anything happens to me…you can't let her go to them. They'll… punish her for what I did…"
"Chas shh, I promise, nothing's going to happen to either of you, you're safe" he said loudly so she could hear. Her eyes fluttered, her face twitching.
"Tell Aaron I love him" she croaked, "I'm so sorry, Cain". She couldn't fight the darkness anymore and she fell into oblivion. Cain's heart was in his mouth, he felt sick with fear, not knowing what to do. He heard the ambulance approach and a shout from downstairs.
"Up here!" he shouted as loudly as possible, waking the baby up and making her cry. He held her tightly, jigging her up and down a bit to try to soothe her as he heard people clattering up the stairs. As soon as the paramedics came in the room, they flew to Chas's side and the baby was ripped out of Cain's arms as they began treatment of both. One paramedic checked over the baby, whilst two others assessed Chas.
"What's her name?" a female paramedic asked Cain in a thick Irish brogue.
"Sandy. Sandy Thomas" Cain answered.
Can you tell me what happened?"
"She was unconscious. I had to kick the bathroom door in, but she was in the way" he said, not telling them the whole truth. They seemed to accept it.
"Baby's very small, bit jaundiced, but all good" said another paramedic, "I'll get the cord tied off and then we'll need to get them both in ASAP".
"Is she going to be okay?" Cain asked.
"They'll both be a lot better once we're on our way," was the reply, "we can't be sure if this is from the head injury or a pregnancy complication, so we're going to get her up to hospital straight away".
They were very quick in loading Chas onto a stretcher and into the ambulance. They let Cain ride with her, holding the baby, who they'd wrapped in a special blanket to keep her warm.
As they rode, Chas's words kept running round and around his head. "Please, please please, keep her safe. Don't let them get her. Promise me, you'll not let him take her away". She had been talking about him, her own brother. She'd been terrified that he would take the baby away, or punish her for the actions of her parents. And the worst thing about it was she'd been right to think that, the way he'd been behaving the last few months – the phone messages and emails, the threats and interrogation of other members of the family who he thought might be protecting her whereabouts. He'd become obsessed with finding her and punishing her no matter the cost. Now he wondered if the cost was going to be her life.