16:30 27th February 2013 Lough, Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland
Chas opened the front door and locked it behind her, leaving the keys in the door. She was beyond tired. She'd been sent home early from the pub because she'd nearly passed out carrying a box of crisps. Her back ached and she'd been getting slight cramps all morning, but her boss Fianna, who was the eldest of nine children and knew everything there was to know about pregnancy, reassured her they were just practice pains for the real thing. All the same, she'd told her to go home and get a warm bath because she looked pale. She didn't argue, wanting nothing more than to crawl into her bed and stay there for a week. She was lucky that Fianna was so understanding. Although she'd kept herself to herself as much as possible since moving to the village, she got on well with the older woman, who was like an Irish version of Lisa – kind and maternal – but daft as a brush with it. Chas counted her blessings that she'd given her a job at the pub.
She made her way slowly upstairs, hand on her belly, trying to rub away the discomfort of another cramp. She went to her bedroom and sat down on the bed, slightly out of breath from climbing the stairs. She'd got used to being out of breath most of the time, and the palpitations that often went with it. The headaches and nosebleeds were harder to bear, and at times, when she'd felt at her lowest, she'd wondered whether it was worth it. But then her daughter would kick her, remind her she was still there, and she'd know she'd put up with it all ten times over again as long as she came out healthy.
A flashing light on her mobile caught her attention. She'd left it charging on her bedside table that morning. Aaron was the only one who had her number and she knew he was on a two day course in Le Mans, so she wasn't expecting him to call. She reached over and took it from its dock. She saw she had ten missed calls and one answer message, all from Aaron, and her heart flipped over. Something bad, it must be. Had he been in an accident? She rang his mobile but it went straight to answerphone, so she listened to the message instead. And as she listened, a cold dread rose slowly through her body.
"Mum, it's me. Where are you? You need to get away, Cain knows where you are. He's already in Ireland. Call me as soon as you get this, I'm on my way."
The female voice announced the time of the message – it was left over an hour ago. She couldn't move. Her heart was racing and the room was spinning. What was she going to do? She put her head as far down in front of her as she could, which wasn't very far with her bump in the way, and took a few deep breaths as she figured out a plan. When everything had stopped spinning, she stood up and went to the wardrobe, reaching to the back to pull out her trusty black holdall. But when she'd pulled it free and straightened up again, she had a really painful cramp, which made her double over in agony. It lasted half a minute, and as she rode it out, she thought to herself, 'this baby has the worst possible timing'. When it had eased off, she stood up and started to walk to her drawers to pull out the essentials to pack. But as she walked, she felt a large gush and froze in horror at the realisation that she was in labour.
"So much for practice pains, Fianna" she mumbled as she carried on with her packing. She knew that she'd probably be in labour for a while - she'd had over twenty hours of agony before Aaron had decided to make his entrance – if she could just drive herself to the hospital in the next town over, she may be safe. She changed out of her wet clothing, slipping into a comfy dress, but she'd only just pulled it over her when another pain hit her, even worse than the last. She looked at her watch. It hadn't even been three minutes since the last contraction, how was that possible? How was she going to make her escape now? She looked out of the window at the road below. It was already dark, and she couldn't see much from the small window, just a few lights twinkling in the distance. She went as fast as she could back downstairs and turned off all of the lights in the house and made sure both front and back doors were locked; there was no point in making things easy for her brother.
Another contraction hit and she cried out in pain. This was too fast and too painful, even if she didn't have an angry, borderline psychotic family member coming for her, she'd still fear for her life at this point, and more importantly, that of her daughter. She'd been warned about all the risks involved with pre-eclampsia and knew it was imperative she gave birth in a hospital, where she and the baby could be monitored. She went back upstairs to get her phone when she heard someone outside. She froze, listening carefully for a sign of who it may be. When she heard the wood of her front door splinter, she knew immediately it was Cain and she moved as quickly as she could to the bathroom, flicking her bedroom light off as she went. She slid all three bolt locks into place and sat on the edge of the bath, holding her breath against the pain of another contraction and listening to his footsteps as they got nearer.