Sam could hear her ears ringing and felt as if her whole body was on fire. She slowly looked down and saw that the bullet from the gun had ripped through her arm. Her vision was blurry, but she could still make out the sight of Marshall slowly walking towards her. He leaned down so his face was inches from hers.
"Don't you worry, Samantha," he whispered cruelly. "I will kill you. But I like to play with my food first."
And with that he slapped her hard across the face.
She let out a scream as she tasted blood in her mouth.
Marshall pressed the barrel of the gun to her head. "Get up."
Sam was in no position to argue, so with all the strength she could muster, she got to her feet.
No sooner had she stood up, though, Marshall kicked the back of her knees with so much force that she was sent tumbling back down.
As she hit the floor, though, she felt another sensation ripple through her body…
No, Sam thought desperately. No, no, no. Not now. Please don't let this be happening now.
But Sam knew it was true; her water had broke.
Marshall knelt down and grabbed a handful of her hair, forcing her neck back so she had no choice but to look him right in the eyes. "You have enough yet?"
"Please," Sam gasped, the pain more than she could handle. "Please stop. Please!"
Marshall gave a cold laugh as he slammed her head back against the bedpost she was slumped by.
"Oh Samantha," he smirked. "This is only the beginning."
…..
"We're hoping to get the get our room packed today," Freddie told Caleb as they reached to the top of the stairs and began walking down the corridor to the apartment door. "And since we'll be passing by the house on the way to the airport tomorrow to get the twins, we can drop that stuff off."
"I can help you guys move your bigger stuff when you're ready with my truck," Caleb said. "Like your couch and-"
The two men suddenly fell silent as they stepped in front of the apartment door and saw that it was open.
"I-I could've sworn I closed that door when I left," Freddie said slowly. "I remember locking it behind me."
"Sam wouldn't leave your door open like this…" Caleb stated. "Not after everything that has happened…"
Just then, they heard a loud scream being emitted from inside the apartment.
"Sam!" Freddie exclaimed, making to run to her, but Caleb quickly held his arm out in front of him.
"What are you-" Freddie started but Caleb quickly bent down and rolled up the leg of his sweatpants, revealing the small handgun he always kept with him at all times.
"Stay behind me," Caleb told Freddie firmly, taking the safety off.
Caleb and Freddie ran into the apartment towards Sam and Freddie's bedroom where they heard Sam scream again.
When they entered, Freddie's blood turned to ice as he saw Marshall towering over his wife with a gun pointed at her. He could see she was in pain, and he knew from the pool of blood coming out of her arm that she must've already been shot.
"Drop the gun," Caleb said, his voice steady, his own gun pointed right at Marshall.
Marshall laughed as he looked over at Caleb, but he slowly backed away from Sam, and Freddie took this momentary distraction as a chance to rush over to Sam.
"Sam," Freddie whispered. "Sam, are you-"
"Freddie," Sam winced. "My-My water broke. Ah!"
She squeezed her eyes shut in pain and Freddie felt as though the whole world had stopped.
He had no idea what to do.
"Sam," he said. "I-I-"
He felt his heart racing as he spotted a discarded t-shirt on the floor. He quickly wrapped it around her arm, hoping he was doing it right.
"The baby's coming," Sam moaned, closing her eyes again. "The-The-"
"Sam!" Freddie gasped. "Sam, please, Sam, stay with me! You-You're going to be okay. Just hang on and we'll get you to the hospital-"
"She's not going anywhere," Marshall said behind him. "Except for a wood box in the ground."
"Drop the gun!" Caleb yelled again. "Or I'll shoot!"
"Always hiding behind your little cop friends and your precious husband, huh, Samantha?" Marshall chuckled. "I thought you were a fighter…Too bad they still won't be able to save you."
And with that he moved his finger to the trigger of his gun again, ready to take another shot at Sam.
But Caleb was quicker.
With one clean shot, Caleb put a bullet square through Marshall's head, causing him to drop his gun as he fell to the floor, his cold, dark eyes staring blankly.
Caleb rushed over and grabbed his gun before kneeling down next to the body to check for a pulse.
"Is he-Is he dead?" Sam gasped, trying to speak through the pain as she felt another contraction shoot through her body.
"Yes," Caleb said, quickly emptying the gun before hurrying over to Sam and Freddie.
"She's in labor," Freddie said breathlessly.
"What?" Caleb frowned. "Are you sure?"
"Yes!" Sam moaned. "Yes, the baby's coming! Ah!"
"We have to get her to the hospital!" Freddie yelled.
"We can't move her, she may have a spinal injury from the way she fell," Caleb said. "Call an ambulance. Sam? Do you think you can hold off from having this baby for another few minutes until the paramedics get here?"
"No!" Sam shook her head. "No, he-he's coming! Now!"
"What do we do?" Freddie cried.
"Freddie, Freddie, listen to me," Caleb said. "You need to stay calm. Sam needs you right now. I've been trained to deliver newborns in high-risk situations. I need you to go get me some water, some blankets, scissors, the strongest alcohol you have and some antibiotics for her wound. Can you do that?"
"Yes," Freddie said at once. "I-I'll be back."
He gave Sam a quick smile which he hoped looked somewhat comforting.
"I'm having another contraction," Sam breathed as Caleb positioned himself by her feet. "Ow! Oh my God, it hurts so much!"
"Damn…you're almost there," Caleb said, surprised to see that Sam must've been at least nine centimeters dilated already.
He looked back up at Sam and saw she was closing her eyes.
"Sam!" he said loudly. "Hey! You need to stay with me, Sam. You can't close your eyes; I think you have a serious concussion and I don't want to risk losing you. Just think about this baby. And Kira and Leah. Okay?"
"Okay," Sam said shakily. "Ow! Ow!"
"Here," Freddie said breathlessly as he returned to the room with an armful of blankets and water bottles and a small first aid kit.
"Get her to drink," Caleb said as he grabbed the blankets.
"Freddie, I'm scared," Sam whispered as he poured some water into her mouth.
"I know, I am too," Freddie nodded. "But I called an ambulance. They'll be here soon. Just keep breathing and-"
"Ah!" Sam screamed again, gripping Freddie's hand tightly. "Ah! Oh my God!"
"Is she okay?" Freddie asked Caleb, terrified.
"The paramedics are going to need to take her when they get here, but right now she can do this," Caleb replied. "Sam? Listen to me. The baby's starting to crown. The next contraction I need you to push, okay?"
"No, no I-I need to wait," Sam said, her voice cracking. "Marshall-He-He beat me. What if-what if something happened to the baby?"
A chill ran through Freddie's spine at that though.
"Sam," Caleb said firmly. "If you try and wait, you're just going to be doing both of you more damage. I need you push hard at that next contraction. Trust me, okay?"
Sam nodded, looking up at Freddie, who was doing his best to stay brave for Sam. Really, though, he was doing all he could not to pass out from the shock of all that was happening.
"Freddie, sterilize the scissors with the alcohol," Caleb ordered. "You're going to need to cut the cord when the baby comes."
"I-Okay," Freddie said, frantically screwing the cap off the alcohol and pouring the liquid over the scissors.
"Ah!" Sam yelled. "Ah!"
"He's coming!" Caleb exclaimed. "He's coming! Sam, keep pushing, you can do it! Come on, you have to keep pushing!"
Sam gripped Freddie's hand tightly as she pushed with everything she had, trying hard not to focus on the horrific pain that she was currently experiencing all over her body.
Freddie looked from Caleb to Sam, desperate, wishing he could be more useful. He didn't know who he was more scared for; Sam or their son.
And then suddenly Sam let out a deep breath as her body relaxed slightly.
"He's here," Caleb said, looking down at a small newborn infant in his arms.
"Why isn't he crying?" Sam demanded, panicked. "He's supposed to be crying!"
"No," Freddie whispered, not daring to think about what could be happening right now. "No!"
"Freddie, cut the cord!" Caleb said loudly, snapping Freddie out of his daze. "Now!"
"He's not crying! He's not breathing!" Sam cried, tears flowing from her eyes.
Freddie looked down at his son in Caleb's arm as he cut the umbilical cord, feeling a whole new sense of helplessness as he saw how still he was. His eyes weren't even open.
Caleb quickly set the infant down on one of the blankets and leaned over him, gently opening his tiny mouth. He quickly placed his lips over his and breathed into him and then used his finger to deliver quick compressions to his chest.
"Freddie, he's not breathing!" Sam sobbed, ignoring any pain that she had previously been feeling. "Oh my God!"
"What are you doing?" Freddie asked in a broken voice as he looked at Caleb. "He's-He's-"
Caleb didn't respond as he continued his movements.
He's dead, Freddie thought to himself. My son…I never got to even hold him. I never got to see him open his eyes. I never got to-
And suddenly, the room was filled with a loud cry, and Sam and Freddie's eyes both snapped open as they saw their son chest moving up and down on its own.
"Oh my God!" Sam gasped, her eyes wide. "He's-He's-"
"He made it," Freddie whispered. "Caleb, you-you-"
"CPR," Caleb explained, wrapping the infant up and handing him to Freddie. "It can be a lifesaver sometimes."
Freddie looked down at his son, staring into his light blue eyes.
Sam's eyes.
"Let me see!" Sam whispered, craning her neck.
Freddie moved their wailing son closer to her and she gently stroked his head with her good arm.
"You're here," she smiled, tears still falling from her face. "Welcome to the world."