Fear seized me as I twisted in his arms. His words felt like a thousand knives hitting me all at once. It was finally happening. He was gonna kill me. One hand moved from my hair to my back, and then in one fluid motion, he shoved me down the stairs.
I remember pain as I bounced against the wood. My arms instinctively went to my belly to protect my baby, leaving my head and back to take the brunt of the fall. I hit a few spindles on the way down before coming to rest on the tile floor of the hallway. His maniacal laugh sounded from above before my world went black once again.
Chapter 5
Blake
My night had started out like every other night. I was the on-call neurologist for the ER. It had been slow, so I’d gone outside to the ambulance bay to take a break. The air was crisp, and it felt like winter wasn’t too far away.
When I heard the sirens in the distance, I knew the night was getting ready to get busy for someone, but I didn’t expect it to be me. The lights flashed as the rig came to a halt a few feet away. “Dr. Douglas.” The EMT nodded as he jumped out to race around to the back.
“What’d we got?” Dr. Evans, the Chief of Emergency Medicine, rushed past me to the stretcher being lowered from the rig.
“Female, twenty-eight, multiple contusions, possible skull fracture, twenty-eight weeks pregnant, BP one ten over seventy, heart rate seventy-four.” The EMT rambled off the details as he and his partner rushed through the doors, and followed Dr. Evans into a room.
“I’m gonna need you on this!” Dr. Evans shouted in my direction. I jumped from where I was leaning against the wall, and rushed after them.
The ER had morphed right before my eyes. There was a lull before, but now it was bustling with medical staff. Nurses were running in and out of the room Dr. Evans had just gone into, and it took me a second to get my bearings.
“It’s Brooke Ellis,” Donna, one of my nurses, came rushing out. “She told me he did this, and I didn’t believe her.” Her voice was laced with fear and regret.
I nodded as instinct took over and feelings were pushed aside. “What’d we got?” I rounded the gurney and began checking her eyes. “Pupils are reactive. I need a head CT.” I gave my orders to the nurse.
“We’re waiting on OB. The baby’s heart rate is falling,” another nurse stated as she checked the fetal heart rate a second time. “This baby needs to come out if it’s gonna survive; I’m paging Dr. McGee again.” She rushed out of the room, and that’s when Brooke’s eyes fluttered open.
“Help me,” she mumbled. “Please.”
“We’re gonna help,” I reassured her. “We need to check on the baby.”
“Save her.” She reached for me as I stepped back to allow Dr. McGee in with the ultrasound. “Please save her.”
“We’re gonna do everything we can, Brooke.” Dr. McGee was all business. She placed the wand of the ultrasound on Brooke’s belly. “Brooke.” She handed the wand over as she lifted the railing to the gurney. “We’re going to take you upstairs now. We need to get the baby out. Your placenta has a tear in it, and it’s slowly getting worse.”
“But she’s too young.” She started to cry.
“She’s a fighter, Brooke. Just like you.” Dr. McGee started pushing the gurney as nurses unhooked monitors and draped the cords over the rails.
“As soon as we get her out of surgery, you’ll get your CT.” Dr. McGee left, leaving me there with my head spinning.
“Any word on how this happened?” I turned to the EMTs who were packing up to head back out.
“We found her in her underwear at the bottom of the stairs. Her husband said she fell. If you ask me, I think he pushed her.” One of them shrugged.
“Why do you say that?” I gripped the back of my neck. I shouldn’t be this invested, but I couldn’t help it. There was something about her, that made me care more than I should.
“He didn’t even want to come with us. He didn’t seem worried at all that she might die, or that the baby might not survive. Who does that?” The other EMT’s eyes widened.
ooooooooo
I stood there staring at the scan of Brooke’s brain. There was swelling on the right side that would have to be monitored, but she was conscious. As long as the pressure didn’t increase, the injury could be treated without surgery. I sighed as I headed to her room to give her the news.
“Mrs. Ellis.” I knocked on the door as I slowly pushed it open.
“Mmm.” Her head lolled to the side as her eyes fluttered.
“Your scan shows some swelling, but I think we can treat it with medication as long as things don’t worsen.”
“My baby,” she mumbled. “Where’s my baby?”
“I can check on that for you.” I patted her hand before leaning out of the door and looking for a nurse. I saw Donna rounding the corner, and stopped her. “She’s asking about the baby. Do we know anything yet?”
“Brooke. Your daughter’s doing well for a twenty-eight weeker.” She smiled as she brushed past me and into the room. “She’s in the NICU. They’re helping her breathe, but she’s a fighter.” She lowered herself onto the bed, and I knew I needed to give them some time.
ooooooooo
Brooke
Everything hurt. My head, my side, my stomach, but most of all my heart. I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Warren did this with every intent of killing our daughter. How could someone who was supposed to love me be so callous? Did he ever love me? I’d been asking myself that a lot lately, but I was having a hard time believing that the answer might be ‘no’.
“Your daughter wasn’t oxygenating enough, so she’s on a ventilator. She’s a fighter though, just like her mama.” The nurse, Donna, smiled softly before glancing away at something. “Brooke? Did he do this to you?”
I nodded, and it hurt. “Yes.” I grimaced. “He wanted to have sex, and I didn’t, so he pushed me down the steps.” A single tear slipped from my eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”
“He’s never gonna hurt you again. I’m going to help you. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you the last time.” Donna squeezed my hand. “Do you want to see your daughter?”
“It hurts to move.” I gasped as I attempted to sit up.
“If we can get you in a wheelchair, I’ll take you to the NICU.” She motioned to the door, and then pressed a few buttons on the bed to cause it to rise. After placing a pillow in my lap, she turned me where my legs hung off the side of the bed. “Hold the pillow against your stomach for support and lean on me.” She braced my back as I stood, and slowly helped me sit in the chair. My head spun for a moment, but then the ache in my side came back.
“You’ve got a couple of cracked ribs, and C-sections hurt, but it’s nothing that won’t heal.” She patted my shoulder and then turned to push me into the hallway. “Hey, Dr. Blake?” she called out as we passed the nurse’s station. The doctor from before turned and forced a smile on his face.