I was almost at the entrance when my foot caught on something. My balance vanished. I hit the floor hard, stomach first.
A searing pain ripped upward from my abdomen.
My mind went blank. Nothing but white noise.
Then warmth. A slow, spreading warmth soaking through my pants.
I panicked.
Marlene was already at my side, crouching down. "Mrs. Henson?!"
"Get me to Asclepius." I clenched my teeth. My voice shook. "Find Rhys. Now."
My mother snapped out of it and rushed over. "Don't listen to her! She doesn't know what she's saying..."
Marlene didn't even look at her. She was already lifting me up. "You're losing a lot of blood. I'm taking you to Asclepius right now."
My mother gritted her teeth and followed us out the clinic door. "I'm her mother! I'm going with her!"
Cornelius and Daisy trailed behind. All four of them crammed into Marlene's car.
I leaned against the back seat, one hand pressed to my abdomen, cold sweat beading across my forehead from the pain. Mom sat beside me. She burst into tears, wailing like her heart was being ripped out. "I told you not to follow me to the clinic! You insisted you were worried and had to come along!" "Now look, the baby's gone..." I closed my eyes and cut her off. "My baby's gone. Isn't that exactly what you wanted?" Cornelius's expression shifted instantly. "What the hell kind of thing is that to say?" "Mom's sick herself, and now she has to turn around and take care of you on top of it. You think that's fair?" Then he leaned down, his mouth close to my ear, voice barely above a whisper. "When we get to the hospital, don't even think about running your mouth." "There aren't any cameras outside the clinic anyway. You went crazy, ran out on your own, and fell. That's what happened." Mom scooted closer too, dabbing my face with a tissue while murmuring, "Sylvia, look, even God is on my side now. Stop being so stubborn." "I'm the only mother you've got. You can't just stand by and watch me go through surgery with nobody to take care of me. Right?" I said nothing. I couldn't be bothered. She had no idea that if the baby was truly gone, her surgery couldn't happen at all.
Soon the car pulled up to the emergency entrance at Asclepius Hospital. The moment Rhys saw me, the color drained from his face. "The baby... what happened to the baby?"