Chapter 14 Yara
Yara
The bathroom I had found upstairs was mysteriously lacking mirrors, but it did nothing to dispel the turmoil that rolled through me in painful waves.
“Mija?” Mateo’s voice was distant, barely reaching my ears.
I ignored it, choosing to turn on the shower.
Rejection.
James is leaving. He can’t deal with me. I am a useless person. A broken do—
I didn’t let myself complete the thought, working instead on counting each of my breaths.
When I hit thirty, I stripped my clothes and got into the shower. The hot water steamed up the space, but I barely even felt it on my skin. My body ached in a way I was not accustomed to.
Maybe it was the nonstop traveling the last few days. Perhaps it was the anxiety of Izzy’s disappearance. Perchance it was the fact I was pregnant with a fucking baby.
Letting my head fall back, I washed some of my anxiety out of me, and just when I began to feel better, pain hit me out of nowhere, forcing me to my knees and I let out a startled grunt.
Waves and waves of it, cramps and stabs mixing chaotically.
Stemming from my lower belly but spreading out from its source.
This isn’t right.
Less than a second after that thought, the water below me turned red.
“Mateo! Something’s wrong!”
I didn’t have a chance to truly understand what was going on before Mateo was kicking the door down. He took one look at the situation and cursed.
“Fuck! The books I rea—” Mateo cut himself off as he shut the water off and gathered me in his arms. “Kazi, get the car ready! NOW!” he shouted behind us.
Mateo threw his shirt over me before readjusting, forcing my face into his now bare chest. “An ambulance will take too long. We will get you to the hospital.”
His scent enveloped me, rugged and woodsy. “I’m going to bleed on you,” I argued weakly as the pain continued to rock through me. I bit back a scream as a particularly strong cramp chomped down onto me.
“Shush, I’ve got you.”
***
I didn’t exactly pass out, but time passed in a whoosh of whirling nauseating scenes.
Mateo cradling me into the car.
The sky spiraling around outside.
Am I losing this baby?
Honking and accelerating.
“Go the fuck around them!”
The bump bump as we hit the side of the road.
The baby…
Kazi and Mateo exchanging curses.
The slamming of brakes.
Why am I so sad? I wasn’t even ready to be pregnant.
Back in Mateo’s arms.
Strong chemical and sterilized smells invading my senses.
My baby. Let them be okay.
“She’s bleeding. Help her, now.” The harsh and angry tone must have come from Mateo, but it was further away. At the end of a tunnel.
“She’s losing a lot of blood!” This voice was unfamiliar. “Onto the gu—”
The warmth was stolen from me as my vision blurred and I was transported onto a cold and harsh table.
“She’s pregnant! Don’t take her without—”
“Security!”
Attempting to sit up to find my men, I caught sight of Kazi’s ashen face before an arm landed across my chest, pushing me flat on my back.
And then my world went entirely black.