Chapter 35
CHAPTER
COLLEN TUGGED ON the final strap holding me down and flung it aside. Quickly, she lowered the railing on the left side of the bed. Next, she ripped the tape off the inside of my arm and removed the needle. She left it dangling from the IV stand, liquid dripping onto the floor.
She swung my legs around to the side and took my hands, pulling me up into a sitting position.
Then she put her hand behind my back and carefully scooted me forward on my bottom until I was perched on the edge of the bed, close enough to slide the last few inches off and place my feet on the ground.
My head did a full somersault as I finally stood upright, but I didn’t let it stop me, pausing only for a second as I waited for the world to stop spinning.
“Let’s go,” Colleen whispered.
She took my left arm, slung it over her shoulder, and wound her right arm around my waist. Then she started pulling me toward the door.
My feet desperately tried to keep up with her steps.
I felt a deep pain in the pit of my groin, and a growing pressure between my legs—I knew I didn’t have long.
Please hold off just a little longer, baby.
We’re going to get out of here so you can be born somewhere safe.
The fighting continued, moving back down the hallway in the direction of the back bedrooms, both women screaming and grunting. Something slammed against the wall, briefly shaking the entire cabin.
As we reached the door, Colleen strained with her left arm and managed to grab the doorknob, swinging the door open. I tasted cold October night air, and caught a glimpse of a green Subaru parked beneath a tree in the distance.
All of a sudden, we heard two small explosions in rapid succession, coming from the back of the cabin. It was so loud, Colleen and I both flinched and nearly lost our balance, falling against the inside of the doorjamb.
“Oh my God—what was that?”
Colleen’s eyes met mine, full of fear. “Gunshots. Keep moving.”
As we desperately tried to drag our bodies through the doorway, a section of the doorframe just over my right ear exploded, sending tiny splinters of wood flying in every direction. My head whirled around and I felt my blood go ice-cold.
Madison was pointing her gun right at me, a thin plume of smoke wafting up from the barrel.
“No!” Max, bleeding from the side of the head, bounded out of the back hallway toward Madison. “What are you doing? You can’t shoot Savannah! The baby!”
“She’s getting away with our child!”
Max and Madison struggled over the gun. “Stop it, Max! We can’t let them leave!”
Colleen and I kept moving. We stepped off the wooden front porch of the cabin onto the cold forest floor.
Dry leaves crunched beneath my swollen, bare feet.
Clinging to each other, we headed for Colleen’s car.
Finally, both our fingers reached out and touched the cold steel of the hood—just as another contraction reared its ugly head, threatening to split me in half.
Not now! I threw my head back; my screams flew up into the dark night sky. I felt like I was being ripped apart as my body splayed across the hood of the car.
Colleen held me up from behind as my fingernails scraped the side of the car in agony.
“It’s okay, Savannah, you’re okay—breathe, breathe—we’ve got to get you into the car so we can get you to the hospital. We’re almost there.”
Unfortunately, my ill-timed contraction snapped Max and Madison back into focus as well, and they realized that while they’d been arguing, we’d been escaping.
Suddenly I heard a loud, sharp pop, followed immediately by a clang of metal.
I looked down and saw a bullet hole in the front bumper of Colleen’s car. I gasped.
“Get back here with my baby!” Madison moved toward the car, keeping the gun trained on us.
“Madison, God damn it, stop!” Max was right behind her.
Colleen grabbed my left arm and started dragging me toward the rear of the car. My right hand desperately tried to support my belly. I felt like my very life force was about to fall right out of me; I hoped I could hold it all in just a little bit longer.
As Colleen fished her car keys out of her scrubs, I heard a click as Madison cocked the gun again, readying for another shot.
Max took another step toward her, reaching his bloody hand out, stretching as far as he could to try and grab her and keep her from shooting at me, but his grasp fell short, and another pop erupted in the air.
I heard Colleen’s breath catch, and I whirled around in her direction.
Her face was frozen in a silent scream. She let go of my arm, dropped her keys, and immediately grabbed her right shoulder.
Blood oozed between her fingers. She staggered backward, her back slamming into the side of the car.
I watched in horror as she slowly slid to the ground, landing in a sitting position.
The whole time, her eyes never left mine.
“Colleen!”
Her mouth hung open in shock as her eyes bore into mine.
Then I heard another loud bang and felt something whiz past my ear.
I looked up to see Madison still pointing her gun at me, continuing to take slow steps in my direction, a focused but menacing look on her face.
Finally, Max reached her. He grabbed at her hands, fighting for control of the gun, but Madison elbowed him in the side. “No! We can’t let them get away!”
I looked down at Colleen again, trying to think of any possible way I could help both of us escape as I held my heavy belly. Another contraction would be coming, any minute.
For one second, the world went eerily silent as Colleen and I stared into each other’s eyes, reading each other’s thoughts. Then I heard her whisper one solitary word.
“Go.”
That one word shattered my paralyzing fear and set me into action.
I will save my baby.