Chapter 8 - THE FIRE EXIT
The hallway filled with smoke.
Nurses moved patients toward the emergency stairs.
Security could not keep the ward locked during a fire evacuation.
That was why Ryan started it.
Dr. Collins placed an oxygen mask over my face and transferred the fetal monitor to battery power.
“We move together.”
Claire pushed my bed.
The nurse held the IV pole.
Smoke thickened near the ceiling.
Sprinklers activated.
Water covered the floor.
Pregnant women cried as staff guided them toward the stairwell.
A man in firefighter gear appeared through the smoke.
Helmet.
Mask.
Heavy coat.
He moved directly toward me.
Too directly.
Dr. Collins stepped in front of the bed.
“Which station?”
The man hesitated.
Ryan’s eyes showed through the mask.
He struck Dr. Collins with his shoulder.
The bed slammed into the wall.
I screamed.
Ryan tore off the mask and grabbed my wrist.
“You ruined everything.”
Claire swung the IV pole at him.
He caught it and shoved her down.
The nurse screamed for security.
Ryan pulled me from the bed.
My knees hit the wet floor.
Pain tore through my abdomen.
Blood spread beneath my gown.
He dragged me toward the service stairwell.
“Walk.”
“I can’t.”
“You will.”
Dr. Collins rose despite blood running from her forehead.
“Ryan, she is hemorrhaging.”
He looked at her.
“Then you better keep up.”
He pressed a stolen surgical blade against my neck.
Security officers stopped at the hallway corner.
Ryan used me as a shield.
“Back away.”
Dr. Collins slowly raised both hands.
“Emily needs surgery.”
“She needs to leave.”
“You will lose the baby.”
His face changed.
He needed the baby alive.
Dr. Collins saw it.
“If you delay five more minutes, the fetal heart may stop.”
Ryan looked toward the monitor.
My daughter’s heartbeat stuttered through the speaker.
He hesitated.
Dr. Collins stepped closer.
“Let me stabilize her.”
“No.”
“You cannot collect the insurance if the child is stillborn.”
The words struck him.
His eyes sharpened.
Claire looked toward the security officers.
They understood.
Ryan did not.
He dragged me back toward the examination room.
“Fix her.”
Dr. Collins followed.
Once inside, Ryan locked the door and held the blade against my shoulder.
The nurse attached the monitor again.
The heartbeat was dangerously slow.
Dr. Collins examined the bleeding.
“We need an emergency cesarean now.”
“Do it here.”
“This is not an operating room.”
“Then make it one.”
She looked at me.
I saw a message in her eyes.
Stay awake.
Trust me.
Dr. Collins asked the nurse for an emergency delivery kit.
The nurse opened a cabinet.
Behind the metal tray was a panic switch.
She pressed it.
Ryan noticed the movement.
He spun toward her.
I grabbed his wrist with both hands.
The blade cut my palm.
Dr. Collins drove the blood pressure monitor stand into his ribs.
The door burst open.
Ryan pulled me against him and placed the blade against my stomach.
“Come closer and the baby dies.”
No one moved.
Then a voice came from behind him.
“You already tried.”
May you like
Hannah stood inside the staff room holding a fire extinguisher.
She swung it into the back of his head.
