Chapter 2 - The Stranger in the Rain
I froze completely.
The contraction faded into a dull throb, replaced by absolute terror.
What did you just say, I gasped.
The woman glanced over her shoulder at the empty street.
She reached into her coat pocket.
I braced myself, expecting a weapon.
Instead, she pulled out a set of car keys.
Slide over, she commanded.
I could not move.
I asked her who she was and how she knew my husband.
She grabbed my arm with surprising strength and forced me into the passenger seat.
She climbed behind the wheel and slammed the door shut.
He told me you would be taking the main highway, she said, starting the engine.
He paid me to run you off the road.
My mind spun out of control.
Andrew had just told me he was with his parents.
He had laughed at my pain.
Now this stranger was claiming he wanted me dead.
I demanded to know why I should believe her.
She threw the car into gear and sped out of the parking lot.
Because if I wanted you dead, I would have just let you bleed out back there, she replied coldly.
Another contraction hit, harder than any before.
I screamed, gripping the dashboard.
The woman swerved around a stalled truck, driving like a maniac.
We are going to a different hospital, she said.
One he does not know about.
I squeezed my eyes shut, praying for the pain to end.
Ten minutes later, she slammed on the brakes outside an emergency room entrance.
She laid on the horn until nurses rushed out with a wheelchair.
They pulled me from the car.
I looked back to thank the stranger, but the driver's seat was empty.
She had vanished into the night.
The nurses rushed me through the sliding glass doors.
One of them handed me a black leather purse they found on the passenger seat.
I opened it with trembling hands while they wheeled me into the trauma bay.
Inside was a stack of cash and a folded ultrasound photo.
I turned the photo over.
May you like
It was dated three months ago.
The father's name printed at the top was Andrew Monroe, but the mother's name was not mine.
