Hostage by April Wilson

Author:April Wilson [Wilson, April]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wilson Publishing LLC
Published: 2018-06-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Beth

They took my baby.

He’s gone.

Everything hurts—my legs, my arms, my back. Every muscle hurts, and the area between my legs burns. I’m so cold, I can’t stop shaking, and my mind is numb. I’m slowly sinking into a deep, dark pit of nothingness.

Shane wraps me up in a blanket and carries me downstairs and out the back of the restaurant into an alley where two paramedics wait with a gurney. They load me into an ambulance, and Shane climbs in with me. The ambulance is moving now, slowly, as it makes its way out of the alley and onto the main road. Shane is seated on a bench at the foot of the gurney. That’s as close as he can get while the paramedics loom over me, taking my vitals and inserting needles into my arm.

I glance at Shane, stunned by the stark expression on his face. He looks like a man haunted. I’ve never seen him like this before. He’s always so much in control, so self-assured. He watches me intently as the paramedics go about their business, his hand warm and solid on my ankle. Why is he here? Why isn’t he with our baby?

The two paramedics take their seats when the ambulance picks up speed. They’re hashing over my vitals, talking so quickly I’m having trouble following, not that I really care.

“Your wife is in shock,” the female paramedic says. “Her blood pressure is low.”

The other paramedic attaches a tube to the IV needle embedded in my arm.

Someone lays a warm blanket on me, I’m not sure who. I’ve closed my eyes and turned away from their quiet conversation, lost in my own thoughts.

This is all my fault. My baby is at risk, whisked away from me before I could even see him, let alone hold him.

My fault.

I’m the one who wanted to go out of town. None of this would have happened if we’d stayed home. It’s certainly not Shane’s fault. If he’d had his way, we wouldn’t have gone anywhere, and my baby would be safely in my womb, where he should be.

My fault.

Mine.

And now our baby is alone and at risk.

And Shane… oh, my God, Shane must be so angry at me. That’s why he’s just sitting there, watching me so intently. He looks gutted, and I’m sure he blames me. Why wouldn’t he? I can’t bear to look at him. I can’t bear to see the disappointment in his eyes, the recrimination. And he has every right to blame me.

The female paramedic pats my shoulder. “We’re almost there, Mrs. McIntyre. Just hold on. They’ll get you fixed up in no time. You’re going to be just fine.”

I can’t stop shaking. I feel so utterly exhausted, and everything hurts. I just want to sleep. I just want to drift away and shut off my brain so I don’t have to think about what I’ve done.

“Beth? Sweetheart?”

At the sound of Shane’s quiet voice, my heart stops. He sounds hesitant, which is unlike him. I

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