BEFORE HE LAPSES by Blake Pierce

Author:Blake Pierce [Pierce, Blake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-01-23T05:00:00+00:00

***

The next time she opened her eyes, the world felt as if someone had placed it on pause. She could tell right away, even before her eyes had fully adjusted to the light, that she was in a hospital room. The smell and the sanitized square shape of everything gave it away. The mattress beneath her bed was somewhere between too firm and just right, and the stillness in the air had that hospital feel to it.

“Mac?”

She craned her head to the right and saw Ellington sitting there. He was out of his seat at once, kneeling by the bed and taking her hand. “How are you feeling?”

It took her a moment to come up with the right words. But even when she had them—sore and scared—she ignored them. Instead, she asked the only question that she truly cared about.

“How’s the baby?”

“We don’t know. They’re going to do an ultrasound in a few minutes. A doctor did a preliminary check and thinks everything is going to be okay.” He paused here and seemed to be keeping his emotions in check. “What happened?”

“Two men with guns. Both wearing ski masks…”

“And you got away? There was a bullet hole in the wall…was that them or you?”

“Me.”

“Your left pinky is broken and you have a mild concussion. Do you—”

She shook her head. “Nothing else. Not until I know how the baby is doing.”

Ellington quickly glanced to her stomach and then back to her face. “A nurse left here about three minutes ago to roll a machine this way. It should be any minute now.”

She nodded and made herself turn away from him. She felt tears coming on—out of fear for her baby, out of her own stubborn nature of not being able to sit on the sidelines when she knew it would be best.

“Mac…can you please tell me exactly what happened? Two men broke into your room and did a number on you. There was a bullet hole in the wall. That’s pretty serious stuff.”

“Not yet,” she said, choking back a sob.

Ellington sighed, resigned.

They remained in silence for another thirty seconds or so when they were interrupted by a nurse wheeling in an ultrasound machine. She glanced quickly at Mackenzie and offered a soft smile. “Hey, you’re up! How are you feeling?”

“I need to know about the baby.”

“Of course,” the nurse said, clearly picking up on Mackenzie’s urgency. She kept her head down and worked to get the machine hooked up.

When everything was ready to go, the nurse applied gel to Mackenzie’s stomach and started to do a search for the baby. The tension and quiet in the room felt heavy on Mackenzie. She looked to Ellington and noted the stone-like expression on his face. He came to the side of the bed and took her hand. She gave it a squeeze, somehow certain that they were going to receive bad news.

She watched the screen and, after a while, saw the shape of the baby come into view. She’d only had one ultrasound

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