Chapter 2 - THE HEARTBEAT IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM
The ambulance doors slammed shut.
Maya climbed into the front passenger seat after the paramedic gave her permission, and I lay strapped to the stretcher, staring at the ceiling.
Every bump in the road sent pain through my abdomen.
I was twenty-seven weeks pregnant.
Twenty-seven weeks of morning sickness, swollen ankles, sleepless nights, and whispering promises to a little girl I hadn't met.
Her name was going to be Sophie.
I'd chosen it when Ryan still pretended to be excited about becoming a father.
"Emily?"
The paramedic leaned over me.
"Stay with me."
I nodded.
"Is my baby okay?"
"We're getting you to the hospital as quickly as we can."
That wasn't an answer.
I turned my head toward the monitor.
"Please."
He gently squeezed my hand.
"The doctors will examine both of you."
I closed my eyes.
I could still feel Vanessa's palm striking my shoulder.
I could still hear Ryan telling me I'd fallen.
But what frightened me most was the silence inside my body.
Usually, Sophie moved when I was anxious.
She kicked when I drank orange juice.
She rolled whenever I lay on my left side.
Now I couldn't feel anything.
At the hospital, a team rushed me into an examination room.
A nurse cut away my bloodstained sleeve.
Another checked my blood pressure.
An obstetrician named Dr. Caroline Ellis entered and introduced herself.
"Emily, I need you to tell me exactly what happened."
I swallowed.
"My husband's mistress pushed me down the stairs."
Dr. Ellis didn't question my account.
She nodded.
"Thank you for telling me."
The nurse placed a fetal monitor against my abdomen.
A few seconds passed.
Then another.
I held my breath.
Suddenly, the room filled with a rapid, steady sound.
Sophie's heartbeat.
I began sobbing.
Maya appeared beside me and took my hand.
"She's there, Em."
I nodded through tears.
But Dr. Ellis remained serious.
"The heartbeat is reassuring. We still need to monitor you closely because trauma can cause complications that aren't immediately obvious."
I looked at her.
"Will she survive?"
"We're going to do everything we can for both of you."
An ultrasound followed.
Sophie was alive.
But there were signs that concerned the doctors.
I was admitted for observation, and specialists began monitoring for placental complications and premature labor.
Maya sat beside my bed.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
Then she said, "Ryan's downstairs."
My stomach tightened.
"Don't let him in."
"I won't."
"He'll tell them I was hysterical."
Maya's jaw hardened.
"Then they'll hear the truth from you."
I turned toward the window.
Outside, rain had begun falling.
"Maya."
"Yeah?"
"There's a camera above the porch."
She looked at me.
"What?"
"The security camera Ryan installed after those packages disappeared last winter."
Her expression changed.
"Does it record?"
"Yes."
"Where does it save the footage?"
I closed my eyes.
"To an account on my old tablet."
Maya leaned forward.
"Where's the tablet?"
I looked at her.
"In the kitchen drawer."
She stood immediately.
"Then we need it."
I grabbed her wrist.
"Wait."
She stopped.
"Ryan knows the password."
Maya looked toward the door.
Then back at me.
"Does he know you remember the camera?"
I shook my head.
May you like
Her expression hardened.
"Then we have to move before he does."
