Page 119 of Black Flag

I used the wall tosteady myself as he continued. “From what we can tell, and from what Sway hastold us the times she’s been lucid, Darrin found her in the stairwell. They gotinto a disagreement and he pushed her down the stairs. She doesn’t rememberanything after that.” He glared down at her chart. “She has a broken arm thatwe’ve put in a cast, along with a broken hand. The ribs we can’t do anythingaboutbesidekeeping her comfortable. It’s a goodthing the baby is small or the kicks could hurt her. She lost a considerableamount of blood from the laceration to her scalp that required nineteenstitches. Sway has also suffered from a condition called placenta abruption.Usually this is not caused from a fall, but it’s hard to say. Placentaabruption is where the placenta begins to separate from the uterus. There arethree stages to this and in Sway’s case it’s fairly mild but is serious enoughthat it needs to be monitored closely. She will be on bed rest the remainder ofher pregnancy.”

I groaned aloud, shewas going to hate this. I could already hear the complaints but welcomed themif it meant she would be all right.

“I thinkit’sbest she stays in the hospital for at least threeweeks, maybe longer. After that, we will see how the baby is doing and assessthe situation from there. We will be performing daily ultrasounds to monitorthe baby’s lung development, and whether or not premature delivery isnecessary. Sway recently began having contractions so we have administered adrug called magnesium to slow the contractions down and try to prevent thecervix from dilating. The goal is to get Sway to at least thirty-two weeks whenthe baby’s lungs are mature. Right now, if the baby was delivered, the chanceof survival is minimal.”

I swallowed over thelump in my throat. “So they are both okay?” my voice was hoarse and broke witheach word despite my attempts for them not to.

“Yes, they are bothstable for now.” He told me. “We’ll be monitoring both of them closely.”

You know, as a race cardriver, I hated to lose control. It was a sign of weakness in my mind.

But I also knew therewere times when all I did was lose control and everything I knew got away fromme and my world crumbled. No matter what I tried to do to hold on, I fell,hard.

“What about the uh...other test?” I still couldn’t even saythe word.

Dr. Clayton nodded. Hisface was grim as he looked over the chart. “The test was inconclusive. Notraces of DNA were found...” he looked up at me,his eyes narrowing, gauging and judging.

My entire body wastrembling, waiting; tears once again fell from my eyes. I stared back at himfearing the worst, hoping he didn’t say the words.

“Are you sure you’reokay Mr. Riley?” the doctor’s voice brought me back as he surveyed myappearance. Scratches covered my face, my lip was swollen and my nose was mostcertainly broken. Bloodshot eyes, a body cracked, bruised and broken beneaththe surface silently begging him.

“I don’t think she wasraped,” I flinched at the word. “butI do believe thatif your sister hadn’t found her when she did...thatit was his intention as it does appear that’s what he started to do but thenabruptly stopped. Maybe, we don’t really know.” The doctor shook his head. “Ms.Reins is sleeping right now but I can let you back there for a few moments. Canyou handle this?”

I only nodded. Thetruth was,I couldn’t handle any of this. I was beyondhandling anything anymore.

Without Sway by myside, I was helpless and hearing the truth about what happened to her was likea knife ripping through my already broken heart. I let this happen. I didn’ttake the threats seriously in Summerville when I had my chance. I pushed him toher. This happened because I allowed it to so like I said, I had no control andI was beyond handling anything right now.

I followed Dr. Claytonto her room and my heart sank as I took in her appearance. It was like walkinginto a nightmare, the eye of a hurricane, the hurricane I caused. I brought herinto this mess. I knew I shouldn’t have wanted her, but I did and now look atwhat happened. My hands shook violently, palms sweaty and my stomach churningas I entered the room, nothing around me in focus, only her.

I touched her handsoftly, noticing all the abrasions, bruises and how swollen her entire arm was.It was evident she’d been through something horrible.

How could I have letthis happen to her? How could I have let this happen to my child?

Dr. Clayton placed hishands on my shoulders when I sat next to her. “Mr. Riley, you need to be strongfor her, she needs you to be strong for her and that baby.” My head fellforward, sensing my breakdown; he left the room, closing the door behind him.

I didn’t want to belike this, but I couldn’t help it, not when it came toSway.

I kissed her hand andtold her I loved her. I didn’t know what else to say. I knew she could probablyhear me, but I didn’t know what to say. What do you say in this type ofsituation? At a loss for words, I quietly sat there, staring at her, wonderingif everything would be okay. I couldn’t lose her.

I wanted so badly tohave that happy ever after she wanted and I wanted the chance to give it toher.

Fuel Pump – Emma

Why is it whensomething bad happens, time slows down creeping along unbearably slow. Jamesonhad been in Sway’s room for the last three hours and I doubted he would leaveanytime soon. The one time the doctor asked him to step out for a moment so hecould perform an exam on her; he went apeshit and threw a chair through awindow.

I looked around thesmall waiting room where our family was gathered. Aiden was on the groundsleeping at my feet. Spencer was lying on the floor watching TV with his headin Alley’s lap and my mother was knitting (she knits when she is nervous). I’mnot sure who the scarf is for though, considering it spanned across the entirewaiting room. I glanced across the hall to see dad, on his cell phone withPhillip, pacing back and forth.

No one had left sincewe arrived besides when Jameson and Spencer decided to make matters worse. Iwas in a desperate need of a shower and a decent meal. I could tell everyoneelse was too and don’t even get me started on the need for a change of clothes.

Good god, I’ve beenwearing the same shirt since yesterday. That hasneverhappened before.I felt disgusting.

I nudged Aiden with myfoot and he jumped up as if I’d kicked him.

“What’s wrong? Did thepolice come for me?” he asked startled, looking around at everyone as he wipedthe drool from his chin.

“Shhh...nothing’swrong.” I rubbed hisshoulder and then smacked it when I realized how retarded he was being. “No thepolice didn’t come for you. I was just thinking that maybe we should leave fora little while...get cleaned up. We haveto be at the track in two hours. We should also get some real food besidescookies from the vending machine.” I quipped throwing an empty bag of Oreos athim.

He sighed squintingslightly, as he looked around the room, his eyes narrowing at my mom who’d justgiven him a piece of her mind last night.

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