SHAWN’S POV
The cars sped off as they headed in the direction of the outskirts of town. The more miles they closed, the more anxious he became. He prayed fervently that his wife and baby were okay.
The journey was taking long as he kept looking at his wrist watch anxiously.
“Take it easy, we will arrive there soon.” Bryan said, placing his hand on his shoulder.
He nodded and looked out the window. The journey ended up taking three hours and they finally arrived at a street. The cars stopped at a distance and they all alighted, as the armed policemen took the lead, their guns set.
Shawn and Bryan followed closely behind. They got to a spacious mass of land with an uncompleted duplex building in it. The policemen filed in, and they got to the entrance of the building.
Two men were standing at the entrance and they made to shoot at the policeman when they saw them, but the policemen were faster and in a few seconds the two men lay on the floor in their pool of blood.
The gunshot must have alerted the other occupants of the building because men began to file out of different rooms in the building. A shoot out immediately began, and the police shielded Shawn and Bryan from stray bullets.
They gained strength as they went in search of Tiffany. Fortunately, Shelley had told Officer Fowler the room Tiffany was in. So while the other policemen were rescuing other kidnap victims, Shawn, Bryan and a few policemen went up in search of Tiffany.
They got to the door and realized it was locked.
“What do we do?” Officer Fowler asked rhetorically.
A policeman stepped forward and attempted to kick the door open but it refused to budge. Two others tried, all to no avail.
“Wait,” Bryan suddenly said.
Everyone turned to look at him as he took off the necklace covered by his shirt. He took off the key pendant and inserted it in the door’s keyhole, and
with one pull, the door went open.
They rushed into the room, and Shawn’s breath caught in his throat at the sight before him. Tiffany was tied to a chair, her head was thrown back lifelessly and there were trickles of blood on her thighs down to her ankle. He didn’t need to be told that she was haemorrhaging.
“Babe?” He called in fear as he rushed to her. He raised her head and she opened her eyes to look at him weakly. There were traces of dried tears by the sides of her eyes and she kept muttering, “my baby.”
Without further ado, he untied her and carried her in bridal style as he hurried out of the room. He half ran and half walked until he got to the car. He gently placed her on the back seat and got in afterward. Gently, he placed her head on his lap as the car purred to life and they hit the road.
“My baby,” she kept muttering as she swung her head from side to side.
“Hang in there, baby. We will be at the hospital soon,” he said, stroking her hair.
His heart was in his mouth as he prayed she made it to the hospital.
As the car finally screeched to a halt in front of the hospital, he felt relieved. The image of her tear-streaked face haunted him as he desperately carried her out of the back seat, his heart pounding in his chest as he ran inside.
A group of doctors and nurses approached him and whisked her away into the hallway.
He collapsed into a nearby chair in the waiting area, his hands covering his face as he tried to process the whirlwind of emotions surging through him. Anxiety gnawed at him as he remembered the single phrase she had muttered repeatedly during the journey; “my baby.”
TIFFANY’S POV
The bleeding had started the next day after the men had beaten her. She suddenly felt a warm liquid trickling down her thighs down to her ankle. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw blood.
Her baby!
With each passing minute, she felt herself going weak. She was haemorrhaging and was going to lose her baby.
Hot years trickled down her cheeks as she thought of the fact that she might not meet her baby before he or she is born. She cursed Rachel Sparks silently for putting her in the condition she was losing in.
Feeling her strength dessipitating, she threw her head backwards on the chair as more tears left her eyes. Suddenly, she heard gunshots, screams and more gunshots. She was too tired to move a finger so she remained in her position.
The door suddenly went open and she felt the presence of people in the room. And then Shawn was by her side, raising her head and asking how she was. All she could mutter was “my baby.”
She felt him untie her and the next moment she was in his arms as he ran out of the room. They were soon in the car, driving to the hospital she presumed.
She kept slipping in and out of consciousness all through the journey. They soon arrived at the hospital and she was wheeled away to the theatre by a group of doctors and nurses.
In the theatre, she could faintly hear the voice of the doctor and nurses.
“Alright, we need to stop the bleeding and stabilize her as quickly as possible,” a voice she presumed to be that of the doctor, said. “Nurse Sia, prepare the IV fluids and blood products. Nurse Rhoda, get the ultrasound machine ready to monitor the baby’s condition. And someone, please call the neonatal team, we may need them.”
She felt herself being injected. It was an anaesthesia injection she guessed, because she felt numb when they began stitching her up.
Meanwhile, one of the nurses applied the ultrasound probe to her abdomen, monitoring the baby’s heartbeat. The screen displayed a tiny, flickering image, a glimpse of a little life fighting to survive. She smiled weakly as she stared at the image. Her baby.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the doctor finished stitching her. The bleeding had been successfully halted, as she could no longer feel the trickling of blood.
After hours of intensive medical attention, she was finally stabilized as she was moved to a private room.
As she lay in her hospital bed after being cleaned up and having her bath after days, still weak and exhausted, she reached out and gently touched her belly.
“We are safe now. No harm will come to you. Your daddy came with the police to rescue us. We will both do anything to keep you safe. Thank you for hanging in and being strong for mummy and daddy,” she whispered as she rubbed her belly lovingly.
Just then, the door went open and her entire family rushed in. Her dad, Shawn’s parents, Shawn and Brian…