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After: Get Me To The Damn Hospital


Ashley

I have never, in my life, ever felt anything like the pain that ripped through my stomach about thirty seconds after my water broke all over Nick's sneakers. I let out a shriek of pain and almost doubled over. If Nick hadn't been standing there to catch me and keep me up, I probably would've fallen to the floor. "Oh holy mother of God!" I cried.

"Okay, let's get you to the hospital," Nick said. He put his arms around me.

"Excuse me, I believe that is my job," Chris snapped, coming over.

"KEEP YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF OF HER," Nick bellowed. I heard Chris stop short halfway across the room. "This is not YOUR job," he snarled, quieter, "You gave this job up the moment you laid your hands on her the first time. Don't you dare." Nick guided me carefully toward the door. I shuffled, staring down at our feet, at his soaked sneakers, at my soaked slippers and ruined sweatpants.

"It's my kid," Chris snapped. "I have a right as the god damn father to be there."

"You have a right to shut the hell up and stay the fuck away from them both," Nick replied.

He got to the door and I realized there was no door. "Where's my door?" I asked.

Then I stepped on a piece of it on the floor.

"It's not like he was gonna let me in," Nick said sheepishly.

"You broke my door?"

"He broke OUR door!!" Chris yelled.

"ITS NOT YOUR FUCKING DOOR!" Nick yelled back.

"STOP YELLING!" I yelled as another pain wrecked through my abdomen. I clutched the door frame and bared my teeth in a silent scream. Again, if Nick hadn't been right there to catch me, I would've ended up on the floor. "Fuck! FUCK!" I sobbed.

Nick looked at me, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, how can I help?" he begged.

"Just take me to the hospital!"

Nick took my hand, carefully wrapping his arm around me for support, and I pressed a firm hand to the small of my back to brace myself and waddled out into the hallway. Chris followed us, leaving the lights on in the apartment.

We got to the stairs and I'd never seen a challenge so great. I let out a choked sob just looking at them. Nick moved around to the front of me, two steps below, looking up at me. "C'mon baby," he said, "One step at a time, we got this."

I looked into his eyes.

I felt Chris at my side, "Here I'll help you," he said.

"Don't touch me!" I snapped.

"What the fuck," Chris snapped, "I'm your husband."

"You're an asshole," I said.

Nick had both my hands in his, he squeezed tightly. "C'mon," he said, "Lean on me, come down a step."

I took a step and almost fell forward. "Oh Jesus, oh Jesus," I cried.

"Fuck this shit," Chris said. The next thing I knew I was airborne. Chris had picked me up around the middle and lifted me about three inches off the ground. I kicked my legs and let out a cry like a pissed off animal.

"Get off me, get off me, get off me!" I shrieked as he quickly thundered down the steps. I waved my arms, "Nick!!"

Nick thundered after us. "Put her down! PUT HER DOWN!" he was yelling, but Chris took all the flights of stairs hoisting me until he got down to the foyer. He whipped open the door, and tugged me out it, me stumbling along after him. Nick ran up behind us and I struggled out of Chris's grasp and grabbed onto Nick, my heart pounding.

Nick stood between me and Chris. I dug my fingers into his arm. "You maniac, you could've hurt her."

"She needed to get down the stairs," Chris snarled. "I fucking helped her get down the stairs."

"Please," I cried, yet another pain ripping through me, "Please can we get me to the damn hospital now?"




Nick

Ashley rolled into the backseat of my car. She clutched my arm, "Don't go," she begged as I attempted to crawl back out to drive to the hospital. "Please don't go."

"But I gotta drive, baby," I said.

Chris cleared his throat.

I took my keys out of my pocket and threw them at his face. He scrambled to catch them. "Make yourself useful," I said. I crawled back in, propping Ashley against my chest, my leg up behind her on the seat, my back to the door. I wrapped my arm around her and she clutched onto me like my arm was the bar on a roller coaster. She was somewhere between crying and panting, her nails digging into my skin.

Chris climbed into the front seat and turned the ignition, pulled out of the space and began our journey to the hospital.

Ashley looked up at me from the seat, "I know what its gonna be," she gasped, "I had a dream."

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Its a girl," she said.

"Yeah?"

She closed her eyes, her face contorting in pain. I rubbed her shoulder and looked up. We were flying through traffic, Chris focused, determined, and biting his tongue.

"We're gonna be there soon," I told her.

The bruises on Ashley's arms were turning purple right in front of my eyes and I looked up front at the back of Chris's head. How could I have let him get to her again? How could he do this to her? She was so... so perfect... and... I shook my head, I just couldn't understand it. There was nothing in all the world that she could ever do that could ever, ever, ever, ever justify what he'd done to her. Ever. I gently reached down and wiped the blood off Ashley's lower lip. "It's gonna be okay," I said.

Ashley stared up at me.

"Nick," she said, "The last two months with you... have been the best two months of my entire life."

"Shhh," I said.

"I love you," she cried.

"Baby, you're okay," I whispered. "It's okay."

"If I die you have to tell her I love her, okay? Tell her I love her so much..." she clutched my arm.

Chris looked in the rearview mirror, his eyes wide.

"Pay attention to the road," I snapped at him. His eyes disappeared. I turned back to Ashley. "Honey, you're okay. It's gonna be okay. You're just in labor or something. You're probably like dialating or whatever it was AJ said Rochelle was doing when she was pregnant."

Ashley sobbed.

"It's okay..."

"But it hurts so much, oh my God."

"It's gonna be okay, baby," I said, "We're almost there."

I looked up at the rearview mirror, though, and my eyes met with Chris's. I have him a Look. He sped up.