Chapter 4 - The Contractions
The words hit me like a physical blow to the chest.
"Induce labor?" I choked out, wrapping my arms around myself.
"But I am only thirty weeks along, it is too early!"
"The synthetic hormones are designed to force your body to reject the pregnancy," Dr. Reed explained rapidly.
"They want the baby out now, before it gets too large for their private incubators."
A sudden, sharp pain ripped across my lower abdomen.
I gasped, bending forward as the cramp tightened like an iron band.
"Anna, look at me," Dr. Reed said, grabbing my shoulders.
"Was that a contraction?"
I nodded, tears of pain and fear streaming down my face.
"It hurts," I whimpered, the pain slowly fading but leaving a dull ache behind.
"David, prep the surgical suite in the back," Dr. Reed shouted, her professional calm fracturing.
"We have to get that port out of her, and we have to give her muscle relaxants to stop the labor."
"I am not an OB-GYN, Natalie!" David protested, his eyes wide with panic.
"You are a surgeon, and you are going to help me save this woman and her child," she snapped back.
He didn't argue further, sprinting down the hallway to prepare the room.
Dr. Reed helped me stand, but my legs felt like heavy lead weights.
Another contraction hit, stronger this time, forcing me to my knees.
"Breathe, Anna, just breathe," she coached, lifting me up with surprising strength.
She dragged me down the hallway into a brightly lit room filled with surgical equipment.
I lay down on the cold metal table, staring up at the blinding fluorescent lights.
"I am going to give you a local anesthetic," Dr. Reed said, preparing a syringe.
"I cannot put you under, it is too dangerous for the baby."
I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the sting of the needle.
"Please, save my son," I whispered into the sterile air.
"I will," she promised, her voice firm and resolute.
As she worked to numb my abdomen, a loud, piercing alarm echoed through the laboratory.
David burst through the doors, his face pale and terrified.
"Someone just breached the security gate outside," he yelled over the blaring siren.
"The cameras show two black SUVs pulling up to the building."
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My blood ran completely cold.
Aaron had found us.
