Page 94 of Lay Me Down
I close my eyes and focus, not immediately feeling anything. My heart takes a drastic nosedive to my stomach. After a few terrifying moments, I can feel the erratic and strong kicks inside my belly, and my heart almost explodes with relief. My entire body relaxes. I gasp softly and I let out a small sob.
“Yeah, it’s moving,” I notify him softly.
“Okay!” he says excitedly as he lets out a relieved sigh. “That’s good. That’s a good sign. You two are going to be okay, yeah?” I nod again, and he rests his head on top of mine in a relieved way. I didn’t even notice his heavy breaths before, but now I can hear them next to my ear, and his chest heaves against my back.
“Where’s Ezra?” I ask quietly and start to look around. I see Grease, Viking, and few other of the MC members near my burning car, but I can’t see much else. Alex looks at me before cutting a quick glance at Zeke, and then he turns his attention back to me.
“He’s going to be fine, too...” he says in that melancholy tone, and I know he’s lying. My heart sinks. “The explosion came from the front of your car, but the other guys are tending to him.”I feel my eyes begin to sting with more tears, but Alex gently grabs my chin and forces me to look back at him. “You need to stay calm, okay? We’re going to get you looked at, and then we’re going to the hospital, alright?” He turns to yell at someone. “Over here!” I faintly see the siren lights get closer.
“No! They need to take care of Ezra first!” I yell, but Alex shakes his head.
“The first ambulance is already getting him out, Ash. It’s going to be okay.”
I relax against Zeke as the paramedics rush over. Alex moves out of the way, but I’m relieved when my brother refuses. He holds onto me just as tightly as I need him to, and he might be the only thing keeping me grounded besides the flutters in my belly. I can’t help but watch my car become engulfed in flames, knowing one of Damien’s men—a guy I considered a friend—is most likely dead. My mind is swirling, wondering how everything could’ve gone so wrong so quickly. One second, we were having a normal day and laughing over his clumsiness, and the next, this disaster takes place.
What the hell happened?
Chapter 39
Ashia
‘Say Anything’ – Ashley Nite
The ultrasound tech moves the wand around my belly cautiously, and the heartbeat plays strongly over the speaker. While I normally hate hospitals, I have to give props to the Labor and Delivery ward. The lighting in the room has a warmer tone, and the walls are a nice beige. It doesn't instantly reek of disinfectant, and the staff has been incredibly nice.
Zeke and Alex are outside on the phone while they look us over. It took Alex practically prying my brother away, but I know they have to handle things after the wreck. Daisy sits by the bed and whines up at me, like she wants to get up here, but there’s not enough room for her while the tech does her job. I reach down and pet her head, grateful that she’s okay, too. Now that I've calmed down, everything is a little clearer. How the hell did my car explode? There’s no way that Ezra was hit hard enough to cause an explosion, and it all just isn’t making sense. I feelterrible for calling Grease. What would've happened if I dropped it off at the garage, and it exploded then?
Alex has already talked to him, and Grease said he knows we didn't plan to attack them. Apparently, even Viking was sympathetic, and that took me by surprise. He seemed friendly enough at the barbeque, but I wasn’t sure that extended past that one event. I’m grateful for it, though. As soon as I get a second, I'm going to call them myself, but for now, I'm just glad this didn't escalate any issues we've already had. I’m not even sure we still have issues at this point—I certainly hope not, anyway.
“Everything looks good. There doesn’t seem to be any signs of trauma or placental abruption. You're not contracting, and your membranes are intact. It’s a good thing the air bags in that car were higher up and you had your seat belt on.” The ultrasound tech, Amber, says happily.
I want to share the happiness, but right now, I can't stop thinking about Ezra. They haven't come right out and told me, but I know he's dead. I heard Alex whispering to Zeke that he needed to call his mom to tell her the news, and they both had that grieving look in their eyes.
I was supposed to drive.
Guilt bubbles up in my throat, because it should've been me, but I'm so thankful that it wasn't. That's terrible for me to think…but as I continue to hear my baby's heartbeat on that monitor, I become more grateful that we're alive…
Amber giggles as she continues to look at the screen, and it draws my attention back over to it.
“Oh, look at that!” she laughs and points to the screen as the baby continues to show off. They’re moving all over the place, clearly worked up after all of the commotion, and my chest starts to feel heavy, but in a comforting way—sort of like I’m lyingunder a weighted blanket. “Oh yeah, she’s just fine. Look at her wiggling and kicking all over the place!”
Amber might as well have ripped out my heart. That comforting feeling is torn away, and it’s cold once again. When my mind registers what she said, I snap my eyes back to her.
“Did you just sayshe?”
Amber looks down at me, and her smile quickly fades, realizing her mistake.It's a girl? Of course Damien was right. He’s always fucking right. I wish he knew, and I wish I could hear him or see his reaction. He’d probably be smiling from ear to ear and jumping around the room. Nothing in here would be safe from his excitement. As if Daisy can sense my change in mood, she whines a little louder and paws the side of the bed. Amber looks down at her before looking back at me, and it’s like she feels even worse because she somehow hurt my dog’s feelings.
“Oh, goodness. I'm so sorry, did you not know? Your file said that you came in two weeks ago for an anatomy scan.” She starts typing on her laptop frantically, I'm guessing to double check.
“I decided to wait until my husband was home to find out…” Tears fill my bottom lids, and as my lips quiver, her face morphs into something just short of horrified.
“I'm so sorry! Oh, my God.” She reaches over and swipes a box of tissues off the counter. It’s clear that she feels horrible, but I can’t help but get upset. It’s both a heartwarming and heartbreaking revelation. I take a couple of the Kleenex, but my hands freeze in mid-air when I hearhervoice.
“What room is she in?!” Ser’s voice carries through the hall as she approaches the space, stepping so harshly that I can hear her shoes echo against the tile floors. Alarms blare in the back of my mind, and even Daisy sits up a little straighter.
“I’ll forgive you as long as you don’t say it in front of her,” I practically beg. Serena has been dying to know, and I know thesecond she finds out, she's going to insist on a shopping spree and a Lowes run for paint. She means well, and I know that deep down, but if I have to argue with her one more time about purchasing a baby item, I’m going to scream. Amber agrees and nods just as Serena jogs in the door.
“Okay, tell me what’s going on? Are you okay? What do you see? Is the baby okay?” She immediately interrogates us and sprints over to the bed. Her eyes fly to the screen, like she would be able to see if something was wrong.
