“I c-c-called 91–1,” Dee stutters out next to me. “It isn’t hers,” she whispers.
“What?” I sob, running my hands down Izzy’s still body, looking for any sign of injury before moving her gently to the side. Her chest is rising and falling normally and her color is just slightly paler than normal. Besides a few cuts and bruises, she doesn’t appear to be harmed.
When I turn to Greg for the first time, her words register. “Fuck!” I roll him over and notice the wet hole on his side. “FUCK!” Ripping my shirt over my head, I press it against his belly and hope I can do enough to keep him stable before the ambulance arrives. “Check his pulse,” I say to Dee, but when I look over, she is weeping over Izzy’s body. My heart stills for a second when I look again at her still form. Why isn’t she moving?
Bringing my attention back to Greg, I bring one hand off his wound and check his pulse. Slow but there. I hold my shirt against him and wait.
We wait for what seems like an eternity before the paramedics start running through the house. Greg is quickly loaded up and taken away with Dee in the back with him. I drop down next to Izzy, where the paramedics are working on her.
“Sir? Sir? I need to ask you some questions,” the officer off to the side asks.
“Not now.” I run my hand over her hair and pray. She has to be all right. She has to survive. “Why isn’t she waking up?” I ask the paramedic next to me.
“I don’t know. Looks like her body’s way of protecting itself. All her vitals are fine, great actually, considering.” He gives me a look full of compassion. “She’s going to be fine.”
I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding, drop my head to her shoulder, and cry.
“She’s pregnant,” I whisper to the man beside me. “She’s pregnant with my baby.” My words sound odd to my ears, and I know I won’t be able to hold it together for long if I don’t see those beautiful pale eyes soon.
“Got it. We’re going to load her up now. You the husband?” he asks.
“Yes,” I answer and quickly follow them out to the ambulance.
“Sir. We need your statement,” the officer says, running behind us.
“Not. Now,” I repeat. “You want a statement? You get in your car and follow me to the hospital. I am NOT leaving her side. You hear me?”
The young officer stops short and seems shocked at the heat behind my words. Not what he was expecting. I can tell he is gearing up to protest, but I quickly interrupt him.
“Look”—I pause to check his nametag—“Officer Benson, I’m not trying to fucking run off. That woman is MY life and I won’t be letting her out of my sight after this shit. Can you just try to understand for a fucking second what I am going through and follow to the goddamn hospital, yeah?” I say but turn around and climb in without waiting for his response.
The ambulance pulls off, and I take her hand in my own and bend down to her ear. “I love you, Princess. Wake up now so I can see those eyes looking at me. Let me see that love, baby.”
I keep my head down to her ear and whisper everything and anything I can think of to let her know that she is safe and I’m here. The ten-minute drive to the hospital comes to a halt, and before they can roll her out, her eyes flutter open and she meets my gaze.
“Hey there, Princess,” I say, the emotion thick in my voice and the relief rocking me to my core. “Hey, my love.”
“Axel . . . love . . . you,” she says weakly before closing her eyes and drifting off again.
I jump out and follow the gurney into the emergency room, finally breathing easy for the first time since I answered her earlier phone call.
Izzy
The first thing I notice when I wake up is the quiet humming. Opening my eyes, I look around the dimly lit hospital room, trying to orientate myself to my surroundings. I feel a soft tickle on my arm and move my head to the side to look down.
Axel is sitting next to my bed with his chair pulled as close as he can get it. My right hand is held firmly in his and his lips are pressed against my skin. The humming I keep hearing is coming from him, his soft whispering against my skin. He is speaking low enough that I can’t understand the words, but the tone is light and loving.
“Ax-xel?” I say, my throat dry. It hurts to get the word past my lips.
His head shoots up and his red-rimmed eyes meet mine.
“Princess . . .” he whispers. Tears are forming in his eyes and a small smile tugs at the corners of his lips. “My girl, my brave girl,” he says, and a few tears fall over his lids. He closes his eyes tight and more spill over. “I thought I had lost you. When I walked around the corner and saw you . . . saw you lying in all that blood . . .” He trails off but not before his words hit my ears.
Blood? I wasn’t bleeding. Was I? Oh no! The baby!