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“Da
“Who the fuck is this?” he screamed at the female who answered.
“D-Da
The sound of her voice sent ice through his blood.
“There was an accident. I’m with Julie…they’re taking her. Y-you need to come, Da
“An accident? Is she okay?” he roared. “Who’s they? Who the fuck is with my wife, Sheila?” The phone quivered, the room quaked, and red film covered everything Da
He heard voices through the phone a split second before a strange man spoke into his ear. “Mr. Marcus, Ted here with the emergency team. How far along is your wife?”
“Twenty-eight weeks tomorrow,” Da
“We’re taking her to Sinai Hospital, sir—”
Da
“Da
“Leaving now.” Da
His boss leveled him with a glare. “You’re in the middle of a shift, Marcus.”
Da
And he left.
The nonexistent traffic allowed for Da
###
“JULIE MARCUS,” DANNY barked at the meek-looking woman behind the counter in the emergency room.
“I’m sorry, sir, what is your name?”
Pulling in a deep breath, Da
“Please hold.” The woman cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder, punched in a few numbers, and mumbled something into the receiver.
“Da
He turned to see Sheila standing a couple of feet away by the metal waiting room chairs. She was a mess—makeup streaked down her cheeks, wet hair plastered to her head and face, and was that blood on her clothes?
“Is that blood on your clothes?” Da
She nodded as fresh tears streamed down her face.
Acid burned in Da
The woman returned the phone to the cradle and spoke in a disturbingly soft voice. “Mr. Marcus, someone is coming out to speak with you right now. Please wait right over there.” She pointed at the metal seats where Sheila still stood.
“I want to see my wife!” he shouted, startling the already leery woman, before staring at Sheila, who was wearing Julie’s blood. Tears filled his eyes. I will not assume the worst. She’s going to be okay.
He barely had the chance to walk the few feet over to his wife’s employer before Julie’s obstetrician briskly walked toward him.
“Mr. Marcus?”
Da
“How about if you follow me?” the doctor suggested before walking into a privacy room.
He closed the door once Da
“By the time Julie got here, she was unconscious, blood was coming from her vagina, and her uterus was contracting due to labor. We did an ultrasound and learned that Julie had what’s known as a placental abruption. It’s when the placenta separates from the wall of the uterus, depriving the fetus of blood and oxygen. In Julie’s case, the separation was due to abdominal trauma, and it was severe.” Dr. Burke swallowed hard. “And…”
The doctor’s pause felt like a dull knife being lodged into his gut.
“And…?” He refused to believe the truth until the words had been spoken.
“I’m sorry, Da
“Surgery?” Da
“We need to stop the bleeding, and we will,” she said, “but it may be a few hours until I see you again. We have a great team taking care of your wife. I’m going to go scrub in, and I’ll see you soon.”
With those words, she fled the privacy room, pushed the square button that automatically opened a door marked Medical Perso
“Take care of my wife,” Da
“Umm, Da
His name being called grabbed his attention; the woman attached to the voice captured his rage. Heat flashed through Da
Had Da
“I don’t know,” she said.
“That’s not good enough!” he screamed. “She paged me right before midnight. She fucking paged me. She was goddamn fine then. So how’s it possible that now, not two hours later, my daughter’s dead?” Sheila gasped, but Da
“Please, come sit down with me.” Sheila gestured toward the privacy room, but Da
Once he’d checked in with the admissions desk, giving them Julie’s insurance information and medical background, he shuffled to the waiting room, claimed a chair, and let his mind wander.
“What happened?” he asked calmly when Sheila handed him a cup of vending machine coffee and sat next to him.
The woman looked lost. “I’ve been trying to piece it together since we found her—”
“We?” Da
“Yeah. The place was slammed tonight. I can’t remember it being like that on a Wednesday night, ever,” she explained. “We both worked our asses off, and before you freak out on me, Da
Da
“Not that I know of,” Sheila claimed. “She said she was going to page you, then head home. That was the last I saw of her until one of my regulars came in from the parking lot, freaking out because Julie was laying, unresponsive, on the ground.”
The coffee cup in Da