04-23-2021, 03:58 AM
Donovan paced slowly in front of the window while rubbing his swollen belly. The room looked out over the parking lot of the clinic. Past that there was a park with green tree, flowers, and and a olayground To Donovan it might as well have been on another planet, and the clinic might as well have had been a prison.
He had been brought into the out of the way clinic three days ago, when his contractions had become too frequent to ignore, dumped at the front desk with an note and an account number, abandoned to do this alone like he always knew he would.
As the hours and days ticked by his contractions grew stronger, longer, and closer together but his body seemed no closer to bringing his child into the world. He had remained at four centimeters dilated for nearly two full days. There was nothing he wanted more than for all of this to be over, the instructions were clear: No surgery. No drugs. No visitors."
"Nuhhh....uhhhh....uhhh" he groaned, leaning on the window ledge. His stomach tightened and flexed hard beneath his t-shirt. The force tore through his abdomen sending a tremor deep into back. "Ahhhhh....ahhh"
Each time he thought he was used to it, the pain seemed to grow worse.
"Huh...huh..." he huffed when it finally subsided. He gazed again out the window as a black towncar slowed.
"Slow and steady, right hun?" asked the midwife with a sympathetic smile.
"Something like that."
"Can I get you some more ice of maybe a--"
The screech of tires cut her off. Doors slammed and engines revved as three more black cars pulled up. Voices, metal, and glass shattered the calm as the midwife pulled Donovan to the ground.
"You need to hide."
"What..." he mumbled, dazed by the commotion. In what felt like an instant, he found himself forced on his knees shoved inside a wardrobe. With a click he was locked in the darkness. "Keep quiet. Your life depends on it," was all the midwife said before her footstep trailed away. When she returned it wasn't to free him but to lock up another.
He hugged his belly, trying to keep his wits, trying his best to make sense of what was happening as chaos erupted in the distance. He couldn't be sure but he thought he could hear gun shots...
"Who...who are you..." Donovan whispered as his co-prisoner swore in pain. "What are you...uhhhh...uhhhh....ohhhh...nuhhhh!!!"
He had been brought into the out of the way clinic three days ago, when his contractions had become too frequent to ignore, dumped at the front desk with an note and an account number, abandoned to do this alone like he always knew he would.
As the hours and days ticked by his contractions grew stronger, longer, and closer together but his body seemed no closer to bringing his child into the world. He had remained at four centimeters dilated for nearly two full days. There was nothing he wanted more than for all of this to be over, the instructions were clear: No surgery. No drugs. No visitors."
"Nuhhh....uhhhh....uhhh" he groaned, leaning on the window ledge. His stomach tightened and flexed hard beneath his t-shirt. The force tore through his abdomen sending a tremor deep into back. "Ahhhhh....ahhh"
Each time he thought he was used to it, the pain seemed to grow worse.
"Huh...huh..." he huffed when it finally subsided. He gazed again out the window as a black towncar slowed.
"Slow and steady, right hun?" asked the midwife with a sympathetic smile.
"Something like that."
"Can I get you some more ice of maybe a--"
The screech of tires cut her off. Doors slammed and engines revved as three more black cars pulled up. Voices, metal, and glass shattered the calm as the midwife pulled Donovan to the ground.
"You need to hide."
"What..." he mumbled, dazed by the commotion. In what felt like an instant, he found himself forced on his knees shoved inside a wardrobe. With a click he was locked in the darkness. "Keep quiet. Your life depends on it," was all the midwife said before her footstep trailed away. When she returned it wasn't to free him but to lock up another.
He hugged his belly, trying to keep his wits, trying his best to make sense of what was happening as chaos erupted in the distance. He couldn't be sure but he thought he could hear gun shots...
"Who...who are you..." Donovan whispered as his co-prisoner swore in pain. "What are you...uhhhh...uhhhh....ohhhh...nuhhhh!!!"