“No,” she panics, shaking her head. “It’s him. I can feel it. He’s coming for me.”
“I’m going to keep you safe,” I tell her as my gaze flicks across to her heart monitor to watch it steadily increase. “But to do that, I need you to work with me. Your heart rate is getting dangerously high and I need you to try and bring it back down. Take a slow, deep breath, count to five, and start again.”
Ashleigh nods and I pull the partition down to see her face better. She starts taking her breaths and closes her eyes as she focuses on counting to five over and over again.
Autumn looks to me and we both listen as the beeping from the monitor finally begins to slow; not enough to get us out of the danger zone, though. I get back to work, knowing that every wasted second is another second that we’re putting this baby’s life at risk.
Sensing that Ashleigh is finally starting to relax a little, I look at Autumn, and while I’m pissed that she’s still here and not doing everything she can to keep herself safe, I’m thankful. Doing this by myself isn’t exactly ideal. “Can you give me a hand?”
Autumn nods as Ashleigh reluctantly releases her tight grip on her hand and she moves in beside me. She’s witnessed more than her fair share of cesareans so she should be fine to help. Either way, she’s all I’ve got right now, so any help is welcome.
Autumn silently works beside me as the sound of the alarm bounces off every wall of my OR. We hear panicked cries from outside the room, people running up and down the hall, newborn babies being disturbed, and screaming for peace.
A knock sounds at the door and all three of us snap our gazes toward the small window in the center of the door. Relief surges through me as I find Suzi’s face staring back at us. I nod to Autumn and she instantly goes to the door.
I watch her with bated breath as she pulls off her gloves and peels open the door. Suzi glances up at me but remains in the doorway with Autumn. She lowers her voice to a whisper and leans into Autumn’s side, both their intense stares locked on mine.
I watch as Suzi begins explaining what’s going on and as she does, horror begins to spread over Autumn’s face. My stomach twists and tightens and just by that look on Autumn’s face, I know that it’s exactly what we fear.
Ashleigh shakes her head. “No,” she murmurs, her voice barely audible over the sound of the alarm.
Autumn places her hand on the back of the door and begins to close it as Suzi steps back into the deserted hallway. “Run and hide,” Autumn tells her. “Be safe.”
“You too,” she says before glancing back at me for a brief second and then taking off like a bat out of hell.
The second she can, Autumn closes the door with a solid thump and flicks the lock before desperately rushing around the room, searching the cupboards. She fumbles through everything, knocking out gauze and medical tape until her fingers curl around the biggest adhesive bandages we have. She tears the back off of it and races back to the door before slamming it up against the window and sticking it on.
“What’s happening?” I ask as she quickly sanitizes her hands to come back and help.
She looks at me before nervously glancing at Ashleigh. “A gunman is making his way through the ward. It appears that he’s going room by room, searching for something.”
“Me,” Ashleigh cries. “It’s my husband. He’s going to kill me.”
“He’ll have to get through me to get to you,” I tell her, knowing with every piece of my soul that my patients and Autumn’s life will always come before everything else.
“I … I … what am I supposed to do? I need to run. I need to get out of here.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” I tell her, trying to keep her as calm as possible. “Not in your condition. You’re in my care now. Besides, we don’t know for certain that it’s your husband out there. It could be anyone. What you need to do is focus on your baby. It won’t be long before she’ll be out, but until then, I need you calm. Can you do that for me?”
“I … yes,” she says, her tears running down her face and mixing into her hair.
“Slow deep breaths,” I remind her, speaking over the sound of the people screaming in terror in the hallway.
She nods her head and takes the slow, deep breaths though they’re a lot shakier than I’d hoped for, but it’s progress, and right now, that’s the most I can hope for.
With Ashleigh under control, I get back to work, doing everything I can to make this as fast and safe as possible. I finish making the incision, opening her uterus, and doing a quick check, making sure that everything looks good, and the amniotic sac is still intact.
“Alright, Ashleigh. We’re just about there,” I tell her as Autumn works by my side, making sure that I have everything that I need while suctioning the blood that comes from the incisions, keeping it clean. “Just a few more minutes.”
I prepare to pierce the sac when a loud thumping rumbles through the room. My head snaps up and I pull the scalpel away from Ashleigh’s uterus to avoid injuring her. The door shakes on its hinges and Autumn sucks in a terrified breath beside me, making me wish that I could pull her into my arms and tell her just how fucking much I love her.
The door continues to shake, but it quickly turns into full-blown thumps as the man on the other side attempts to break the door down. I spy his face through the gaps in the small window as he tries to see past the adhesive bandage that Autumn stuck to it, and judging by the look on Ashleigh’s face, this is exactly what she was fearing.
“No, no, no, no, no,” she starts chanting, her heart rate spiking once again. “It’s him. I can’t … he can’t. He’s going to kill me. You have to make him stop.”
I get back to work, trying to ignore the man at the door. I will not risk losing this baby because of him. He’s already caused enough pain in this woman’s life.
The door bangs again, this time flexing with his movements. I hear Autumn’s breath catch as she unknowingly steps closer to me. I quickly meet her eyes. If I could lock her in a fucking cupboard or stash her under the bed, I would do it in a heartbeat. I don’t want to lose her. I should have forced her out with everyone else.
Ashleigh begins to shake, her eyes glued to the door as I furiously work with Autumn to get this baby out.
There’s more banging as Ashleigh’s husband slams his fists against the door. “GET AWAY FROM MY WIFE,” he roars through the door. “UNLOCK THIS FUCKING DOOR.”
We all do our best, trying to ignore him as the door continues to rattle. I hear the sound of metal banging and look up to see him trying to break the window with his gun. “Ah, fuck, fuck, fuck,” Autumn murmurs under her breath, trying to keep her tone low as to not make anything worse for Ashleigh.
I quickly scan over her heart rate and shake my head as an anxious breath escapes through my lips. This isn’t good. It’s moments like this where I’m happy to work within the walls of a hospital. I don’t know how the people out in the field do it. I’m sure they wouldn’t see bullshit like this every day but at least they’d be better prepared for it.