Chapter 32 The Weight Of The World

Chapter 32 The Weight Of The World
The sound of the gunshot was the loudest thing I had ever heard. It did not sound like a movie. It sounded like the end of the world. I saw the flash from my mother’s gun, and in that same second, I saw Serena’s body jerk.

"NO!" I screamed.

I ran to her before she even hit the ground. I reached her just as she fell toward the cold concrete. I caught her in my arms. My knees hit the floor, but I did not feel the pain. All I felt was the warmth of her blood soaking into my shirt.

"Serena! Serena, stay with me!" I screamed.  

Her eyes were open. She looked at me. Her lips moved, but no sound came out. She put her hand over her stomach, and that was when I saw it. The red stain was spreading fast across her shirt, right over her belly.  

"The baby," she whispered.  

"I’ve got you. I’ve got you both," I sobbed, pressing my hands against the wound. "Michael! Get the car! Call the hospital! Now!"  

I looked up at the hallway. My mother was gone. 

"Ed!" Michael shouted, running toward me. "The private jet! She’s on the runway at the private strip next door. We can’t stop her!"  

"I don't care about her!" I shouted at him, my eyes full of tears. "I don't care about Lily! Help me save my wife!"  

We carried her out of that dark, rotting warehouse. The air was freezing, but Serena was turning hot, then cold. Her face was turning as white as paper. We put her in the back of the SUV, and I held her head in my lap. I kept my hands pressed hard against her stomach, praying to a God I had not spoken to in years.  

"Drive, Michael! Drive!"  

The drive to the hospital felt like it took forever. Every red light felt like a trap. I kept talking to her. I told her about the nursery we were going to build. I told her about the trips we would take. I told her I loved her over and over again, hoping my voice would keep her with me.  

Then, we turned just in time, and I saw the sign. Stanley’s Heart Hospital.

My blood turned cold. This was the place. This was the same hospital where we had stood just months ago. This was where Eleanor, my first love, had taken her last breath. I remembered the smell of the hallways. I remembered the sound of the machines.

"Not again," I whispered, while resting my  forehead against Serena’s. "Please, not again. I can't lose you too."  

The doctors and nurses were waiting at the door. They moved fast, pulling Serena out of my arms and onto a rolling bed. Everything became a blur of blue clothes and bright lights.  

"Gunshot wound to the stomach!" one nurse shouted.  

"She’s pregnant! I screamed.

I tried to follow them, but a security guard held me back.  

"Sir, you can't go in there," he said.  

"That's my wife!" I screamed, trying to get past him. "That's my child too!"  

"They need room to work, sir. Please. Sit down." 

I slumped into one of the chairs in the waiting room. I looked down at my hands. They were covered in her blood. It was drying on my skin, turning dark and hard. I felt like life was slipping out of my hands, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

I had all the money in the world. I had the Vance name. I had power. But none of it mattered. I could not buy one more minute of life for the woman I loved. I had lost Eleanor. Now, I was losing Serena because of my own mother’s greed.

Hours passed. One hour. Two. Five.

Michael sat a few chairs away. He had brought me a cup of coffee, but I could not touch it. He told me the news: Lily was gone. She had used the private jet to fly to a country with no rules to bring her back. She had stolen millions from the company accounts before she left.

"She escaped, Ed," Michael said.

"Let her go," I replied. My voice sounded empty, even to me. "If Serena dies, there is nowhere on this earth Lily can hide where I won't find her. But right now, I only care about saving my wife and child.

I looked at the clock. It had been eight hours. Eight hours since they took her behind those double doors. Eight hours of silence.

Every time a doctor walked past, my heart stopped. Every time the door opened, I stood up, hoping for news, but they always walked past me. 

I thought about the last thing Serena said to me before she went to her parents' house. She smiled and told me everything would be okay. I promised to protect her, but I failed.

I stood up and walked to the window. The sun was starting to come up. The sky was pale. The world was starting a new day, but for me, time had stopped the moment that gun went off.

"Mr. Vance?"

I turned around so fast I almost fell. A doctor was standing there. His green clothes were stained, and he looked tired. He was taking off his face mask.

"Is she..." I could not finish the sentence. The word "dead" felt like a bullet in my own throat.

"She is still with us," the doctor said.

I felt all the air leave my lungs. I grabbed the back of a chair to keep me from falling.

"But the situation is very serious," the doctor said. "The bullet caused a lot of damage inside. She lost a lot of blood. We have stopped the bleeding, but she is in a coma.

"And the baby?" I asked, my voice shaking. "What about my baby?"

The doctor sighed and looked at the floor for a second. "The baby is very small, Mr. Vance. We had to do an emergency C-section to save them both. Your son is in the NICU. He is fighting.
"A son," I whispered. I had a son.

"You can see him for a moment," the doctor said. "But your wife... we don't know when, or if, she will wake up. The next twenty-four hours are very crucial." 

I walked down the long hallway. My legs felt heavy, like I was walking through deep water. I reached the glass window of the NICU. Inside, in a small plastic box covered in wires and tubes, was a tiny human being. He was so small he could fit in the palm of my hand.

He looked like Serena. He had her nose. He had her spirit, fighting for every breath.

"I'm here," I whispered against the glass. "I'm here, little man. Your mom is a fighter. You have to be one too.”

I leaned my head against the glass and cried. I was holding onto two lives by a single, thin thread.

I do not care about Lily right now. I just wanted my family back.