Chapter 55

“Quinn, please don’t do this. Just take me to the hospital. It’s too early for the baby.”

Quinn scoffs, darting evil eyes at me as if I’ve just spit on her or something.

“Are you surprised? You’ve done nothing but poison the baby with your awful ideology. That’s why it’ll be best if I take her. She’ll be raised right by a good mother.”

I stare at her in disbelief as she says these crazy things. This whole time she’s just been pretending to be sane while plotting against my unborn baby like this is some insane Lifetime movie. I don’t even know when she started thinking like this. Nothing had changed in how she was acting other than being distant, but she had just had a miscarriage. I expected her to take some time for herself, not devise a plan to steal my child. It’ll be a cold day in hell before she lays a hand on me, friend or not, and it’s looking like not.

She continues driving down a long road until it turns into gravel. Slowing the car, she pulls up to a little shack with its lights on. I know this place as well as she does. We used to come to this shack and smoke weed after school. It was abandoned, and no one ever thought to tear it down or try to renovate it.

“Quinn, what the fuck are we doing here?” I look around. The trees surrounding the house give it a secluded look, but I know for a fact that traffic is close. All I have to do is get away.

I know it sounds like an easy plan, and it probably would be—if I wasn’t having contractions. Still in the car, I double over with stomach and back pain. Nausea washes over me from the pain, causing me to throw up in Quinn’s car.

“Ah God, Eden! Let’s get you inside. Everything is going to be fine. As soon as I get the baby out, you’ll feel a lot better. I’ve been doing a lot of research.”

Yeah, I don’t think Google is sufficient to learn how to birth a premature baby. There is no way she’s getting me into that house. If I don’t fight now, she’s going to kill my baby and me. As much as I should hate her for this, deep down, I get it. I get that losing a baby can make you think differently. I can’t imagine what's going on in Quinn’s mind, but she has to know that none of this is right. I would love to sit down and reason with her, but I’m scared that I’m going to die. I’m scared that my baby will die and Jasper will live the rest of his life feeling guilty. And, in my last moments, I’ll feel like shit if I don’t fight.

Wiping vomit from my mouth, I groan, pretending to be in pain even though the contraction settled seconds ago. Quinn gets out of the car, grabbing some things from the trunk before coming around to my door. It’s now or never.

She opens my door, and I slowly get out, slightly hunched over. Leaning into me, she takes my arm to help me, and I use her closeness to shove my elbow up into her chin. Her neck snaps back as she falls to the ground. Now, I’ve seen horror movies, and the one thing I hate is when they hit the killer one measly time before trying to escape only to get caught. Thankfully, this isn’t a movie. As Quinn sits up, I punch her square in the face, knocking her out cold.

Everything she’s holding sprawls all over the ground, including her cell phone. Grabbing it, I call for help before calling Jasper. He stays on the phone until help comes, and by the time they pull up, I’m sitting in the car with the door open, basically screaming into the phone because I can feel the baby coming. The paramedics rush to me, ignoring Quinn hogtied on the ground with the same rope she planned on using to restrain me.

While I’m being loaded into the ambulance, the police come to gather Quinn. Before they shut the doors, I see her being put into a cop car with tears streaming down her face. She looks so broken and weak that I barely recognize her. I hope she gets the help she needs to get through this, but her actions have solidified the fact that I can never trust her again.

I arrive at the hospital in time to deliver my baby with no medical intervention, thanks to Quinn. I don’t know if I’m in danger, but the moment I see my tiny baby, I know things aren’t good. I don’t even get to hold her since nearly every nurse on the floor is trying to make sure that my sweet girl is okay. As for me, it takes a while for me to stop bleeding, which causes the doctor to worry a lot, especially when I start to pale.

Around 10, I’m settled in a room, and Jasper is allowed to come in. When he reaches the door, his anger fades and tears take over. He rushes to my bedside, pulling me close.

“I thought you weren’t going to make it. I nearly lost my mind when the doctor came to update me. She said you were bleeding a lot.”

“I'm okay. I'm worried about the baby.”

“What the fuck was Quinn thinking?” Jasper shakes his head in confusion.

“She wasn’t in her right mind and probably hasn’t been for a long time. I hope she gets the help she needs.”

“Quinn can rot in hell for all I care, and I don’t care what you say, we’re pressing charges.”

“But—”

“But nothing. She kidnapped you and could’ve killed you.”

Sighing, I lean back in the bed as Jasper smoothes my hair back.

“It was so scary having nurses surrounding me with worried faces. They knew the baby was coming too early and there was nothing they could do to stop it. The doctor looked concerned the entire birth, and when the baby started to cry, it was like everyone in the room sighed in relief. They thought my baby was going to come out dead, and I saw it all over their faces.” A tear runs down my cheek at the memory of all their expressions. No smiles, no laughter, no special moment between mother and baby. Quinn ripped all of that from my grasp.

The nurse comes in and lets us know that our baby is doing well in the NICU. She tells us that we can see her tomorrow morning since it’s already late. Once we’re a little more relaxed, Jasper fills me in on some news of his own.

“Harper isn’t coming.”

“Why?”

“He wants to but thinks staying away is for the best. He doesn’t want to come and distract us from the baby.”

“Is that the excuse he gave you?” I look down at my hands, trying to ignore the pain in my gut at learning he's refusing to come. I understand that things are rocky right now, but I would come running if anything happened to him.

“Just give him time, baby. He’s being a jerk right now, but we have a lot more to focus on, and so does he.”

“Seems like everyone in my life is changing.”

“And so are you. Baby, you’re a mother. We’re parents. Everything about us is going to change.” Jasper lets out a little laugh, kissing my forehead.

He’s absolutely right. If anything, I’ve already changed. If Quinn had tried to only hurt me, then I would've tried to reason with her, but I was thinking of my baby. When it comes to my child, there is no reasoning with anyone who tries to hurt her.

Later that night, when Jasper is sleeping on a cot, I lay awake, flipping through the TV channels, wishing I was in my own bed. I also wish I could see my baby girl. Hell, I don’t even have a name for her yet. I had highlighted so many that I never got to run past Jasper. However, there was one that I always went back to, and it’s the only one sticking out in my mind.

“Jasper, I have a name for the baby,” I say loud enough for him to stir.

“Go to sleep, Eden,” he groans, throwing the blanket over his head.

Rolling my eyes, I get as comfortable as I can, spending the rest of the night thinking of my baby girl.

Iris.