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When I woke up, I was being wheeled around. I was aware that my shirt was off, but weirdly, my boots were still on. They were taking me down a hallway, and there was some chaos around me, but no one seemed to be in a terrible rush. Apparently, other people had been hurt when the roof collapsed, and weren’t as lucky as I was.
“Allison,” I tried to get out, but the nurses couldn’t hear me. Or they were too busy to pay attention. I couldn’t tell which.
People filtered in and out of the room I was placed in, and I overheard some distressing news about some of my brothers. It was a small hospital, and there were only so many people available to take care of the sudden influx of people. Since I wasn’t in any immediate danger, I was left to recover on my own for a bit.
When a few of the nurses came back to check in on me, I immediately caught the eyes of one of them and she leaned in close.
“Allison,” I said. “Allison Daniels. Someone needs to call her.”
“Is she listed as your emergency contact?” the woman asked, fiddling with the fluid bag above me and typing something onto the laptop by my bed.
“No,” I said. “But I need to let her know.”
“Allison Daniels?” she asked, sudden confusion in her voice.
“Yes,” I said. “She lives on Birdsong Lane.”
“She’s here,” the nurse said. The tone in her voice was odd, though.
“Can she come back to see me?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “No, she can’t.”
“Why?” I asked.
“She listed you as her emergency contact,” she said. “So I guess I can tell you, but you need to stay calm.”
“What the hell?” I said, adrenaline overriding the pain and giving me a little bit more bass in my voice.
“She has gone into premature labor,” she said. “She is in the ER right now.”
“What?” I asked. “How? When?”
“Apparently, she heard about the collapse and went into shock,” she said.
“I have to see her,” I said, sitting up.
“Whoa, whoa, Mr. Beasley,” she said. “Can I get some help here?”
Suddenly, a host of nurses appeared from the surrounding area, all attempting to keep me in bed.
“I need to get to her,” I said as I struggled. “I’m fine. Just let me go.”
“We can’t recommend you get out of bed right now sir.”
“Noted. Now get the hell out of my way.”
I stood up, swinging my legs to the ground. My knee sent shockwaves of pain to my brain, along with my hip and various other parts of me, but I yanked off the EKG leads and all the other stuff they had attached to me. The nurse with the booming voice approached me with a clipboard and a pen, apparently unfazed by any of it.
“Sign here for your release,” she said. “She’s on the third floor.”
I scribbled my name, and a hospital gown appeared in front of my face.
“You have to have a shirt, sir,” a voice said from behind me. I took the gown and opened it, putting it on backward so it was like an open shirt.
I understood that they were just trying to do their jobs, but no one was going to keep me from Allison and the baby. I was down the hall and almost to the elevators when I heard my name being called by a familiar voice.
“Marvin?” I asked.
“Ryan, thank God,” he said. “You’re okay!”
“I’ll live,” I said. “Did you bring Allison in?”
“I did,” he said. “She’s still in the ER. They said they were going to transfer her to delivery.”
There was a concern in his voice I had never heard before. Marvin was known for his monotone, slow drawl. For him to be this animated was something I had never come across. It warmed my heart a little to know he cared that much.
“Thank you, Marvin,” I said. “I’ll let you know as soon as I know something.”
I hobbled away, down the hall to the emergency room. The lady at the desk took one look at me and grabbed her phone, not bothering to try to stop me herself. I went to the door leading to the ER and tried the knob. It was locked. There was an intercom speaker, so I hit the button and gave my name and who I wanted to see. To my surprise, the door buzzed and unlocked. I had been prepared to fight with someone on it.
I reached the room where Allison was by limping along and looking in each one. When I found her, her eyes lit up, and I went to her, letting her throw her arms around me. We kissed, and I felt my body relax.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I am now,” she said. “What about you?”
“I’ll be fine,” I said.
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Allison clenched, and her eyes slammed shut. She was clearly in pain as a contraction hit her.
