Insanity (Sequel To Madness)

The Beginning Of Torment

I clutch my stomach, feeling the bullet pierce through my skin. I only have one thought as I fall; Marisa. Please don't let this bullet harm her. Shane almost leaps towards me with his arms out, catching me before I land on the ground. Jack rushes to my side not long after and pulls a knife out of his sleave.
"Where did it come from? I'll get 'em." Jack says in a threatening tone. Shane shakes his head and looks down at me.
"We can't worry about it now, we need to get her medical immediately." Shane says. His eyes dart around the room and an upset face is plastered to him. "Didn't you lot hear me? Get my wife medical!" Shane shouts angrily. People scamper around the room trying to help me. Soon Maddie kneels down next to me as well and rests my body on top of her. Shane dashes around shouting orders at them all. Jack still holds his knife trying to find whoever is responsible. And I just lie in Maddie's lap while the world slowly fades away. Maddie's tears fall on my face while she runs her fingers over the edges of my face. I think she's saying something, but I can't hear her anymore. I suddenly see Dr. Garret run up the steps towards me, but I don't see anything after that. It all fades away, and all I can think about is the health of my unborn child. I just hope she is okay, she needs to be okay. Not just for her, but for me. I need her, I need my daughter... I need Marisa, and if I don't have her anymore... I don't know what I will have.

***

I flutter my eyes open and see blinding lights hanging above me. A woman in a nurse's outfit shouts something, it just sounds muffled. I try to move my arms in a desperate attempt to feel for my daughter. But my arms are too weak and don't move much. Dr. Garret stands over me now and says something, but I can't hear him well. He stares at me, waiting for my response, but I don't give him one.
"What are you feeling now Violet?" He asks me, giving me that same expecting look. I blink a few times and look around the room. It looks much more fancy than the regular hospital back home. It has equipment all around the room and my bed feels much softer than the normal ones ever did.
"Is Marisa okay?" I speak in a croaked, hoarse voice that comes from my dreadfully dry lips. Garret stares down at me, emotionless and repeats his question.
"How are you feeling Violet? I need to know this." He says, crossing his arms in an annoyed way.
"I feel like shit, is my baby okay?" I say with tears filling the brim of my eyes, threatening to fall.
"Where does it hurt? Or is it just a constant, all body pain? That is also common in gun shot wounds." Garret explains, slowly pacing in front of me. Just that action makes my head spin and I feel my whole body ache.
"My whole body hurts and I have a massive headache. Now, Garret, please just tell me that my baby is okay." I beg as one of the tears slips my eye and begins it's way down my cheek. Garret stops pacing and turns completely to face me.
"I'm very sorry Mrs. Lancaster, but your child did not make it through your healing process. She would have taken you with her if we didn't do what we did. And since you were passed out, we got the permission of your recent husband for the surgery. I'm very sorry, I truly am, but that's the truth." Garret says. I feel my head spin even more and a high pitched squeak escape my lips. Tears fall from my eyes and I move my hand to clutch my chest. Some say that you'll never feel more pain than you do when you're a parent. Well, I've never cried more than the day I was told I wouldn't be one. Today, as Garret told me what had happened to my baby... I felt my heart break inside my chest and get flung inside my body, trying to fill the now empty space I have. I feel like I have a hole, a hole where she should be. She should still be there, hugging close to me every night. But she isn't, and she never will ever again. I squeeze my eyes closed and feel a knot in my stomach and another in my throat. I can't swallow, I can't do anything without her. I hear his words playing inside my mind, echoing in the endless paths of my brain.
"She would have taken you with her if we didn't do what we did. And since you were passed out, we got the permission from your recent husband for the surgery."
Wait. My recent husband had them do the surgery? I force my eyes open through the pain my feel inside and stare at Garret.
"Where is Shane?" I spit out at him, trying hard to speak the words. It felt as if I had to break down a wall of grief before I could say that. Garret nods and motions his hand towards the door. I hear the door swing open and footsteps calmly approach me. Shane's face comes into vision and I have to close mg eyes again.
"Why did you do that?" I spit at him, breaking my wall once again.
"Do what?" Shane asks me, confusion in his voice. Oh, so he doesn't know that he was the one who killed my child? What a joke.
"You took her from me... You had them take... Her..." I croak out and more tears join the rivers going down my cheeks.
"Violet, if I didn't she would have killed you too. I wasn't going to let you die too. I asked Mark before I did it, and he agreed with me. I'm sorry, but it was the right thing to do." Shane says, I feel his hand cupping my face. I shake my head in denial and let out a pained cough and wheeze. I pull my legs up to curl myself into a ball. When I was young, I always did this when I cried. I suppose it was just comforting to have someone there to just hug and hide me from the rest of the world. I wrap my arms over my stomach, it's so much smaller now. The feeling makes me cry even harder, making the agony inside me just grow.
"I'd... Rather die... Than feel... This pain..." I say in between cries and deep breathes. I feel a pair of arms pick me up off the bed and hold me bridal style... How ironic, as I am a bride technically. I shove my face into my hands and scream loudly out of full agony.
"I loved her too... But I love you more..." I hear a male voice whisper into my ear. I slide my eyes open and glance up to see who had picked me up. Mark stares down at me with tear stains covering his face.
"If you loved her then why'd you send her to her death?" I spit the words at him in anger and pained emotions that consume me.
"Because I wasn't going to lose you too." He responds.
"You lost me the second you agreed to her death." I hiss at him as more tears pour out of my eyes and stream down my cheeks.