Mafia Betrayal

Chapter Eight

Charlotte-Three Years Ago

"Ahhhhh!" I shrieked, bolting upright in bed and clutching at my stomach. A sharp pain had woken me up in the middle of the night, the same one I'd been getting over the last few weeks. Everyone talked about the 2nd trimester being the best, but as far as I was concerned, it sucked.

I couldn't sleep, I couldn't keep anything down, and most of the time, my back felt like it might explode. My blood pressure spiked and stayed high consistently, and my doctor put me on bed rest off and on. I was in the early stages of preeclampsia and had no energy whatsoever. It had been four months since we arrived in Switzerland and the appeal was quickly wearing off. I missed my mother, I missed Luca even more, and I cried almost every day. What was I thinking? Would this all be worth it?

There were several times in the last few months that I considered going back, begging for his forgiveness, and trying to make this work. Jenni was always there to talk me down, though, and remind me we were doing this to keep my little peanut safe. She did her best to stay positive, but I knew she was worried about my mental state. She'd hardly leave me side and was constantly checking in on me. Despite my protest, she even called Grant, alerting him about her worries and causing him to fly here immediately to stay with us for a few weeks. He had accepted that there wasn't going to be anything romantic between us again, and turned out to be a really good friend to us.

"Ahhh!" I moaned again, trying to adjust myself on the bed to ease some of the pressure.

Jenni came bursting through the door, flashing the lights on. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I just... ughhhhh." I groaned again. The pain was getting worse. Something was wrong.

"Okay, easy does it..." Jenni said, rushing to my side and rubbing my back softly. "Do you want me to get the heating pad?"

I sucked in a sharp breath, squeezing her hand. It was coming fast and more frequently now. They weren't contractions, but it certainly hurt like one. "I just want to breathe for a second." I said, trying to catch my breath.

"Okay. We can do that." Jenni clutched my hand, soothing me as best she could. Suddenly, she got quiet and her face turned white. "Char..."

I looked in the direction she was staring. My heart sank at the crimson stain of my sheets. Blood.

"What... what is that?" I asked, even though I knew full well what was going on. The searing pain and the rush of blood could only mean one thing.

"We're going to get you to the hospital. Just relax, okay? Everything is going to be fine." Jenni took charge, as much for her benefit as mine. "I'm going to wake Grant up. Why don't you get some sweats on? Do you think you can walk?"

I nodded silently, trying to grasp what was going on. I couldn't lose this baby. I risked everything for her; she was all I had left.

"Okay. It's going to be fine, Charlotte, I promise."

A few hours later, I laid in a hospital bed as Grant paced beside me. They only allowed one visitor back in Emergency at a time, and he and Jenni were taking turns. The on-call doctor had been in to examine me and let me know they were trying to get in touch with the doctor I'd been seeing through the whole pregnancy. People were in and out for hours, but we still weren't getting answers. The pain subsided, but I was uncomfortable and worried about what was going on.