A Debt To Pay

56

I writhed in agony on the floor, exhausting my lungs with sharp screams that pierced the room. The feeling wasn't painful like a cut or a scratch, it was more like my insides were boiling, scolding my organs. It came in waves, dulling for merely a second to allow me to catch my breath before crashing through me again, causing me to thrash around on the floor in an attempt to find any release.

"What did you do?" I gasped out, my breathe quickening.

"I helped you. Once the baby is gone, you can be free from Logan," my dad said softly.

My eyes widened and I focused on the only word that stuck in my mind. It bounced around in my head and for a moment, the physical pain was nothing compared to the emotional pain I felt. "Gone? No, no please don't do this!" I screamed, squirming at his feet. "Please don't kill my baby!"

"Mia, I'm doing this for you, once the baby is gone, you will realise you don't really love Logan and he doesn't love you. He is manipulating you sweetheart," he said.

My tears flowed down my cheeks, soaking the carpet beneath me as I curled into the fetal position to try and relieve some of the pain. I was robbed of the ability to speak. All I could do was shake my head and whimper in pain.

"The tea," Ashley breathed, staring down at me with wide eyes flooded with fear. "Dad, do you really think this is a good idea?"

"Ashley go upstairs," he ordered.

"But dad," she argued, glancing between the two of us, "she's in pain."

"She'll be fine, go Ashley. Now."

I cried. "Ashley, please don't leave me," I begged, staring up at her. "Please." She stared at me with an apologetic look and then met dads stern eyes.

"Sorry," she whispered, backing away slowly while watching me. She disappeared, leaving me feeling alone and in pain.

For what felt like hours, I writhed on the floor, holding my stomach tightly and crying and crying until I couldn't breathe any longer. "Please," I begged over and over but my father simply watched me from the sofa.

"Mia!" Logans voice suddenly boomed through the room. I sobbed at the thought of what he would do when he found out what happened.

"Logan," I cried, watching him stomp angrily into the room. He locked eyes on my father, who rose from the sofa to face off to him.

Logan didn't hesitate to swing the butt of his gun against my dads head, knocking him to the floor unconscious. Kicking his body aside, he came closer to me and scooped me up in his arms. "Logan!" I cried, burying my head in his chest and soaking his shirt with my tears.

"It's ok," he whispered. Carefully, he lifted me off the floor and carried me out of the house, slowing to a stop beside the car. One of his guards opened the door for him and he gently lowered me onto the back seat.

I couldn't stand the searing pain that continued to erupt inside of me. I felt as though I was going to die and knowing that my baby actually would, it caused an even worse pain in my chest. "I want to go home," I cried out, reaching out for Logan's hand as he stood on the door way, turning his back to me to face my sister.

"I'm sorry," she whispered softly. "I didn't know."

Logan shook his head. "This isn't your fault," he told her, squeezing my hand comfortingly while I screamed in pain. "Thanks for calling me."

She nodded, tears gathering in her eyes. "Thanks for not killing him."

All Logan did was nod before sliding onto the seat beside me and closing the door, cradling me against him while the driver pulled away from my house.

"Here," he said, handing me a bottle of cold water, "drink this, it might help."

I nodded, gulping down the ice cold liquid in hopes that it was soothe the burning sensation in my stomach. "He killed it," I sobbed, shaking violently in his arms.

"We don't know that," Logan responded, his tone drenched in emotion. I knew he was as heartbroken as I was. This was our child. And now it was gone.

"Yes we do," I muttered in defeat, "it's gone."

All I could do was cry. I had never felt emotional pain like this before, not even when I lost my mother. I hadn't had long to get used to the idea of having a baby but now, knowing that it wasn't going to happen, I felt my heart shatter in my chest.

The car journey home seemed never ending. The pain in my stomach was still excruciating and all I wanted was for someone to take it all away. To make it all stop. To take me back to this morning and never let me go home.

"How could he do this to me?" I sobbed when we finally rolled up onto the driveway. Logan was already out the car before it had properly stopped and ran around to my side, hauling me out as quickly and as carefully as possible.

"I don't know," he mumbled in response, his eyes dark as he looked down at my stomach. He carried me all the way down to the hospital and in a few short moments I was surrounded my nurses and doctors while Logan barked orders at them.

I couldn't pay attention to a word they were saying as they hooked me up to machines and poked me with needles. I couldn't bring myself to care about the state I was in, whether I would be okay. All I cared about was the baby but I knew it was too late.

My child was gone.

"Hey," Logan said softly as he moved to take a seat beside me on the bed. Clearly he was finished yelling at everyone in the hospital but I hadn't heard a single word he'd said. "It's going to be okay, everything is going to be fine."

I stared up at him, seeing the determination in his eyes. "Do you honestly believe that?" I asked him, my voice cracking.

"Yes," he stated immediately, "there's no way we are losing this baby Mia, there's just no way."

I watched as a nurse approached me with a needle, a sympathetic look on her face. I winced, feeling it prick my arm. "Please stay with me," I begged Logan.

He took both of my hands in his as the drowsiness began to kick in. "I promise," he whispered softly. "I'm right here."

I nodded, sinking down into the bed, noticing the scorching pain had faded into dull ache in my stomach now. However the pain in my chest didn't seem to go away, it stayed with me right up until I fell out of consciousness.