Chapter 10 (Courtney)
“Everything is going to be alright, an ambulance is on the way.” Mr. Milton, the store’s manager, said while wiping my face with a warm towel. My entire body was in excruciating pain. I knew my right eye was swollen because I could barely see out of it. The front of my cream colored shirt was covered in blood. Mr. Milton and the store clerk tried to help me up from the ground, but I was in too much pain to move. I wanted to call somebody, but I didn’t know where my phone or my purse was. The only thing I could do right now was pray. I especially prayed for the health of my unborn baby. I would be devastated if I lost this baby. This pregnancy was my last attempt at winning my husband back. As cold hearted as Jay was, he had a soft spot for his kids so he wouldn’t leave me while I was pregnant. Well, that was what I was hoping for anyway. I couldn’t believe Tori did this to me even after I told her I was pregnant. She was salty about what happened with me and Bentley and I didn’t blame her, but she could have waited until after my baby was born. “Who was that lady you were fighting with?” Mr. Milton asked, kneeling next to me. As much as I hated her and wanted her to go down, snitching was not something I could do. Tori would be dealt with in a different way. If she thought my sisters and I beat her down before, that was nothing compared to what was coming. “I don’t know,” I lied, “She hit me from behind so I didn’t see her face.” They couldn’t prove if I was telling the truth or not, so they had to take my word. “We couldn’t get her plate number because she backed out of the parking lot,” he said shaking his head. “Can someone call my sister and let her know what’s going on?” I asked in a raspy voice. I wanted to call Chariece, Camilla was the last person I wanted to see right now. “Okay, we have your phone and purse. I’ll bring it to you so you can call someone,” Mr. Milton said, walking away. I heard the sirens in the distance and I was relieved that help was on the way. With a few bandages I would be fine, but I needed to know if my baby was alright. “Here you go,” Mr. Milton said, handing me my phone. “Can you dial my sister’s number for me please?” I asked him. After dialing the number I gave him, he handed me the phone just as the ambulance was pulling up. “Hello?” Chariece answered on the second ring. “I’m about to go to the hospital,” I said into the receiver. “Courtney?!” She asked loudly, verifying who I was. “Yeah, it’s me,” I replied lowly. “What happened, why are you going to the hospital?” Chariece was always the calm one, but even she sounded nervous right now. Before I had a chance to answer, the paramedics were rushing over to assist me. “She got attacked by some woman in the parking lot,” Mr. Milton told them. One of the female paramedics came over with a first aid kit and started applying some type of ointment to my wounds. “We’re going to need to bring you in to see a doctor. You have a few deep cuts that may require some attention,” the paramedic told me. “I’m pregnant, I need to have my baby checked out,” I told her while holding my stomach. “Oh God, how far along are you?” She asked me. “I’m four months today,” I replied. “Okay, let’s get you to the hospital. We need the gurney!” She yelled to her male co- worker. “Courtney!” Chariece yelled through the phone. I had completely forgotten about her and she was going crazy. “What hospital are we going to?” I asked, “I want my sister to meet me there.” “West Jefferson is the closest so we’ll be going there,” she replied. I told the information to my sister and hung up the phone. “Can you stand?” The male paramedic asked me. I was still in a lot of pain so I shook my head, saying no. “Okay, I’m going to lift you on the count of three.” He said, standing over me. After counting to three, he lifted me up and I instantly knew something was wrong. “Ahhh!” I screamed to the top of my lungs. I felt the warm liquid between my legs, but I was too scared to look down. The bottom of my stomach starting cramping and I knew that wasn’t a good sign. “Oh God, please don’t let this be happening to me!” I cried out in pain. The paramedics put me in the back of their truck and rushed me away from the scene. The blaring sirens made me feel more uncomfortable because I knew this was indeed an emergency. I was so scared and being alone didn’t help the situation. As much as my mama aggravated me sometimes, I would give anything if she were here to comfort me right now. Maybe I should have called her before calling my sister. Her answer to everything was praying and that was something that I needed lots of. “Please hurry, I think I might be losing my baby,” I cried. It felt like this ride was taking forever. “We’re almost there, ma’am,” the paramedic responded and just as she promised, we were pulling up to the emergency entrance within the next two minutes. Both paramedics rushed to the back of the truck and pulled me out. Once they wheeled me in, they informed the doctors of what was going on with me. “What’s your name, dear?” One of the doctors asked me. “Courtney Carter,” I responded. “Okay Courtney, I’m Dr. Lee. We’re going to bring you to labor and delivery to see what’s going on with the little one,” he said while holding my hand. Dr. Lee was a short, bald headed, man, and his voice was very comforting to me. I nodded my head in response and we were on our way. When we got to labor and delivery, two orderlies were told to move me from the gurney to the hospital bed. Once they moved me, I looked over to the gurney that I came in on and almost lost my mind. I screamed as I saw the dark red blood that stained most of the once white sheets and from the pains that was shooting throughout my entire body. “It’s okay sweetheart, we’re going to give you something for the pain,” Dr. Lee said. He called a nurse in to remove my clothes and start an I.V on me. She ended up cutting my pants off, but it didn’t matter since they were already ruined by all the blood. “How far along were you?” She asked me when she was done. Maybe she didn’t realize it, but she had just confirmed the loss of my baby with one little word, were. All hope was lost for me. I felt like I was having an outer body experience and everything was moving in slow motion. My baby didn’t survive and there was nothing I could do about it. Dr. Lee was saying something to the nurse, but I didn’t hear one word he said. A little while later, my eyelids started getting heavy, so I knew I must have been given something to help me relax. With any luck, I would go to sleep and never wake up.
