Until Autumn

My heart races as I look across and take in Autumn’s panicked stare. I can’t expect her to know the sounds of our different alarms, but judging from the chilling look in her eye, she has a pretty good idea what it is.

Ashleigh glances around, her eyes wide and frightened. “What … what is that?” she questions, the fear beginning to cripple her.

“Okay,” I announce to the room, holding the scalpel up as I do everything I can to keep calm and not make anything worse. “The hospital is going into lockdown. If you are not necessary in this room right now, then you need to leave and follow hospital policy. There are many patients on this ward, each who need you more now than ever. Go.”

Without another word, every single one of my support staff drops what they are doing and quickly walks out the door. “Suzi,” I call before she disappears.

She stops and looks back at me with wide eyes. “What do you need?”

“Find out what’s going on and report back as soon as you can.”

“Yes, Dr. Mayson,” she says, nodding her head before quickly ducking out of the room.

I let out a heavy sigh, and as I look back at Ashleigh, my whole future flashes before my eyes. “What are you doing?” I demand, focusing my glare on Autumn as she remains right by Ashleigh’s side. “You need to leave. We’re in lockdown.”

She shakes her head, holding her ground. While I usually love her stubborn nature, right now, it’s going to tear me apart. “No, I’m not leaving you here by yourself. Are you insane?”

“Autumn,” I warn, contemplating the risk of flying across the room and grabbing her by the waist just to throw her out of here. She might not be safe out in the hallway, but considering the fact that Ashleigh just stumbled through the doors of my hospital while in the middle of running from her abusive husband, I’d dare say that’s the reason for our lockdown.

“No. You can’t do this by yourself. Ashleigh needs someone by her side and so do you. You may be an incredible doctor, but you’re not superman. There are too many things to do and only one of you. So, I’m staying whether you like it or not and we’re going to get this done.”

I clench my jaw. I didn’t realize that I could ever be so angry with the woman I was in love with, but apparently, it’s more than possible. I’m just seconds away from physically hauling her ass out of here when Ashleigh’s hand whips around and grabs Autumn’s arm, almost clawing at it as she tries to gain her attention. “What’s going on?” she demands, the fear in her eyes like nothing I’ve ever seen before. “It’s him, isn’t it? He’s coming for me. He’s going to kill me.”

“No, Ashleigh,” I say, desperately trying to keep her calm. “There’s no way of knowing that. I told you that you were safe with me, and I meant that. I will not let any harm come to you.”

Autumn clings onto her hand and squeezes it tight. “There are many reasons for a hospital to go into lockdown. It could be anything. Don’t be scared. What’s important right now is delivering your baby as safely as possible.”

“No,” she panics, shaking her head. “It’s him. I can feel it. He’s coming for me.”

“I’m going to keep you safe,” I tell her as my gaze flicks across to her heart monitor to watch it steadily increase. “But to do that, I need you to work with me. Your heart rate is getting dangerously high and I need you to try and bring it back down. Take a slow, deep breath, count to five, and start again.”

Ashleigh nods and I pull the partition down to see her face better. She starts taking her breaths and closes her eyes as she focuses on counting to five over and over again.

Autumn looks to me and we both listen as the beeping from the monitor finally begins to slow; not enough to get us out of the danger zone, though. I get back to work, knowing that every wasted second is another second that we’re putting this baby’s life at risk.

Sensing that Ashleigh is finally starting to relax a little, I look at Autumn, and while I’m pissed that she’s still here and not doing everything she can to keep herself safe, I’m thankful. Doing this by myself isn’t exactly ideal. “Can you give me a hand?”

Autumn nods as Ashleigh reluctantly releases her tight grip on her hand and she moves in beside me. She’s witnessed more than her fair share of cesareans so she should be fine to help. Either way, she’s all I’ve got right now, so any help is welcome.

Autumn silently works beside me as the sound of the alarm bounces off every wall of my OR. We hear panicked cries from outside the room, people running up and down the hall, newborn babies being disturbed, and screaming for peace.