Until Autumn

Ashleigh begins to shake, her eyes glued to the door as I furiously work with Autumn to get this baby out.

There’s more banging as Ashleigh’s husband slams his fists against the door. “GET AWAY FROM MY WIFE,” he roars through the door. “UNLOCK THIS FUCKING DOOR.”

We all do our best, trying to ignore him as the door continues to rattle. I hear the sound of metal banging and look up to see him trying to break the window with his gun. “Ah, fuck, fuck, fuck,” Autumn murmurs under her breath, trying to keep her tone low as to not make anything worse for Ashleigh.

I quickly scan over her heart rate and shake my head as an anxious breath escapes through my lips. This isn’t good. It’s moments like this where I’m happy to work within the walls of a hospital. I don’t know how the people out in the field do it. I’m sure they wouldn’t see bullshit like this every day but at least they’d be better prepared for it.

The door rattles again as he slams his shoulder into it and with one more furious blow, the door buckles under the pressure and splinters into pieces. “NOOO,” Ashleigh cries out as her husband comes tearing into the room.

He shakes off the shock of getting through the door before righting himself and stepping toward us, the gun dangling dangerously by his side. His sour gaze sweeps over his battered wife before coming to me. “I told you to get away from my wife,” he spits, his tone full of spite. “She’s coming home with me.”

“Ashleigh is not going anywhere,” I say, discreetly stepping closer to her to block her husband’s view of Autumn. “Your baby’s life is at risk. I need to deliver her as soon as possible.”

The guy steps forward and raises his gun, pointing it directly at my chest. A sharp, fearful gasp comes tearing out of Autumn behind me but I don’t dare look at her as the bastard steps closer again. “I said get away from my wife.”

I clench my jaw, my hands raising so that he can see them clearly. “Okay, I’m stopping,” I say, turning to him. I step around Ashleigh, making a show of halting my work while putting myself directly in front of her and Autumn, keeping me his main focus. “Ashleigh is in dire need of medical attention. Your baby will not survive if I was to close up your wife and send her home. Do you understand that?”

He steps into me, the tip of his gun pressed against my chest. “The bitch is dead anyway. No one gets away with running from me. You hear me?”

I see fucking red. The whole point of what I do is to preserve and protect human life and this fucker has the nerve to walk into my fucking OR, force my hand, and threaten my patient.

No, not going to fucking happen. Not today and certainly not in my fucking OR.

I step closer, his gun pressing harder into my chest. “I kindly suggest that you step out of my OR and shut the fuck up. I have two patients on the table, both needing urgent medical attention which you are keeping them from. If either of them were to lose their lives, that would be on you, and I can guarantee that I will come after you with the full force of the law if anything were to happen to them. Now get out of my OR so I can get back to saving your wife and daughter.”

His eyes narrow as his hand balls into a fist by his side. His gun remains unwavering and filled with determination, and as his eyes tighten, I see his decision to finish me off and pull the trigger.

Not gonna happen, motherfucker.

My hand flies up with the scalpel still securely between my fingers, plunging it into the bastard’s neck. He screams out in agony, falling back as I leave the sharp tool protruding from his neck.

Autumn shrieks as Ashleigh gasps in horror while her husband grabs the scalpel and yanks it out from his neck.

Big. Fucking. Mistake.

Blood spurts from his wound, instantly drenching his shirt. He slams his hand down over it, smart enough to realize that I hit the artery, and he’s in an extremely bad position. Especially as the man he’s threatening with a gun is the one person in the room who could save his life.

It’ll only be seconds before he collapses to the ground.

His skin quickly fades to white and as he watches me with anger in his eyes, I know it’ll only be a moment before he’s gone. He drops to his knees, the blood spurting from between his fingers and pooling on the ground beneath him, but I don’t dare move.

It’s almost as though it happens in slow motion. His body rocks as his knees hit the ground. He falls forward, catching himself with his hand on the linoleum, the gun still curled tightly around his fingers.