The Order: Hit and Run by Emma Cole Page 0,9

the baby was his and that they were going to get married. He kept harassing her to the point she’d had to get a restraining order and even had an amniocentesis done to prove the baby was mine.

With all the issues, I'd been scared to propose, afraid she’d shoot me down. At least she did let me help with expenses, so she could finish out her senior year, and when I asked her to marry me over spring break when she came to visit me in California, she’d said yes.

Now I sit and rub the empty spot where I’d put her engagement ring that day not so long ago and the wedding band today, figuring they’d removed them for surgery. I softly begin to sing “You Are My Sunshine” to her, one of ‘our’ songs. I’d make her hold the phone up to her stomach, so I could sing to her and the baby for months now. When I’m finished, the nurse pulls back the curtain, coming in to check her vitals again.

“Umm, can you find her rings, please? And is there a locker or somewhere I can store my bag and her purse?” The nurse nods and leads me out to a hall with a bank of lockers.

On one is Cora’s information, and in it is an envelope with her rings in it. There’s just enough room for my duffel in the bottom and her purse on the shelf. I tuck her rings into her bag and shut the locker, spinning the dial to lock it.

I feel a pressure in my chest, this time more like someone sitting on it than from being emotional. That’s my cue, I bet. I use the bathroom before I go back into the room to sit with Cora. When I get back, the nurse is removing the empty blood bag and replacing it with saline.

“She’s doing quite well, considering. Keep talking to her, and if you need anything, think something is wrong, or she wakes up, hit the call button.” She shows me where the button is located on the bed rail and takes her leave.

A wave of dizziness hits me, and I slump heavily in the chair that’s positioned near Cora’s head. I take her hand in mine again, speaking quietly to her.

“I’m sorry, baby. I’ll have to go soon, but I so wish I could stay longer with you.” Positive I feel her fingers move, my eyes dart to her face. Her eyes are slitted, and she starts to moan softly. I can’t tell if she’s in pain, trying to talk, or both. “Hey, there. You’re going to be okay. Let me get the nurse.” I hit the button and take the opportunity while I’m waiting to kiss her lips, about the only place on her face not bruised, minus a small split from where the airbag hit, murmuring, “Love you.” My energy is waning, and I sit back against the chair, never taking my eyes off Cora’s.

“She’s awake?” the nurse asks, with a team of others following her in. I nod toward her, and they get to work, checking her over and testing responses.

They never notice when my eyes close, and I slump over. Cora does though. Her monitors start beeping as she tries to get their attention, voice cracking when she calls my name. No one has even told her that the baby is gone. I force my eyes open briefly and give her a wobbly smile. Somehow she understands, and her absolute panic is plain on her face.

Chapter Four

8 weeks later

Cora

I’m crying. Again. It never ends, always weeping for one reason or another. Or no reason at all.

I’m packing up the last of Kael’s belongings into a storage unit. They’d been shipped to the on-base housing, but since we’d never taken residence in the one assigned, it has all been sitting in a room in the commissary waiting to be claimed. Frankly, I’m surprised they hadn’t tossed it all out.

I’m still in my crappy little one-room apartment, except now I have to pay an exorbitant monthly rent since I’m no longer pregnant. And hadn’t that been a blow? I’d lost the baby and Kael on the same day. I’d found the letter Kael had left in my purse but haven’t had the courage to read it. I still don’t understand what happened. According to everyone else, he’d been fine, refused to get checked out. If he had been examined or told anyone he hit his head on the