The storm rolled into Seattle just after midnight. Wind howled against the glass. Heavy rain lashed the windows of our townhouse like angry fingernails. A loud crack of thunder shook the floorboards. Lightning flashed, throwing sharp, jagged shadows across the bedroom wall.
I lay on my side on the very edge of the mattress. The house was freezing. I had my hands resting protectively over my stomach.
Cristian was fast asleep next to me. His back was turned. He hadn't asked about my doctor’s appointment. He hadn't asked to see the ultrasound picture. It was sitting right there on my nightstand, a tiny black-and-white proof of our child. He hadn't even glanced at it. He just ate his dinner in total silence and went straight to bed.
Another boom of thunder exploded right above the house.
Instantly, the bedroom door flew open. It hit the wall with a loud bang.
Madalyn stood in the doorway. She wore her pink pajamas. She clutched her dirty stuffed rabbit by its neck. Her eyes were wide and filled with tears.
“Daddy!” she wailed loudly.
Cristian bolted upright. He rubbed his face, looking confused in the dark. “Maddie? What's wrong?”
“The thunder!” she cried. She ran across the room. She didn't go to his side of the bed to be comforted. She climbed right up the middle. She wedged herself forcefully between us. Her bony little elbows dug hard into the mattress.
“I'm scared,” she whimpered. She buried her face deep into Cristian's chest.
Cristian immediately wrapped his arms around her. “It's okay, sweetie. You're safe. You can sleep right here tonight.”
He didn't look at me. He didn't ask if I minded sharing our bed. He just pulled the heavy duvet over her shoulders and patted her back.
I shifted closer to the edge. I pulled my knees up high to shield my belly. “Cristian,” I whispered. My voice was tight. “She kicks in her sleep. It's not safe for the baby.”
He sighed heavily. It was a loud, dramatic sound of pure annoyance. “Laila, stop it. Look at her. She's terrified. Just go to sleep and stop making everything about you.”
He turned his back to me again. He curled his body around the girl, shielding her. I stared at the back of his head. My chest burned with a cold, hard anger.
The thunder rumbled again. Madalyn shifted under the covers. In a brief flash of lightning, I saw her face. She wasn't hiding in his chest anymore. She had turned her head. She was looking right at me over his shoulder.
Her eyes were wide, dark, and completely calm. There was no fear. There were no tears. Just a blank, chilling stare.
Hours passed. The storm outside raged on. The bedroom was pitch black.
Cristian's breathing grew deep and even. He was fast asleep. I lay wide awake. My whole body was rigid. Every muscle in my back ached. I kept my hands firmly locked over my stomach. I didn't trust her. I couldn't close my eyes.
The glowing red numbers on the digital clock read 3:14 AM.
Madalyn was perfectly still. She hadn't moved an inch for over an hour. She wasn't tossing or turning. She wasn't having a restless nightmare. She was breathing quietly.
Then, she shifted.
It wasn't a sleepy, random twitch. It was a deliberate, calculated movement. I felt the mattress dip. She pulled both of her knees tightly up to her chest. I could feel her bracing her back flat against Cristian's sleeping body for leverage.
I opened my mouth to speak. I wanted to tell her to stop.
Before I could make a single sound, she launched her legs forward.
Both of her feet drove directly into my pregnant abdomen with all her strength.
The impact was brutal.
A sickening, tearing pain ripped through my lower belly. All the air vanished from my lungs in a violent rush. It felt like a hot, heavy knife twisting deep inside me.
“Ah!” I screamed. The sound tore from my throat. It was raw and loud.
Instantly, Madalyn started thrashing wildly. “No! Don't let the monsters get me!” she shrieked at the top of her lungs. She kicked the blankets off. She threw her arms around in the air. She put on a flawless, hysterical show of a night terror.
Cristian jolted awake in a panic. “Maddie! Maddie, wake up! It's just a dream!” He grabbed her shoulders, shaking her gently to break the fake spell.
I couldn't speak. I curled into a tight ball on the edge of the bed. I gasped for air, but I couldn't catch my breath. The agonizing pain was blinding. It radiated down my thighs and shot up into my chest.
“Laila?” Cristian finally noticed me crying out. “What's wrong with you?”
“She kicked me,” I choked out. Hot tears streamed down my face. I clutched my stomach. “She kicked the baby.”
“She was having a nightmare!” he yelled defensively. He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. “She didn't mean it! Calm down!”
I tried to sit up, but another massive wave of agony hit me. I squeezed my eyes shut and bit my lip. Then, I felt it.
A warm, wet sensation was pooling between my legs.
Pure terror seized my heart. I threw the heavy duvet off my legs.
The white sheets were stained with bright red blood.
Cristian froze. All the color instantly drained from his face. He stared at the dark red patch spreading on the mattress. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.
“Call 911,” I whispered. My voice shook violently. “Call them now!”
He scrambled off the bed. He knocked the bedside lamp over. It crashed onto the hardwood floor and shattered. He fumbled for his phone on the nightstand. His hands were shaking so badly he dropped it once. He scooped it up and dialed.
“I need an ambulance,” he yelled into the phone. His voice was frantic. “My wife is pregnant. There's blood. A lot of blood.”
I didn't look at him. I didn't look at Madalyn. She was sitting perfectly still on the bed now, watching the blood soak into the sheets with wide eyes.
I just curled my hands over my stomach. I rocked back and forth, crying silently. *Please,* I prayed to whatever was listening. *Please save my baby.*
Ten minutes later, red and blue lights flashed brightly through the bedroom window. The siren wailed loudly over the sound of the pouring rain. Heavy boots stomped up the stairs. The paramedics burst into the room with a stretcher.
“Ma'am, we've got you,” a woman in a uniform said. She grabbed my arm gently.
They lifted me onto the stretcher. The sudden movement sent fresh, blinding waves of fire through my stomach. I squeezed my eyes shut and groaned.
As they wheeled me out of the bedroom, I turned my head back.
Cristian was standing by the bed. He wasn't grabbing his shoes. He wasn't following the paramedics. He was holding Madalyn. She had her face buried in his stomach, sobbing loudly about how scared she was. He was stroking her hair, whispering to her.
He didn't even look at me as I was wheeled out the door.
