Caoilainn

My poodle socks are damp with perspiration as I unlace the strings of my gillies wrapped around my ankles. Shaking them out of the soft leather, I flex my toes and stretch them. I close my eyes and groan.

Oh, that feels good.

I'm sitting against the mirror in the multi-purpose room all by myself. All the kids and their parents have left the building and the only sounds I hear are coming from the direction of the bar and kitchen. I haven't heard any of the regulars laughing or talking this past half hour so I think only Duncan and Ruari are left over there. It's been slow tonight. The impending thunderstorm must be keeping people home.

I lean back and extend my legs in front of me. I feel a small twinge of pain in my lower back again and yelp. "Oh, damn," I moan to myself. "That hurt."

I put the palm of my left hand on my lower back and rub it. That feels a little better. I must have stretched it in the wrong direction or something. It's been bothering me all night.

With my right hand, I reach down and pat the small bump on my abdomen. I smile, but am quickly interrupted by Ruari as he walks into the room. He catches what I was doing and turns his head at me. He has a serious look in his eye as he comes a little closer. "What are you doing?"

I look up to him.

Can I play this off?

I'm not ready to tell anyone yet.

"What do you mean?" I ask innocently. "I'm just relaxing. My feet are killing me. Class was brutal on them tonight."

"Yeah, uh, not what I meant," he says shaking his head and pointing an accusatory finger at me. "What were you just doing, Caoi?

I saw you.

You were-"

"I was what?" I ask, feeling him out. I maintain eye contact as I crouch up out of my sitting position to stand. "What did you see? You saw me stretching out after a long night, I was just-"

When a sharp pain in my back makes me double over, I lose what I was about to say next.

"Aw. Oh, shit," I curse. "That freakin' hurt. What the-

AW!"

The pain intensifies and I find myself sinking onto the hardwood flooring under my feet. "Oh my Gosh. Oh, crap!"

"Caoilainn!" Ruari yells, startled. He closes the distance that's left between us and puts a hand on my shoulder. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"It's nothing. It's nothing," I begin to reply out of breath. "I'm fine, I just-AWWWWW!"

A wet heat spreads down the inside walls of my leotards and I am horrified. A deep red stain of blood blooms beneath me. "Oh my Gosh. Oh my Gosh! Oh, Gosh, Ruari!"

"Caoilainn!" he hollers. "Cripes!"

Ruari whips his cell phone out of his back pocket and dials 911. When he's finished, he shouts behind him for Duncan.

Frantic with worry, Ruari races to the doorway of the multi-purpose room and yells again for Duncan, who practically plows into him as he comes running.

"What's wrong? What's-"

Duncan takes one look at me, sees the blood pool, which is widening at a frightening pace around me, and starts freaking out.

In a matter of seconds, both men are running around the club trying to find towels and anything else they think I might need until an ambulance comes. When the paramedics arrive, the two of them help the responders lift me into the back of their van. Duncan jumps into the van with me and holds my hand as we race to the hospital. Ruari stays at the club to clean up the blood as best he can and then to close up. He yells that he will get to the hospital as soon as he can as the paramedics slam the van doors shut in front of my feet.

I'm not paying much attention to anyone during the drive. The pain's unbearable. The paramedic works quickly to take my pulse, my blood pressure and to listen to my chest. Then she hooks up an IV in my arm. She does her best to reassure me that everything's going to be alright, but I'm crying.

Everything is not going to be alright.

I place a hand on my stomach and a sob escapes my throat.

Duncan is as white as a sheet on the bench next to me. He's trying to call my mom but I can hear her voicemail pick up from where I lay.

At some point, I must pass out because I don't remember arriving at the hospital. One minute we're speeding down a highway and then next, the world drifts away from me.

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