Chapter 3
876 Words
The next morning, a searing cramp in my stomach ripped me straight out of a dead sleep.
A foul coppery taste flooded my throat. I turned my head and coughed up a mouthful of dark blood.
Trembling, I reached for the phone on the nightstand. I had just punched in 911 when the bedroom door was kicked wide open.
Ethan stormed in, ripped the phone out of my hand, and slammed it down on the bed.
He grabbed my collar and hauled me bodily off the mattress.
"Stop playing dead. Get up!"
He didn't even glance at the blood streaking along my mouth, didn't see how pale my face had gone.
His movements as he dragged me were savage and unforgiving.
He hauled me all the way from the second floor to the garage, then shoved me roughly into the passenger seat.
"Where... are we going..." I gasped, breathing raggedly.
"Blair is going to kill herself," he said, one hand wrenching the steering wheel, his voice sharp with irritation.
"She knows you found out about us. She cried all night yesterday, said she can't lose you as her older sister. You go tell her you don't blame her."
I laughed so hard I could barely breathe. The mistress wants forgiveness, and I'm the wronged wife who has to hand her this get-out-of-jail-free card?
The car pulled up outside Blair's art studio, and Ethan half-carried, half-dragged me inside.
No sooner were we through the door than Blair dropped to her knees with a thud right in front of me, sobbing prettily, tears streaming down her face.
"Ivy, I'm so sorry! I really just lost my head for a minute. I just love Ethan so much!"
"Please forgive me! I promise I'll stay far away from you both after this!"
I watched her put on this whole performance with a cold face and said nothing.
Ethan's heart was breaking for her; his eyes were red and glistening.
He spun around to glare at me, pressed his hands hard into my shoulders, and shoved me forward.
"Ivy! Blair has already begged you like this. Why are you still standing there acting so high and mighty? Just say you forgive her, now!"
A searing, stabbing pain twisted through my gut.
I stared at these two cheating scumbags and actually started laughing. "Blair, if you're going to kill yourself, just do it already. Stop standing here making me sick. Slit your throat or cut your wrist, whatever you want. Need me to call the funeral home for you?"
Blair's sobs caught in her throat.
She bit down hard on her lower lip, snatched a utility knife off the table, and held it to her wrist. "If Ivy hates me this much, I might as well just die!"
The blade hadn't even touched her skin yet, but Ethan completely lost it.
He reared back and slapped me so hard across the face that my head spun.
A ringing buzz roared in my ears. I lost my balance and went flying straight into the solid wooden corner of the table.
A heavy, dragging pain bloomed in my abdomen.
I clutched my stomach and forced myself to stay upright, only to retch up another huge mouthful of blood.
A huge dark-red stain bloomed across my skirt.
Ethan froze in place, his hand still hanging in the air, and subconsciously took half a step toward me.
When Blair saw that, pure venom burned in her eyes.
She suddenly let out a shrill scream, stumbled to the side, and used the momentum to slam her whole weight into my shoulder.
I was already weak as a kitten, and the sudden shove sent me completely off balance.
I went tumbling backward straight into the half-life-sized plaster sculpture.
The sculpture wobbled, teetered, and tipped over.
"Blair!"
Ethan didn't hesitate for a split second. He dove forward, dragged Blair straight into his arms, and curled around her to shield her as they rolled out of the way.
Meanwhile, the off-kilter sculpture came crashing down. Its heavy base landed dead square on my lower abdomen.
The agony was so blinding it felt like every organ inside me had shifted clean out of place, and it knocked every last breath straight out of my lungs.
Warm blood came gushing out from between my thighs, turning my white skirt a deep, gruesome crimson.
Ethan pulled Blair back to her feet, checked her over from head to toe, and only relaxed when he was sure she hadn't gotten a scratch.
I fought through the searing agony and strained to beg him for help.
"Ethan... save me..."
Right as Ethan started to step toward me to pull me up, Blair suddenly clutched her stomach and howled in agony.
"Ethan, my stomach hurts so bad..."
Ethan spun around in a panic, scooped Blair into his arms, and bolted straight for the door.
When he reached the threshold, he glanced back at me over his shoulder and tossed out one line: "Ivy, hold on a little longer. I've already called an ambulance. It'll be here any second!"
His footsteps faded away completely.
I lay in a pool of blood, staring up at the blinding fluorescent light on the ceiling as my vision blurred little by little.
- Writer
