The Nightmare
1031 Words
“Don’t touch them!”
Esther’s voice tore through the hospital hallway.
She suddenly threw her body, but two nurses caught her before she could reach the bassinets being wheeled away.
“No! Please!” Her voice cracked. “Those are my babies!”
The sharp scent of antiseptic burned her nose. Bright fluorescent lights glared overhead, making her vision blur. Every breath scraped her throat, raw from crying.
She fought harder.
“Peter!” she cried, desperation strangling every word. “Tell them they’re lying! Please!”
Across the room, Peter stood motionless.
His tailored suit was immaculate.
His expression was empty and cold.
As though the woman begging in front of him was a complete stranger.
A doctor adjusted his glasses and handed him a file.
“Mr. Grant, as stated in the psychiatric evaluation, your wife is emotionally unstable. She poses a danger to herself and the children.”
“That’s a lie!” Esther screamed.
Her wrists burned as the nurses tightened their grip.
“I’ve never seen that report! Peter, look at me!” Tears streamed down her face. “You know me. You know I would never hurt our babies.”
Peter lowered his eyes to the papers.
His jaw tightened then took a pen.
The scratching sound of ink against paper sliced through the room.
Each stroke felt like a knife carving into Esther’s heart.
“No…”
Her voice broke into a whisper.
“No… don’t do this.”
He signed.
The divorce papers.
Something inside her shattered.
A nurse lifted Caleb from the bassinet.
Another carried Callie toward the door.
The twins began to cry.
Their tiny cries echoed down the hallway, each one pulling at her soul.
“Mama…”
The sound wasn’t even a word.
It was instinct.
Esther struggled with everything she had.
Her muscles screamed.
Pain tore through her body that had barely recovered from childbirth.
She didn’t care.
She would crawl if she had to.
She would bleed if it meant reaching them.
“Give them back!” she sobbed. “Please… please don’t take my children!”
A needle pierced her arm.
A burning sensation spread through her veins.
“No…”
The room tilted.
Voices became muffled.
The ceiling spun above her.
The last thing she saw was Peter standing there.
Watching with his arms folded across his chest.
Then darkness swallowed everything.
“No!”
Esther gasped and leaped to her feet.
Her lungs filled with desperate breaths of air.
Her throat was scratched by each breath.
She believed her heart may burst through her ribs because it banged so hard.
Sweat-dampened, her nightgown stuck to her skin.
She put a shaking palm to her chest because her heart was beating so hard that she was terrified it would explode.
She was unable to determine her location for a few terrible seconds.
The familiar shape of her small flat blended with the darkness of the hospital.
Overhead, the ancient ceiling fan creaked.
The distant hum of early morning traffic was carried by a pleasant breeze that blew through the partially open window.
She blinked quickly.It wasn’t the hospital.
Not anymore.A soft whimper drew her attention.
Esther turned sharply.
Caleb and Callie slept peacefully beside each other, wrapped in their blankets. Callie shifted in her sleep, her tiny fingers searching until they curled around her brother’s hand.
A sob caught in Esther’s throat.
She slipped from her bed and knelt beside them.
With shaking fingers, she brushed Callie’s curls away from her forehead before gently cupping Caleb’s cheek.
She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the mattress.
“It was only a dream,” she whispered.
But the words tasted bitter.
Outside, the first rays of dawn stretched across the skyline, washing the city in pale gold.
Morning had arrived.
But Esther felt as though she’d spent the entire night fighting ghosts.
She slipped quietly from the bed and walked into the tiny kitchen.
The floor was cool beneath her bare feet.
She filled the kettle and placed it on the stove.
Moments later, the whistle pierced the silence.
She wrapped both hands around a mug of tea, letting the warmth seep into her cold fingers.
It did nothing to chase away the chill inside her.
A soft knock broke the silence.
Three knocks, steady and unexpected.
Her pulse quickened.
No one visited this early.
She glanced at the clock. 6:12 a.m.
Who’s at the door? She asked with a shaking voice. Her mind betrayed her thinking the people were here to take her children away.
Carefully, she walked to the door and looked through the peephole.
A man in a charcoal suit stood outside, holding a slim leather briefcase.
He looked to be in his early thirties, composed, with sharp eyes that missed very little.
When she opened the door a few inches, he offered a polite smile.
“Good morning, Ms. Williams.”
She frowned.
“Do I know you?”
He reached into his jacket and handed her a business card.
Alex Smith.
Corporate Lawyer : Cole Enterprises.
“Mr. Cole asked me to see you before work”
Esther relaxed slightly, though not completely.
“What brings you here?”
Alex studied her for a moment.
“You weren’t supposed to receive this until next week.”
His expression grew serious.
“But after yesterday’s meeting…”
He paused.
“…Mr. Cole believes you need to see it immediately.”
He lifted the leather briefcase.
“These documents concern your divorce.”
Esther’s fingers went numb.
The mug almost slipped from her grasp.
Her divorce?
What documents?
Alex’s voice was calm, but the weight of his next words settled like a stone between them.
“I believe someone lied to you about what happened three years ago.”
“Your divorce was built on forged evidence.”
Esther stared at him in disbelief.
Her heartbeat stumbled.
Behind her, the twins laughed in their sleep.
In front of her…
A stranger held the first piece of a truth she had spent three years trying to forget.
And for the first time…
She wondered if her nightmare had never really ended.
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