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I wake up to Thane screaming. I feel myself being placed on something hard and cold. I stare up at the ceiling, dazed, and wonder what happened. Leon is suddenly prying my mouth open before I choke on his blood. I cough and sputter, trying to sit up.

“Where the fuck is your mother?” Thane growls at Raidon as Leon pulls me back down.

“Rhen, call an ambulance!” he orders, and I begin fading. “Stay awake for me, Low,” Thane tells me, ripping my shorts off. Thane gasps, and I turn my head, dazedly searching for someone. I don’t care who, I just need someone's face to focus on.

“Is that —?” I hear Leon ask.

“The umbilical cord,” I hear Thane murmur.

I blink, my mind foggy. Isn't that supposed to come out last? I think when I hear Leo’s voice.

“I can help her. Let me out of this damn chair!” he shouts.

“You’re the reason she is fucking like this!” Leon snarls.

Chapter Sixteen

Rhen

Harlow fades in and out of consciousness. Raidon is on the phone with his mother, and I am on the phone with emergency services, calling for an ambulance. The medic is trying to explain what to do, but we aren’t doctors, and it is clear something has gone very wrong.

“Mom’s here,” Raidon shouts, opening the front door. Elaine rushes into the dining room, where Thane has placed Harlow on the table.

“How far away is the ambulance?” she panics, looking at me.

“Ten minutes out,” I tell her.

She goes over to Harlow and checks her before staggering back. She shakes her head, and Thane grabs her, shaking her.

“Elaine?” he snarls.

Blood soaks the table, so much that it drips onto the floor.

“I think it’s placental abruption,” Elaine says.

“No, we had her checked earlier, when she was asleep, Doc said she was fine,” Thane tells her. The pack doctor came out earlier. The baby was fine, so what she’s saying makes no sense.

“Let me out of this chair. I can fucking help!” Leo snarls, and Thane glares at him. What can he possibly do to help?

“Where’s Dad?” Raidon worries.

“Stuck in surgery. We need to get the baby out.”

I can tell Elaine is freaking out. She is a pathologist and medical practitioner, but she hasn’t actually practiced medicine in years, and she is definitely not a surgeon. She hushes us, waving her arms to shut us up. She tilts her head to the side, and I do the same. I can hear the baby’s heartbeat, though it seems extremely fast.

“Baby is in distress, we … We need …” Her eyes dart around frantically.

Raidon grabs her arms, forcing her to look at him. “Mom! What do you need?”

“I have to get the baby out,” she whispers, though her face is deathly pale at the thought.

“Oh, for fuck's sake, untie me! If her placenta detached, we need to get the baby out before you lose them both!” Leo snarls, banging his feet on the ground and tugging on the chains.

“Harlow, I need you to stay awake for me,” Thane tells her, but her eyes flutter. Leon continues to pump her full of his blood.

“My baby,” she murmurs.

“Elaine, you know I can help,” Leo yells and Thane tells him to shut up. Leo is no doctor.