FirstLineFiction beta

from Contest #6

Almost everyone thought the man and the boy were father and son.  He had come at a time when Josh needed him most.  His real father had left, but this new man stayed.  From then on Josh swore he would never leave anyone who truly needed him. 

                That was how he got here, looking after a girl when he wasn’t ready to take care of himself.  The sense of duty resulted from the memory of his father and stepfather gripped him at this desk, paying more money than he had and making sacrifices.  He knew it would pay off in the end.   

                The magazine pages stuck together when she turned them.  The issue had been released over a year ago, but Sasha wasn’t interested in the print clothing ads or celebrity bits.  She glimpsed the pages mindlessly, lost in tumultuous thoughts. 

                She was always anxious when she came here.  There was a feeling of unease in the air.  Six months ago she’d had her first appointment.  Today was more crucial than ever. 

                Someone grabbed her hand.  She looked at Josh, who had returned from checking in at the receptionist’s desk.  He squeezed reassuringly and grinned.  He read her so well.  He’d been so supportive, convincing her to keep the child, found her the doctor, taking her to her appointments, and enduring her fluctuating moods.  She wouldn’t have survived without him. 

                A nurse appeared in the doorway.  “Ms. Reynolds, Dr. Shroyer will see you now.”  Josh helped her to stand around her stomach and they walked into the examination room. 

                “Hello, Sasha,” Dr. Shroyer said over a clipboard.  “How are you?  Has everything been going alright?”

                “I think so,” Sasha said, sitting down on the table.  The numbing metal gave her a chill.  “We are starting to feel kicking.”

                “That’s wonderful.  We’ll start with a routine examination today, then would you like to learn the sex of your baby?” 

                Sasha looked at Josh, who grinned and nodded.   She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.  She was young, and she’d struggled with issues in her reproductive system since she was twelve; the chances of this baby surviving were slim.  Josh shouldn’t be getting his hopes up, and she didn’t want to set herself up for disappointment.  But he’d sacrificed enough for her lately, he deserved to get his way.  “Yes, I think we’d like to know.”

                “Alright, let’s make sure everything is working properly, and then we’ll set you up for the ultra sound.”

                They performed a routine checkup.  The doctor felt a kick, and commented on how strong it felt.  Sasha got that magical feeling, when all things fit.  She wasn’t just some knocked up teenager, she was carrying what would soon be a fully developed child.  This was a miracle.  She was going to love this baby for the rest of her life. 

                Dr. Shroyer smoothed cold gel over Sasha’s abdomen.  Josh saw her shiver again as the monitor came to life.  An impossibly minute being appeared, curled into an even more impossibly small space.  “Here’s the one you’ve been waiting for.”

                The creature trembled slightly.  “It looks so peaceful,” Sasha said.  The doctor switched off the screen as it rolled over. 

                “Well, she is in excellent shape,” he told them. 

                Josh couldn’t help but beam.  “It’s a girl?”

                “Yes,” he said, passing Sasha a cloth to wipe the remnants of the gel.  “And taking your health and age into consideration, she’s developing phenomenally.  I wouldn’t expect to see a healthier baby in any of my patients.  You’re very lucky.”

                Josh pulled Sasha close.  “Yes we are.”

                “We’ve got a baby,” she said.  “Little baby Jane.”

                Josh watched Sasha sit in a folding chair an hour later, surrounded by their closest friends.  Five people sat around her while she opened gifts.  They were frivolous things, blankets or lacy shoes, but everyone got equally excited over each one, as if it brought them all closer to the baby who would soon be born. 

                Yes, there would soon be a healthy baby to take care of.  Every day the idea got more believable, and more frightening.  Josh knew his stepfather wouldn’t be afraid.  Such a contrast to his father, who’d run at the first sign of trouble.  Well, Josh wouldn’t give up. 

                Sasha’s phone buzzed.  The caller ID lit up with her mother’s number.  Sasha hadn’t spoken a word to her mother since she’d moved out five months ago, twenty minutes after she’d told her she was pregnant.  Josh knew Sasha was too tenacious to give in and speak now.  She hit ignore and turned back to her friends. 

                “I don’t recognize the number.”  She shrugged, but the tears sliding down her face suggested otherwise.  “I, um, just can’t believe I’m going to have a little girl!”  Everyone responded with reassuring words and pats on the back. 

                The party hadn’t been extravagant, but everyone enjoyed themselves.  Sasha worked her way into the driver’s seat of her pick-up and labored to open the passenger side for Josh. 

                He shook his head.  “I’m going home with Jake,” he told her.  “I need to take care of something tonight.  You’ll be alright driving home?”

                She smiled, curious, but accepting.  “I’ll be fine.  I’m just looking forward to relaxing tonight.”  But she was nervous.  She was rarely alone these days. 

                Josh leaned through the door to kiss her.  “Love you.”

                As she started the engine, a few drops of rain fell on the windshield.  She flicked them away with the wipers.  This is crying rain, her mother would have said.  The sky tears when the world’s too sad.  Sasha couldn’t deny she missed her mother, but she had the fiercer temerity not to forgive so easily. 

                Sasha slowed for a stoplight.  The roads were deserted at this time of day.  Everyone was either at work or home.  She just wanted to get back to the apartment.  And this read light would not turn green.  She floored the gas, too impatient to wait. 

                Josh dropped his brother off at his stepfather’s house and drove around the corner to the local pizzeria.  A woman awaited him inside, an oversized sweater draped around her shoulders, bony fingers tracing the outline of the slice of pepperoni in front of her. 

                She looked up as Josh entered and motioned him over.  “Thank you for meeting me here,:

                “No problem,” he said.  “May I have a seat?” 

                She nodded and pushed the pan of pizza towards him.  “Help yourself.”

                He chose a slice.  “How have you been?  You look, well, slender.” 

                She smiled thinly.  “You’re too polite.  I look like hell and I know it.  I haven’t taken very good care of myself lately.  You may doubt me, but I love my daughter very much.  I wish she wasn’t so stubborn.  I tried calling her today.  She didn’t pick up.” 

                “Maybe her phone was off,” Josh reasoned, though they knew the truth. 

                The woman shrugged.  “So how is she?” 

                “Good.  She’s handling everything so well, the doctors are surprised.  She’s a little depressed, but Dr. Shroyer said that was just a mix of hormones and stress.”

                “The child?”

                “Healthy.  It’s a girl.”  Josh grinned proudly. 

                “I’m glad she has you,” the woman said with earnest.  “When she told me what happened, I wanted her to get rid of it, for everything to go away.  You’ve taken good care of her.  My husband and I want to thank you.”

                “I love your daughter, Mrs. Reynolds.  I never had a choice.”

                Greg Lawrence drove home quickly, eager to see his family.  He was glad his boss had let him off early so he could pick up the motorcycle on his way home.  It was his son’s birthday; he couldn’t wait to surprise him.  He sped up more with excitement.  There were no cops around, nobody around really.  He could afford some extra speed. 

                What was that ahead?  Not another car?  The light was green; he should be able to pass.  He was driving much too quickly, and the other car too slow.  He slammed the brakes, the tires screamed.  The water was just enough to make him slip farther and farther; the other car had never even seen him. 

                Josh’s cell rang.  “Hello?”  His face froze and paled. 

                “What is it?”  Mrs. Reynolds asked after seeing his expression. 

                “Sasha,” he said. 

                Sasha gasped in agony as she lay in the speeding ambulance.  Her body ached everywhere, but she continued to stretch her arms through the crippling pain towards her stomach.  “Don’t worry about me!” She screamed.  “I’m fine!  Help my baby!  Save my baby!”

                Josh and Mrs. Reynolds arrived at the hospital in a whirlwind.  “We need to know where Sasha Reynolds is,” Josh said, charging the receptionist’s desk.

                “I’ll look her up,” the woman said with a patronizing glare, “but you have to calm down.”

                Josh ran his fingers over his head and sat down in a chair by the desk, staring the woman down.   Mrs. Reynolds placed herself in the seat next to him, hands folded over crossed legs, breathing deeply and humming to herself. 

                “Sasha Reynolds,” the receptionist finally said, “has just come out of E.R.  She is situated in room 13B, down the hall and to the—“

                Josh charged through the swinging doors, with Mrs. Reynolds trailing behind him.  He arrived at the door as a doctor walked out.  “Are you a family member?”  The man asked. 

                “No, I’m her boyfriend, but what difference does it –“

                “I’m sorry,” the man cut in, “but only family members are allowed in to see the patient.” 

                “He’s with me,” Mrs. Reynolds said with such authority that the man blanched and backed off.  “You go first, Josh, we won’t put her through too much stress.”

                Josh walked into the room, his eyes searching wildly for their target.  “Sasha!”  He cried when he saw her.  “What happened?”

                She lay on the bed, eyes swollen and bandages everywhere.  “I was driving home,” she began, but uncontrollable tears stopped her. 

                Josh rushed to the bed and sat gingerly on the edge, holding her until she calmed down.  “What happened?”  He asked again. 

                “I ran a stoplight,” she choked out.  “I just wanted to get home.  There was somebody coming the other way.”

                “The baby?” 

                She lifted up the hospital gown just enough to reveal her flat stomach, and sobbed.  Josh held her tighter than she ever had before, his heart breaking.  “I killed my baby,” she cried. 

                Sasha stood in the doorway of the small, pink apartment room two weeks later.  She traced her fingers over the edge of the crib, felt the fabric of the untouched, fluffy blankets.  The furniture was beginning to gather dust, but she couldn’t throw it out.  It didn’t belong to her. 

                Josh grabbed her waist from behind, smoothing down the thin scar from the C-section.  He kissed the top of her head, the same way his stepfather kissed his mother.  “You can’t keep looking at this,” he told her. 

                She let escape a few redundant tears.  “They don’t tell me anything,” she said.  “I want to know what things would have been like.  What she would have been like.  I want to meet my daughter.”

                “I know.”  Josh rocked her back and forth.  “Poor  lost baby Jane.”

back to Contest #6