Chapter 5 - Medical Emergency
The sheer emotional violence in the room seemed to compress the oxygen around me until I couldn't pull air into my lungs.
A sharp, searing cramp ripped across the lower basin of my pelvis, so intense that a short, involuntary cry tore out of my mouth.
"Audrey?" Sarah gasped, immediately dropping her legal pens and catching my shoulder as my body bent double over the desk.
"Mrs. Collins?" Judge Vance rose from behind the high bench, her strict judicial mask instantly transforming into maternal concern.
"Bailiff, call courthouse medical immediately! Do not wait!"
Another contraction hit me like an iron fist, radiating through my lower spine and pulling all the strength from my legs.
I slid off the wooden chair, collapsing onto my knees on the industrial carpet while clutching my belly with both arms.
"It's too early," I wept into Sarah's arm as she knelt beside me on the floor. "She's not due for four more weeks... it's too early!"
Across the room, Julian stood up, taking an instinctive step toward me with his hands outstretched. "Audrey—"
"Stay right where you are, Mr. Collins!" the bailiff barked, unholstering his taser and positioning his heavy frame between Julian and the floor.
"Take two steps back against the wall, now!"
Two courthouse paramedics burst through the heavy double doors with a stretcher, rolling bags of emergency equipment, and oxygen masks.
They lifted me carefully onto the gurney as the lead paramedic began cutting away the fabric of my sleeve to start an IV line.
"Blood pressure is one-eighty over one-ten," the paramedic announced urgently to his partner. "She's in active premature labor. We need to transport immediately to Mercy Hospital."
As they wheeled my stretcher toward the doors, I caught one final glimpse of Julian standing against the wall.
He looked small, ruined, and completely hollow, while two plainclothes detectives who had been observing from the back row stood directly beside him.
"Mrs. Lindqvist," Judge Vance's voice echoed through the chaotic room above the beeping monitors.
May you like
"I am issuing an emergency restraining order barring Mr. Collins from the hospital, freezing every single marital and corporate asset, and remanding this record directly to the District Attorney."
Then the courtroom doors swung open, the bright fluorescent lights of the hallway blurred together, and the siren began to wail.
