Baby Maker

Chapter 21

The restaurant was surprisingly nice. We had a private room with a giant round table and food for days. I was caught off guard to see an older-looking couple waiting in the room for us. I hesitated before I sat down.

"Amina, these are my parents, Margaret and David. Mom, dad, this is the Signa's surrogate, Amina," Siobhan introduced us. I nodded to them politely before sneaking my phone to record us in a discreet location. I didn't like the looks of this dinner at all.

"Thank you so much for carrying the baby for Siobhan. She's a career woman, you know. Carrying a child is just something she should avoid if she can help it," Margaret thanked me. I stayed silent as I nodded again. Clearly, the Dyers were getting a different version of the story of how I came to carry the Signa heir. Siobhan caught my attention again as she held up a glass of juice.

"Here, have some juice. You must be hungry and tired carrying around a baby all day, every day," Siobhan offered. I really didn't trust it, but I took a sip anyway before I started eating. The whole dinner, the Dyers belittled me in subtle ways that would make you think they were only discussing the weather. I kept my mouth shut and just dealt with it. Luckily, my phone was video recording the whole thing. If anything, I felt relieved that I finally had something against her. After we finished the dinner, I stopped recording and followed Siobhan out of the restaurant.

"Thanks for dinner," I said politely to her before she left the house. I was relaxing against the couch and watching TV when I felt it. Something was wrong. A cold sweat broke out on my forehead as my stomach cramped painfully. Looking down there was blood coming from between my legs. It was only then I realized that the dinner itself might not have been the setup; it was the meal itself.

"Esther! Esther, call Jax!" I yelled across the house as I moved to the floor. I groaned as I held my stomach gently. Something was wrong with Sterling, I could feel it. Esther rushes into the room and assessed the situation with shock and horror.

"Minnie! What happened?" She asked as she pulled out her phone. Calling Jax couldn't save Sterling right now.

"Esther, call 911. Something is wrong with Sterling," I groaned out. She called quickly and explained the situation before calling Jax and telling him what was happening. As I knelt on the floor, a gush of liquid rushed out from between my legs. Looking down, it wasn't just my water breaking, there was a lot of blood. A bright crimson pooled underneath me, but I was in too much pain to move. I could only hope the ambulance would get here soon and Sterling would still be okay.

Ten minutes later, I was being wheeled into an ambulance. I groaned as the sweat gathered on my forehead.

"You have to save my baby," I pleaded with the EMTs. I felt desperate and mad at myself. I should've paid more attention to Siobhan at the dinner. I knew she wanted to harm me, and I wasn't diligent enough. Esther rode with me to the hospital and Jax was waiting by the door when we got there. The pain in my stomach was becoming unbearable, but I still managed to hand my phone to Jax as we rushed through the halls of the hospital.

"Siobhan did something to the food. The video," I tried to say weakly as I grasped Jax's arm as hard as I could.

"If we don't act now, she'll lose the baby. Take her in for a c-section, now," the doctor barked orders at the hospital staff after checking on the baby.

"Don't let her hurt our baby," I said to Jax in a last attempt before losing consciousness.

***

I woke feeling groggy and numb. My brain felt slow and I tried to recall my memories. The food. I touched my stomach hesitantly to find it not as big and taunt as it was before. Where was Sterling? I looked around the dim hospital room only to find a familiar figure sleeping in the chair near my bed.

"Jax," I called hoarsely. I swallowed before I tried again. Finally, he opened his eyes. He looked tired and sad. A look of relieve came over his face when he saw me.

"You're finally awake, thank God. You've been in a coma for three weeks. Do you know how scared I was?" He said as he held my hand in his with tears in his eyes.

"Jax, where's our baby?" I asked anxiously. Jax's thumb ran over the back of my hand as he sighed.

"It was touch and go for both of you in the beginning. Sterling is stable now, but they're keeping him in the NICU for observation. He was born prematurely, and you hemorrhaged before even going into labor. There were some complications, but my biggest worry was that you would never wake up," Jax explained as the tears finally fell from his eyes. I reached my hand up and brushed his cheeks dry gently.

"I was fine before Siobhan took me out to dinner. I think she did something to my food or drink. I recorded the whole dinner, but everything happened so fast, I didn't have a chance to review the video," I said. Jax sighed and dropped his forehead onto my arm tiredly.

"I reviewed the video and sent it to the police. She's going down for attempted manslaughter. Signa is also in the process of suing Dryer for attempting to harm the Signa heir. We also filed a restraining order just in case she gets released on bail before her trial. Why didn't you call me as soon as it started feeling too dangerous? I almost lost both of you, so you realize that?" He asked, raising his voice slightly. I touched his cheek gently to calm him down. Luckily, Sterling and I were still alive, but I could imagine how scared Jax must have been.

"I'm sorry. I thought she would've just stopped at the trash talk since her parents were present. I didn't expect her to poison me in front of them so blatantly," I admitted. Jax sighed and closed his eyes as he relaxed into my hand.

"I don't know what I would've done if I lost you guys," he said softly. I felt bad for putting him through that. I could only hope that Sterling and I would get our justice for everything she's done to us over the last 8 months.