Music of the Soul (Runaway Train #2.5)(26)
Chapter Nine
When I came off stage after our set, I was a sweaty, exhausted mess. Peering around the back stage room, I searched for Abby, but I couldn’t find her anywhere. During our duets, something had been off with her, and I was worried. “She went on to the bus after our show. She wasn’t feeling well,” Gabe informed me.
Icy apprehension ricocheted through me. Abby wasn’t one to ever complain, so the very fact she had gone to lie down meant there was something wrong. “Oh okay,” I mumbled, raking a shaky hand through my hair.
When a roadie thrust a clean shirt and bottle of water at me, I shook my head. “Thanks man, but I’ll grab something on the bus. I wanna check on Abby.”
The roadie nodded as I brushed past him out the door. “Wait up, Jake,” Perry, our bus driver said. I slowed my fast pace as he jogged up to catch me. “Figured I better come with ya since Jody locked her in.”
I was glad Perry didn’t give me any shit about starting out without a body guard. As I eyed the bus in the distance, I was surprised to see there weren’t any lights on. A feeling of dread entered the pit of my stomach, and I couldn’t help breaking into a run. When I reached the bus, Perry was right at my side. Once he unlocked the door, I pounded up the stairs. As I gazed wildly around the living area, my instincts had been spot-on because something didn’t feel right. “Abby?” I called.
When she didn’t answer, I started down the aisle. My shoe hit something firm in the middle of the aisle floor. I jerked my gaze down, and my world to shudder to a stop. Abby lay crumpled in a heap. I dropped to my knees at her side. “Abby?” After I pulled her into my arms, I patted her face several times, but she didn’t open her eyes.
“Call 911!” I shouted at Perry.
He ripped his phone out his pocket and was dialing within an instant. My wild gaze took in Abby’s unconscious form. At the sight of the blood on her thighs, my heart shuddered to a stop. “Oh, God. No.” I rubbed Abby’s arms and gently shook her shoulders. “Angel, please wake up. Please…don’t leave me.”
The piercing wail of the on-site ambulance filled my ears as did the glaring red and white lights. The next few seconds seemed to crawl by in a painful haze. As I cradled Abby in my arms, loud voices came from the front of the bus. The paramedics shoved me to the side as they started working on Abby. I barely felt Perry lifting me up and pulling me out of the bus. He dragged me down the stairs to where my bandmates stood.
“What’s happened?” Brayden demanded.
“I dunno,” I murmured absently, staring at the pavement.
Perry, whose arm around me was probably the only reason why I was still standing, spoke up. “She was unconscious on the floor when we got there. There was…blood.”
A feminine gasp caused met to raise my head. Mia stood beside AJ with Bella on her hip. “You need to tell them that she’s been experiencing lower abdominal pain, right flank, the last few days.”
“Could it be her appendix?” Rhys questioned.
Mia shook her head. “Not if she’s hemorrhaging. It sounds like something reproductive like a…” Her eyes widened, and she pinched her lips shut.
“Like a what?” I demanded.
“A miscarriage,” she replied in a whisper.
I sagged against Perry. How could Abby be pregnant? She was on the pill, and most mornings, I saw her take it. “No method is one hundred percent,” Mia said softly, as if she were reading my mind.
It was then the paramedics brought the stretcher down the bus steps, which was no easy feat. Even in the dim lights from the arena, Abby’s face appeared ghostly pale. Without a thought, I raced to her side. “Is she…” My voice choked off. I couldn’t even form the words I feared so much.
“No sir. She’s stable. Her vitals are strong, but we need to get her to the hospital for some scans to see what’s causing the bleeding.”
“Can I ride along with you?”
“Sure,” the paramedic replied.
His partner hurried to the cab of the ambulance and cranked up. I glanced back at the others. “Go on. We’ll be right behind you,” AJ said, and Brayden and Rhys nodded.
“Thanks,” I murmured, before trailing behind Abby’s stretcher. Once she was loaded inside, I hopped in and slid across the bench to sit beside her. I grabbed her hand, the one with her glittering diamond engagement ring and platinum wedding band, and squeezed it in mine. “I’m right here, Angel. I’m not going anywhere.”
For the first time, I noticed she had a reaction, even though it was just her forehead crinkling. When he pressed on Abby’s stomach, she shrieked and tried to turn away. “Stop it! You’re hurting her,” I cried, trying to push him away.
“Sir, I have to check your wife’s injuries. If you don’t stop, we’ll have to restrain you, so you don’t prevent us from doing our job.”
With a defeated wail, I buried my face in my hands. If I could have, I would have plugged my fingers in my ears just like a child, so I didn’t have to hear Abby’s cries. When I glanced up again, she had quieted, and I saw the paramedic tossing a hypodermic into the medical waste bin. “Just something to help ease her pain.”
“Thank you.” I once again took Abby’s hand in mine. I brought it to my lips and kissed it gently. The rest of the way to the hospital, I spoke softly to her in between fielding a barrage of questions from one of the paramedics. With the drugs in her system, she rested easily on the stretcher.