Lily Shawn

It was 6 am and the hospital was already busy with medical practitioners moving up and down the hall. 

Mr Shawn's face carried a worried expression as he paced up and down the hall. Any medical practitioner he tried to approach avoided him like he was a plague. "What is going on?" he thought to himself, "why are they not saying anything" he added nervously.

Six Hours Earlier

Mr and Mrs Shawn were watching a late-night movie with Mrs Shawn resting in the arms of Mr Shawn while he was running his hands through her hair. There was a knock on the door.

"Was that a knock, I heard?" asked Mrs Shawn.

The knock came louder than before.

"Yeah, it is, but who could be visiting at this hour of the night," asked Mr Shawn. "My love, let me check," he said.

"Don't, it's late," said Mrs Shawn her eyes showing evidence of fear.

"Scared again?" he teased and kissed her on the forehead before getting up. "It's nothing, you will see," he assured.

Mr Shawn answered the door and was shocked to see who was there. Before he could say something Mrs Shawn walked to the door after her multiple questions were met with silence.  A beautiful young lady, holding a small travelling bag stood at the door. She had long black hair tied with a ribbon into a ponytail and carried an expressionless look. Before Mrs Shawn could say anything, the strange lady spoke.

"Adam, who is this pregnant woman?" asked the stranger lady sounding aloof.

Mr Shawn opened his mouth but no words came out.

"Adam? Did she just call you by your first name? Babe, who is this?" asked Mrs Shawn with one hand holding her almost 9-month-old belly and the strange lady's face twitched.

"Babe?" exclaimed the strange lady at the door.

She pushed Mr Shawn aside, strode into the house and made herself comfortably on the sofa.

"Abigail, my name is Abigail Shawn. Adam, tell her who I am," she said rudely.

Abigail lay down on the sofa and crossed her legs looking at Mr Shawn and Mrs Shawn glued to their spot with different expressions registered on their face. Mr Shawn turned and faced his wife.

"My love," he said calmly and holding her hand he led her to the seat and made her sit down. "My love, you remember, the money I told you I loaned from the bank to save our business from collapsing?" he reminded and Mrs. Shawn nodded looking straight at him. "I didn't get the money from the bank. We were bankrupt. Abigail here gave me the money. I could only get the money on condition that I marry her," he dropped the news and Mrs. Shawn stood up abruptly. "I am sorry," he apologizes looking up at his wife who seemed to have frozen in place and suddenly lost all colour.

Mrs Shawn held her stomach and groaned in pain. Minutes later blood was seen flowing down her legs and her breathing became unsteady. Mr Shawn quickly rushed her to the hospital. 

Back to the Present.

"Mrs Shawn's family?" called out a doctor and Mr Shawn hurriedly his steps to the doctor. "What is your relationship with the patient?"

"She is my wife" replied Mr Shawn.

"Come with me to my office," said the doctor.

"How is my wife, how is she doing? How is the baby?" Mr Shawn asked multiple questions in one breath before the doctor could take his seat,

"What exactly happened?" asked the doctor.

"What do you mean?" questioned Mr Shawn with a frown.

"I mean what happened before she started bleeding?" the doctor rephrased his question.

Mr Shawn bowed his head and exhaled heavily and told the doctor everything that had happened earlier.

"Well, your wife has delivered a beautiful baby girl but I am sorry to say she didn't make it. She suffered trauma due to the news she heard. I am sorry," the doctor informed him.

Mr Shawn could not react as he sat down playing the news in his head. The doctor walked and patted his back and asked him to come with him to see his baby. Mr Shawn followed the doctor like a zombie. His tears started flowing down his cheeks like a waterfall when his baby was placed in his arms. The baby started crying too.

Images of his wife, Mrs Shawn flashes through his mind. The more he remembers her smiles, the more his tears flowed. The baby kept crying. He got hold of himself and said in a broken voice.

"Don't cry little one, daddy is here", He said and gently swung his arms to calm the baby.

A nurse came over with prepared baby food and handed it over to him. Mr Shawn took the baby bottle and gave it to his daughter who stopped crying. 

Back at Shawns' residence, Abigail has just woken up from her sleep. She walked lazily to the kitchen and opened the fridge. She frowned upon seeing an almost empty fridge. She opened the cabinet and helped herself to a box of cereal. She sat at the dining table alone and quietly ate her cereal, scrolling through her phone. She placed the phone on the table and dropped the empty cereal bowl into the sink and was about to head back to the bedroom when the front door opened and Mr Shawn walked in with a baby in one hand and a bag in another.  She gave him a cold stare, chuckled, climbed the stairs and banged her bedroom door waking the sleeping baby who started crying again. Mr Shawn dropped the bag and immediately started coaxing the baby back to sleep. 

He went upstairs and put the sleeping baby in her room which he and his wife had earlier prepared for the arrival of the child. He looked at the sleeping baby for a while before returning to his room which was just opposite the baby's room. The room that used to be for him and his wife, Mrs Shawn, now feels empty and cold. He opened the wardrobe, took her clothes and hugged it. Tears started flowing down his cheeks again. 

Abigail gently opened her door, checked the environment for any sign of Mr Shawn and sneaked into the baby's room. She stood by the cradle, took out her phone, took pictures of the sleeping child and quietly sneaked out of the room. She heard Mr Shawn crying but even with the door slightly ajar, she could not see him. She went back into her room and quickly sent the pictures she took to someone with the text,

"The child is born".

The person quickly replied, "How is the mother"

Abigail replied, "Not sure, he didn't come back with her and he is crying"

"Find out what happened to her and report back to me." the person replied.

Abigail, after reading, tossed the phone onto the bed and sat in the chair, looking at her door.