Chapter 34

The contractions—and there was no doubt about them now—were longer and coming only a few minutes apart. And yes, despite all of Diane’s bucking up and self-convincing, they hurt like hell. This wasn’t a high ankle sprain in one of her lacrosse games, or a collarbone break, or a fall off a damn horse. She’d been gritting her teeth and had even begun sticking a wad of sheet into her mouth at the peak of the contractions to keep from crying out.

She didn’t want them to know outside: not the boy or the rest of them.

Endure, Diane, she kept telling herself. Pant and endure. Pant and endure. You know Billy’s on his way. He got the message. They tracked the phone. Help is coming. Endure.

She closed her eyes. In the classes, they’d emphasized trying to relax in between contractions. Save your strength. Breathe deeply and regular, but don’t hyperventilate. Roll from side to side to keep this damn backache from destroying you. Think pleasant thoughts and scenarios: your favorite spot on the beach, the sound of surf, and the feel of warm sun.

Yeah, right. I’m having a baby alone. Outside the door are kidnappers who may end up killing me anyway, even if they do get whatever the hell they want. My first child is going to be born in a strange room in the middle of nowhere, and there won’t be a single person to care for it.

Another contraction hit. Was that three minutes since the last one, or even two? She’d only been guessing about the time. She’d been trying to count seconds between the contractions since they began, but after the boy had left and she’d found the cell phone, she’d lost all focus. Now, she was just trying to stay conscious.

Please, Billy, get here. Please get here.

She rolled onto her back and raised her knees and then the tightening came again. She squeezed her eyes tight and OH MY GOD, THAT HURTS LIKE HELL … ARRRRRGH!

It was dark and she heard a wolf cry. Not a call into a lonely night, but a howl of intense pain, a ragged, screeching response to a leg caught in a snapping iron trap, a cry of some sixty, maybe ninety seconds that felt way longer. Diane opened her eyes, blinked back to consciousness, and saw light and then a ceiling, and then her raised knees. When she tried to swallow, she felt the rawness in her throat—and knew that she was the howling animal.