Sara slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room. Something was wrong here; she wasn’t in her bed at home, but in a hospital room. How did she get here? Sara tried to think. Was she in an accident? She quickly put her hands on her belly, relieve to find her enlarged belly was still there and the movement beneath her hands showed the baby was still alive. Sara tried to remember what might have happened to her. The last thing she remembered was kissing Travis goodnight and snuggling with him in bed.

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

A nurse entered. “Good, you are awake.”

“What happened to me? I don’t remember anything.”

“You were shot and left for dead. Some teenagers found you and called the police. You have been in a coma for some time and last night around midnight, you started waking up. We are preparing to send you back to the hospital for tests before they release you.”

Sara looked around the room. It looked like a hospital room to her. “Isn’t this a hospital?”

“No, this is a nursing home. Your ex-husband you sent here when the hospital released you.”

“My ex-husband?” Sara choked out. She was beginning to get scared as what in the hell was going on here. The nurse must be confused, she must have meant Sara’s husband. “How long have I been in a coma? I don’t remember what happened to me.”

“You have been here over four months. Don’t worry, some memory lost is normal at first, but your memory should start returning to you soon.”

Poor Toby, he must be upset with her being away from him while she had been in a coma. She must ask the nurse to send for Travis and Toby right away. Before Sara could say anything to the nurse, there was another knock at the door, and she opened the door. Sara’s three friends enter with smiles on their faces and flowers in their hands.

“Oh Sara, you had us so scared. We were afraid you would never wake up. The doctors have been keeping a close eye on you and the baby. They were afraid for a while you might go into premature labor and lose the baby.” Maggie told her as she leaned over and hugged Sara. “We have all been praying for you.”

“Thank you. Where is Travis?”

“Who?” Kayla asked.

“My husband.”

“Sara, your ex-husband’s name is Paul. Don’t you remember that you and Paul are divorced? He has been here every day to see you and has been worried about you.” Brianne told her.

Sara closed her eyes and felt tears forming behind her lids. All of it had all been simply a dream, none of it had been real. Travis and Toby really didn’t exist, and she hadn’t left Earth to travel to some distant planet to help their world repopulate. She couldn’t accept this; it just wasn’t right. Travis was a dream husband and she wouldn’t have changed a single thing about him. Well, maybe one or two things she would change, but that didn’t matter now.

She loved the smell of him, especially after he had just shaved. Sometimes she would simply hug him to breathe in his special scent. As her friends talked among themselves, she thought she could still smell the aroma of Travis’ aftershave, but that wasn’t possible.

She thought of little Toby and swore could almost feel him in her arms. She remembered all the games they played together and all the stories she read to him. She remembered feeling the baby moving inside her and jumping when it occasionally had the hiccups.

She remembered times when the two of them had laid in bed and talk to the baby while Travis rubbed lotion across her enlarging abdomen. Even through Paul was the baby’s father, Sara was happy knowing she was nurturing a growing life inside her. Sometimes the baby would stretch and push her little legs against Sara’s rib cage, causing her discomfort, but it was still wonderful to her.

Travis was just a dream, everything about the trip to Zodar and living there hadn’t been real after all. All of it had been just a dream. She couldn’t seem to accept that the fact that what had happened to her hadn’t been real. Travis seemed so real to her, she felt as if she was in mourning for him. It was too much for Sara to handle and she began to cry.

“Please Sara don’t cry. Everything is going to be okay now.” Kayla said.

Sara stared at her three friends through tearstain eyes.

“They are still looking for the person who shot you.” Kayla told her.

“Paul is the one who shot me. He tried to kill me once before the divorce.” Sara started to get out of bed, but Kayla stopped her. “Then again on that hilltop, the next time he will get it right.”

“He has an airtight alibi for the time of the shooting,” Kayla told her.

Sara started crying again. “I don’t care what he has told everyone. I was there, I know he did it,” she shouted loudly.

Kayla sat on the bed and took hold Sara’s hand. “Don’t cry Sara, everything will be all right. Your mind is a little confused right now.”

“I know what happened that night and I know who tried to kill me.” Her crying was becoming hysterical now. “Why wouldn’t any of you believe me about Paul? I have told you about all the abuse I had to live with while we were married. Suddenly you think he is a good guy.” Now what will she do? Paul had tried to kill her twice now, the next time would he be successful.

“I’ll go get a nurse. Maybe she can give you something to calm you down.” Maggie said as she started to hurry out the door.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Maggie, wait, I need your help.”

Sara wiped the tears away with a tissue and blew her nose. “The last thing I remember is Paul shooting me in the head, so I must get out of here before he comes back. Maggie, do you know anything about my bank account or my personal belonging?”

“When a Mr. Webster called from Jasmine Technology about your new job, I told him about the shooting. He said to tell you, you would have a job waiting whenever you are ready. All your personal belongings are still at the apartment you rented. Since I’m on your checking account I have been paying the rent.” Maggie told her. “All your money is still in your account. Paul has been paying all of your medical bills.”

“I had a wonderful dream and we were all in it. We were all transported to a spaceship, including Ryan and Amy. We married good-looking space aliens, moved to a distant planet, and lived happily ever after.” Sara looked out the window, while her friends waited for her to continue. “If I stay here, my life won’t be worth much, I can’t let Paul get hold of me again. Next time he might succeed in killing me or the baby. Please say you will help me get away from him.”

“Sara, why don’t you call and have the police handled this situation for you?” Kayla asked.

“Sara, you aren’t strong enough yet and the baby will be coming soon. I think you should stay here and get the help you need from authorities.” Brianne told her.

“Are any of you willing to help me get out of here or not?” Sara screamed.

“Yes!” Sara’s three friends say in unison.

“First, we need to create a diversion and then we can sneak out Sara out of here.” Maggie told the others.

The next hour was one filled with suspense and action. Kayla and Brianne watched to make sure the coast was clear, no sign of Paul. Maggie helped Sara put on a robe over her hospital gown, as her other clothes had been taken away. She didn’t want to leave in just a gown and robe, but she didn’t have any clothes that would fit her enlarged belly.

The four women were ecstatic felt as if they were in a movie, one where you just knew the bad guy would be showing up at any minute and ruin the getaway. As they left, they thought a car was following them, but whoever it was, they lost them. They decided Maggie would drive Sara to Denver, while the others kept an eye on Paul.

Soon they were in Maggie’s car on their way away from Kansas City. It was now starting to get dark and they were almost to the Colorado state line. They stopped often so Sara could get out to stretch and of course to use the bathroom. Just as they were crossing into Colorado, a big black truck slammed into the side of Maggie’s car. The force of the impact knocked Maggie’s car off the highway, the women screamed, as Maggie fought to put the car back on the highway. Sara looked at the driver’s face and screamed again, “Oh my God! It’s Paul. I don't know how, but he’s found us. Pull over Maggie before he kills us both.”

Maggie slowed the car before pulling onto the side of the highway. Paul pulled his truck behind the car and got out.

“Maggie, I’m going with Paul. You find a place to stay for the night before you head back home. Call the others to let them know what has happened.” Sara leaned over and kissed Maggie’s cheek. “Thanks for trying to help me.” Sara slowly opened the car door and stepped out. She leaned her head back into the car. “You have been a great friend and tell the others thank you for everything. I’m sorry I involved all of you in this. I hope Paul won’t retaliate against any of you for helping me. Good-bye Maggie, I probably won’t ever see you again.” Sara slammed the car door before Maggie could say a word to her.

Maggie watched as Sara made her way to Paul. He was standing next to his truck waiting for her to join him. When Sara reached Paul, Maggie saw him slam his fist into her friend’s face. The force was so strong it knocked Sara clear to the ground.

Maggie was torn as to what she should do. Should she get out and to try to help Sara or go find some help? Maggie watched in horror as Paul brought his arm up and pointed a gun straight at her. Frozen like a deer staring into a car’s headlights, and she couldn’t seem to move a muscle to put the car into drive. As a bullet flew through her back windshield and pass by her ear, she immediately put the car into gear. She stomped the gas pedal clear to the floorboard, trying to get as far as possible before he fired another shot. Maggie stopped at the first place she came to and called the police for help.

Sara slowly opened her eyes, her head is pounding, and she hurt all over. She looked around and saw she was in a hospital again. Before she could think about what was going on, the door opened, and a nurse walked in carrying a blue blanket wrapped bundle in her arms. Sara felt troubled. Was this her new baby? She quickly put her hands to her belly. She could tell there wasn’t a baby there anymore, but she didn’t remember giving birth. What’s going on here? Why couldn’t she remember the delivery of her baby? The last thing she remembered was Paul’s fist coming straight towards her face. Shouldn’t every woman remember an event as important as giving birth to their firstborn?

“Here is your new son.” The nurse said as she placed the baby into Sara’s arms.

Sara had so wanted a girl but hid her disappointment as she pulled the blanket back to look at her new baby. She let out of cry of dismay, as the baby looked exactly like Paul. It was almost as if someone had taken Paul’s head and shrunk to fit this tiny body. Sara felt so distressed at the sight of her new son. Would she be able to love her baby when he looked identical to Paul? She didn’t want any reminders of that awful man every day for the rest of her life.

“He looks just like his father.” Sara said sadly.

“Yes, he does.” Said a proud voice beside her.

Sara felt faint. Ever so slowly, she turned and looked to her left and saw Paul sitting in a chair next to the bed. What was she going to do now? Paul would never let her go now that he knew this was his baby. The baby and her life were going be a living hell. How would she be able to protect this baby from Paul? When she had been shot, why couldn’t she have simply died, instead of living in this nightmare? Tears began falling down her cheeks.

“Don’t cry, Sara. Everything is going to work out for us. We will get remarried and we will be a real family. We need to think of a name for our new son, I was thinking about the name Paul Jr., especially since he looks so much like me, and you said he wasn’t mine.” Paul laughed. It was an evil, villain-sounding laugh. “The police want to talk to you about the shooting in July, hoping you could tell them who shot you.”

“I don’t remember what happened, so I can’t tell the police anything about the shooting.” Sara closed her eyes so Paul wouldn’t know that she was lying to him. She knew who had shot her and was even more afraid of Paul than before, because now she knew what he was capable of doing.

Sara swore she heard Paul’s sigh of relief. Her mind started racing, she needed to find a way to get away from Paul, but how? At least they were still divorced, that was one of the good things she had going for her. She had money in the bank and a job waiting in another state, those were both good things too. Another good thing was Paul wasn’t aware of either of the job she had waiting for her or where the money from the sale of their house was. She would probably have to change her name so Paul couldn’t track them down, but that wasn’t any big deal. Could she do all this with a new baby to take care of and without involving her friends or Paul finding them?

Sara heard a knock on the door.

“Sara, that’s probably the police. Are you ready to talk to them?” Paul asked.

Her mind began to race, as the police were her only hope. “Yes.” Sara opened her eyes, but refused to look at Paul, as she didn’t want him to see her panic.

He roughly grabbed her arm. “Don’t you do anything stupid.” He said, as if he was reading her mind. His fingers dug into her arm. “You will never get away from me again. You hear me bitch, never!” He told her.

She closed her eyes and screamed, “No! Someone, please help me!”