The Rest of your Life

Chapter 22

"I gotta push."

"Okay." Maggie nodded softly as the two children paced the room.

"Mom?" The two children asked simultaneously in fear as Lori began to scream in pain.

"Lori! Don't push, somethings wrong." Maggie panicked, only for the woman to scream again, and Maggie drew back her hand. It was coated in blood. Maggie laid her down and Rory and Carl kneeled down next to their mother, both holding a hand each.

"Mom? Mom look at me." Carl ordered.

"Keep your eyes open, Mom." Rory insisted, squeezing the woman's hand gently.

"We have to get you back to dad." Maggie said to Lori.

"I'm not gonna make it." Lori whispered. Rory's heart dropped. Not again. She already lost her dad, she can't lose her mom too.

"Lori, with all this blood, I don't even think that you're fully dilated yet. No amount of pushing is gonna help." Maggie noted quickly.

"I know what it means, and I'm not losing my baby... you've gotta cut me open." Rory let out a whine.

"No. I can't." Maggie immediately shut the idea down.

"You don't have a choice." Lori declared.

"I'll go for help." Carl rushed to the door, only to stop in his tracks when his mother spoke out.

"No!" Lori scolded.

"Carol's the one that practiced that. Dad only taught me the steps, Lori. If I ..."

"Maggie, please." Lori pleaded.

"I have no anaesthetic, no equipment..."

"Rory has a knife." Lori stated calmly. The girls face dropped as she looked to Carl.

"You won't survive." Maggie told the woman.

"My baby has to survive. Please. My baby... For all of us. Please, Maggie. Please!" Maggie shook her head and began to cry softly. "Please Maggie... You see my old c-section scar?" Lori asked while lifting up her shirt a little.

"I can't." Maggie denied, shaking her head.

"You can." Lori reassured. "You have to.... Rory....Carl.. baby, I don't want you to be scared, okay?" The two children held onto their mother. "This is what I want. This is right." Lori then turned to her son. "Carl, you take care of your daddy for me, all right? And both of you take care of your little brother or sister, you take care..."

"You don't have to do this." Carl cried. Rory's lip wobbled as she let out a sob.

"Your gonna be fine. You are gonna beat this world. I know you will. You are smart, and you are strong, and you are so brave. And I love you."

"I love you too." The two children chorused, both now crying.

"You gotta do what's right baby. You promise me, you both will always do what's right. It's so easy to do the wrong thing in this world. So don't... so if it feels wrong, don't do it, all right? If it feels easy, don't do it. Don't let the world spoil you. Your so good." Lori wailed as she wiped the tears off their cheeks. "My sweet boy. My sweet baby's. Best thing I ever did. And I love you both. I love you."

The children held on tight, giving their mother one last hug. It was their goodbye. But they didn't want to say goodbye. Nobody ever did.

"Okay... okay now." Lori breathed, looking to Maggie. "Okay.... Maggie, when all this is over, your gonna have to... you have to do it. It can't be Rick. All right... all right. It's all right. It's all right." Lori reassured the children, squeezing their hands one last time.

Rory looked to Carl, who nodded. Rory shakily unclipped her knife and after a moment, handed it to Maggie with a sob.

"Good night, love."

"No! What are you doing to her!" Carl screamed as Maggie cut open his mother.

"Stop it!" Rory screeched. "You're hurting her!"

"Carl, give me your hands. Rory? please... if I cut too deep, I'm gonna cut the baby." Carl then began helping Maggie with the baby, but Rory wasn't having it.

"Put it back." Rory whined childishly. "Maggie, put it back!" Maggie began speaking sentences to herself as she pulled out a baby. They all panicked as it didn't make a sound. Maggie held it in her arms, breathing raggedly.

She began tapping on its stomach as the children watched on in baited fear. They all jumped as it let out a cry. Carl quickly shrugged off his jacket and handed it to Maggie to wrap up the baby.

"We have to go." Maggie told the kids.

"We can't just leave her here." Rory breathed out wetly, furiously wiping at her eyes.

"She'll turn." Carl added on, almost as calmly as Rory. It freaked Maggie out a little.

"Carl..."

"No.. she's our mom." Carl yelled.

Maggie just nodded as she walked out of the room slowly, leaving both children with their mother. Her heart stopped as she heard the shot. Not long after, two stone faced children marched past her as she clung onto the newborn baby. The three made their way back outside.

Their presence was announced as the baby cried. Rory squinting her eyes at the light. Rick swivelled round, looking at the children. He walked closer and dropped his axe, the sound making Rory and Carl flinch. Rory looked to her hands. There was blood. Her mothers blood.

"Where... where is she? Where is she?" Rick repeated. He tried to get past Maggie but she wouldn't allow it. She reached her arm out to stop him from going further. Carl suddenly clung onto Rory, the two embracing tightly, crying on each others shoulders.

"No... Rick, no!" Maggie sobbed. That was it for Rick. He stood by his son and begun wailing as reality hit. Lori was gone. And she wasn't coming back.

•••
Does anyone else have a super bad cold rn? No? Just me? Okay :(

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