Chapter 6

Layla immediately turned to Benjamin and demanded, "Benjamin, where's William?" Benjamin answered nonchalantly, "He's probably still resting in the equipment room." A bad feeling seized Layla. "Did you lock him inside the room?" "It's for his own good. It's not like he can go to gym class with his leg injury. I figured he could rest in the equipment room," Benjamin countered unapologetically as if he had done nothing wrong. He was even smirking. Layla fixed a grave look at Benjamin and said, "William is claustrophobic, and the equipment room is practically airtight! Are you trying to kill him, Benjamin?" Without wasting another second, she ran out of the classroom. She rounded the academic building and sprinted past the track field to get to the equipment room. The room was located in a remote corner of the school grounds. Hardly anyone would come by here if they didn't need equipment. Layla thanked the heavens that physical education was the last class of the day. She couldn't imagine what might happen had there been more classes that followed. As she ran, she called the teachers in charge of the gym class to urge them to bring over the keys to the equipment room. However, it was after work hours, and none of her calls went through. In her moment of panic, Layla picked up a brick and smashed the window of the equipment room. She stepped on the rail and heaved herself up to climb into the room, the broken glass cutting her arm when she leaped off the ledge. But she couldn't care less about the cuts on her arm as she shouted into the room, "William!" It took several more yells before she heard a weak, timid response. "I'm over here." Layla glanced in the direction of the voice, only to find a little boy curled up on the ground with his arms thrown over his head. The poor thing was trembling, and there was unmistakable fear on his pale little face. At the sight of this, Layla ran up to William and pulled him into her arms. She comforted him in a low, soothing tone, "Don't be scared. I'm here now. I'll get you out of here." Just then, Horace Danes, the principal, barged into the room along with a few others. "Ms. Jenkins, is the child all right?" Layla replied, "He's claustrophobic. His heart's racing." Horace blanched. If anything had happened to the child, he and Layla would have gotten into huge trouble. He immediately ordered the security guards behind him, "Bring the child out of here, and get a doctor to check on him!" The security guards took William with them to the infirmary. Layla followed closely behind, the blood from the cuts on her arm dripping on the floor. Only then did Horace notice her wounds. "Ms. Jenkins, you're bleeding! We should have the doctor tend to those cuts." She shook her head. "I'm fine. William is our priority here. Get the doctor to tend to him right away." No sooner had the words come out of her mouth did someone grab her by the wrist. A second later, Seth's voice filled her ears. "Fine? You're bleeding out! Is this your idea of a heroic display, Ms. Jenkins?" Seth dragged Layla toward the doctor and bit out icily, "Bandage her wounds." After four years, Layla felt nothing for Seth, not even with their proximity. The fact that he had manipulated and used her made her want to snarl at him. She shook off his grip and snapped, "How I choose to save someone in need is none of your concern, Mr. Parker!" Seth stared at the still-bleeding cuts on her arm and felt a stabbing pain in his heart. He said in a quieter voice, "Stop throwing a fit, Layla. Your wounds are serious, and it's important that you get them treated now." He gripped her wrist again and silently demanded that the doctor see to her wounds. When the doctor saw Layla struggling to break free from Seth's hold, he quickly reassured her, "Ms. Jenkins, the child is fine. He's just a little shocked. He'll be okay after he lies down for a while. Here, let me bandage up those cuts." The doctor took the antiseptic and cleaned the cuts on Layla's arm, but the more he tried to clean them, the more anxious he became. Soon, beads of cold sweat broke out over his forehead. Seeing this, Seth couldn't resist asking, "Why is she still bleeding? Are the cuts that deep?" "No, Mr. Parker," the doctor replied. "Then, why won't she stop bleeding? Do you even know what you're doing?" Seth snapped. The doctor had no choice but to lay out the facts, especially since Seth was so gravely questioning his expertise. "Mr. Parker, I believe that Ms. Jenkins might have coagulopathy, a bleeding disorder that makes it hard for even the smallest cuts to clot." This was enough to make Seth say angrily, "You can kiss your medical license goodbye. Get the hell out of here!" He then shoved the doctor aside and wrapped some gauze around Layla's bleeding arm, refusing to believe that Layla had a bleeding disorder. They had been together for four years. He would have known if she had coagulopathy. Alas, no matter how many times he wrapped her arm with gauze, the bleeding would not stop. It didn't take long for the blood to seep through the white gauze and dye it crimson. The cuts were small, but Seth could do nothing to keep them in check. He began to panic. He continued wrapping gauze around Layla's arm as he comforted her, "Don't listen to that quack, Layla. You can't possibly have a bleeding disorder. You must have cut a vein or something, which would explain the bleeding. "I'll bandage this up as best as I can and take you to the hospital after this, okay? If you need a blood transfusion, I'll sign up as a donor. Our blood types are the same." Layla's crisp and calm voice cut through the roaring in his head. "No, the doctor's right." Seth paused. He stared at Layla's deathly pale face and asked in disbelief, "What are you talking about?" She elaborated flatly, "I've had coagulopathy since I was a child. I can't get injured, or I won't stop bleeding." All the color drained from Seth's face. "No… that's not true. People with coagulopathy can't have children, or they'll risk bleeding to death! How could you put your life at stake just to give birth?" He could never forget how excited Layla had been when she had found out about her pregnancy. All she could tell him was, "Seth, our baby boy will be delivered safely and soundly into our lives, and the three of us will live happily ever after." She had been curled up in his arms then, her eyes glittering with her love for Seth and the happy future they would have together. There was not a trace of fear in her gaze, nothing that indicated she was terrified of giving birth. If she truly had coagulopathy, how could she be so calm about something as risky as childbirth? Before Layla could explain herself, Mark's voice rang out from behind Seth. "Because she was too blind to see that she was being used. She thought what she had was true love, and she risked her life just to bring the baby into the world."