Disabled Man Rescues Unconscious Pregnant Woman, Next Day Husband Sends Him to the Hospital – Story of the Day

Marcus is on his way to collect his disability check when he notices an unconscious pregnant woman locked inside a minivan. Marcus breaks into the vehicle to rescue her but ends up trapped when the minivan's owners return.

Marcus hobbled across the street as quickly as his bad leg would carry him and ducked into the shade of an oak tree growing on the sidewalk. The day was hotter than a stolen tamale, but Marcus had to brave the Texan midsummer heat to collect his disability check.

He paused to catch his breath and wipe the sweat from his brow before he set off again, his cane clicking against the concrete. The only good thing about weather like this was that it didn't aggravate his old gunshot injury the way the cold and damp did.

Then Marcus noticed something that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. A woman sat limply in the back of a minivan parked by the curb. Her head was thrown back, and her eyes were shut. Thick strands of hair had escaped her coiffure and plastered themselves to her sweating face. His concern grew when he peered through the window and spotted her baby bump.

"Hey!" He tapped on the window. "Are you alright in there, ma'am?"

The woman didn't respond. Marcus looked around in case the driver was nearby but saw nobody else on the street. It was too darn hot for anyone to be wandering about, and that went double for pregnant ladies parked in dark-colored vans in the blazing sun.

"Ma'am? Can you hear me?" Marcus tapped on the window again, harder this time. "Ma'am!"

Anxiety knotted around his heart as the woman remained unmoving and unresponsive. If that poor lady had already passed out from heat exhaustion, he had to help her and her baby fast.

Marcus circled the car, trying all the doors as he shouted at the lady inside. The vehicle was locked up tight, and there was still no sign of the driver. There was only one thing he could do now to reach the woman.

Pain arrowed up Marcus's bad leg when he lifted his cane. It worsened when he twisted to raise the cane over his shoulder. He gritted his teeth and ignored it as best he could as he swung at the window with all his strength.

But Marcus's balance was thrown completely off without his cane to lean on. The pain in his bad leg turned to fiery razor blades scraping against bone when his momentum caused him to stumble. He let out a cry and fell against the van.

It all happened so fast that Marcus could never be sure afterward if he'd broken the window with his cane, his shoulder, or some combination of both. Nor did it matter; the most important thing was that he could reach out and feel the unconscious woman's pulse beating beneath her clammy skin.

Marcus hurriedly unlocked the car door, swept the bits of broken glass onto the sidewalk, and climbed inside. He gently patted the lady's cheek.

"Come on, ma'am, you've gotta wake up now," he said. "Don't you have any water with you?"

He glanced around and found a bottle of water in a cupholder in the front. Marcus retrieved it, sprinkled water on his hand, and patted the lady's face. She startled awake.

"Get away from me!" She screamed, raising her arm to strike Marcus.

"Woah!" Marcus raised his hands and leaned back. "I was just trying to help you, ma'am! You shouldn't be out in the direct sunshine, especially in your condition."

The lady froze and studied Marcus with a confused frown. "You're not one of them... did you say you want to help me?"

Marcus nodded stiffly. This situation had shifted from a simple case of a person in medical distress to something more sinister in the blink of an eye. Although he didn't know what was happening here yet, he'd served on the force long enough to recognize that this lady was in a real bad state.

"Oh, thank God!" The woman placed one hand on her belly and clenched the other around his arm. "These strange men came into the house... I tried to get away, and then I tried to fight, but they were too strong, too fast." Her breath shuddered as she started to sob. "They-they took me! Please! You have to help me."

"Okay, ma'am. Let's get out of here first and then—"

"Look out!" The woman's eyes filled with terror, and she pointed over Marcus's shoulder.

Marcus turned, and something heavy struck him on the cheek hard enough to set his ears ringing. He glimpsed the man that had come up behind him only briefly before a second blow landed on the back of his head.

The woman's fearful screams echoed through the darkness that filled his vision. He wanted to help her... but then the world fell away.

"...too darn hot to be running around town and fightin' people!"

A gruff male voice broke through Marcus's agonizing headache. He cracked his eyes open, and the glare of the bright sun stung his eyes like a knife.

"Too bad the sun don't change to fit our schedule," a second man replied, his voice calmer, more measured.

Marcus blinked and made out the back of the two men's heads in the front seats. He glimpsed a road sign through the windshield, but then it was gone. Marcus turned slightly. A chill traveled down his spine when he realized the pregnant woman lay sprawled beside him in the back.

A wave of relief washed over him when he felt her ribcage rise and fall against his elbow. She was alive, at least. Marcus then slowly tipped his head to see through the car window.

He noted the sign for a drive-through and the stop lights at an intersection. It wasn't enough to pinpoint his location. Then they drove past a taller building, and Marcus recognized the facade as part of a popular mall.

With this landmark in mind, he carefully memorized every turn and every familiar place they passed. He had a fair idea of where he was until the minivan left the city.

A couple of tall trees and telephone poles whizzed by as the minivan traveled down the highway. Marcus's sharp eyes picked out a highway marker for Houston just before the van turned onto a bumpy, poorly maintained sideroad. Soon, they were driving through a forest. A short while later, the car stopped.

"Let's get them both inside," the man with the calmer voice said as they both exited the car. "And try not to bump them around too much, Eli."

"Would you quit telling me to be careful, Benny? What happened with that hog was a one-time thing! Besides, we don't even know if the man's worth anything to us."

"We also don't know he's not worth anything! This could be our lucky day, bub."

The car doors slammed shut, cutting off the rest of the conversation. Marcus played possum as Eli and Benny swung the rear doors open. They first eased the pregnant lady out of the car and carried her away. Marcus listened carefully to their footsteps getting further and further away.

A door creaked open and then slammed shut. Only then did Marcus feel safe enough to lift his head. The twin furrows of a dirt track stretched away before him, carving a line through tall pine trees. It was a road to freedom. Marcus was sorely tempted to hop out of the van and run away, but he couldn't. That woman was still in trouble.

He couldn't leave to fetch help either because his cane wasn't with him, and he wouldn't get far without it. There was no way he would abandon that lady and her unborn baby. God alone knew what those men had planned for her.

So Marcus laid back down. When Benny and Eli returned, he let himself go limp and let them carry him inside. They set him down on a hard floor, back to back with the woman, and handcuffed them to each other.

When he was certain Eli and Benny had left, Marcus opened his eyes and examined his surroundings. He was in a large, dark room lit only by high, rectangular windows, and a musty smell hung in the air. He guessed it was a basement.

The woman suddenly stiffened behind him and threw her head back, knocking against the spot where those thugs had hit him earlier. Marcus gasped at the lightning bolts of pain that ricocheted through his skull.

"What's happening?" she wailed. "Where am I now?"

"Those thugs have locked us in a basement," Marcus replied. "They drove us out of town, and I'm sure we're near the boundary of the National Forest. It shouldn't be too hard to get back to town, but we need to figure out a way to escape from this basement first."

"I don't know... I have to think of my baby,” the woman replied. “My husband must've noticed me missing by now. He will have gone to the police. They'll find us."

Marcus tilted his head to look at her in his peripheral vision. He didn't want to shatter her hopes, but he was all too aware of how long it might take the cops to find them, even if they did discover a solid clue to their kidnapper's identities. It would be better if they could escape by themselves.

He was about to argue this point to the woman when a door burst open behind him. The woman flinched against his back.

"Rise and shine, sleepyheads!" Eli called out as his footsteps echoed on the basement stairs.

Marcus craned his neck as far as he could, but the woman pressed against his back so hard that he feared they both might fall over if he twisted too far.

"Now, here's how this is going to play out," Eli said. "We delivered our ransom request to your rich husband about fifteen minutes ago, Mrs. Flores. He has until midnight to pay up and if he doesn't meet our deadline, you die."

"No!" The woman sobbed. She wrenched Marcus's arms back as she reached for her belly. "What about my baby? You can't—"

"Quit yammering!" Eli stomped toward them. "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Your man's got to deliver our money and if he don't, then we've got to show him we weren't playing around. That's how this works."

"Now you," Eli continued as he circled in front of Marcus. "You don't seem to have any family or anyone who cares enough about you to pay us to get you back. That makes you useless."

Marcus looked up, but the light behind Eli turned him into an ominous silhouette. The woman was shivering against his back and sobbing steadily.

"Lucky for you, we decided we ain't going to kill you yet. It seems there might be a man in Mexico who could use your kidneys, and the fresher they are, the better the price."

Eli left then, banging the door shut behind him. The woman was still shivering at Marcus's back, but her sobs had given way to breathless gasps.

"Are you okay back there?" Marcus asked.

A groan filled with raw emotion tore from her throat. She pushed and pulled against him as though trying to rock herself. He realized she might be having a panic attack and fell into her rhythm, allowing her to sway back and forth.

"I'm Marcus, what's your name?" he asked.

"A-Amber," she replied.

"That's a beautiful name. And how far along are you, Amber?"

"Five months."

Marcus kept Amber talking until she calmed down. Once her breathing regulated and she was able to sit still, he felt it was time they started figuring out how they could escape.

"Now listen, Amber," Marcus said. "I know you're scared. You're a mother, and no mother is happy when her baby is in trouble. But you aren't alone." Marcus took her hands in his. "We're in this mess together, Amber, and we can get out of it together too."

"How?" Amber wailed. "You heard that man... they're going to kill us!"

"Not if we aren't here anymore. Did you ever have to do one of those teamwork exercises in gym class where you sit back-to-back and lean on each other to stand up? Now, we aren't quite the same weight and height, and I've got a bad leg, but I want to try do that with you now. Think you can help me, Amber?"

Amber let out a shuddering breath. "I can try."

It took multiple tries before Marcus and Amber successfully stood. They slowly circled the room, tangling their feet and bumping together awkwardly before they settled into a slow shuffle.

Marcus maintained a positive monologue for Amber's sake, but his heart sank when he realized all the walls were smooth concrete and the door at the top of the staircase was made of pressed steel. There were no useful tools or bits of junk lying around that could help them escape either. In fact, there was nothing in the basement except them and a flimsy folding chair.

"Well, it looks like we'll have to make our great escape through the windows," Marcus said cheerfully. "They're pretty high, but I'm sure you can reach them if you stand on my shoulders."

"But you said you have a bad leg," Amber replied. "How will you support me?"

"I'll brace against the wall. It'll be fine."

"No, it won't, because we can't do any of that while we're handcuffed together, Marcus."

"I might be able to fix that, if you don't mind me borrowing one of your hairpins."

Amber let out an almost hysterical laugh. "You can borrow every last one if it'll help us get out of here. Heck, you don't even have to return them, but how are you going to get them out of my hair?"

"Teamwork!" Marcus replied.

Marcus and Amber lifted their arms together, and Amber removed one of her hairpins and passed it to Marcus. They shuffled over to stand in the light coming through from one of the high windows and then coordinated their movements so Amber's arms bent back around his midriff. He bit the plastic bits off the end of her hairpin, then picked the lock on the handcuffs.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Amber asked. She watched him suspiciously as she rubbed her wrists.

Marcus smiled politely. "I used to be a cop, Amber... would still be a cop if I hadn't gotten injured on the job."

"You mean your leg?" Amber glanced down at his lower body. "Are you sure you can support me while I climb out the window?

"Yup." He beckoned her closer. "Don't you worry about me. The most important thing is that we get you and your baby to safety."

Marcus braced himself against the wall and helped Amber onto his shoulders. Both his legs trembled from the effort of supporting her. The dull ache that had pulsed against his bones since earlier that morning transformed into agony. He squeezed his eyes shut.

"Can you reach the window?" Marcus asked.

"I've almost got it... it's open!" Amber cried.

Amber quickly crawled out through the window. A few minutes later, she returned with a ladder she'd found leaning against the side of the building and carefully slid it through the window. Marcus climbed up the ladder and out through the window.

Marcus gestured to the nearby treeline. Amber nodded, then motioned for him to hook his arm around her shoulder. Keenly aware that Eli and Benny might spot them at any minute, the pair made their way into the trees.

"We'll use the woods as cover for as long as possible," Marcus whispered to Amber. "These late afternoon shadows should keep us pretty well hidden."

They carefully circled until they reached the dirt track Marcus had seen from the car earlier. He noted a reasonably straight, sturdy branch lying on the ground along the way and picked it up. It made for a decent cane, even though it was a bit too short.

Amber and Marcus hightailed it down the track. Neither one could move as fast as they would've liked, but they set a good pace, all things considered. And it turned out salvation was nearer than they'd expected.

Just as the pair began to tire, they came across a spot where a second dirt road joined the one they were following. Marcus cautiously hobbled a little way down the track.

Golden rays from the setting sun shone down on an old cabin in the clearing at the end of the trail. The logs showed signs of weathering, and grass grew in patches on the roof, but a pair of boots were set out on the tiny porch. Hope bloomed in Marcus's chest.

"Look, there's a light in the window," Amber said. "Someone must live there."

"Looks like it!" Marcus grinned at Amber. "I pray they have a phone so we can call the police."

Marcus hobbled down the track with Amber on his heels. He used the last of his strength and willpower to jog the last few paces and hop up the short flight of worn steps to the porch. He banged on the door with his fist.

"Hello?" He yelled. "Please let us in!"

"We need your help!" Amber added.

The door hinges shrieked as it swung open a crack. An old lady wearing a shabby housecoat with flyaway hair peered out at them. Although her eyes were narrowed suspiciously at first, they rounded with concern as she studied Marcus and Amber.

"What's all this about?" The old lady opened the door a little wider. "Did y'all get lost on one of the hiking trails?"

"We were kidnapped by two thugs," Marcus gasped. "Please, help us!"

"Kidnapped? Oh my." The old lady put a hand over her mouth. She glanced behind them as she beckoned them inside. "Where are those thugs now?"

"We escaped," Amber said as the pair hurried inside the dimly lit cabin. "But they might've noticed by now."

"Please can I use your phone to call the police?" Marcus asked, turning to look at her. Now she was in full view, he realized she'd been hiding a shotgun behind the door all this time.

The old lady kicked the door shut. She swung the shotgun upwards to cradle it in both hands as though she'd done it a thousand times before. In the blink of an eye, Marcus and Amber were staring down the barrels.

"I knew I couldn't trust my boys to handle this job properly," she snarled. "If you want things done right, you've got to do it yourself."

"Please, don't do this!" Amber pressed her palms together as she pleaded. "Just let us go. My husband will pay you for releasing us, I swear it."

The old lady cackled. "You want to write me an IOU to go with that promise? Your husband better pay up because he ain't going to see you again if he doesn't. That's how this works, child."

Amber shrank down to her knees as she started sobbing. The old woman circled around and jabbed her in the ribs with the shotgun.

"Quit your crying and get up," she said.

Marcus helped Amber to her feet. She continued crying softly as the old lady marched Marcus and Amber back to the basement they'd so recently escaped. As soon as they reached their destination, she took Marcus's makeshift cane and flung it out into the woods.

"I'm sorry, Mother!" Eli exclaimed as he followed them down into the basement. "I swear, I didn't hear anything to suggest these two were escaping."

"Well, maybe you would've if you weren't glued to the TV," the old lady snapped. "And where's your brother?"

"I'm here, Mother," Benny drawled from the top of the stairs. "What's happening?"

"You two fools let our next paycheck get away!" She spun to jab a finger at the two men. "If dumb was dirt, the pair of you would cover that whole forest out there. I'm tired of cleaning up after you two boys. Big as you both are, I've half a mind to send you out to pick your switches."

Eli recoiled and backtracked to the bottom of the stairs. Benny, who'd been staring down into the basement from above, remained stoic.

"Now, I'm going to sit down here and watch these two the way you boys ought to have been doing from the start. Do you think you can manage to collect the ransom money? Or do I need to hold your hands?"

"We can manage, mother," Eli replied quickly.

"Then get going!" She snapped. "And don't mess it up!"

The old lady herded Marcus and Amber to one corner of the basement. She then set up the folding chair and sat down facing them with her shotgun pointed toward them.

The light coming through the high windows soon started to fade into gray. The old lady lit a lamp, bathing the room in a sickly orange glow. The music of crickets singing and a distant mockingbird carried through from the forest outside, but none of the people in the basement said a word.

The hours drew on. Eventually, the old woman checked her watch and let out an angry groan.

"That's that then." She rose from her seat. "Midnight has come and gone and those boys aren't back yet. That can only mean those two louts got themselves caught by the police." She waved the gun at them in a gesture to stand up. "Guess I'll have to get rid of you two now."

"No!" Amber wailed. "Please, I'm sure there's been some mistake. My husband loves me, and our child. He would pay the ransom."

"Think of the baby!" Marcus said. "You're also a mother; how can you even think of sacrificing this woman's unborn child?"

"You city folk are all soft and stupid," the old lady sighed. "Now get up. I don't want to get blood all over the floors. Just makes extra work for me later."

Amber offered Marcus her shoulder again as the old woman marched them out into the forest. The light from her high-powered flashlight threw their shadows ahead of them as they followed a narrow path through the pine trees.

Marcus listened to the sounds of the forest and inhaled its fresh scent as the old lady urged them ever onwards. In any other circumstances, this would've been a peaceful place to take his last breath.

He glanced sideways at Amber. Her face was mostly in shadow, but he could just make out the glisten of fresh tears coursing down her cheek. His heart ached for her and her child. He had to do something to save them.

An idea began forming in Marcus's mind. He listened carefully to the sound of the old lady's footsteps behind them and carefully gauged the distance between her and them. It was too far. He needed to lure the old woman in close.

"Get ready," he whispered to Amber.

"Ready for what?" she asked.

Marcus leaned away from Amber and pretended to trip. He cried out as he fell to the dirt and rolled onto his side, clutching his leg.

"Get up!" The old woman walked toward him, her shotgun leveled at his chest.

"I can't," Marcus groaned. "My leg..."

"I said, get up!"

The old woman came closer to prod him with the shotgun, just as she'd prodded Amber when she fell to her knees in the cabin. This was exactly what Marcus had hoped she'd do. He quickly spun and grabbed the barrels, holding them so they pointed at the ground.

"Run, Amber!" Marcus shouted.

The old woman let out a scream of rage and tried to tug the shotgun free from Marcus's grasp. Somewhere behind him, he heard Amber taking off into the forest.

"You get back here!" The old lady shouted as she stared past Marcus, presumably at Amber's retreating figure.

Marcus wrenched the gun sideways with all his might. The old lady had a firm grasp on the stock, and the sudden motion threw her off balance. Marcus kicked at her knee. She fell, her hands instinctively flying out to break her fall.

Marcus scrambled to his feet and turned to hobble away. He didn't get far before something slammed into his bad leg, sending lightning bolts of pain arcing all up and down the limb. He shrieked and fell to the dirt as tears of pain stung his eyes.

"You should've taken your chance to shoot me, boy," the old lady said.

He'd let go of the shotgun when he fell. Marcus watched helplessly as the old woman limped past him and lifted the shotgun from where it landed a few yards ahead of him.

"Like I said, you city folk are soft and stupid. Don't have what it takes to survive this cruel world." She set the stock firmly against her shoulder and sighted down the barrel. "Trust me, I'm doing you a kindness."

It all happened so fast. The shotgun barked loudly, and the slight muzzle flash burned his eyes. It felt like a thousand punches hitting him all at once, and then there was only pain.

Twinkling lights obscured his vision as he watched the old lady remove the used cartridge from the barrel and snap the shotgun barrel back into position. He reached for her, still determined to do whatever it took to stop her from hurting Amber and the baby.

But there was nothing more Marcus could do for them. He was left in utter darkness as the old woman took her flashlight and left him. Slowly, the critters that called the forest home resumed their nighttime song. Marcus rolled onto his back. A shimmering star moved in and out of view as the wind played with the tops of the pines around him.

He'd been right. This was a peaceful place to die.

Marcus opened his eyes to a fuzzy field of white. A woman was calling his name. Her voice seemed familiar, but just when he thought he knew who it was, the name slipped away from him.

He blinked a few times. He felt heavy... his thoughts were misfiring like an old truck. A woman's face appeared above him.

"You're awake!" She smiled brightly and tucked her hair behind her ear. "I can't tell you how glad I am to see you, Marcus."

"Amber? Are you dead too?"

Amber shook her head. "We're both very much alive, Marcus. And it's all thanks to you. The cops did catch those two thugs, and they arrested their psycho mother too. We're safe, and everything's going to be okay now."

Marcus tried to sit up, which caused a scattered pattern of sharp pains across his torso. He groaned as Amber gently pushed him back down.

"You aren't supposed to be moving around yet," she said. "You've just been through a pretty major surgery to repair the damage after that crazy old lady shot you."

"Surgery?" A wave of panic cut through the last of the confusion clouding Marcus's thoughts. "I'm on disability, Amber. I can't afford to pay for surgeries."

"But I can." A man appeared at Amber's side. "I'm Amber's husband, Mateo, and paying your hospital bills is the least I can do to repay you after you sacrificed yourself to save my wife and child."

"I did what any good and decent person would've done in that situation," Marcus replied. "Much as I appreciate the help, there's no need to repay me."

"Okay, let me put it differently then," Mateo said. "I think any good and decent person in my position would gladly pay the medical expenses for someone who acted as bravely as you did. I've also made arrangements with one of the doctors here to come and examine your leg. Amber tells me it gives you trouble."

"It does," Marcus admitted as he blinked away tears.

“We also got something else for you.” Amber smiled as she leaned away, out of his field of vision. She reappeared a moment later, holding a new cane. “I hope you won’t need this for much longer, but in the meanwhile, we wanted to be sure you could still get around.”

TOP 3 STORIES on AmoMama

1. Dog Barks at Coffin during Funeral, Suspicious Son Opens It and Discovers It Empty – Story of the Day

Ryan and his family are mourning the loss of Ryan’s father when his dog suddenly races into the church and starts barking at the coffin. Ryan’s suspicions are roused when the dog shifts into an alert position. He opens the coffin and discovers it empty, prompting him to seek answers about what really happened to his father... Full story here.

2. Single Dad Helps Older Woman Mow Her Lawn, Soon Gets a Call from Her Lawyer — Story of the Day

Felix sees his elderly neighbor struggling to cut her overgrown lawn and rushes to help her. She forces an unusual antique box on him as a token of her appreciation, but her gift lands Felix in deep trouble when her lawyer phones to request an urgent meeting... Full story here.

3. ‘The Groom Is a Fraud! Here’s the Proof!’ Stranger Woman Interrupts Bride’s Vow — Story of the Day

"Please, stop the wedding!" Ally bursts into the church when the bride is about to finish saying her wedding vow. Ally introduces herself as the groom's ex-girlfriend and accuses him of being a con man... Full story here.

Tell us what you think about this story, and share it with your friends. It might inspire them and brighten their day.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.