“I know.” He sucked in a breath, as if trying to stay calm. That only made me more anxious. “At his checkup today, the doctor said he hadn’t been resting enough and admitted him to the medical center for observation. But, only minutes ago, they decided the baby needs to come now.”
Fuck.I pulled off my helmet, shut down my jet, and, after collecting the picture of our baby, I climbed out. I had to get to Orez. If the jet could hold enough power to get to my home planet, I would have flown it there myself.
As I raced across the tarmac, I heard Ret calling after me. I ignored him. He could be mad all he wanted. I no longer cared if we qualified or not. I was done racing for the weekend. I could barely focus during the last one we’d flown. There’s no way I would be safe to fly four hundred laps in the finals.
Suddenly, a hovercart pulled around in front of me. Xac was driving, with Ret beside them. My brother jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Get in, dumbass.”
I stood there, not wanting to argue with my brother. He wouldn’t understand. I simply couldn’t stay.
Ret rolled his eyes. “We’ll take you to the shuttle rental. Helena is already booking one for you.”
I breathed out with temporary relief before climbing into the rear seat. At least they were helping me get to Utahn faster.
Right before we reached the shuttle rental hangar at the other end of the airport, Ret handed me a bag. “Here. I had Helena pack this after the last race where you left without permission. We’ll hopefully get enough points to win without you. After the finals, I’ll head to Orez and bring the rest of your stuff. Until then, good luck.”
“Thanks.” I gave my brother and Xac a quick hug before rushing into the building. My heart pounded as I checked in for my private flight. It was time to go. Everything in my life was about to change. Forever.
Chapter Fourteen
Utahn
No. I’d come so far. I couldn’t go through this again.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to force away my tears. They wouldn’t help me. And I couldn’t wipe them away with my hands, my arms all hooked up to tubes and wires in preparation for my surgery.
I’d woken up in the morning with abdominal pain. Worse than anything I’d ever felt. Then I noticed the swelling of my hands, feet, and face. Usually that went away when I slept, but not this time.
When my parents arrived to help out in the bakery, they hadn’t seemed concerned, said it was probably false labor. Told me if I was that worried to mention it to my doctor when I had my appointment later that morning.
The moment I’d walked into my doctor’s office, she had me lie down while she called admitting in the medical center to arrange a bed for me. She was very concerned and refused to let me go home.
Nurses brought a bed to the front office, assisted me onto it, and transported me into a room in the labor and postnatal ward. My doctor came to check on me a little later, after I’d been hooked up to multiple machines to monitor me and my baby. I guess my condition didn’t get any better because, two hours later, she told me I was having a baby today.
“Utahn?” Vawn appeared beside me and wiped his thumbs along my cheeks. “I’m here now. How are you doing?”
I wanted to clutch his hands, hold him for reassurance. “Scared. I’m so scared.” But what I wanted more was to know my baby would be okay.
“I’m here. I’m here.” Vawn reached for my hand and squeezed. “And Genj is on his way. He left Omisu already and is on a private shuttle here.”
I nodded as tears slipped down the sides of my face. As much as I would love to have my mate here, I needed to hear my baby was fine before I saw Genj. Otherwise, I didn’t think I could face him.
“Okay, time for this little one to be born.” My doctor returned to the room in full scrubs and pulled on a pair of surgical gloves.
The other doctor, who’d entered behind her, rolled over a tray of instruments before injecting a new liquid into my veins. “You’re going to feel a little numb, especially in your abdomen. That’s normal, what we want.”
I nodded, chewing on my bottom lip as a holographic screen appeared in front of me. It projected an image of the sparkling ocean, hiding my belly from view. I think it was supposed to relax me, but it only increased my worry. I tightened my grip on Vawn’s fingers. “Please watch my baby. No matter what happens to me, please don’t let my baby out of your sight.”
“You have nothing to worry about.” My doctor peeked around the screen. “And that’s why you’re having your baby now. If we let you go any longer, we’d risk serious complications for the both of you. But your baby is far enough along and a good size. Now, let’s get this done.”
I released a heavy breath, my anxiety lessened only slightly. Until my baby was born and I could hold them, I wouldn’t believe everything was okay. But then I would have many other worries as a new father. Stars, I didn’t have furniture for my baby. Genj was supposed to help with that when he arrived. I sighed. Even my timing was bad. I couldn’t do anything right.
I tugged on Vawn’s fingers “Where’s my baby going to sleep?”
“I have lots of stuff at home you can borrow. But don’t worry about that.” He brushed strands of hair off my forehead right after the assistant fit breathing tubes in my nose. “Everything will be taken care of before you both go home from here.”
I wished I had his confidence. Though I didn’t have any more time to dwell on how unprepared I was. After a slight tug on my belly, I assumed the surgery had started, and my baby would be coming out very soon.
Closing my eyes, I focused on breathing. In and out. In and out. I pulled into myself, blocking out all the talking around me and the buzz of equipment. I could do this. I could get through it all. Regardless of what had happened in the past, the situation was much different this time. I had to keep telling myself that as I hoped for a better result.
