AllFreeNovel
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I flip on the blinker and zip into a turn lane. Tap the steering wheel as I wait for the light to turn green. An older man strolls leisurely in the crosswalk in front of us. Bass thumps from a car nearby. Sirens wail in the distance. But all of it vanishes as the light turns green.
And Shelly’s water breaks.
“Oh god,” she whispers. “Oh god.”
Fuck.I smash the pedal to the floorboard and whip down the road.We’re almost there.
TWENTY-SEVEN
SHELLY
Pain.Excruciating, inexplicable pain. It is all I feel. All I hear. All I see. Pain… it is everywhere. Everything.
I clutch my belly and bend slightly in the seat. “Ow. Ow, ow, ow!”
The car picks up speed as Devlyn takes the next right. I fist the handle above the window and hug my belly tighter.
“Sorry,” he mutters. “Just trying to get us there.”
“I…” Another stab of pain tears through my belly. I suck in a deep breath, hold it and count to three, then exhale. “I know. Just be careful.”
Not a minute later, Devlyn whips into the hospital parking lot. He drives to the drop-off spot near the doors, jumps out and jogs to my side of the car. Flinging my door open, he helps me step out, kisses my forehead, and tells me he will be right back. From my spot near the entrance, I watch as he finds the closest parking spot to the entrance before bolting from the vehicle and running to me, hospital bag slung over his shoulder.
From there, everything but the pain is a blur.
Arm around my waist, Devlyn holds on to me as if my knees will buckle. Which is smart, because I may give up any minute.
Elevator doors whoosh open and the familiar view of the labor and delivery floor comes into view. Today, I won’t be twiddling my thumbs in a hard chair in the waiting area. For the first time, I will be in the hospital bed, cursing out people left and right as I push our baby into the world.
As we reach the nurses’ station, Devlyn explains the past few hours and my water breaking in the car. As the words leave his lips, another contraction rips through my lower abdomen.
“Argh!” I bite out, bending slightly and clutching my belly.
Before the contraction ends, warm hands guide me to sit in a wheelchair. A nurse steers me down the hall like she drag races cars for pleasure. Three deep breaths later, the wheelchair is parked next to a hospital bed and I am ushered onto the mattress.
“We’ll need you to change,” the nurse says, offering me a sympathetic smile and a hospital gown. “Or, if you’d prefer, just strip down and slip under the sheet. If you choose to wear the gown, leave the front open.” Then, she steps out of the room.
“Do you want the gown?” Devlyn pulls back the top sheet on the bed.
I shake my head. “Just want to ditch the wet clothes.”
Devlyn helps with my bottoms and underwear. As I lift my shirt over my head, another contraction hits. While I clutch my belly and breathe through the pain, Devlyn wiggles off my top. He situates me on the bed and covers me with the sheet.
“What can I do?”
I hold up my hand. “Just be here.”
He laces his fingers with mine, leans in and kisses my forehead. “Nowhere else I want to be.”
The contraction settles and realization strikes. “We didn’t call anyone.” Our family and friends will lose their shit if we don’t let them know I am in labor.
Devlyn releases my hand, pulls his phone from his back pocket, and taps on the screen. A moment later, he locks the device and stows it once more. From my spot on the bed, I hear the repeated vibration of responses, but Devlyn doesn’t answer any of them. Instead, he takes my hand again and kisses my knuckles in turn.
It isn’t long before nurses flood the room. A thick band gets strapped around my belly and the nurses adjust my position in the bed. Ice chips, water, and a cup are brought in and set up on the rolling table behind Devlyn. Dr. Webster walks in decked out in scrubs with a bright smile on her face. A nurse holds a glove open for her and she slips her hand in one, then another.
She steps closer to the foot of the bed, between my feet in the stirrups. “How you doing, Mom? Dad?” Her smile intensifies. “I hear this little cutie is ready to meet everyone?”
Devlyn remains a quiet beacon of strength at my side as I relay how I feel. The pressure from earlier, the cramping, and then the pain once my water broke in the car.
