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“Thank you, thank you,” I mutter and lead Kira off the dance floor.
As we wade through the crowd, Kira starts mumbling to herself, “This isn’t possible, I haven’t had one contraction, I haven’t –”
“Hey, what’s going on?” My dad appears suddenly at my side.
I don’t stop walking. “Kira’s water broke.”
“Oh! Oh no. Alright –”
“Don’t say ‘oh no’,” Kira whimpers. “Oh, my god, please don’t say –”
Dad swings around to grab her other arm. “It’s alright. I meant ‘oh no’ like ‘oh no, what timing’ not –” He looks at me with nervous eyes.
Before I can respond, Kira gasps and clutches her belly.
“Contraction?” I ask.
She nods, squinting her eyes closed. “It’s intense,” she says through grit teeth.
“This is happening too fast,” Dad murmurs to me. “We have to get her to the hospital.”
Stay strong, don’t crack, stay strong, don’t break.“Will you drive us? I don’t think I can – I’m too –”
There is no hesitation. My father holds out his hand. “Give me your keys. Let’s go have a baby.”
29
KIRA
I blink my eyes open.My mouth is dry. I try to create some saliva by smacking my lips.
Everything below my waist aches. Distantly.
Mm. What happened?
My baby. Oh god, my baby.
I reach down to my stomach, but it’s like moving through molasses. When I finally make it, I squish a part of my stomach and…
No, something is wrong. This is wrong. It’s too soft. And it hurts.
Where is he?
The last thing I remember was making it into a hospital bed, contractions piling up on each other, reaching for Orlie, hearing doctors squabbling with concern that there was too much blood, and then a nurse with kind eyes leaning over me to explain something.
I try to breathe deeply. It’s hard with the pain in my core. But eventually, as my eyes slide across the ceiling, my neck starts unlocking too.
I look to one side. It’s blurry but I can make out the rough images. Just a hospital. Equipment. An IV. I can now feel it inmy arm, that tiny needle and tape on my skin. Then, I look the other way.
All the fears abate when I see Orlie sitting in a big leather chair, a tiny bundle on his chest. I try to open my mouth to call out his name, but my mouth is still too dry to be able to form words.
Patience, Kira.
Orlie looks exhausted. His hair is sticking out in all directions. God, what time is it? How long have I been out?
His dress shirt is unbuttoned halfway, and our little one is skin-to-skin with him. I try to smile. The corners of my mouth hurt. Dry.
Orlie pats the backside of our baby, trying to look into his little face.
