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“I can’t thank you enough. For everything. You are a wonderful friend.”
She blushes a little, looking pleased. “This kind of stuff is why the Coalition lost Sintaca, you know,” she teases. “Get a move on.”
On impulse, I run back to give Isa a hug. She pauses for a moment, stiff, but then relaxes. She puts her arms around me and hugs me back.
“Go on. Get out of here, big boy,” she says. And as she turns to leave, I notice her cheeks are wet with tears.
I set off at a fast jog in the direction Isa said, absolutely elated. I barely notice my feet touching the ground as I run. I feel as if I could take off and fly there. Luckily, Kaleidians are very fast, so I’m at the hospital in about a minute.
It’s a tall, glass-fronted building. I take a deep breath and walk in, and a woman at the front desk stops me immediately. “Are you here to visit someone?”
“Yes. Sophia Honey. Maternity.”
She frowns, checking something out on a data tablet. “Sophia checked in with Ms. Isa Gardner. She’s in labor and delivery. We only allow one labor coach in the room at a time, and she didn’t provide your name. Who are you, again?”
23
SOPHIA
It hasn’t been very long, but I can tell I’m getting closer. I was told that Kaleidan pregnancies are quick, and I believe that. It should be great news. Who wants to be in labor all day?
“You still hanging in there?” a nurse asks.
No, I want to scream. I have no idea what I’m doing and the father isn’t even here. I’m not hanging in there at all, I’m falling off a cliff.
I just nod instead.
I feel almost… primitive. I guess it makes sense. What’s more natural and primal than childbirth? I’ve resorted to some old cave-woman state where my body just goes through the motions reflexively, knowing what comes next.
Somewhere in my primitive brain, things have become very simple.
Yes. No. Breathe in. Breathe out. I’m not ready to be a mother. Breathe in. Breathe out. I wish Drex was here. In. Out. 8 centimeters. 9 centimeters. 10.
“Okay, Sophia,” the doctor’s voice barely registers. “You’re nearly fully dilated. It's going to be time to push soon.” I have no memory of when he came into the room. Between the lights overhead and the beeping from the machines, I’m somehow overstimulated and also paying attention to nothing around me, all at the same time.
No. This can’t be. It’s too soon. I’m not ready. Not without Drex.
“Can we wait until Isa gets here?” I ask. “I don’t… I don’t want to do this alone.”
He sighs, but it isn’t annoyed as much as pitying. “Not really, Sophia. Look, we have a couple of minutes. Hopefully, she’ll be back before then. But once we start pushing, it’s going to happen very quickly, so prepare yourself. Do you want a drink of water? Another pillow? Brace yourself now, okay, Mom?”
I nod, and a nurse presses a cup of water to my dry lips. I sip, barely tasting it.
It’s stupid and impossible, but in the deepest recesses of my primitive brain, I feel the tug of the jalshagar. It’s pulsing in my veins like my own blood.
It will have to wait. The universe will just have to stand still.
Somewhere beyond my room, I hear a voice, pumping with rage. “These are the papers. Just look at them.” Our connection tugs at my heartstrings, telling me what I’ve needed to hear for the last several hours. “I will not miss the birth of my baby.”
At once, I’m pulled from the steel trap that is my mind's inner sanctum, our bond nipping at my consciousness to force out the only words I can.
“Drex! Come now!” The next contraction has started. It feels more forceful than the others, rolling from the top of my stomach down as if it can push the baby out in one go. There’s a bang on my hospital door when someone barges in, voice rasping and shoulders heaving. Isa’s just behind him.
“Drex! Isa! You’re here.”
“Welcome, Dad,” the doctor muses momentarily. “You’re just in time. Nurse, get them in scrubs. It’s time to push. Okay, Momma, on my count.”
I’m hit with another contraction while Drex and Isa slip into scrubs and wash their hands. They join me just in the nick of time.
