“Rami…” Mia’s stomach lurched as she realized what had happened. “Rami—Rami, my water just broke.” She knew this shouldn’t be happening yet; she had four more weeks before she should be in labor. Mia groaned, beginning to pant as her heart beat faster in her chest. Her baby was coming prematurely, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
ELEVEN
“Breathe, Mia,” the nurse said firmly. “You have to breathe. If you pass out on us, you’re not going to be doing yourself or the baby any favors.” Another contraction ripped through her and the air left Mia’s lungs in a long, loud cry as she grabbed for the railings of the bed. The nurse was unruffled by her screaming. “Good girl; if you’re shouting you’re breathing.”
“I wish you would shut up and let me push already!” Mia inhaled in a sharp gulp, throwing her head back against the pillows. There was not a single part of her body that wasn’t drenched in sweat; that didn’t feel as though it was being slowly ripped into shreds by the monumental pressure and ratcheting tension of the contractions the gripped her, wrung her out, and then stopped, over and over again.
“If I let you push now, you’ll rip yourself apart,” the nurse countered.
“It already feels like I’m ripping myself apart,” Mia protested. The contraction eased slightly and she looked around the room for her fiancé. “If I had known, Rami, that this was what childbirth would feel like…I would have demanded…three million from you,” she told him between panting gasps for breath.
Rami chuckled, coming closer and pushing her sweat-sticky hair out of her face. The nurse raised an eyebrow. “We met when I was seeking a surrogate for my child,” Rami told the woman, whose name Mia couldn’t actually recall. “We never expected it, but we fell in love while going through the process.”
The nurse shrugged and nodded. “I’m going to examine you again, Mia, is that okay?” Mia closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. She tried to focus on her breathing, to inhale and exhale the way she had been shown at her prenatal classes, but the pain was so bad that she couldn’t concentrate; she felt as though she might throw up at any moment. She barely noticed as the nurse flipped up the bed sheet and examined her. “You’ve got a while to go yet,” the nurse reported. Rami turned to look and Mia reached out quickly, grabbing at his wrist.
“Do not look down there,” she told him in an almost-growl. “If you ever plan to have sex with me again, you don’t want to see what’s going on down there.”
“I’ve seen babies born before, Mia,” Rami told her mildly. “Unless you’re giving birth to Cthulhu, I don’t think anything that’s happening under your gown is going to make me want to never touch you again.” The nurse tittered quietly and Mia scowled at the man she loved, gripping his wrist even more tightly.
“If I was giving birth to Cthulhu, it might be progressing a little more quickly,” she said, panting for breath. “And it would all be your fault.”
Rami patted her hand, giving her fingers a gentle squeeze.
“You’re doing fine, Mia,” the nurse said again. “It just takes time. You’re actually moving along very quickly for a first-time labor.”
“It doesn’t feel quick!” Mia released Rami’s arm, grabbing onto the railings once more as a new contraction ripped through her, lighting up her nerves with electric fire. “It feels like a goddamn…” Words deserted her as a yell muscled its way up inside her throat. “Like a goddamned eternity!” Mia groaned as her muscles flexed and strained. She could feel the baby moving inside of her, struggling with the tidal forces that were pulling it inexorably towards its birth.
Somewhere underneath her pain, and the incredible pressure building in her body, a small but forceful part of Mia’s brain was deeply concerned about the fact that the baby was being born a full month early. Before her labor pains had become as intense as they now were, Mia had asked the nurse about how dangerous her labor would be, given that the baby was not quite at full term.
“Well, it’s not an exact science, determining the due date. A month before or after isn’t too unusual. We’ll be watching carefully to make sure there aren’t any complications,” the nurse had explained.
The contraction began to ease and Mia sagged back against the bed once more, panting and gasping. She turned her head limply to look at Rami. “I really just want this to be over. Why can’t you be the one to do this?”
“I’d already be dead if I was,” Rami told her. He smiled, taking her hand in his. “You’re so strong, Mia. You can do this. You’ve been through harder things.”
“You have no idea,” Mia told him, almost bitterly. “You have no idea how hard this is.”
“Do you want some ice chips?” he asked, his face concerned.
Mia swallowed, wondering how her skin could be so slick and her mouth so dry. What she really wanted was a big glass of water—but they wouldn’t let her have anything to drink or eat, just in case she had to be put under anesthesia for an emergency C-section.
“Sure,” she said weakly, closing her eyes. She felt Rami let go of her hand as he left her side. Over the bleeping of monitors and the hum of machines, she heard the clatter of ice and opened her eyes in time to see Rami return, a cup of ice chips in hand.
“I need to run into the hall for a minute, Mia,” the nurse said. “You’re doing fine. Just remember to keep breathing. Eat your ice chips and hold tight, okay?”
Mia scowled at the woman; even though she knew that the nurse wasn’t being intentionally cruel, she had an unavoidable sense that everyone in the room—Rami included—was somehow her enemy. The nurse left the room and Mia sucked on a mouthful of ice, wishing she could somehow get the chilly cold down where it would do the most good—between her legs.
“Do you want to try and get up and walk a little bit? Ma said that can help.”
Mia took a slow breath and considered the question. “I don’t even know if my legs will work,” she said, looking at Rami with a kind of weak desperation. “My thighs feel like they’re on fire, and everything below my knees might as well not exist.”
“Do you want to at least give it try?” Rami rubbed her palm with his thumb. “Don’t worry, I’ll hold you up.”
Mia tilted her head back onto the pillows and took a few slow, deep breaths in and out, trying to clear her head. “Okay,” she said finally, “I’ll try.” She sat up, and Rami took her hand. Mia could still feel the rippling of muscles through her back, through her abdomen and down into her legs. Estimating that she had a minute or two before the next contraction, she somehow got onto her feet and Rami helped her take a few steps around the bed, holding her up all the while.