“Guess not, but I still think you’d win,” he said, letting me grip his arms as a contraction hit me strong. My knees wanted to give out, but he held me up. His arms braced me like oak trees, solid and unwavering.
“Bad one?” he asked.
I nodded, out of breath and exhausted, without words to convey what I felt. If I could sleep for a week, I would.
“I hope this won’t go on much longer,” I whispered as Evan guided me back to the bed, where I took a short break before walking and squatting all over again.
Three hours later.
“Still at four centimeters,” the doctor said, frustrated as if I was the reason this wasn’t happening quicker.
“Oh Lord,” I lamented, bending back with a contraction that wore down my resistance. Evan patted my leg gently.
“We’re going to start a Pitocin drip to move things along.” Why didn’t the doctor do this sooner? Is this what having shitty healthcare coverage meant? No drugs? No water birth? Just a doctor on shift who thought my vagina looked like a hundred others?
Feeling weak, I gave in, asking, “What about an epidural?” I had weathered the pain up until then, but I was tired and in too m
uch agony to walk around on shaky legs, shower, or switch positions to get the baby moving. The doctor looked me over and I saw his eyes squint as he judged me.
“Ms. Kennedy, I’m advising against the epidural because I think it’s just going to prolong things at this point. Besides, you’re young and strong. You can do this on your own. That is the choice you made, right?” He tapped his clipboard, and I suspected he meant that in a derogatory way. I guessed if you looked like a teen mom and a self-righteous prick was the on-call physician, the chances of getting pain meds were slim.
Luckily, Evan had stepped out to use the restroom while I was hooked up to more tubes of fluid. The last thing I needed was my misguided white knight arguing with the medical staff. Every hour on the hour, he went looking for a nurse or a doctor to check me. It was sweet if not annoying. At this point, I wondered if the janitor was the only one left who didn’t look at my pregnant and swollen hoo-ha. Evan probably needed to find ice for his hand. I kept squeezing it during my bouts of crying in agony. When he returned, smiling, I was weary but determined to do this.
“Can I call anyone for you?” Taking my hand in his, he carefully fixed the tape over my IV line the nurse had pretty much slapped down haphazardly over my clammy skin. Sweetly, he brushed my sweaty hair back, braiding it for me. I didn’t know where he would have learned that, and I was too shy to ask. I prayed he had a little sister because I couldn’t stomach the crazy weird jealousy that rode over me like a wave.
I could only imagine what he might have done if he had heard the doctor in there. Evan already looked concerned, and my eyes darted to the big round clock in my room. It was bordering on midnight. The bar was still open, serving customers, so Andy and David were likely there. Maybe one of them could bring me my things, but I hated to call them. I hated asking my two wonderful, thoughtful, and overly protective bosses to go out of their way because I was forgetful with my pregnancy brain. They already pushed me to take breaks, and Andy had talked about setting up a crib in the back office when I eventually came back to work.
“The bar,” I offered as he looked at me funny. I cleared my hoarse throat from yelling with each contraction. “I don’t need a drink, though it’s tempting.” I didn’t know what he thought I was calling the bar for, but if the boys brought me a drink to numb the pain, I couldn’t say I wouldn’t have given it a second thought. Pushing babies out hurt something fierce.
“You weren’t working tonight, were you?” An odd look crossed his face. I never felt judged by Evan, but I liked the oddly protective nature in his voice. I got enough censure from Andy and David lately and especially when I told them that my child’s father was not up for discussion.
“Not working. I was rushing when labor hit and I forgot a few things in my apartment. Maybe Andy or David could drop them off?”
“Of course.” Evan left the room. It seemed like the poor man was running a relay back and forth with the number of times he came and went from my room. He went to make the call, and I was there stuck waiting. A small television played the recap of a game, and I wondered what my baby’s father was doing. Probably hooking up with another girl as stupid as I was. He was good at that, Ryder West. He could throw a record-breaking touchdown pass and have a girl lose her panties in the same span of time.
It wasn’t long until my special hero of the hour returned, looking sheepish. I think if I told him Ryder was off getting his jollies, he’d hunt him down.
“What is it?” I asked, rubbing my belly and breathing out.
Evan ran a hand over his head before saying, “Andy is coming and he’s bringing the girls. I couldn’t say no. I’m sorry.”
Grimacing, I tried to give him a smile as I felt another contraction ramping up with each drop of Pitocin in my IV line. “It’s okay.”
This time the pain felt like it was tearing me up from the inside. I held my middle trying to not bear down. My panicked scream startled Evan.
“The doctor, I need to get the doctor.” Evan checked me over and then scrambled to find him.
The doctor returned in twenty minutes and far too many contractions later when he sat on his stool between my legs. I had no energy left to do anything. “All right, let’s have another look, shall we?” He snapped the gloves on and his hands touched between my legs. I wished for the nice lady doctor from the clinic to come and reassure me, but this guy was it. I told myself to pull up my big girl panties and handle this like an adult. I doubted anyone, except for those tiger moms I envied, felt like they were handling their shit with their legs spread and fluids leaking from their bodies. I wondered if my baby was ever going to come because at this point who hadn’t seen my lady bits?
8
Evan
Remington Kennedy was the strongest woman I knew. Her face looked tomato red as she pushed and cried, trying to get this monster child out of her body. I hated that some guy had knocked her up and left her alone like this, screaming in pain. I wondered how he’d like pushing out a kid or a kidney stone from his dick. I’d been told by Chase, who’d had them, the pain was similar, but I wasn’t an expert.
This whole experience was a strong reminder to never knock up a woman. If I ever contemplated sex again after this, I was going to be sure and wrap everything up twice. This shit terrified the single carefree male in me, and I liked Remi. What I didn’t like was the pain she was going through.
The nurses were busy coaxing her while I was a useless bystander, and the doctor looked a bit frustrated, but I figured it was because this kid was taking too long for his God complex. It was honestly one of the strangest, most beautiful, mystifying pieces of reality I had ever been a part of while Remi did all the hard work. We had been at this close to eleven hours now. This baby had to show up soon because little momma didn’t have much energy left.