Going Alone

I honked at the car in front of me. I don’t care if she was already going 5 over the speed limit, and I especially didn’t care that I was tailgating her. She was pissing me off, and somehow, my back only hurt more. Once the one lane turned into two, I zoomed past her, flipping her off. As luck would have it, the green light flashed to red and I was stuck, two blocks from the doctor's. As soon as the light turned green, I floored it and quickly went over the 30 mile per hour speed limit. I sighed in relief as I pulled into the parking lot.

“Mae!” Dr. Gavin ran up to me.

“Hey.” I tried to be cordial.

He helped me out of my car, “Let’s go check you out.”

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“Okay, well, there’s a slight problem here.” Dr. Gavin sighed after checking me out.

“No shit.” I rolled my eyes, “My stomach hurts now, too!”

“Well, that’s because you’re in labor.”

“That’s funny.” I rolled my eyes, “But really, what’s happening?”

“I’m not joking, Mae!” Dr. Gavin said, “This is really serious! You're only 33 weeks!”

I felt really cold all of a sudden. This is really happening, Marshall is coming. My eyes widened and I tied my hair up in a loose bun. I looked around the room. There were pictures of babies in the womb, of mothers holding their babies, even pictures of the “female reproductive system.” I swallowed hard.

“When is… this happening?”

“Well, you’re 3 centimeters dilated now.”

“And that means…”

Dr. Gavin sighed, “It means you have 7 more centimeters to go before you start pushing.”

“Can you hand me my phone?” I tried to remain calm.

My hands flew over the numbers once the phone was in my hands. I dialed Jack first, since I knew his number by heart. I gingerly held the phone up to my ear and tried to even out my breathing. Dr. Gavin left to room to give me some more privacy.

“Hey Mae.” Jack laughed at his rhyming skills, “What’s up?”

“Uh, well, I’m kinda in labor.”

“I’m not falling for that joke again.” He laughed, munching on something.

“I’m not kidding!” I yelled, “This is fucking serious!”

“Oh shit!” Jack dropped something, “Is it coming now? Are you pushing? Where are you!”

“I’m at the doctor’s office, Jack.” I calmed myself, “Just get here soon. And bring everyone.”

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“Okay!” Jack yelled, running into the room, “I checked you in and I’m ready to deliver the baby!”

I was laying in bed, biting my lip. The contractions were becoming more frequent and stronger, which kept me asking for an epidural. Another contraction hit and I groaned in pain. It felt like someone slammed an axe into my vagina, and I was so ready to get this over with.

“You’re not going to deliver the baby, Jack.” I tried to stay calm.

“Well, okay. How are you feeling? Zack and Rian are here. Does it hurt? When is he coming? Do you want to hold my hand? Jack was running a mile a minute.

“Shut the fuck up!” I yelled, “Just shut up!”

“Okay.” He did a small breathing exercise.

“Where’s Alex?” I closed my eyes.

“He didn’t pick up his phone.”

“Call him again!” I yelled, “Go fucking find him!”

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“Mae, I’m going to give you an epidural. It’ll only hurt for a minute.” The nurse smiled at me.

“Thank you!” I sighed in relief.

“After this you can’t walk, okay?” I nodded, just wanting some relief.

Jack came in the room, phone in hand. Once he saw that the nurse was giving me an epidural, he quickly turned around and walked back out. If I wasn’t in so much pain, I would have giggled. The nurse quickly finished my epidural and walked out, talking to Jack for a minute.

“Hey, are you feeling better?” Jack asked once he walked back in.

“I will.” I sighed, “You can bring Zack and Rian in now.”

Jack motioned for them to come in, “I called Alex.”

“And?” I rolled my eyes.

“And he said that he will be here in an hour.”

“An hour!” I yelled, feeling another contraction, “What the fuck is he doing?!”

“He needs to go pick up his Mom and then bring her over here.”

I groaned in pain. I just wanted to get this pain over with so I can get the hell out of here. Hospitals don’t freak me out, per say, I just wanted to go home. I was beyond tired, and I just wanted to sleep. This was the last time I could possibly sleep in peace. That scared the shit out of me. Mark my words, I was never, ever going to have another baby.