Page 79 of Mending Hearts

“What about Kenny Connors?” Tyler asked. Idly, without looking at me, he stroked my arm.

“It’s private,” Laura sniffed.

“I hear the court case will be quite public, actually,” Tyler said.

His unimpressed tone was amusing. Being dragged into court would not be. A vise tightened around my middle, and I hissed in pain, squeezing Tyler’s hand.

Laura rose from her chair and peered over the bed. “You need to breathe. You gotta breathe through them.”

“Tyler…get her out of this room before I scream.” I gritted my teeth and tried to ride the wave or whatever mumbo jumbo David had spewed during our last appointment. Riding a wave sounded pleasant.

“I was in labor for thirty hours with you,” Laura said as Tyler called for Pasha.

Pasha’s grip on Laura’s arm was rough as he led her out of the room, her advice running over me without sticking.

“I don’t want to ask you if you’re okay, but I don’t know what else to say,” Tyler said.

“Say nothing,” I grunted out, releasing his hand to grip his forearm.

“Want me to read you random advice from some of my best doctor sites? They’re all the ones I used to get my online degree.”

The pain was easing, and my laugh was half pain, half amusement. “Sounds awful.” I gave him a sideways look. “And kinda fun. Only the funniest ones, okay?”

“Of course. I know the rules of this game.” Tyler drew a chair to the side of the bed and started searching his phone. “Ah, got one. You’re going to love it.” He took a deep breath. “According to this person, jumping can cause the baby to just,” he made a whooshing gesture with his hands, “fall out. How about that?”

I giggled. It was funny, but it wasn’t as funny as I was finding it. The more I thought about the ridiculousness of that advice, the harder I laughed. “Fall out? God, I wish that was possible. Jump. Done. How awesome would that be? What planet is that person on?”

“Oh, they aren’t the only one saying it. It’s stated more than once.”

“More than once?”

He turned the phone to show the list of advice for pregnant women.

My laughter rang through the room, and when our gazes connected, I loved the way his cognac eyes softened. “Tell me another one.”

“Give me a sec.”

While his head lowered to search his phone, I gazed at him, overwhelmed with love. How had I gotten so lucky?

How had I been so stupid? I should have used five condoms that night. Layered them like T-shirts. Another streak of pain shot through, and I screamed.

“Watch your voice,” Laura chided. “You don’t want to strain your vocal cords.”

“Why is she back in here? Get her out! Get her out!” I could barely gasp out the words. The urge to push was overwhelming.

Tyler called for Pasha to remove Laura again as he stroked my hair.

“Stop touching me,” I panted, pushing Tyler’s hand away. “I need to push.”

“Almost,” David said from between my legs. “Almost.”

“I hate that fucking word,” I cried. “Use the vacuum. Just pull it out. Okay? Get it out. I want the drugs. Give me the drugs!”

“It’s too late for that,” Katie said from beside her dad at the foot of the bed.

I really wanted to tell her she could follow my mother out the door. We had a doctor. Did we really need a nurse? The one who, even in the middle of this, kept shooting Tyler those glances that set my teeth on edge, and they were already grinding pretty hard.

“Okay, we’re going to push,” David said.

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