Page 122 of Love By The Falls

“Fine. You do that if you want, but I’m going in.”

A nurse comes out of the room. “What’s going on?”

“I need to see Charlotte. I’m the father.”

She stops me when I move around her. “If you insist on going in, then you’ll have to put these on.” She hands me a gown and mask. I quickly tie the gown around my neck and put on the mask.

There are two doctors hovering around Charlotte’s legs and abdomen. One nurse is preparing a tray beside her. “Dr. Fuller, this is the baby’s father.”

I look at Charlotte’s pale face and limp body. “Can someone tell me what’s going on?”

“Charlotte’s lost a lot of blood and the baby’s heart rate is dipping. If she doesn’t deliver this baby in the next few minutes, we’ll have to take her to the operating room for a C-section.”

“Why wait? Just perform the C-section.”

“No,” says Charlotte. Her voice is hoarse. “No, C-section. I can do this.”

Despite her words, she closes her eyes. She looks exhausted. “Charlotte, baby,” I say, caressing her cheek. Her dark lashes flutter, but her lids remain down.

The heart rate monitor alarm goes off and Charlotte opens her eyes.

“The baby’s heart rate is dropping, Charlotte,” says the doctor. “If you want to do this, you need to push now.”

She moves to sit herself up, but her arms are so pale I can see the blue of her veins. “Help me,” she says, and I lift her body up, so she’s nearly sitting on the bed now.

Another monitor beeps, and I look at the nurse. “That means she’s experiencing another contraction. Now’s the time to push, Charlotte. Push.”

Charlotte closes her eyes and bears down on her teeth. Sweat drips down her forehead and I wipe it away with a towel. “That’s it, baby.”

“Good, Charlotte. That’s good. The baby’s crowning now. You’re almost there.”

“Baby’s heart rate is improving,” says the other doctor, checking another screen.

“Okay, on the next contraction, I want you to push with everything you’ve got.”

“One, two, three, push!”

“Ah!” Charlotte screams as she bites down on a towel the nurse gives her. She squeezes my hand, and it feels as though the bones will break, but I don’t say a fucking word about it. It looks like every bone in her body is breaking right now. How the fuck is the world even populated if this is what women go through?

There’s no fucking way a man would do this once, definitely not multiple times, for fuck’s sakes.

“That’s it, Charlotte. The head’s almost out.”

I kiss the side of her face, next to her matted hair. “God, Charlotte. You’re amazing, baby. Can you keep going?”

She nods emphatically and scrunches her face when the next contraction hits. The nurse moves down to hold up her leg and I hold Charlotte’s face when her eyes widen. “Look at me, baby. Look at me. You’re doing great.”

“One more, Charlotte. That’s it.”

I turn my back to the nurse and the doctors and stare at Charlotte. The strongest, most incredible woman I’ve ever met. She changed my life and now she’s laboring to bring our child into the world. “God, I love you,” I say and she blinks, and stares at me. “Wh—?”

“Push, Charlotte. You’re not pushing.”

Fuck, I said it out loud. I don’t care that I did, but it wasn’t the right time. “Push, baby. Push.”

She closes her eyes, grips the bedsheets at her sides, and pushes. “Ahhhh!”

“Yes, that’s it. She’s out.”

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