Page 76 of Landon & Shay: Part Two

“Did you hear from Hank?” she asked, tears still sitting in the back of her eyes.

“Yes. He’s on his way back now. It will be a few hours, but he’s going to try to get back as soon as he can.”

“They are going to induce me,” she said, wiping her hands over her eyes. “I’m so scared, Shay.”

“I know, honey, but trust me, these doctors know what they’re doing. This is going to all work out, and before you know it, you’re going to have a beautiful baby in your hands to hold. Everything is okay,” I soothed her, feeling more confident about saying those words after hearing the doctor reassure me that Raine was in good hands. Plus, I sent out a text message to my mother, Eleanor, and Mima to say a few prayers for Raine, too. I figured a few extra prayers could never hurt.

After the doctors started the process of inducing Raine, things moved a lot slower than I would’ve thought. Hours passed of me holding Raine’s hands, and luckily the passing time made it easier for my friend to breathe through her anxiety.

As the doctor was checking Raine’s cervix, the hospital door opened, and in walked a person with a bouquet of flowers in his hands.

“Holy shit!” he shouted, seeing Raine’s legs spread wide open.

Raine glanced to the door and proceeded to flip out. “Oh my gosh, Landon! What the hell are you doing here?! Don’t you fucking dare look at my lightning bolt vagina!” she shouted.

“What the hell is a lightning bolt vagina?!” he yelled, turning his face away from Raine and shielding his eyes with the flowers.

“Something you shouldn’t be seeing!” she exclaimed.

“Okay, okay, I’m out, I’m out!” he replied, rushing out of the room.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the whole interaction as it unfolded. Landon scurried away like a cockroach in the light.

“Jesus Christ. The last thing a woman wants is someone she considers a brother to see her puss in boots,” Raine sighed, slamming her hand against her forehead. At least her humor was coming back.

“I honestly don’t know who that was worse for—you or him.”

“Did he have flowers?”

“I think he did.”

“I bet Hank called him to come check on me, the asshole.” She turned to look at me. “Do you think you can make sure he’s good and not scarred for life? I mean, I know my husband loves my downstairs, but it’s not for everyone.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you’re not trying to push Team Lay together?”

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Trust me, Shay. The only thing I’m trying to push right now is this asshole out of my vagina. I just want to make sure Landon’s good.”

“Okay, I can do that. Just make sure you don’t have the baby while I’m gone.”

The doctor looked up toward me and smiled. “Don’t worry. That baby isn’t coming too soon.”

Raine blew out a heavy breath. “Son of a bitch. When Hank gets here, I’m going to kill him for putting this thing inside of me.”

I leaned in and kissed Raine’s forehead. “Sweetie, maybe we shouldn’t talk about killing your husband in front of the doctor.”

“I’ve heard a lot worse things from wives before. Your friend is being quite tame,” the doctor expressed.

I had a feeling he was telling the truth, but before I could ask any more questions, I went to check and make sure Landon wasn’t scarred for life.

24

Landon

I sawRaine’s lightning bolt.

I didn’t even know what that meant, but it was messing with my head, because Raine was like a sister to me, and the last thing I’d ever wanted to see was my sister’s damn lightning bolt.

Hank rang me, knowing I was in town for a few more days, and asked me to go check in on Raine to make sure she was all right until he arrived back in town. Obviously, I came without question because when your family was in need of you, you showed up as soon as you could.

---