Page 80 of The Dragon's Perfect Omega
Well that was just perfect. For a second or two, I seriously wondered if I'd pissed off the Gods with my refusal to join the shrine or something. But that was ridiculous. Telling myself to get a grip, I bent to pick up the groceries I'd dropped. At least the ones that were salvageable. The milk was a lost cause and the tub of ice cream had seen better days as well.
And just when I'd somehow managed to cram everything in my arms, my phone rang. It was in my pocket, of course, and I had no real way of reaching it without dropping the groceries again.
Let's just hope it's not important.
But the ringing didn't stop, and then when it finally did, it just started again after a few seconds. Someonereallyneeded to reach me. Cursing to myself, I unloaded the groceries on a tree stump near the foot path.
When I answered the phone, it was my mother on the other end of the line. "Lowen! Where are you! Zim tells me you've been gone for nearly two hours!"
"You try walking to the grocery store and buying melons that run away from you." Okay, maybe that sentence didn't make a lot of sense, but I was annoyed. I was busting my ass here.
"Wherever you are, you need to come back! Or scratch that. It's better you go directly to the hospital."
"The hospital?" What was going on?
"Zim's water broke and I'm taking him there."
Oh, that makes sense.That was my first thought, and then my mind descended into panic-mode. Zim was having the babies! He was having the babiesnow!And I was out here in the wilderness with no wings to take me to him.
"I gotta go. Things seem to be happening fast. You know where to find us." And with that, my mom hung up. I was almost tempted to call her back, tell her to pick me up, but no, it was more important that she got Zim to the hospital now and I... I was a grown ass dragon, I would find my own way there.
"I'm coming for you, Zim."
I only hoped I could make it in time. Ihadto. My mom said things were happening fast. I had no idea what exactly that meant, but I knew I needed to hurry.
I wasnotgoing to miss the birth of my children.
My fastest route to the hospital was probably not walking there but walking back to the supermarket and then hitching a ride with another dragon, so to say. Would it hurt my pride? Yes, but while my mate was in labor, my pride took a backseat.
And the groceries? The groceries took a backseat too. I abandoned them on the tree stump where I'd set them down as I hurried back toward the harbor.
The whole way back to the grocery store, I ran. My entire life, I had never run for such a long period of time. Why would I have? The Gods had given us wings so we wouldn't need to run.
Only now I was reduced to a life without them at the worst possible time.
You chose this, now man up. No more whining.
Gritting my teeth, I powered through the muscle burn that threatened to slow me down.
By the time I'd made it back to the supermarket, I was panting. I wiped my brow, not used to getting out of breath like this.
No time to take a break now.
In front of the store, I looked around myself and spotted an older lady exiting the building with a grocery bag in her hand. I went up to her. "Excuse me," I started, trying my best not to startle her. "Would you mind taking me to the hospital?"
"To the hospital?" She looked at me in alarm. "Are you not feeling well?"
"My mate is giving birth to our children and I can't shift right now for medical reasons." It was the best explanation I could offer in a short amount of time. Fortunately, the old lady didn't ask any more questions but agreed to take me.
I exhaled in relief.
Hang in there, Zim.
* * *
By the timeI made it to the hospital, my mate had already been rolled into the delivery room. I raced through the halls to make it there. One of the nurses I passed gave me a death-glare for running, but I ignored him. All that mattered now was getting to Zim.
The moment I reached the delivery room, he stretched his hand out to me, his face red and his brow in furrows. "I thought you were never gonna come!"
