Page 90 of This Love
But before anyone could talk, it happened again. The pain surged. I gripped the side of the bed that was still up. “You said it would stop if you poked me!”
Kenisha passed the screen back to the green nurse. “Honey, we’re going to help you.” She turned to the man. Tucker. “You stay over there until we sort this out.” Then to the other nurse. “Page anesthesiology and anyone available in neurology. Let’s get her out of pain so we can assess her properly. It would help a lot if we could figure this out before the baby comes.”
I groaned. The pain was too much. I didn’t know why there was a baby inside me, or exactly how it was going to come out, but I desperately needed this nightmare to end.
They had promised if they poked me, it would end.
Everyone lied. Everything I knew so far was a lie.
Chapter 35
Tucker
This was a disaster. Everything was going wrong.
I stood outside the hospital room while the anesthesiologist gave Ava the epidural. They thought I was the bad guy.
I knew what it looked like. Maybe I could get Dr. Simmons to talk to someone about her condition. Or if Dr. Chancellor would get here for the delivery, he could explain it.
I had to be patient. It would get straightened out. My utmost concern was for Ava. She was operating in pure terror. Of course, she was. The pain had to be terrible. She had no idea what was happening to her.
Surely, the epidural would help.
And I still had to tell everyone. It had been a race since I got home.
I texted Gram first.
Me: Ava is in labor. She had a seizure. Rosie called 911. She’s getting an epidural. It’s about as bad as you might imagine.
I didn’t wait for an answer but moved on to the next. Ava’s dad.
Me: Ava went into labor early. She had a seizure. She has no memory. Rosie called 911.
Right as Gram’s reply came through, the phone buzzed with a call. Marcus.
“What the hell happened?” His voice boomed so loudly I had to pull the phone away from my ear.
I figured he’d want details. “When I got there, the EMTs had already arrived. She was hiding in the corner.”
“What was the dog doing?”
“Standing guard. Rosie called for help like she was supposed to.”
“But it still happened!”
He wasn’t thinking straight. It wasn’t like Rosie could prevent a seizure. “She was huffing pretty hard with the labor pains. It probably hit right away. Looks like she fell. She has a bruise on her face.”
“The dog was supposed to prevent that!”
“There’s no telling how fast it happened. Look, she’s getting an epidural. I need to call Isadora to handle Rosie and bring us our bag.”
“You didn’t bring the bag?” Every sentence was an accusation.
“Not on the ambulance. And I don’t have my car. Look, we’re okay. We’ll figure this out. We can talk when you get there.”
“I’m walking out of the office right now. I’ll go straight there.”
I didn’t point out that he wasn’t getting a bag either, and he didn’t have an amnesiac wife in labor. “I need to notify everyone.”
