Page 56 of The Cannon
“I’m coming,” he says with no room for argument. “You’re going to need a shoulder to cry on, I think.”
I exhale the deep sigh I didn’t realize I was holding in. “How come you’re so smart? And compassionate?”
“You bring it out in me. Text me. Keep me posted.”
“All right, I’d better get going.” I sigh. “As much as I don’t want to go.”
“Bristol. Don’t forget where we left off. I want to see you in that yellow thing.”
Oh fiddle dee dee. Now I need to buy a sexy yellow nighty I just fibbed about.
* * *
Parkland Hospital isfamiliar to me. The corridors and the cafeteria. The surgical suites and pediatric floor. It’s all part of my world. But this floor, labor and delivery is less so.
The elevator doors open, and I head for the closest nurse’s station.
“Hello. I’m looking for January Swift’s room.”
The surprisingly fresh faced at ten o’clock nurse looks at the board. “303. Second room on the right.”
Rounding the corner, I see my parents in the corridor.
“Hello, darlin’,” my father says.
I give cheek kisses to them both.
“The nurse is examining her, so we stepped out.”
“Brick here?”
“He won’t leave her side. I think he’s more nervous than January,” my mother says.
The door to the birthing room opens and the nurse walks out.
“You can go back in.”
Walking into the large room and seeing all the equipment needed makes my stomach flip. Not because it freaks me out. I’ve seen much worse on a weekly basis. It effects the mother in me. I’ll never go through this. No matter what my life is going forward. It won’t be part of my story.
“There’s the little mother. Who looks this good delivering a baby?”
Brick moves from the side of her bed to me. We kiss our hellos.
“How you holding up, brother? Are you remembering to breathe?”
There’s a slightly nervous look on his face I’ve never seen before. I won’t laugh, but it’s comical at this point. Nothing has happened yet.
January reaches out a hand.
“I’m glad you’re here, Bristol. By the time the baby comes your brother is going to need CPR,” she chuckles.
I come to the side of the bed and give her a kiss on the head.
“So what’s the status? Are you having contractions?”
“Yes, but I’m still only dilated to four. I’ve got a long way to go.”
* * *
