Page 76 of Endurance
My eyes widen and lock on Hayden, who looks equally concerned.
Tanner pulls up right when another contraction hits. We file into the truck—me next to Tanner, then Hayden next to me. Vi is sitting by the passenger door, holding the “oh shit” handle on the roof of the vehicle.
I lean over to whisper in Tanner’s ear, “I don’t want to alarm your sister, but her contractions are only two minutes apart. You need to step on it.”
Tanner’s eyes fly wide and he punches the gas, driving like a bat out of hell. Thankfully, The Royal London Hospital is right up the street. I only quit working there a few months ago and know it better than any other hospital. I pull out my mobile and call to let them know we’re coming in and it’ll likely be a quick delivery.
“Christ, Tanner!” Vi bellows as he slams the brakes in front of the accident and emergency entrance. “You’re driving like a complete moron.”
“Excuse me for not being well-versed on driving my sister to the hospital while she’s in fucking labour,” he roars, and I place my hand on his thigh to calm him.
“So dramatic,” Vi mumbles as she opens the door and inches her way out of the vehicle.
A familiar nurse comes striding outside with a wheelchair as I round the truck. “Hello, Dr. Ryan! Nice to see you again. We miss you around here!”
“Oh, hi, Liz.” I offer her a wave as Hayden and Tanner help Vi into the wheelchair. She moans softly with another contraction. “I’m so glad it’s you working OB today. I think she’s going to go quickly. Take good care of these guys. They’re…important.”
Liz gives me a jolly thumbs up and begins pushing the wheelchair inside. Hayden freezes beside Tanner and me, a look of sheer terror on his face.
“You’ve got this, Hayden,” I state, grabbing his arm in encouragement. “You love her. She loves you. That’s all you need to do this.”
He swallows hard and nods. Before running in after her, he turns and falls into Tanner and me with an awkward, strangled hug.
“Thanks, guys,” he croaks and then he’s off to start his family.
I stare across the sterile tile floor over at Booker’s boots that have bits of the pitch wedged between the studs. He’s still in his kit, his keeper gloves off and moving them from one hand to the other as we sit in the waiting room of the hospital.
Beside him sits Dad, still in his official Bethnal Green polo. Next to Dad is Gareth, just having arrived five minutes ago by train. Camden and Indie are seated next to Belle and me. And perpendicular to us is Hayden’s family, the Clarkes. They consist of his mum, his dad, his younger sister, and his older brother whose wife and one-year-old child are fast asleep in a chair beside him.
We first met the Clarkes at Vi and Hayden’s engagement party. It was the same night Vi found out she was pregnant. She ended up telling all of us—Cam, Gareth, Booker, and me—in her bathroom. We might have forced it out of her a bit, but she was having a meltdown and needed to be talked off the ledge.
I know Vi and Hayden weren’t planning on this baby at this time in their lives, but watching them embrace this adventure together and become stronger for it has been inspiring. Family goals.
All of us are unified again, filling a large waiting room, silent and anxious to hear any shred of news.
Booker scoffs, “Christ, you’d think Hayden would have texted by now. Something!” Frustration radiates off his shoulders as he looks toward the double doors that lead to the delivery rooms.
Camden’s voice pipes up next. “What could be happening in there, Indie? It’s after eleven and it’s been hours.”
Indie and Belle look nervously at each other, and I can feel the Clarkes all staring at them expectantly.
“What aren’t you girls saying?” Dad’s voice booms with authority.
“Dad, calm down,” I snap, not liking the tone he’s taking with Belle and Indie.
“I will not calm down!” He stands up and begins pacing the floor. “Christ, how has Hayden not texted someone something? Anything. This is ridiculous.” He cuts his eyes to Belle. “You said she was close when she arrived almost five hours ago. I’m going to get answers.”
Gareth stands up, stopping him in his tracks. “I’ll go, Dad.”
Just as he moves to make his way to the nurses station, the double doors open and Hayden comes striding out, completely swathed in blue scrubs and a surgical cap.
We all stand, our breaths held high in our shoulders as he pulls the mask off his face. Breathlessly, he confirms, “Everyone is okay. Vi and the baby are wonderful. They’re—” His voice cracks, his eyes dumping unexpected tears down his face. “They’re so beautiful.”
Gareth’s closest to Hayden, so he places a firm hand on his back and pulls him into a hug. Hayden all but loses it. He was obviously holding on by a thread before. Now that he’s had time to think, it’s all hitting him at once.
Hayden’s brother, Theo, pushes past everybody to stand beside him. When he claps his back, Hayden lets go of Gareth and clears his throat loudly, nodding to his brother that he’s okay. We wait as he chokes back his emotions and regains control of himself.
“The baby’s heart rate kept dipping every time Vi started to push, so they did an ultrasound and discovered that somehow she had turned around in there and was breech.”
