Moments In Time: A Collection of Short Fiction (7 page)

Riley shot her a bleak look. “We don’t know that.”

“Yeah! We don’t know that,” I added. The truth was Cassie was in pain. The videos we’d watched had said labor caused pain, and here we were at the hospital. Any minute now, she could be pushing my firstborn out and into the world. It was as real as it would get.

“You’re not going in there anyway,” I barked at Riley. This fucker was definitely losing it.

Nat tugged at my arm. “Alex! Get Cassie in the room. I’ll take care of Chris out here.”

Cassie and I went into the room, leaving a determined Nat and a sick-looking Riley outside in the waiting room. My heart was beating a mile a minute, and sweat dripped from my brow. I couldn’t believe we were here, that this moment was finally upon us. I’d been thinking about what this would be like from the second that we came to grips with the fact that our actions had created a new life.

I wanted this moment to be perfect. I wanted Cassie to be comfortable, beautiful, and ready to bring our baby girl into the world. Unfortunately she was pissed off, in pain, and I thought at any moment I would stop breathing. This shit was scarier than charging into the streets of Iraq. This was the most frightening thing I had ever encountered.

A petite nurse wearing salmon-colored scrubs strode into the sterile white room, her manner exuding efficiency and competence. The beeping of the machines, little arm cuffs dangling everywhere, and other instruments that looked like they belonged in a torture chamber momentarily stole my attention away.

“Lance Corporal Cruz, I’m Petty Officer Benson. I’m just going to hook these monitors up to you and watch your contractions on the screen. How are you feeling?”

I wanted to scream out that she was fucking peachy. That she was flying in the clouds and singing with fucking unicorns. What kind of a dumb-ass question was that? Cassie was lying there looking like she was slowly dying, and this chick was asking her how she was feeling.

“I’ve certainly been better,” Cassie answered calmly, no venom in her voice. I guess that was especially reserved for me. “My contractions have been coming about every ten to fifteen minutes.”

“We’ll check all of that and try and get you as comfortable as possible, okay?”

Cassie nodded her head, then turned and stared at me, piercing me with those sparkling green eyes. She was a sight for sore eyes, and for my queasy stomach. I was afraid of what was to come, but staring into her eyes made me realize that she would be okay. And ultimately, with her being okay, I’d be okay.

The petty officer went through a checklist of questions, further pissing me off. She was asking so many questions, and it seemed Cassie’s discomfort grew with every single one of them. I wanted her to finally tell us that she was getting the doctor and that we’d have a baby soon, but that didn’t happen.

“I’m just going to check your cervix, because you’re definitely having regular contractions.”

“Then why aren’t we getting her ready to push my baby out?” I finally asked, unable to bite my tongue any longer.

Benson smiled, then sat down at the edge of the bed. “Staff Sergeant, I have to check her first to see just how much she’s dilated.” She moved her hand under the blanket, then I watched Cassie bite down on her lip, shutting her eyes as the nurse did whatever the hell she was doing down there. “You’re only at a two, Lance Corporal Cruz. I am going to let the doctor know, so hang tight.”

Before I could ask what any of this shit meant, she was out of the room, leaving me there with an agitated wife who now looked like she was ready to bite my head off and spit down my neck.

“I don’t understand this shit,” I said. “You’re obviously in pain, why aren’t they getting you set up to have this baby?” Sweat began to coat my hands, making them damn near useless in wiping the sweat already covering my brow. “How much pain are you in, Cassie? You need that shot to take the pain away? Because if you do, I’ll go and get that damn doctor myself.”

“Alex! Slow down.” Cassie’s face finally softened, putting me slightly at ease. “I’m in pain, yes, but I’m okay. I was trying to tell you at the house that it’s not time, but you wouldn’t listen to me.”

“How can you say that? Look at you. You’re fucking gripping my hand like you’re ready to rip it off. Your face scrunches and your stomach tightens. You’re delusional if you think it isn’t time, and I’m not even the one feeling this shit.”

“Did you hear Petty Officer Benson? I’m only dilated two centimeters.”

“And? That means your body is opening. That means a baby is ready to come out of there. That means these fuckers need to start taking this seriously, and damn it, so do you.”

Once again, I had lost all control of myself. Cassie was too fucking calm for me, and the passive nature of this hospital staff was enough to make me start taking matters in my own hands. Before I could act on my thoughts, Petty Officer Benson came back with a young male, much to my dismay.

“Hello, Lance Corporal Cruz. I’m Lieutenant Commander Paxton, ob-gyn on call tonight. How are you feeling?”

“She’s goddamn miserable,” I said with a barely disguised snarl. “Please move this along so we can finally get her comfortable.”

“You must be the husband, Staff Sergeant Cruz?”

“Yes. Back to Cassie. Is she ready to have this baby?”

“I’ll need to check her and we’ll go from there.”

I was beginning to lose it. Cassie had already been checked, and it seemed we were just circling the wagons now. The doctor sat at the edge of the bed, worming his creepy fucking hand up to check Cassie. I stood with my arms crossed, watching intently, hoping he would tell me that they would get the ball rolling with my wife.

No such luck.

The doc stood up and pulled off his gloves with a snap before tossing them into the trash. “It looks like you’ll be going home tonight, Lance Corporal Cruz.”

Now I fucking lost it.

“What? She’s in labor. Why the hell would you send her home? None of us are equipped to deal with this. She’s going to—”

“Staff Sergeant,” he said patiently, “I understand your concern, but I assure you, your wife is fine. She’s in labor, but it’s early labor, and we don’t like to keep patients here during this stage. She can go home, get comfortable, eat, and then when it’s time, we will see her back.”

“She can’t get comfortable, sir,” I growled, trying to keep my anger at bay. I didn’t understand this shit and the more the doctor spoke, the more inclined I was to completely lash out.

“Lance Corporal Cruz, how are you sleeping?”

“I don’t sleep much, sir,” Cassie said. “Tossing and turning all night.”

“I figured that. I’m going to prescribe you a sleeping pill, an Ambien.”

I shook my head. “What? We’re not drugging her through this.”

“Staff Sergeant, the sleeping pill is only going to help her. She isn’t sleeping much and from what I can tell, she’ll be back sooner rather than later, so she needs to get some rest. Labor is hard work.” The doctor moved to the computer and quickly typed in something, then turned back to us. “Lance Corporal Cruz, I do believe you’ll be in full-blown labor within twenty-four hours, so I need you to eat, take the sleeping pill, and get lots of rest.”

Cassie nodded her head, then grimaced as her body folded in half. She was having another damn contraction, and for the life of me, I just didn’t understand why they just wouldn’t keep her.

“What if that pill makes her sleep through this? What happens then?”

Lieutenant Commander Paxton laughed, shaking his head and patting me on the back. “When the real deal hits, she won’t sleep through it, I assure you. When the contractions are consistently coming three to five minutes apart, it’s time to come back.”

“Thank you, sir,” Cassie calmly responded.

Who the hell was lying in that bed? She was switching her anger on and off, depending on who she was speaking to, and unfortunately for me, the anger was always aimed in my direction.

Lieutenant Commander Paxton left the room, leaving me alone with Cassie, who was now removing the hospital gown and changing back in her regular clothes.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she asked, never meeting my eye.

“I’m worried shitless about you, babe. You’re acting like you hate me right now.”

“You’re acting crazy, Alex. You’ve been this way for the past few days, and it’s making me nervous and scared. I wasn’t feeling any of that until you lost yourself. Get it together, I’m going to need you when the time comes.”

There it was, her reasoning for her light-switch fucking demeanor.

“I’m nervous as fuck, Blondie. Cut me some slack.”

Cassie sighed and finally met my eyes. “I’m nervous, too. But I can’t be high-strung like that or this is going to be a miserable experience for me. You’re acting like a wild bull, ordering the staff around. They do this job day in and day out, Alex. No offense, but I trust them a little more than I do you.”

When she was dressed, she reached out her hand for me. I took a couple of deep breaths, allowing her words to sink in as I finally realized that she was feeding off of me, and I was doing a piss-poor job of getting her in the right frame of mind to undertake the biggest challenge that either of us had ever taken. Like it or not, we were about to become parents, and the last thing I wanted was for this to be some sort of traumatizing memory for us.

I took her hand and pulled her close, brushing loose strands of hair away from her face as I placed soft kisses on her lips. “You are about to do something no one has ever been able to do for me, and for that I will be forever grateful. I want everything to be perfect, because you deserve it. So forgive me if I expect these assholes around here to give you top-notch care.”

Cassie smiled, finally allowing warmth to flow back into my body.

“I know how you feel, Alex. I’m ready to do this as well, but we can’t rush it, and we have to allow the staff to do their job.”

“You’re right. I’m going to work on it. Shit, I think I might need a sleeping pill.”

“Um, no, mister. I want you present for our baby’s birth.”

Petty Officer Benson returned to the room, carrying a brown paper bag in her hand.

“Okay, Lance Corporal Cruz. Lieutenant Commander Paxton prescribed one Ambien for you to take tonight after you’ve had dinner. Remember the time frame for your contractions, and hopefully we’ll be seeing you soon.”

“Thank you,” Cassie replied, taking the bag from the corpsman.

We walked out of the room and into the waiting room where Nat lay on Riley’s lap, running her hands through his hair. He looked like he’d finally calmed down, but panic hit his face again as we strode into the room.

“Why is she up?”

Cassie gave him a wan smile. “I’m going home, Riley. It’s not time yet.”

Riley’s eyes grew wide. “What the hell? She’s been in some serious pain, man. Are you sure—”

“We’re sure,” I told him. “We’ll be back. Let’s just go. I want to get Cassie some food and let her rest. And you need another drink, because your nerves are fucking shot. This is my wife and my baby, remember?”

“Yes. But Cassie is my friend, and this is some crazy shit. I’ve never been around this before.”

“Yeah, well, neither have I. So lay off, there’s only room for one of us to lose our shit.”

They stood, Nat taking Riley’s hand and leading him through the door. “I’m going to go home and fuck your mind onto me and off of Cassie. You got it, Chris?”

Riley looked down at his tatted-up girlfriend, then smiled his characteristic, goofy smile. “I’ve got it. I’ve definitely got it.”

• • •

“What? What? What?” I asked, jumping out of bed a few hours later as Cassie let out a blood-curdling scream. I couldn’t recall ever moving so quickly, but the sound of her voice and the force of her painful squeeze on my shoulder had me on the move.

She lay in bed panting, blowing out short, quick breaths while attempting to sit up. Nat came running into the room, her eyes bloodshot but bulging.

“It’s time, Alex. Get some clothes on.”

Shit! I slept nude and I here I was, standing in nothing at all, my cock on full display for Nat and anyone else who decided to come into the room. I ran over to my dresser and pulled out some workout pants, completely forgetting about underwear and not caring once I realized that I didn’t have any on.

Nat looked up at me as she stroked Cassie’s back and helped her out of bed. “Alex, where is Cassie’s bag?”

“Her bag?”

“Yes! Her hospital bag.”

“Ahhh!” Another shrill scream left Cassie’s body as she bowed over, holding her stomach with one hand while balancing herself on the dresser with the other.

Looking at her hurt was killing me softly. Why the fuck did she have to go through all this in order to have my baby? I began to feel queasy as sweat broke out on my skin. She was in so much pain, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.

I ran over to her, lifted her in my arms, carrying her out of the room and into the living room, where an exhausted Riley stood, rubbing his head and trying to get his eyes to focus.

“Move, dickhead. Cassie’s in labor.”