May, nine months into Anna Brooks' pregnancy.
Anna Brooks gave birth two days earlier than her due date. I was with George at the time doing school work and chatting upstairs when I heard that unmistakeable shriek and my mother's frantic cry.
"CASSIE, COME DOWN NOW. THE BABY'S COMING!"
Honestly, I didn't understand why she was so panicked, Anna - the person with broken waters - seemed perfectly calm considering the situation. She breathed in deep breaths, closed her eyes and swallowed back the pain.
"George can you drive us? I want to be next to Anna as we go to the hospital. Cassie, can you grab the hospital bag, it's in the hall." She asked hurriedly, rushing about the place grabbing towels and one to many bottles of water.
Doing as she asked, I grabbed the hospital bag and by that time George was already at the front door and clicking open the car. Seconds later a hefty Anna trudged languidly past me, and stepped through the door and onto the drive in a wobbly manner.
In the car, I balled my fists every time she had a contraction. I could hear that Anna was trying immensely to control the agony by muffling the cry and supergluing her lips together, but it was no use. The sounds of her moans echoed around the car like nails on a chalkboard and I hated it.
My mother, who was snapping 'drive faster' to George at every opportunity she could get, wasn't helping all our nerves in the slightest. You would have thought after having a baby twice before, once being twins, she'd be calm and supportive but oh no. My mum was going full on freak show right now.
I glanced behind me to look at Anna after having had enough of just hearing her pain. Thankfully, she didn't look as bad as she sounded. Little oily beads of sweat clung to her skin, a pasty paleness washing over her clammy cheeks and her fingernails dug into the palms of her hands until her knuckles turned yellow. It wasn't as bad as I expected, so I turned back around and faced the road.
Why was I getting so worked up over this? I mean, it's just Anna. Then again, things were different between us. We weren't friends, but we weren't enemies anymore. There's still a part of me that will forever loathe her for good reason but I saw no point in continuing the trivial drivel that used to pass between us.
Civil. That's what I'd call it.
The more she groaned, the more my mum snapped, the more I submersed myself in anxiety.
"It's going to be okay, Cass." George said, taking one hand off the steering wheel to hold mine. He then softly kissed my fingers. "When my mum gave birth to Izzy, it was much worse than this. Despite her having had three kids before her."
He was trying to soothe me but I was still worried. "She's two days early, will she have to have a caesarean?" I inquired, clinging onto his hand in a death grip.
"It's doubtful. Caesareans only tend to be used if the birth is exceptionally early, say a month. Or twins, triplets etcetera or also occasionally the umbilical cord gets in the way of giving birth naturally." He answered gently, glancing up in the rear-view mirror. "I'm sure Anna's going to be just fine. She's dealing with the contractions surprisingly well considering your mum is rabbiting on and basically freaking her out even more."
I laughed, but it was strangled and broken. "I know. I wish she'd just shut up."
When we arrived at the hospital my mother quickly got us all into the private suite and Anna was changed, seated and a midwife came to check her over. Apparently, Anna was at four centimetres dilation and it was expected to be an easy, quick birth.
YOU ARE READING
Hiding Anna
Romance"Cassie stop. You're going to collapse..."George called softly in the wind. My mind was already elsewhere, detached from my body. I don't know what kept my feet moving, but something did. Keep running. But I can't. I didn't understand what was happ...
