Sugar Lust

Chapter Two

The nine-minute drive to the hospital in the neighboring town seemed endless. Emmeline was sure Nicholas was speeding; the highway signs seemed to blur as they passed, yet it didn't seem fast enough. She wanted to feel safe in the hospital where the doctors and nurses could help her through this. Her mind raced with troubled uncertainty. Was the baby going to be okay? All of her prenatal care appointments had told her that this was a normal pregnancy, yet she had somehow been thrown into early labor. They pulled around to the emergency entrance, and Nicholas left the car running as he helped Emmeline through the automatic opening doors to the crowded waiting room reeking of disinfectant.

A nurse in Hello Kitty scrubs greeted them and then pointed to a clipboard with a pen hanging from a string on the desk beside her. "Just fill out the form, and we will call you soon." Then turned her attention back to the elderly man in front of her. He had a large purplish bruise on the side of his head and was tightly cradling an arm that appeared broken.

"I can't fill out forms! I am having a baby!" said Emmeline incredulously, leaning on Nicholas for support. She was having a hard enough time focusing her thoughts; filling out paperwork was beyond her at that moment.

"I understand you're upset, but I will get to you as soon as I am finished with this patient," the nurse's tone, patient and even.

The nurse's words were wholly lost on Emmeline as her eyes bulged. She audibly gasped. It felt like a water balloon had popped inside her and warm liquid started to course down her leg, puddling around her feet, soaking her wedge-heeled flip-flops. 

She squeezed Nicholas' hand tightly and said, "I think my water just broke."

"Are you okay? Nurse, please, we need you now!" exclaimed Nicholas, hand running anxiously through his hair. "She's early; she is not supposed to be in labor yet!"

"Nicholas, I parked your car," said Callum, coming through the door with Ginny and their Principal. "Never thought I'd ever get a chance to drive it!" Ginny elbowed him. "How ya doing, Em?" he asked.

"My water just broke, and the nurse wants me to fill out forms," said Emmeline, her eyes turned to Ginny pleading for her to do something. Emmeline's floor-length burgundy maternity dress had wet blotches down her leg, making her feel uncomfortable and utterly embarrassed.

The elderly man waiting at the desk motioned with his good arm to the nurse, "Go to her; I can wait. Look at her; she's a baby herself." The nurse smiled gratefully at the gentleman.

"Aaaaahhh!" Emmeline doubled over again, her fingers digging into Nicholas' arm.  He grimaced and then plastered a smile on his face.

The nurse got up from behind the desk and came over with a wheelchair and settled Emmeline into it while Ginny set about filling out the forms.

"Where are they?" shouted Amy, in forced desperation, making a grand entrance into the waiting room. Her ordinarily perfect auburn hair was tousled. Her cheeks were flushed.

"Mom, we're here," answered Emmeline dryly.

"I can't believe you are in labor now, don't you understand? Your father had a terribly big business meeting today. He had to cancel it, and he could lose a major account, you know."

"Don't blame me; blame this ball of fire that's trying to consume me from the inside. It wants out, and not even Dad's schedule is going to stop it!" 

"Don't be so dramatic, I'm simply trying to tell you why he isn't here yet,"  as if it was that simple.

"I'm going to have this baby whether he makes it or not." Emmeline gritted her teeth.

"Nicholas! Oh baby, are you okay?" asked Nicholas's Mom rushing thru the door, her gray eyes wild. "Amy." She nodded coolly to Emmeline's Mother.