My LOVE is Forever (Book 4-1st Alternate Ending)

Part 52

Tyka pulls up to the hospital entrance marked ADMISSIONS and stops the car. She looks questioningly at me, "Are you going in?"

"Yes," I nod, but as much as I had wanted out of the car, I surprisingly remain still.  Only when Tyka lowers her head toward me with raised eyebrows to indicate she's waiting, do I open the door and step out.  

"I'll park and be right in, okay? I'll bring your bag, just get signed in." she says calmly before I close the door and she drives off.  Maybe it was the change in position from sitting to standing, but I'm almost into the building when the next contraction hits hard, so much so I have to stop in the vestibule and support myself with one hand on the wall as I breathe through the pain.   When the pain passes, I feel wetness spreading from between my legs, "Great," I mumble, thinking I have wet myself and make my way through the second set of doors.  

When the nurse at the registration desk sees me enter, she punches a few buttons and quickly speaks into the phone before meeting me halfway.   By the time she's asked me some basic questions, a male nurse has arrived with a wheelchair, holding it still while I take a seat.  Tyka comes rushing up to us, her calm demeanor has been replaced by a gleeful one of anticipation. "Your water broke?" she asks with excitement.

"Oh, I guess.  I thought I had peed," I admit as I'm wheeled through some doors and down a hallway to an elevator. 

"That's exactly why I wanted to bring you in the rental," she tells me as the elevator doors close.  Once upstairs, I'm wheeled into a birthing suite where I'm told remove my clothes and offered the standard issue hospital gown.  I'm examined by a nurse, then the doctor on call, since mine hasn't arrived yet, and I'm told I'm already dilated to 7cm.  That's when things start happening fast, wires and monitors are fastened to me as I lay in the bed, but I still feel the urge to move.  "Can I get up and walk around?"  The hospital staff is dumbfounded by my question, but after a brief discussion, I'm allowed to pace around the room. 

Angel arrives before my doctor, "What on earth are you doing?!"

She rushes to my side as I'm doubled over, breathing through a contraction. "Walking, Angel," I finally reply with more of a bite to my words than I had intended.  

Angel glances at Tyka, who's sitting in a nearby chair, then back to me, "Why?"  She looks baffled when Tyka just shrugs.

"I have to move, I can't just lay there," I can't explain my restlessness. 

My doctor arrives as Angel stands there gawking at me.  "How are you feeling?" she asks with a smile. 

"Like a caged animal," I admit. 

My doctor scans my vitals, then has me get back into the bed to check my progress. She looks up at me, "You're moving right along," she pulls off her gloves, "I have a feeling this is going to go fast."  She eyes me but says nothing as I slip off of the bed again and resume my pacing.  I see everyone look at each other with concern, but I don't care, this is what I feel I need to do.  

A short while and another couple contractions later, I shuffle quickly back toward the bed, "I feel different, something's different."  I hurry to sit, then swing my legs onto the bed, but leave them wide open. 

"Okay, calm down," my doctor says in a soft, soothing voice, "we don't want to stress the baby."

I lay back, breathing in a long breath, then letting it out slowly as the doctor slips on new gloves to examine me.  Her eyes are big when she looks back up at me, and motions quickly to the nurse, then to Tyka and Angel to get them into position.  "Who's coaching?" she asks, quickly directing everyone.