It's Never Just Goodbye // Ed Sheeran

Nine Pounds

Alice

I raised my hand. Crossing my legs under the table. The professor glanced up but ignored me completely. I knew it was only UNI and I could leave anytime, but Mr. Cummings wasn’t like any other professor who just didn’t care. Either you stayed the entire time of class or you never came back. I was warned once, I wasn’t going to take the chance for a stupid, frantic pee break.

I tried raising my hand higher. He still refused to draw attention to me. I get why. Cummings was in the middle of a lector. Why would he take time to answer a question I had?

Either I sat here and peed my pants or I left and came back.

Nervously I stood up, piling my books into one neat stack. I had a plan to just sneak out, but of course, the easiness of that fell through quickly. “Alice,” Mr. Cummings said. His voice louder than expected. “Where are you running off to?”

“I’ll be back…” I tried.

He shook his head, “You walk out and you aren’t coming back.”

“I have to pee.” I said. Everyone’s eyes were on me. All laughing at me.

“Sit down.”

Seconds later, an extreme gush exploded between my legs. Immediately, I was embarrassed. I had just peed my pants. In front of the entire class. But, the thing was, it didn’t stop. It was a massive amount of water – nothing like urinating. It felt as if a five gallon bucket of water had spilled out. A tiny flood pooled at the bottom of my feet, my flats soaked, as my eyes remained on the floor and my mouth hung open.

And then the pain started.

“Did she just pee?” I heard someone yell.

“Oh, my God. She just peed herself.” Someone else whispered.

Oscar jumped from his seat and ran to me. Almost slipping on the wet floor. My hand fell into his and I squeezed hard. “Her water broke!” He yelled.

I closed my eyes tightly. Shots of lightning flooding through my body. My books fell from my arm and into the puddle. Oscar, with his hand still in mine, led me down the stairs, and out the door of the room. It being so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

“Do you want me to call an ambulance?” he asked me.

I couldn’t answer. With my eyes wired shut, I squeezed his hand as hard as I could. Oscar fell to his knees. “How about I just take you…” he insisted.

I nodded.

Pain. That is the only thing I could remember about being in the backseat of Oscar’s car as he frantically drove to the hospital. Screaming my head off and crying the entire way.

It wasn’t much different once we arrived. Immediately, I was rushed to a room at the end of some long hallway. Laying on my own hospital cot. A cup of ice chips next to me. Continuing to scream my head off.

Tears streamed my face, Oscar’s hand in mine. My mother sat over in the corner, camera in hand.

Only few thoughts ran through my mind. Wow this fucking hurts. It’d be great if Ed was here. My mother needs to put the camera away before I beat her with it.antically drove to the hospital. Screaming my head off and crying the entire way.

he stairs of the classrooe thin

“How is it?” Oscar asked dumbly. How is it? How is labor? How is the shooting pain flowing through your vagina? OH, JUST GREAT.

“It hurts.” Is all I managed to get out before another breathtaking contraction hit me like a tidal wave.

Oscar didn’t help. While to my mum and the nurses he appeared to be handling this calmly, I could see right through him. While to them, Oscar looked like he was the best man out there, he was a meek boyfriend who would faint if I gave him the chance. He was trying, and Ed would probably be the same, but I couldn’t help but loathe him even more during this.