becoming {h.s} | {b2}

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

— CHAPTER FOURTEEN —

august, year two.

"You're doing great, Lys," I'm using my doctor voice as I am positioned in the space between Lys' legs. Ren and I have been in here with her for a couple of hours this point, waiting for her to get to ten centimeters; enough for her to start pushing. In this time, we've become very well acquainted with Lys and her boyfriend, Jake. They'd opted for a natural birth, and I think they're both starting to regret it now. She's been screaming in pain for a bit now. The ring of fire, we call it, when the baby enters the vagina and everything feels like it's on fire; particularly in that period of crowning. She's getting close to it, now. She's given a few pushes already, but not yet enough to produce a visual of the baby.

"Get this fucker out of me!" She screams, sweat matting her forehead as her fingers claw down on the sides of the bedding. She's exhausted, but equally ferocious. Her contractions are about three minutes apart now and she's been resting for about two. We all know that it's almost time again, her more than the rest of us. Jake stands beside her, above the curtain. We were quick to find out that Jake is a doctor himself. He works as a pediatrician in one of the smaller towns outside of Seattle. They had both agreed that he would stay above the curtain for the majority of the delivery, but he would step down to see the baby enter the world. Georgie, they agreed to call her. But for now, Lys' small hand is able to reach up just perfectly and grab Jake's shirt in her small fist, "she better fucking be worth this."

Jake kindly pulls her fist from his shirt. He wraps her hand in his own, "you're doing great, Lys."

"Don't fucking hold my hand," she says. Quickly, he releases her hand in his effort to be accommodating, but they seem to instantly backfire. "What the fuck are you doing that for? Just letting me go like that?" She hisses. Behind the curtain, Ren and I share a sort of look at her aggressive manners. Obviously she's validated. I never went through the trials of labor; a fact that I frequently seem to forget. I don't know what these women are going through. I've only been a witness to the process.

A small groan builds in her chest and I know that she is preparing for another push. Early on, I had given her the instructions to only push when she felt the urge in her stomach—to work with her body. Alongside my encouragement, this advice seems to work for her. "Lys," I say firmly, hoping to distract her from Jake who looks like he doesn't know what to do, "another big push, okay?" I suspect that this will be the one to get us to crowning, the stage where Ren will enter.

Ren, like all of Vargas' other interns, had passed her exam. Each one of them emerged from the test and came out victorious. Underwood joined Ruth in neuro, both Ren and Kamon joined the Gynie Gang, Addington joined peds, and Kiera shocked us all when she entered the trauma specialty. Harry had been as shocked as the rest of us, though, I suppose that's not entirely a fair statement to make. By the end of her intern year, Kiera admitted to not being certain to what specialty really lit her fire. But she enlightened us to the information that no other speciality made her feel as alive as trauma did. In that sense, the choice was simple; last minute as it was.

Kamon is presently off doing some other surgery with McCarthy. I had wanted Ren with me for this surgery. I just like her; there's something so knowledgable and prepared about her that I just find a pleasure to work with. With her, I feel more confident. Though I have been back in OB/GYN for about a month and a half now, I still wanted to do what I could in order to ensure the success of my surgery but also the mother's delivery. Accordingly, I requested to have Ren with me. I know McCarthy didn't mind in the slightest. Her and Kamon seem to get along swimmingly. McCarthy can be a tough shell to crack. She's outspoken and assertive, but it's hard not to like her and be liked by her, so long as you are socially conscious and not opposed to lesbianism.