It takes us only fifteen minutes to reach the hospital, but to me at least they seem endless. Even more so that dividing my attention between the light traffic and Bella doesn't help things much.
I have no clue what is going on inside her head – of course I can guess, but I've been wrong about things that squick her before so I try to keep myself from assuming anything. I'm still glad that halfway into the trip she visibly draws herself up and gets her phone out to place a few calls. After trying and failing herself to reach Emmett she calls Rosalie's parents who live on the East Coast to fill them in that they can reschedule their planned flight from in three weeks to now. Next is Alice, a very brief call as Alice seems to be itching to get going herself. But then I see Bella hesitate, and she stares at her phone for at least a minute.
"Do you need to use mine? I think my batteries are still more than halfway full."
She nearly jumps at the sound of my voice, her reaction weird enough for me to consider turning around again and letting all the other professionals deal with Rose having her baby, but Bella sounds calm when she answers, if a little reluctant.
"No, it's fine, I was just thinking." Then she looks away from me, ahead at the road. "How much longer?"
"Maybe five minutes."
"Good."
She drags her fingers across the display, probably looking for a name in her call list, before she puts the phone back to her ear.
"Jazz? Hi, Bella here. Yes, I figured Alice would have called you by now.
Are you in the area? We can't reach Emmett on the phone, Rose said he was at the gym and I don't have their number. Can you maybe
?
Awesome, see you there."
This must have been the shortest and most cutoff conversation I've heard them have ever, and the way Bella keeps staring at the display after ending it is even more disconcerting.
"Bella?"
Her eyes flit to me but she's shaking her head in answer, a gentle but obvious rebuke. I try to decide what to do, but then keep to just trust in the strength of our relationship. She will come to me when she's ready to talk, and with a little luck we'll be out of the hospital soon anyway.
When we finally get there I take Bella around the building through the less used side entrance – sometimes it pays to have an access card – and we get to the right floor just as Rose arrives. She's hard to miss, arguing at the top of her lungs with one of the nurses already, and I have to hold back a grin. Even distressed as hell and clearly in pain Rose is a force to be reckoned with, and today she doesn't look like she's taking 'no' for an answer. I step in when things seem to take a turn for the worse, and dropping my name suddenly gets a room free where none has been ready before. I normally don't pull that card, but Rose's grateful smile when she can finally get out of the wheel chair and into a proper bed tells me it was the right thing to do this time.
"Thanks for coming so quickly. I was really losing it when I called you."
I hug her softly, then step aside so Bella can do the same.
"You're welcome. And trust me, no one really expects you to act all rational today of all days."
I get a wan smile for that, but then a wave of contractions hit her, and Rose is busy alternating between gnashing her teeth and cursing for a while.
Meanwhile her doctor enters, a woman I know from passing in the cafeteria but we've never exchanged words except for greetings. She nods at us, then starts talking to Rose in a calm voice, radiating confidence and professionalism both. I follow their exchange with only half my attention, while the rest is on Bella. Except for what I had to learn at med school about the whole birthing process I'm at a loss here anyway, and right now I'm more concerned with Bella than Rose. Eventually she notices my scrutiny and gives me those same fake innocent eyes as before. Not much I can do about that now anyway.
Rose's doctor leaves again after sending for a nurse, and we have a few moments for us.
"How are you feeling?"
Rose glares at me pointedly.
"Like I'm giving birth to an elephant! And did you hear that bitch at the reception, she told me I should stop throwing such a tantrum as I'm still in the early phase – shit!"
Even without recording the time between contractions I can tell this is less than seven minutes, and while it is entirely possible that Rose is acting a little on the dramatic side, I have to agree that she seems farther along than said Nurse estimated.
"When did your contractions start?"
"Did you even listen to any of the shit I told Dr. Holt?"
"Obviously not," I try to pacify her, and am surprised when it seems to work.
"This might sound weird but at first I didn't realize what it was. I mean I'm three weeks early, and I've been having insane back pains for days, I kind of thought it was just more of the same. I even sent Em to the gym myself because I wanted some time alone so he wouldn't get all concerned over every groan. See what good that did me?"
I keep smiling at her, and after a moment she reciprocates.
"Don't worry, Em will be here soon. Bells called Jasper and told him to pick him up and bring him here. In no time you'll be able to curse him at the top of your lungs for getting you into this."
I half expect Rose to just shrug the news off but she smiles at me mentioning Em knocking her up. Then she cranes her neck and reaches out to Bella, who takes her hand after a second.
"Thanks, B. Really, thank you."
For a moment Rose looks ready to start crying, but then she huffs and rolls her eyes, probably at herself.
"Gah, just look at me, a raving lunatic one moment, a crybaby the next! I can't wait when this fucking cocktail of hormones is out of my blood stream!"
"You're handling it pretty well. I don't even want to think of what a mess I will become when I'm pregnant," Bella replies, even offering a light snicker that sounds real.
Rose huffs as she draws her knees as close to her belly as she can manage, lying on the side as she is, and for a moment her eyes scrunch close, her shoulders shaking as she's trying to ease the discomfort.
"You'll never know! But one thing is for sure, when it's your time to be lying here I'm sure you'll manage the physical side a lot better than I do."
I inadvertently hold my breath at Rose's retort, hoping that Bella will just laugh it off, but no such luck. If I weren't so concerned about her, the way her cheeks literally drain of color would be plain comical, but as it is there is nothing funny about it. Her lips open as if to offer an answer but she only heaves two shallow breaths, then she's suddenly running from the room and I'm quite frankly too perplexed to react.
While I still try to decide if I should run after Bella or give her some time Rose clears her throat, drawing my attention back to her. She's frowning, but mostly looking confused.
"Seriously, you know how much I love insulting people but I have no idea what this is all about."
"It's nothing you did." And well, it really isn't.
Now her frown is close to that harpy look she has perfected years ago, and I give up with a sigh.
"It's something I did. Happy?"
"You sure? Because I've made the same lame joke at least ten times over the last months and she always laughed it off. I mean obviously this doesn't translate in any way to what you kinky fluffybunnies do in your free time."
I try to decide just how much I should tell her, but the longer I hold my tongue, the more she seems interested. Knowing Rose she will keep asking, never minding the company, and it's probably for the best to tell her now with just us in the room.
"I don't think she freaked because you were joking about her pain tolerance."
"But?"
It has never before occurred to me that the day would come where I feel weird about any of the things I do in the playroom, but right now, looking down at the very pregnant woman before me, something close to unease is creeping up and down my spine.
"Earth to Edward? I can't really get up and slap some sense into you right now, but I promise you, I'll find a way to get you to talk to me."
Offering a slight smile at her reproachful tone, I shrug.
"I think she's more squicked about the fact that an hour ago she had my whole hand where your kid will soon cry its way into this world."
