Page 110 of Deceitful Oath
“Hello!” a female voice says from the door. I look to the right and see a slim, imposing-looking nurse coming into the room. She has a syringe and some other supplies with her and my stomach swoops uncomfortably with nerves.
“I’m here to get you started on having this baby,” she says with pleasant efficiency, “so that we can fix your ankle.”
“I’d rather wait to have the baby at home,” I try for the umpteenth time.
“No can do,” the nurse says to me in a firm tone of voice. “If you want to be able to use that ankle ever again, we need to makesure that the baby is safe and then take care of that break. You want to be able to run around with your child, don’t you?”
“With my luck, I’d probably fall on her,” I mutter and Rafael laughs.
“Pardon?” the nurse asks.
“Nothing,” I say more loudly, giving Rafael a gimlet glare.
“This will take a couple of hours to do its work,” the nurse tells me as she depresses the plunger of the syringe. She puts a plastic basin on the side of the bed with me. “You might throw up,” she says apologetically before leaving the room.
“Wait, what?” I ask, looking between Enzo and Rafael.
“I mean, you’ve done a lot of that already during the pregnancy,” Enzo says helpfully. “What’s a few more times?”
“Dammit,” I say under my breath, letting my head fall back against the stiff pillow behind me.
***
“I can’t do this anymore,” I wheeze, flopping back onto the hospital bed in between contractions.
“You can and you will,” Rafael says to me firmly.
I look at his beautiful face and see the tinge of worry in his eyes. He’s been allowing me to crush his fingers in my grip for hours now, and I know that he’s as tired as I am at this point.
The nurse gave me the shot yesterday evening, but my labor didn’t come on as quickly as they had hoped. By the time I finally started having strong contractions, complications with the position of the baby led to them missing the window for me to have an epidural.
The past twelve hours have felt like a blur of pain, sweat, vomit, and fear for me, and I’m not sure how much more I can take. My body feels like it’s breaking down, but Rafael’s steady gaze is something to lean on.
“Imagine the sun in the orange grove, Luxy,” he says to me, squeezing my fingers. “Imagine the smell of oranges and the peace of being outdoors. Just step aside and let the rest of this happen.”
I smile softly at him, so tired that he blurs before my eyes. But I let his suggestion wash me into a meditative state. I can almost smell the sweet, delicious scent of the orange grove near our home and I feel like the sun is shining on my face.
The next contraction doesn’t affect me as much, and I listen to the nurses and bear down through it.
“A couple more pushes,” the doctor tells me encouragingly.
I look at my stiff foot that’s propped up in the stirrups. I stopped feeling the pain from my broken ankle ages ago. The labor pains were far worse. I wonder in an idle way if I’ll have a limp. Maybe I can be a pirate when I’m playing with Eve.
“Luxy, focus!’ Rafael says to me, and I blink away visions of wearing a plastic hook on my hand and chasing Eve while shouting, “Arr me mateys!”
“Push, Lux,” he says.
“This is all your fault,” I whisper, moaning as a wave of pain washes over me.
“I know, and you can punch me for it later. Right now, I need you to push.”
“Fine,” I say a little bit tartly, positioning myself better on the bed and doing as I’m told. There’s a shockingly intense wave of pain, but then suddenly, relief.
My eyes pop open wide, and I stare at Rafael, who is transfixed by the sight he is seeing. He looks stunned, like he’s in shock, and I start to panic.
“What is it? Is she okay?” I demand, shifting anxiously to try and see my baby.
Before I can get too worried, however, I hear a sharp wail pierce the air. The team who delivered Eve cheer and take her to get cleaned up a little and examined.