Chapter 3 - The First Contraction
Leah called Nathan immediately.
He answered on the fourth ring.
“Hey.”
“Did you authorize a psychiatric evaluation?”
Silence.
“Nathan?”
“My mom thought it might help.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“She’s worried.”
“Did you tell her she could forge my signature?”
“No.”
“Did you know she was doing it?”
Another silence.
That was enough.
Leah closed her eyes.
“I want you here.”
“I’m at work.”
“I’m in the hospital.”
“You’re being monitored.”
“By a doctor your mother is using to create psychiatric records about me.”
Nathan lowered his voice.
“Listen to yourself.”
Leah’s eyes opened.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you’re spiraling.”
The phrase sounded rehearsed.
She knew instantly where he had learned it.
“Your mother told you to say that.”
“Leah.”
“She told you to call me unstable.”
“No.”
“Then tell me I’m not.”
Nathan did not answer.
A sudden tightening crossed Leah’s abdomen.
She stopped breathing.
The pain grew.
Then faded.
Simone looked up.
“You okay?”
“I think so.”
Ten minutes later, another contraction came.
This one stronger.
Mae checked the monitor.
“You may be starting labor.”
“But I’m early.”
“Not dangerously early.”
Leah looked at the ceiling.
“I wanted another week.”
“Babies do not care about calendars.”
For the first time that day, Leah smiled.
By late afternoon, contractions were six minutes apart.
Nathan finally arrived.
Doreen came with him.
Of course she did.
Leah had already told Mae that Doreen was not to receive medical information.
Mae had changed the privacy code.
Doreen did not know.
She discovered it when she tried to call the nurses’ station from the hallway.
Her reaction was immediate.
She walked into Leah’s room.
“Why was I removed from your contact permissions?”
“Because I removed you.”
“You are making decisions under stress.”
“They’re still my decisions.”
Nathan closed the door.
“Can we not fight right now?”
Leah stared at him.
“I’m in labor and your mother is the one arguing.”
Doreen looked offended.
Then Leah felt warmth beneath the blanket.
Mae checked her.
The color left the nurse’s face.
There was blood.
More than she wanted to see.
Dr. Rusk arrived quickly.
Within minutes, the room filled with people.
Monitors began alarming.
The baby’s heart rate dipped.
Dr. Rusk spoke rapidly.
“We’re going to the operating room.”
Leah grabbed Nathan’s hand.
“Stay with me.”
He nodded.
Then Doreen whispered something into his ear.
Leah could not hear it.
But she saw him look toward her hospital chart.
Mae saw it too.
As Leah’s bed rolled toward the elevator, Mae walked beside her.
She leaned close enough that only Leah could hear.
“If they give you anything you weren’t told about, ask what it is before they put it in your IV.”
Leah’s fear sharpened.
“Why?”
Mae looked back at Nathan and Doreen.
“Because someone just added a sedative order to your chart.”
Leah stared at her.
“I didn’t ask for one.”
May you like
“I know.”
Then the operating-room doors opened.
