From Here On Out

40

The growing baby boy was getting larger and larger on Emmy's stomach, and making everything that much harder. No matter how much she felt like she was getting used to it, there was always another inconvenience to follow it. The 30-week old belly was killing her back, and the reason Daveed was currently guiding her to the bedroom.

On top of that, the once small, forgettable kicks were becoming anything but. "One sec," she told Daveed, pausing the walk in the middle of the doorway, "Dyl, please chill out," she begged the tiny baby who was delivering massive kicks for what felt like nonstop.

"Baby boy, go easy on your mommy," Daveed talked to the baby. He rubbed her back with one hand then wrapped the other on the underside of her belly.

Emmy took a few more steps into the room, holding on to dressers and rails to get across. "This sucks," she said once at the side of the bed. She put her hands to her own back and attempted to stretch herself.

"Lean on me," Daveed told her. He wrapped around her side and helped to essentially lift her into bed. She was in so much pain and discomfort already and he hated to know it was only going to get worse. She managed to get in bed and Daveed helped to guide her into a position that would let her somewhat rest. "You want some tea?" he asked, taking his hand to wipe some of the sweat off her forehead. 

She just nodded and leaned back into the bed frame. Her hand rested aimlessly on her belly and she looked nearly asleep. "Be right back," Daveed called out to the air. He moved into the kitchen to quickly brew the tea for her. 

Tea in hand, he entered the room to see Emmy dozing off and on. He moved to her side of the bed and set the mug down. He pressed a kiss to her forehead then moved to the other side. He laid down himself, and very soon, he too was out like a light. 

Throughout the whole pregnancy, Emmy had had many sleepless nights. Nights of waking up many times a night, multiple times a night. So it came as no surprise when she felt awoken a short few hours later, at 3:00 am. She was, however, taken aback by the mass nausea rising in her throat. That, and the pain accompanying it. She felt a firey feeling from the upper right side of her belly all the way down to her belly button. 

By the minute, the pain was growing. Her stomach was tender, and the pain seemed like it rose the more she became more awake. Her whole stomach felt hard as she tried to hold both sides to soothe it. The pain was becoming excruciating and coupled with nausea, she knew she was going to vomit.

Her breaths came shallow and fast, fear rising as well because none of the pain was mellowing. With slight pressure, she attempted to rub over her belly. Her hand jerked back immediately and she nearly pitched foreward from the stomach pain worsening. Her fear immediately compounded, largely from the unknown. "Daveed, Daveed, wake up," she shook him, her voice becoming unsteady. 

He moved slightly from the force she shook him with, "What- what's up?" he answered groggily.

"Somethings... wrong," she answered, her voice breaking from ache and sobs that were forming quickly.

Daveed jumped up into a seating position. He looked over at the tears falling down the sides of her eyelids and the rapid rise and fall of her chest. "Emmy, baby, what's wrong?"

She struggled to breathe and speaking was worse, "It hurts, so bad," she groaned outwards. The nausea from earlier replanted itself in her head and she couldn't hold it in anymore. "Trashcan," she pleaded.

It took a few moments to register to him before he sprinted to grab the bucket. He held it up to her head and she leaned forward. She let out everything that had risen in her throat, initially missing the bucket due to her inability to move her midsection. 

Once she finished, Daveed squatted down. He noticed the way her hands hovered slightly over her stomach and the way they shook."What is it, Em? Your stomach?"

She nodded through tear-stained eyes. 

"Do we- do we need to go to the hospital?" he started to panic from not knowing what was going on or how to help, but he did his best to hold it in. Every thought flooding into his mind was the worst, and he tried to push them out.

"I.. don't know," she gasped through sobs.

Daveed grabbed one of her hands, slightly jumping from the warmth. He touched her forehead with another hand, "You're burning up. Here, are you able to get up?" he held both of her hands to get her to sitting.

"Owww," she cried all the way up to the sitting position. No pain from the last 7.5 months had compared to this, and that fact terrified her. 

Daveed shifted her so her legs could hang off the side of the bed. As he did this, the sheets shifted down the bed. Towards the middle of the sheet she laid on, he noticed a dark stain on the sheets, peeking out just under the comforter. His fingers moved the sheets slightly to reveal an even larger stain underneath. His eyes then fell to Emmy's pajamas pants and they immediately confirmed it for him. 

He took hold of her eyes, trying to distract her although he knew the pain was doing a good enough job of that. Her eyes were bloodshot and any ounce of color had lost on her face. "Breathe with me, Em" he told her, taking large in and exhales on a rhythm, "How is it now?"

"Ten," she said through strained teeth. 

Daveed's head raced. He knew they needed to go to the hospital, and that meant stepping away to call. He also knew she would be completely freaked out if she turned her head only an inch. "Hey, Emmy look at me," he got her attention, "I need you to breathe, ok," he paused for a moment, "There's some bleeding, a little bit," he wanted to ease her in, even if he wouldn't exactly classify it as a little bit.

Her eyes widened, a sheer look a fear encompassing her whole face. "But.. I- What? Huh?" she spoke incomprehensibly before fully falling into him. Daveed caught her arms before she could fall off the bed and he held her there. Emmy couldn't process anything but the worst images that popped into her head. She felt everything falling apart and she couldn't do more than cry into his shirt.

His own tears threatened to fall. He was very quickly falling down a rabbit hole of emotion but he took his fingers and wiped them away. He masked it for her and tried to catch her eyes again, "Baby, I'm gonna get my phone. I'll be back in 2 seconds."

He practically sprinted to his bedside table to grab the device. As he lifted it, the time 3:45 grazed the screen. He figured both their distraught states would do no good with walking in the middle of the night, and with that, he dialed 911 on the way back to her. 

The longer she sat on the bed, her screams of pain heightened. It broke Daveed's heart to be so helpless and his fingers shook as he held the phone. He tried to collect his thoughts as much as possible when the line connected.

"Yes, ma'am, hello. My girlfriend, she's pregnant. She's not doing well. She has um... severe abdominal pain and... she's bleeding," he tried to talk through his scattered head, "There's a good amount of blood," he said this part much softer, "We need help."

The operator agreed to send out an ambulance and Daveed gave them all the necessary information. While he had the phone, he had the impulse to pull up their friend groupchat, even though he knew no one would be awake. "Going to hospital," was all he said before throwing the phone down on the bed.

He quickly went back to holding Emmy's hands, "It's gonna be ok," he tried to comfort. He put his hand to her back to rub it and was met with mounds of sweat. She was hunched over, sobbing over her belly. "We're gonna get you some help," he said, this time to her and himself.