After the storm

Chapter 38

Back in the car, Chloe felt that the pain started to be unbearable, her back hurt a lot and every new contraction seemed stronger and more severe.

"Where do you think you're going? I don't think you'll manage to walk to the hospital on your own." Linda stated when she saw Chloe opening the door.

"I'm not going to walk to the hospital. I just can't imagine delivering the baby in such small space. It's impossible." Chloe said and managed to get out of her car seat somehow.

"Ha, I told you!" Maze exclaimed, referring to her earlier words about the size of Ella's car.

"Maze, stop it. It's not so important. Right now, we have to help Chloe." Linda told her and they started getting out of the vehicle.

"How do you imagine helping her? We don't know how to do it." Maze said but then something came to her mind. "I mean, you went through this so you know what to do but I don't. If Chloe needed help with catching a bad guy or beating someone up, I would gladly help. But this?" She asked, a strong hint of despair appearing in her voice.

"If I remember correctly, you were there with me and you saw how it looked like." Linda replied and then looked at her friend and took her hands. "Maze, if we are to help Chloe deliver this baby, we will need all the help possible, including you. I know everything will be fine but we've got to act together. Remember, Chloe counts on us. She won't do it without our help." Linda stated truthfully.

"Okay." Maze spoke with full determination.

In the meantime, Ella gave it a try and called Lucifer but unfortunately he still wasn't picking up the call and it was going straight to his voicemail.

At last they went round the car and stopped at the sight they came upon. Chloe made only two steps and felt such intense pain that she had to lean against the car and then finally slid down the side door. All of a sudden, everything sped up. She started taking deep breaths, her back was hurting her, she felt the contractions were getting extremely painful and coming at very short intervals which meant that it would be only a matter of minutes before she delivered the baby.

Despite the intense pain, Chloe whispered while holding on to her belly. "Baby, daddy's not here at the moment. He's having some issues to deal with. He'll be here soon and we'll work everything out." She let out a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Just wait a little bit." She added quietly.

"I don't think the baby's going to wait any longer now. You're fully dilated." She heard Linda say, being already at her side.

Chloe felt a lonely tear rolling down her cheek. Was it really going to look like this? Was she going to deliver this baby somewhere in the street, surrounded by her friends but without Lucifer? Where was he? He said he would be there when the time came and now what? More tears followed suit and soon a desperate cry shook her body which triggered even more pain.

Suddenly, she heard and felt a rapid blast of air and she instantly knew it meant only one thing. Slowly she opened her eyes and let out a sigh of relief.

"Is Chloe all right? What's happening?" Lucifer asked. They could see he looked seriously worried, almost panicking.

"The baby's happening, you idiot!" Maze shouted with anger. "Where have you been? We've been calling you a hundred times and you haven't even bothered to pick up!"

"I was at Lux and didn't hear it ringing. When I started listening to my voicemail, I thought I would have a heart attack." He said and looked at Chloe. "Maze threatened to castrate me if I let you down and when I heard Miss Lopez's serious voice, I couldn't wait any longer." He added and knelt down beside Chloe.