It's So Much More Than That (A Selection Story)

Chapter 39

Chapter 39: 

"Everyone get out of the way!" 

I barely register that my best friend is shooing people out of the hallway while someone else is pushing me in a wheelchair towards the infirmary. Seconds after my water broke, the report abruptly ended with Gavril bidding the nation goodnight and the rest of the advisors and guests springing to their feet once the cameras turned off. I remember clutching my hands around my stomach and heaving slightly while Marlee rushed to my side and yelled at the others to get a wheelchair and inform the others that I was going into labor. 

Before we left the room, I believe I yelled at Stavros to contact Maxon immediately, and vaguely remember him talking loudly into his phone; something about me being in labor and jets or something. 

 "Stay calm, America. You're probably just starting, so just remember to breathe. We'll get you there", Marlee called between breaths. We were rushing down the hallways at a nauseating speed, which wasn't helping the waves of hurt that occasionally racked through my body. At the moment, they weren't intolerable, but the pain never quite subsided for long. 

At last, we reached the doors of the infirmary where doctors and nurses were frantically running around, trying to set up a room for me. I am wheeled into a private room off to the side of the doctor's offices, while a small team of nurses prepped the area. By now, my contractions have increased slightly (well, maybe more than that - a lot more), and I bit my lip to hold back a scream as another wave rips through me. 

Dr. Ashar rushes into the room with some charts and says something to the nurses while Marlee rubs my back and whispers encouragements in my ear. 

"Someone...can you please...get my family?" I pant between short breaths. Suddenly, I wanted my sisters here to tell me a joke or just make me laugh. The pain begins gripping my abdomen like a vice; slowly tightening and releasing, but never letting go. A couple of the nurses that have been hovering over me help me stand up, and tell me that I can go over to the bed if I want to. I remember Dr. Ashar saying that walking during the early stages of labor could be a good thing, however, all I want to do is collapse. 

"Don't worry, I'll call them right now. They'll be here soon, I promise." Marlee sashays out of the room to make the calls. 

I lean against the bed, barely nodding at her answer.

"Your Majesty, would you like us to help you up?" One of the nurses says. 

"Yes...ugh...now!" They help me up to the inclined bed where I am destined to give birth sometime tonight, and hook me up to an IV. The room is well-lit and clinical-looking. It's prepped with beeping machinery to the side and a whole team of nurses. "We need to check how far she is along", someone shouts. I groan and lean back into the pillows, hoping that this night won't be long. That's the logical side of me thinking. The other side wants to freeze time so that Maxon can be here for every moment of this. I don't know how I can do that, but every fiber in my being demands that I try. 

My labor couldn't have come at a worse time. 

"Your Majesty, we need to check how far you've progressed and see if the babies' vitals are all right." A nurse with a round, pleasant face says to me. Her dark hair is curled under a nurse's cap and she's probably the only one in this room that looks excited. "I'm the labor and delivery nurse, Eva Mierton. I've been selected by Dr. Ashar to help you through this delivery in anyway that I can. Please feel free to ask me anything or ask one of the other nurses for assistance. We will be here until those little ones are out." 

"Do whatever you need to." I huff. "But please...I need Maxon." 

The nurse gives a sad smile as if she knows something that I don't. Maybe she knows that these babies won't wait until morning. Maybe she knows that there's nothing we can do but wait.