The Song Of The Wolf (Edited & Rewritten)

Chapter Nine, Part One

Maebh stormed up the stairs with the two brothers close behind, following the sound of pained moans. Maggie lay in a bed, her head propped up, both hands clutching her swollen belly. Sweat glistened on her face, and a look of relief crossed her features upon seeing her friend's arrival.

'Mae, I'm so sorry, we–'

'You can apologise as much as you want later,' Maebh dropped the contents of her bag on the bed, and sent Coinín to fetch the supplies he had mentioned buying.

'How much blood did you lose?' she asked.

Maggie winced as another wave of pain washed over her. 'I... I don't– I woke up after midnight, when my waters broke and it's been coming and going since.'

'And the contractions?'

'Since then too.'

Maebh approached Maggie's bedside and checked her vitals with the limited equipment she had. Upon inspecting the sheets beneath her, it was evident there had indeed been some bleeding.

'Okay, Mags,' Maebh said. 'What you're experiencing is called a bloody show. It's a sign that your cervix is dilating, which means labour is progressing.'

'I've never heard of that before,' Maggie said through clenched teeth.

'It's perfectly normal, basically a mucus plug that's been in your cervix throughout your pregnancy and as your body prepares for labour, it can be released, sometimes tinged with blood.'

Maggie gripped Maebh's hand, her knuckles turning white as another contraction hit.

'What do we do now?'

'I'd like to see how far dilated you are. Could you– err remove your underwear please?'

Behind her, someone tried to smother their laughter. Maebh shot Bear a look that could kill. 'The feck are you sniggering about? Go help your brother, make yourself useful,' she waved him off.

When the women were alone in the room, Maggie removed her underwear and lifted her nightgown. Maebh donned a pair of disposable gloves, prepped them with sterile lubrication and began the cervical assessment.

'There are three stages of dilation, you're about to go into the second one, the active phase. After the last one, the delivery of the baby will take place,' Maebh said, trying to talk her through the uncomfortable process. 'How long ago did your water break again?'

'About an hour ag–' Maggie's face clouded over.

'Was that a contraction? Didn't you just have one?'

Maggie nodded, still wincing, and looked up. Her eyes widened. 'Maebh–'

At the disbelief lacing her name, Maebh reoriented her attention to her friend. 'Mags? Hey, don't cry, you silly bean,' she said. 'You're five centimetres dilated so things are progressing a bit faster than average but I am not concerned, and neither should you be. You're the picture of health and we're not foreseeing any complications. Everything is going to be alright, trust your body.'

The tears flowed freely now. 'No, that's not–'

Coinín returned and rushed to his crying wife, dropping the supplies.

Maggie sniffed. 'Coi, Mae is–'

He crawled next to her on the bed and pulled her into his chest. 'Shh, don't think about that now.'

Maebh inspected the discarded heap of supplies, pleased. The father-to-be had certainly done his research. At a box of surgical sutures, she frowned. If Maggie's water had broken just an hour ago, there should typically have been a couple more hours before she went into active labour. Her friend was dilating rapidly, and Maebh could not help her worrying about the consequences of such rapid progress.