You'll Never Stand Alone

Chapter 29

It was a fairly unusually serene night at Cedar-Sinai hospital. Patients were coming and going in a steady rate and no pending problems had arisen. The nurses and receptionist jovially chatted with one another when all of a sudden, a Range Rover pulled up, causing quite the commotion. Confused the staff all looked at one another before looking out for whomever was about to walk in. To their surprise, Kevin came in first while Whitney followed after with a coat over her head to shield from what is assumed to be any impending paparazzi. They both looked glamorous and not like they were about to check Whitney into the hospital. When they both saw that it was pretty much clear, they both relaxed. "Hi," they greeted the shocked staff. "Dr. Bryant is meeting us here; I'm experiencing what I think is labor pains." Whitney explained. For a few seconds no one moved as they were still getting over the fact that one of Hollywood's biggest couple could possibly be delivering at their hospital. "Oh, where are our manners? We will have you in there right away!" An elder front desk clerk said, snapping the others out of their trance and into doing their jobs.

A few minutes and autographs later, Whitney was admitted and they were put into a very private, plush room that almost looked more like a hotel suite than a hospital room. Dr. Bryant, a tall jovial woman, soon arrived afterwards once Whitney changed into a hospital gown and started to be hooked up to the IV and heart rate machine. "How are we Mr. and Mrs. Costner?" "I'm having labor pains... it's like I'm gonna pop these babies out!" Whitney belted out. "We weren't expecting this to happen this soon." Kevin added. "We thought it would be another few weeks or so." Dr. Reynolds looked thoughtful as he leaned over to check Whitney out. "Hmm, let's have a look see here. We did talk about the concern of the babies coming early. This is pretty typical in most multiple births." Whitney nervously sighed. "Oh God. I just want my babies to be okay."

She checked each babies vitals and then checked Whitney to see how far along she had dilated. "It looks like the baby A and baby B are primed to positioning themselves for a natural birth. It seems that it was probably becoming too crowded and Mother Nature set it up for them to come out. Mrs. Costner, you are about two centimeters into your labor, so you are already starting to dilate for delivery. The worst case scenario will be that your children are gonna be born premature. But the good news is that it won't be by that many weeks. Since you carried them for roughly 36 weeks. We will keep a close eye on you and them during and after delivery and do everything we can to make sure that they are comfortable and healthy."

Whitney and Kevin both nodded, silently praying that everything with their soon-to-be born children turned out alright.

Whitney began to wince, as she felt a slight contraction come on. "I'm sure you'll say no, but is an epidural doable at this point?" "I'm sorry hon, but you have to wait for a little bit longer," Dr. Bryant lovingly said. "But maybe we can give you a something to ease the pain and help you get some sleep tonight." Whitney nodded. "That would be really nice." After checking her out some more and arranging the nurses to give her medicine, Dr. Bryant promised to come back to check on her periodically and left. After Kevin and Whitney talked to their families and gave them an update, Kevin came by her side and looked down. "Think there's any room for me?" he asked. "Sure." Whitney excitedly told him as she scooted over to let him lay beside her and laid near his chest. "So...I guess we wait." Whitney told him as she yawned, feeling the effects of the medication fall upon her. "For now," Kevin told her as he brushed his hand over her face and kissed her. "Get some sleep my queen, you're gonna need all the strength you can get. I'm gonna be here with you throughout everything," Whitney yawned again as she felt her eyelids close. "Okay baby, I love...." She couldn't finish the rest of her sentence before falling asleep. Kevin was close behind her.