To say they freaked out was an understatement.
They went completely berserk. Augustus' mother, Delilah, had found me silently crying while sleeping when she brought down a basket of laundry. She had allegedly screamed "Murderer!" when she saw me and Gus' father, Lucas, had ran down the stairs with a baseball bat, ready to smash the intruder. Then they saw my massive bump and took the time to look at my red, tear-stained face. They called my parents and together they rushed me to the hospital. I had experienced a minor coma caused by the blow from him and all the hormones from being pregnant made the emotions triple in size and wipe me clean from consciousness. I was also malnourished seeing as I didn't move or eat for 51 hours. Throughout this whole ordeal, I was asleep, tucked in the safe cocoon of peaceful slumber.
And they just had to ruin it. I was partially glad they did because then Joshua wouldn't get a chance to live the life he deserved to have. He deserved life as much as Augustus did.
The doctors at Memorial and Doctor Maria have decided that I need to stay in the hospital until I have the baby so they can monitor my cancer and get to me as soon as I go into labour. I just think they don't trust me enough to not walk off again because we all know I couldn't run with my crappy lungs.
"So, Hazel, you might be wondering how far you are along." My midwife, Nurse Sierra, snaps me out of my thoughts when she begins speaking. She doesn't wait for my answer and that is totally fine with me. I just stare at her features. Sierra has straight red hair that stops at her jaw and dark green eyes. Soft cheekbones and small lips that are always pulled into a smile gives you the preview that she is always kind and happy. Why does it seem that everyone is happy when I'm wallowing in miserable feelings? "Since you've been asleep and tired and all of these injections, a lot of time has passed. So, you're actually due today. It's only half past eight in the morning so you've still got plenty of time to push that bubba out."
"What is the date?" I croak due to the lack of talking over the last few weeks.
"August twenty-four." She replies. Sierra takes my blood pressure for the umpteenth time this day (I'm exaggerating slightly) and leaves. I flop back on the bed and close my eyes, instantly being taken over by dreams that I can't escape.
"How could you do this to me, Hazel Grace?! I thought you loved me for infinity! I guess I was wrong. Just know, that I will not be waiting for you when you die." Gus yells at me. He stands on nothing but is still taller and higher up than me.
"No! Please, Augustus! It was just a mistake! I love you with all my heart!" I shout up to him, tears gathering on my eyelashes.
"Yeah, me and the child you carry which is the seed of my cousin!" He raises his angelic voice at the end to emphasis his point.
"I never meant for any of this to happen! I was supposed to be the grenade!"
"Well, you weren't. And now I have to watch you sleep with my relative and have his child, all the while you keep claiming you are in love with me! Just stop, Hazel! Just stop." Gus' voice gets softer at the end. He used to call me Hazel Grace. A pain blossoms in my abdomen like a knife being pushed through the soft flesh and organs. I scream out in pain and look to Gus as tears flow down my cheeks from the emotional and physical pain. He just smirks at me lazily.
"That's the thing about pain, it deserves to be felt." Gus fades into the blinding white light. The light doesn't just absorb Gus, but everything around me. I watch as it takes the blue sky and eventually dissolves my arms, my legs, my torso, until nothing is left.
I wake with a gasp and see doctors swarming like hornets in a nest.
"Hazel! Thank goodness you are awake! If you didn't we would have had to perform a caesarean. Now, we're going to hook you up to a BiPAP so you can give birth to your child," Sierra exclaims. I'm in labour? I'm in labour!
An unknown nurse comes up and takes the cannula out of my nose and replaces it with the BiPAP machine mask.
"What?! I'm in labour?! How dilated am I?!" I can't help but scream with pain as the contractions get worse and more often.
"Yes, Hazel. You're in labour and eight centimetres dilated. We're going to give you about an hour before checking on you again. You are very lucky you're moving along this fast Hazel. Most people are in labour for twelve to fourteen hours. As far as I can tell because you were asleep, you have been enduring labour for three hours. You're strong; don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
An hour later, my midwife tells me I am ready to start pushing. I'm not ready but I'm prepared to be brave for the little man inside of me. Mum holds my hand as I scream and yell through the pain. Apparently, this isn't even the hard part, the shoulders are the hard part because they can get stuck in the pelvis.
"Hazel, I'm going to need you to push. Okay?"
"Okay."
AUTHOR'S NOTE
did anyone pick up on the little thing i added early on? if you have and you are a serious fangirl like me, private message me that you found it and i will give you a dedication on the next chapter: The Birth. okay, so i promised i would do this but that isnt the only reason. orbitingfandoms book The Fault In Our Dreams is beautiful, amazing, and about TFIOS. need i say more?? please check it out, follow her, and vote for the story. Also vote, comment and fan this story that you are reading right now. i am probably gonna do another update tonight. might even do another. Have fun reading and crying!
Zzz Claire
