2 7 1 |Noorhelm|

DAY 271: MARCH 10TH (pt. 2)

A/N:

Please don't hate me.

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Upon arriving to the hospital, Noora and William immediately made their way to the reception desk, announcing their arrival and 'checking in'. The young blonde's contractions had grown slightly stronger, but it still wasn't too painful to overcome with a wince and a groan. William , on the other hand, felt like dying every single time.

Still needing to get checked, a nurse calmly followed the couple to their delivering room, where they'd stay for the rest of the process. As soon as Noora had stripped down and changed into a hospital outfit, she finally got to rest her tired body on her designated hospital bed.

"I'm Anna, if you need anything. I'll be right back with your midwife, and we'll start checking how far you are," the nurse, an older woman, told Noora with a comforting smile before she walked out.

"Herregud," she breathed out, letting her head drop back into the pillow on the slightly raised bed.

"You doing okay?" William placed his hand on the area that connected her neck and shoulder, gently massaging it in hopes of calming her down. Noora didn't have to look at him to know that he was deeply worried. His voice was very stern, showing he didn't know how to handle this. His deep brown eyes showed fear, though he wouldn't admit it.

"I've been better," her voice was obviously tired, but she tried put on a brave face. Mostly for herself, since she was damn scared, but also for him.

Few moments later, a midwife and two nurses, including the one from before, walked into the room.

"Hei, Noora. I'm Beatrice. I'm going to be in charge of your delivery," she quickly shook Noora's hand, smiling, before shaking William's. "This is Anna and Jennifer," the two nurses stepped forward, also smiling. "They'll be assisting me, making sure that everything goes by safe and smooth. Do you have any questions so far?"

Noora looked at William, then back at the midwife, not sure of what to say.

"Not anything besides wondering how long will this take?"

Beatrice chuckled as the two nurses had already started getting ready to do the first check up. "Oh ja, the most important question. Well... It's hard to say. Some women give birth almost right away, within few hours, whilst others go through very long labours. But we'll check on you now, and see how dilated you are. After that we'll be able to give you a more precise answer. Okay?"

All Noora could focus on was "Very long labours". What if she had to lie like this, with the pain growing stronger and stronger all the time, for a whole day? Her thoughts probably translated onto her face, because next thing she knew, the midwife's hand rested comfortingly on her leg.

"Don't worry, Noora. We'll take good care of you. And I'm sure your boyfriend will too," she then looked at William, smiling warmly, understanding how horrified the two were. William nodded, his hand still resting on Noora's shoulder.

The nurses and Beatrice eventually got around to check Noora, hooking her up to all kinds of machines and checking all kinds of numbers, which neither William and Noora understood. It was only when Anna finally explained it that it finally made sense.

"So, Noora. All of your numbers look fine. Your blood pressure, your temperature and everything. Your heartbeat is a bit fast, but that's normal," she smiled before continuing. "It's caused by the adrenaline, your body's way of reacting to everything that's happening. Besides that, you're dilated about 4 cm so far. It's pretty good, considering the fact that you've only been in active labour for ," she looked at her wrist watch, "about two to three hours, from what I can understand. Within the next, upcoming hours, you'll be transitioning from active labour to the transition phase . Things will hurt more then, but this also means it will go by faster and after that: it's go time."

"Okay. Takk," a small, polite smiled appeared on Noora's lips.

Anna left with the others, leaving William and Noora alone in the room. Only beeping, from the machine that surveilled Noora and baby's heartbeats could be heard. Suddenly, William felt like dropping a bomb.

"Do your parents know? That you're in labour?"

Just being mentioned, her parents could make her stomach turn and her head ache. She really hated wasting her time on them, ever since they seemed to think that she herself was a waste of time to them. The less she heard from them, the better. Why did he have to bring this up now? He'd had 9 months to do so.

"Nei... They don't know anything," she said, feeling his hand slide off her shoulder.

"What do you mean with 'anything'?"

It's not like she'd kept a secret. They'd never talked about it or even mentioned it - something that happened a lot, when it came to their families. But suddenly, Noora felt a lot of guilt. William didn't even have to say anything. She turned her head away.

"Your parents..." He mumbled, almost in a whisper even though they were alone in the room. "Your parents don't know that you're pregnant?"

No one said a word after that. Especially not Noora, who secretly hoped that a contraction would hit her, so that they could avoid the sensitive topic. It was like stepping onto a minefield.

"Fuck, Noora," William breathed out, running his hands through his hair in frustration as he got up from his seat. "Why haven't you told them?"

Her head snapped back in his direction, watching him pace around the room. "You haven't told yours either!"

"Yes, I have! I sent both my mom and dad a text few days after you told me! I might not have the best relationship with them, but they deserve to at least be informed. My entire life, I've been completely blindsided. No one ever told me anything, no one ever took the time to talk to me and I don't want that for my own child. He or she deserves to be known by my parents, and not kept as a damn secret. I've had enough of those!"

She could tell that he was trying to calm himself and bite his lip, but they'd opened an old wound. It hurt too deeply for him to let it slide.

"I'm not having secrets. I just haven't talked to them..."

"For 9 months? What happened to 'Skyping them every month'?" He stormed for the door, grabbing the door handle and opening. "That's bullshit, Noora. We both know it."

Silence fell over them once more, Noora blinking away oncoming tears as she tried to get through to him with a regretful look. William took a deep breath, keeping himself from bursting and causing further damage.

"I need some fresh air."

He walked out.