CanEm One-Shots (English)

Labour

Plot: Can is away when Sanem goes into labour early at seven months pregnant. 

Can took a job in Thailand - much to his own reluctance - whilst Sanem was seven months pregnant. She had been convincing him to get back into his photography ever since their wedding and a year had passed since then. So, when a freelance project had cropped up, Sanem had jumped readily on the idea. At first, Can had turned down the job offer but, after weeks of encouragement from the wife he just couldn't resist, he had begrudgingly accepted. 

But, as soon as he got into the comfortable heat, Can had realised that Sanem had been right. He had missed his true passion - photography, just him and his camera alone. The sun of Thailand was foreign to that of Turkey. It was a refreshing change of scenery and he loved venturing through the monkey forests, endless stretches of beaches and elephant sanctuaries. 

However, what nobody had prepared for was Sanem going into labour eight weeks early (whilst Can was still away) She had been home alone when her water broke. After marriage, they'd moved into the Divit house and she'd been in the modern kitchen by herself as she felt the liquid drip down her leg. At first, she'd been confused, her gaze dropping south, as if she'd just wet herself. But very soon after, Sanem found her breathes coming out as sharp hisses between her teeth. She clutched the side of the counter top tightly, her mind trying to grasp the breathing techniques that she'd learnt at her Lamaze classes. But as the pain in the pits of her increased threefold, she fell to her knees in a panic. 

With each contraction came a pain that possessed Sanem's entire body. In those moments, for those seconds that stretched endlessly, there was nothing else. When the pain passed it was only for a minute or so and then it returned with a bite that was sharper, and quicker, than the last. 

"I can't do this ... I can't do this-" Sanem wheezed, her hands fumbling desperately for her phone. She tried to feel for it in her pocket but then remembered that she had left it on her bedside table. She groaned both in pain and frustration and attempted to drag herself in the direction of her bedroom. She was using her arms to drag herself across the floor, perspiration forming on her forehead until she slowly began to fade. Her resolution was wearing thin and she honestly didn't know what she would have done if Emre hadn't come bursting through the door. 

"Sanem!" Emre dropped the grocery bags on the floor with a thud and ran to her side immediately. "What's going on?" 

"I ... I think I'm in labour." Emre extended his hand to Sanem and she took it, giving it a large squeeze as he lifted her up. "I can't ... I can't do it, Emre-" A scream escaped Sanem that Emre that chilled him to the bone and he quickly made an action plan.  "Can, I need ... Can!" 

"Okay, okay ... let's just get you to the hospital." Emre, who had no experience child birth, hospital bags or just pregnancy in general, tried his best to gather his bearings. He called an ambulance, grabbed her things and held her hand as she screamed, but truthfully, his most prominent thought was - shit! Where is my Abe?   

It took a matter of thirty minutes or so before Sanem was at the hospital and being ushered through hospital wards that she couldn't recognise. They had put her on a stretcher and Emre spoke to a handful of people as they wheeled her into a room. She was five centimetres dilated which meant she needed to stay in the hospital. Doctors didn't know if it would be minutes or hours before she gave birth. "Sanem, I'll be right outside, okay? I'm just going to call Abe."

Emre had done everything he had to do in such a stressful situation; he called arranged for doctors, made sure Sanem had everything she needed and most importantly, he made sure to call Can. 

"Hello?" It was only around 5 o'clock, Thailand time and Can was speedy when answering the call, much to Emre and Sanem's reassurance. 

"Abe! She's having your baby." Emre didn't beat around the bush or bother with pleasantries, the words slipping from his mouth in the heat of the moment. "Sanem's gone into labour."