Inferno

~181~ Something Bad is Happening

Sasha's POV

The pain in my stomach is intense. I can't have this baby now. I can't lose this baby. I already love this baby so much that it hurts. I'm on my side, trying my best not to show how much pain I'm in. I don't want to worry Mason. He already has enough going on.

He can tell, though. He silently runs his fingers through my hair and is rubbing my back.

"She's having another one, Ellie. I'm going to take her" he says, his voice strained.

I tried really hard to act fine on that one. How did he know?

"Yeah, I think you should. Do you want someone to come with you?" Mom asks. I can tell she's trying hard to keep the stress out of her voice.

"Don't take this the wrong way...For months now I've needed help. I really just want to take care of her and my baby on my own this time" he says, strained.

Mom smiles and puts her hand on his cheek.

"Take care of your family" she says softly.

Mason helps me to the car and we drive quickly there. He holds my hand the entire time and squeezes it when he can tell I'm having another contraction.

We get there and he leads me into the Emergency Room. We tell the nurse what's going on and they get me to L&D quickly. They come in after a couple minutes and get me hooked up to monitors. Mason and I sit and listen silently to the babies heart thrumming on the monitor. It's calming. At least I know the baby is still alive. For now.

A while later they take a urine sample. They already checked my cervix and said that it's still tightly closed. I cried when they told me that. Right now, my baby is still safe inside of me.

Mason is sitting on the edge of the bed with me, holding me silently. Every time a contraction squeezes my belly, he can see it on the monitor. He tightly brings me to him and holds me close. He kisses my hair and tells me over and over that everything is going to be ok. He loves this baby too. A baby we didn't want. A baby we didn't plan. Now we can't imagine life without this little thing.

About an hour later someone finally comes in. "Ok, you've got a couple things going on with you" the doctor says, looking at me hard.

I just nod, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. Mason holds my hand, silent and terrified.

"For starters, you're severely dehydrated. How much water have you been drinking?" He asks.

"Not enough" I admit. I'm just so busy. Between school and homework, and now having two kids to take care of, I forget to eat half the time, let alone drink enough water.

He nods. "We're going to hook you up to an IV and get some fluids into you. That's going to drastically reduce your contractions" he says.

I just nod. I hate needles.

"We also ran your urine and found that you have Bacterial Vaginosis. We will get you an antibiotic before you leave, and it should clear it up. Between this, and the dehydration, that's what's causing the contractions" he says.

"So the baby is ok?" Mason asks.

The doctor nods and smiles. "Your little boy is cozy and safe" he says softly.

Mason and I gasp, and then look at each other.

"Boy" Mason whispers with a smile.

"Shoot. I spilled the beans, didn't I? I'm so sorry" the doctor says, upset.

"It's fine. We're having a boy" Mason says, smiling huge and giving me a kiss. When he pulls away, he has tears streaming down.

By the time we get home, we're exhausted. We've been at the hospital for hours. We get in and everybody is still awake. We told them we were on our way home.