"These things can change fast," he said. "And it's too early still.."
I gripped the handles of the wheelchair. "It won't do any of us any good if you dump me out on the floor."
He slowed so fast I lurched forward, and he had to lunge after me and grab my shoulders. "Shit, you're right. I'm sorry."
"Babe, I don't think I've ever seen you so nervous."
Unlike Luc, I wasn’t feeling the nerves. If it was time, it was time. I had reassurances from Michael that my sweet girl was healthy. Yeah right. Trying to convince myself I wasn't nervous was a wasted effort. I was terrified. Not of the pain. I was a Fallen, one of the original. The OG. I'd been through wars, demon attacks, demon rebellions, human attacks, hunters, rogue angels, shit… everything. I could handle pain.
I was nervous about what happens after. Once the baby was born, I wouldn’t get to enjoy motherhood for long. It would be time to kill Lucian. All hands on deck, no holds barred.
Then I had to leave her, lose Lucian, and go be the Fallen I was meant to be and get shit done.
As soon as we were let into the locked ward, the experience turned into a whirlwind. They had me changed into a gown and hooked up to uncomfortable straps that went around my midriff and monitored my contractions and the baby's vitals.
"You rest here and let the machine read what it needs to read." The nurse, a stout woman with enormous breasts and a nametag that read Anna, had an aura that screamed comfort. If she had gone into any other field, she would've been ignoring her calling. I wanted her to wrap her arms around me and let me relax in the comfort of her squishy-looking embrace. I made a note to check her out for possible adoption of my Turtle. She was a little old for a new mother, but what better caregiver than a nurse with an aura like warm soup?
I'd look into the husband and think about it.
Another pain shot across my stomach as she wrote stuff on a clipboard, and we all three looked to the monitor as I groaned. I had no idea what I was looking at. "What is it?" I asked.
"Hmmm," she said. "Nothing. It's not a contraction."
"How can you tell?" Lucian asked.
"Right here." She pointed to a line going across the small screen. "When you have a contraction, this spikes."
The pain abated, but the line didn't move one way or another. "So, I'm not having contractions?"
She shook her head. "The pain is from something else."
"What else could cause regular cramps like that?" I stared at her in shock. Was this something supernatural? Something angelic?
"All kinds of things. Indigestion. Stomach virus, gas, appendicitis, gallstones. Kidney stones."
My anxiety built with everything she mentioned.
"We'll do an ultrasound and check the baby, and likely send you home to see what happens. If the pain increases, something more might have to be done. In all likelihood, it'll chill out here in a few hours and you'll be fine. Don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of this."
Lucian and I nodded soundlessly. Anna pulled the curtain closed around our bed. We were in a triage type area with four beds along each wall. I wondered if the small hospital ever got busy enough to have all eight beds full at once with women going into labor. Or like me, some mysterious malady that mimicked labor.
Soon my doctor appeared with a small ultrasound machine on a wheeled pole. "Didn't we just go through this?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye.
I shrugged and smiled apologetically. "Sorry."
"Oh, it's all right. Let's see what's giving you discomfort."
As he squirted the liquid, freezing cold, onto my stomach, the pain returned. "Where, exactly?" he asked. I showed him the path it took across my stomach, and he ran the wand all over me. It took several minutes, probably close to fifteen minutes before he finished.
"I pronounce you fine," he said. "Go home and rest. Drink a bunch of water. If this is still happening tomorrow, or if the pain increases in intensity or frequency, come back and we'll do more invasive testing. With a pregnancy, we want to do as little as possible, but I don't think you're in any immediate danger."
Lucian didn't look very happy with his diagnosis. "Are you sure?"
The doc nodded and patted Luc on the back. "Daddy, take her home and pamper her. Come back if you need to."
I giggled when the doc told Luc to trust his gut. Lucian said that all the time, and sure enough, he relaxed when he heard it. The phrase made him feel like he had control over the situation. I knew that was a bit of Lucifer's true personality coming out. He had to be in control.
It hadn't taken me long to figure out how to handle Lucifer. As long as he thought it was his idea, I could get him to do anything. Lucian wasn't much different in that regard.
