Chapter 317

Chapter 317

“You’re crowning,” Nancy says as she peered between my legs. She grabs one of the blankets that someone has brought to her and places it under me. “Here; give her some warm water for her face to calm her down,” she orders Theo.

It’s not often that someone had the nerve to order Theo around, but he wasn’t in the position to argue with her. He takes some of the warm water and washes it over my features. The warmth felt nice, and I sighed again in relief. My body had stopped trembling for only a moment. He wraps me in his arms and holds me close to him.

“You’re doing great. It’ll be over soon,” he whispers.

I hope he’s right.

I can hear the light sirens of the ambulance in the distance. They are coming closer, but they are still far enough away that it might take them a little while to get here. I knew we weren’t going to have enough time.

“You need to start pushing,” Nancy says as she prepares herself.

“What?” I gasp, my body beginning to tremble once again. “I can’t… not now…”

I wanted to wait until I got to a hospital.

“Trust me,” she says, meeting my eyes. “This is your best option right now.”

As I stared into her eyes, I realized how serious she was. She was right; I needed to trust her. I nodded my head as more pain coursed through my body. I gritted my teeth and cried out in agony, tears streaming down my face.

She counted down from 3 and screamed, “Push!”

I pushed with all my strength; I can feel Wen’s head making its way out of my center, tearing the flesh in the process. I screamed in agony; I didn’t think I was going to be able to keep going. This hurt so bad. Theo held me even tighter and kept whispering how great I’m doing and how much he loves me. It was nice to hear, but he also has no idea about the kind of pain I’m enduring right now.

“Again!” Nancy orders loudly. “Three, two, one! Push!”

I push again, feeling everything in my body shifting. I can’t help but wonder how gross I must look down there. I was surprised that Scott hasn’t fainted yet. He was trying hard not to look, but I knew he couldn’t help himself.

I felt Wrenley coming out a little bit more and I can see the excitement on Nancy’s face. I stopped pushing and laid back on Theo’s lap. Trying to maintain my rapid heartbeat. The sirens grew even louder and this time I can see the red flashing lights outside the chapel doors.

The ambulance was here. They were rushing in quickly with a stretcher, ready to take me away.

“One more big push,” Nancy orders. “Three, two, one! Push!”

I push again, despite thinking I didn’t have any more in me. I pushed like my entire life depended on it. Technically it did; Wren was my entire life. She depended on me, and I wasn’t going to let her down. I screamed as I pushed; the pain was so great that it was nearly numbing my body, but I still pushed.

“That’s it!” Nancy said excitedly. “Almost!”

I continued to push knowing I was red in the face and no longer breathing. I grew lightheaded from my lack of oxygen. Theo kept telling me to breathe, but I tuned him out. Everything was going distorted; all their voices and my vision were starting to fade.

My heart grew less rapid, and I knew that wasn’t a good thing. I kept pushing until I was blue in the face.

“Molly?” I heard Theo’s distorted voice from behind me. He sounded so far away, even though I knew he wasn’t.

Soon, I heard the light cries of a small baby. Then, everything went black.

Molly

I woke up in the hospital. I opened my eyes, adjusting them to the dimmed lighting and seeing Theo sitting by my side. He jumped to his feet as soon as I opened my eyes. I thought I would have been in a world of pain, but everything just felt numb.

“Try not to move too much,” he says as he fixes my pillow. He grabs a glass of water on my bedside and brings it to my lips. The cold water feels good going down my throat and I smile at him in gratitude. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay,” I said to him in a hoarse tone. “How’s Wrenley?”

His face lights up at the mention of our daughter and I know that means good news.

“She’s perfect,” he breathes. “See for yourself.”

He goes across the room to a small bassinet and picks up the cooing baby. She’s wrapped in a pink blanket. She’s so small and as he brings her closer. She looks just as I remembered her. Her dark eyes peer up at me and for a moment, I see recognition.

There is a faint knock on the door and Theo goes to open it. I’m pleased to see Dana, Nancy, and Raya flooding into the room.

“I’m so glad you’re awake,” Nancy says happily. “You did a wonderful job.”