I struggled to breathe through the tightening.
“…I think I’m having contractions.”
The room erupted into chaos.
The room erupted into chaos.
Caleb was the first to move.
He lunged toward me, but Vivian stepped between us.
“Get the hospital bag,” she ordered.
He stood frozen.
“Now, Caleb!”
That finally snapped him back to reality.
He raced into the bedroom while another contraction gripped my body. I leaned against the dining table, breathing exactly the way Dr. Linton had taught me.
“In through your nose,” Vivian whispered, rubbing my back.
“Out through your mouth.”
“I don’t… I don’t think it’s time yet.”
“Maybe it isn’t,” she said gently. “But we’re not taking chances.”
Caleb returned carrying the hospital bag with trembling hands.
“I’ve got the keys.”
Vivian shook her head.
“No.”
He frowned.
“What?”
“You’re too shaken to drive.”
“I can do it.”
“I said no.”
She held out her hand.
“Give me the keys.”
For the first time in as long as I’d known him, Caleb obeyed his mother without arguing.
The drive to the hospital felt endless.
Rain hammered against the windshield while I counted every contraction.
Seven minutes apart.
Then six.
Then five.
Caleb sat beside me in the back seat, strangely quiet.
Every few minutes he reached toward my hand, only to stop halfway before pulling it back.
He didn’t know if he still had the right to touch me.
Honestly…
I didn’t know either.
When we arrived, nurses rushed me into Labor and Delivery.
Dr. Linton examined me.
“You’re having contractions,” she confirmed. “Fortunately, they aren’t active labor yet.”
She looked over my chart.
“Your blood pressure is much higher than it was last week.”
Then she looked directly at me.
“Has something stressful happened?”
Before I could answer, Vivian spoke.
“Doctor, she hasn’t been sleeping.”
Dr. Linton nodded.
“I suspected that.”
Vivian continued quietly.
“No.”
She glanced toward the hallway where Caleb stood with his head lowered.
“She hasn’t been sleeping because my son has been making her spend every night in the apartment building’s laundry room.”
The doctor’s expression changed instantly.
“What?”
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