labor?”
“Because I’m not in pain,” I snap. “I’m uncomfortable.”
“Oh. Right.” He bites his bottom lip as he thinks for a moment. “Well, let’s call the hospital and see what they say.”
I nod. “All right.”
He Googles the number on his phone. “Do you want to speak?”
“Yes.” I hold my hand out for the phone and he passes it to me.
It rings. “Hello, can I have the maternity ward please?” I ask.
“Sure, transferring you now.”
It rings again. “Hello, maternity ward.”
“Hello, this is Ashley Tucker.”
“Hi, Ashley,” the nurse replies.
I scrunch up my face. “I’m probably being a drama queen, but I’ve been having Braxton Hicks for two hours now.”
“How far are you, Ashley?”
“Thirty-six weeks.”
“Okay. Any showing or broken water?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“All right then. Can you come in, so we can see what’s going on?”
I nod. “Okay.” I pause. “Do you think I’m in labor?”
“Probably not, dear. Don’t worry. As long as your water doesn’t break, everything will be fine.”
I smile and nod. “All right, I’m on my way.”
I pass the phone back to Adrian. “What did they say?” He frowns.
“As long as my water doesn’t break, it’s all good.”
He puts his hand on his chest. “Oh, thank God.” He grabs my hand and pulls me off the bed and I waddle into the bathroom I feel the urge to go and then bam.
I feel a sharp pop.
My water breaks… all over the floor… like, flooded.
My eyes widen. “Fuck! Adrian!” I call.
“What?” he calls.
“My water broke!”
“What?” he shrieks. He comes running into the bathroom and his face falls in horror when he sees how much there is. He puts both hands over his mouth before he regains his composure. “This is fine,” he speaks calmly. “This is all fine.” He takes out his phone and starts to dial a number.
I laugh; the look of sheer terror on his face is priceless. “Who are you calling?” I ask.
“Cameron,” he snaps. He starts to pace with his hand in his suit pocket.
“Cameron is in surgery.” I shake my head. “He’s going to be hours.”
His face falls.
“Let me call him.” I pick up my phone and dial his PA’s number. She answers on the first ring. “Hi, Ash!” she greets.
I screw up my face because I really don’t want to say this out loud. “We have a problem.”
“What’s that?” she murmurs.
“My water has broken.”
“Oh. Fuck!” she replies.
I smile; I’ve never heard her swear before.
“How long do you think he’s going to be?” I ask.
“Oh God, Ash.” She hesitates. “I’ll put him on the phone.” I hear her walking into the surgery; she sits at the nurses’ station at the back of his operating theatre. The phone goes silent; she must have covered the phone with her hand.
Moments later. “Hey, Bloss,” Cameron answers calmly. “You’re on speaker, babe,” he reminds me. I close my eyes. That means that the ten people in surgery can all hear what he’s saying but his hands are tied up doing the operation and he can’t hold the phone.
“Cam.” I screw up my face. “I just called to tell you that my water has broken and I’m with Adrian and we’re on our way to hospital.”
“Fuck,” he growls.
“How far apart are the contractions?” he asks calmly.
“That’s the thing, I don’t think I’m in active labor yet. It’s all right, no need to panic.”
“No pain?” he questions.
“Just back pain.”
“How long have you been having back pain?”
“All night.” My eyes widen. “That’s not…” My voice trails off. Don’t tell me I’ve been in labor since last night.
“Ash?” Cam asks.
“I’m just going to get to the hospital, and I’ll call you back, all right?” I try to comfort him.
“Oh my God,” he replies. “Drive carefully, please.”
“How long do you think you’ll be in surgery for, Cam?” I hate to ask but I need to know.
“At least two hours,” he replies.
I close my eyes and I can almost hear his heart rate rise through the phone.
“It’s okay, it’s going to be a lot longer than that,” I reassure him.
“Just get here safely. Put Adrian on the phone,” he asks.
I pass Adrian the phone and I go and get changed and put a pad in, as I’m still leaking amniotic fluid.
Fucking hell.
“Yes.” I hear Adrian answer. “Yes, I know,” he replies. “Cameron. I fucking know that.” Adrian snaps. “Yes, I know!” He listens for a moment. “Just hurry up and finish your operation, will you!” Adrian demands.
I smile; Adrian has no idea he’s on speaker. These two always scream at each other when they get stressed