Chapter （Lacey）
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Lacey
My eyes flutter open as I hear shouting.
Oh god, has he brought more men with him?
Then I hear the voice that all little girls need to hear when they’re scared.
“You take one more step towards my daughter and you’ll be fucking crawling out of here with two broken kneecaps, you little fucking shit!” My dad’s voice booms through our hallway.
My vision is still blurred, and I can just make out shapes. I think I see my dad, holding a big, long stick.
I blink a few times, as if trying to shake my eyes into working again.
Then a face appears before mine, a mop of unruly blonde hair and eyes so beautiful that you could get lost in them. My unofficial little brother, one light blue eye and one brown, is blinking at me. His lips are moving, but no sound comes out. Why isn’t he talking?
A wave of nausea hits me. The room tilts and spins like a fairground ride, and I bump along with it.
Something pops inside of me, low down and warm liquid flows between my legs, not that I care, because the darkness claims me once more.
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“Oh my god, you should have seen him, Rafe! He barged in there, ‘get away from my daughter’, then he swung the shovel…”
“Wait, where did you get a shovel from, Don?”
“Rafe, the garden, obviously. Anyway, that doesn’t matter, don’t interrupt me! So then he swung the shovel, right at his head. BONG! He goes down, then gets this – Don sits on him so he can’t move!”
“Archie, I know you’re excited, but please, sweetheart, shut up before I throw you out. Lacey needs rest, not a retelling of a clearly, very stressful ordeal.”
No one has realised I’m awake yet, so I open my eyes, a mammoth task in itself. “It’s okay, May.” She snaps her head to mine, and when she makes eye contact, she breaks down and hugs me, sobbing.
“Is Peanut okay?” I whisper the words, too scared to say them out loud in case they tell me she isn’t.
A lady, who I didn’t notice right away, moves to my side and straps a blood pressure monitor on my arm as she says, “She’s perfectly healthy. Okay, I have indulged in this long enough. I need everyone out, please. Visiting times are over.”
The midwife is no-nonsense, probably May’s age, and eyes everyone like they’re the enemy.
She turns back to face me and observes me.
“I am going to run some checks, make sure your blood pressure is okay, and I’ll assess you for a concussion.
” I lie there and stay still as she runs her checks.
Apart from a slight headache, I feel fine.
I look around the room as the midwife fusses around me, trying to distract myself. My heart rate picks up, and I put a hand to my chest. “Where is he? Where is Cole?”
May swipes back the hair from my eyes. “He isn’t back yet, but he called about half an hour ago to say he was about forty minutes away.” She smiles at me, and my whole body relaxes.
As the midwife finishes her checks, she says, “I don’t see any signs of concussion, and your vitals seem fine. But you need to rest, and there are too many people in this room. I’ll be back in a moment.” She tuts as she storms out the door.
I squirm in the bed, my stomach aching, probably from falling over. I shuffle myself onto my side and try to sit up when I feel a sharp pain in my side that has me crying out suddenly.
“Lacey, honey, what is it?” May’s voice floats through to me, and I squeeze my eyes through the pain.
“I don’t know, it was a sharp pain. This one was worse. I’ve been getting them all morning…They’re just Braxton Hicks, that’s all.” The look she’s giving me is telling me something different. It better not be what I think it is.
“How long does the pain last, and how often are you getting them?”
“Oh, just a minute, and I dunno every five or ten minutes, but…argh, oh my fuuuuuu…” I trail off as another contraction hits me, this one more powerful than the last.
“Ethan! Go outside and get one of the nurses!” May barks, and he scrambles to his feet to do as she asks. She looks at me and strokes my hair. “It’s okay, Lacey, breathe through it.”
When the contraction subsides, I open my eyes and look around before a whimper escapes me. “Where’s Cole? He can’t miss this, he has to be here!”
The midwife bustles back in and takes one look at me before shouting, “Right, everybody out!” They all clamber to their feet, each of them kissing my head as they file out, but she stops Archie and points at him. “You! I need you to–”
Archie doesn’t waste any time as he interrupts her, “Hot water! On it!”
“No, I need…”
“Towels! Okay!”
“No, stop interrupting me, I need you to…”
“Hold her feet? Gross, but I love her like a sister, so I’ll do it.” He moves to the bottom of the bed as another contraction has my stomach feeling like it’s in a vice.
“FUCK SAKE, ARCHIE! LISTEN TO THE POOR WOMAN!” The growl that I let slip has them stopping what they were doing and shrinking back a little.
The midwife regains her composure before speaking calmly, “Go outside and wait for Cole; it will be far easier for him to get here in time if he has you guiding him to the right wing.”
Archie’s cheeks flush, and he nods before running out of the room like his backside is on fire.
The nurse turns to May and me. “Okay, Lacey. I need to examine you now to assess your dilation. Do you know what dilation means?” She talks as she washes her hands in the sink, using her elbow to turn the water on and off, then dries her hands and pulls on some gloves. She gives me a pointed look, and I nod.
“Yes, I read the books…well, Cole read the books mostly.”
“Is that Dad?”
I nod. “Yes. He’s on his way back from a business trip. He shouldn’t be much longer. Should I close my legs or something?”
She gives me an odd look before bursting out laughing, the most relaxed I’ve seen her so far. “Oh no, dear, that won’t do a thing. Okay, let me check, deep breath in, please.” I do as I’m told, fighting the urge to close my legs almost straight away as she examines me.
Why do the books not tell you about this part or the awkwardness of it? She is right there in my hoo-ha!
“Well, it seems you’re a little further along than we thought.” She stands to her full height and snaps her gloves off. “It’s time.” She smiles at me like this is the easiest thing of all.
“What? No, I-I can’t! Not without Cole…he can’t miss this. May, tell her! She can’t make me do this without him.” May’s face crumples as she tries to give me an encouraging smile.
“He won’t be long; he won’t miss it. I know he won’t.”
She kisses my forehead as another wave of agonising pain courses through me, and I try to remember my breathing, but it’s so difficult when all I want is my best friend to be here with me.
Cole, you'd better hurry up.