Succour

Chapter 82

Liz, August 17

Something is wrong. The pain in my stomach feels like menstrual cramps, only sharper, heavier, like someone twisting a fist inside me. Not for the first time today, I wonder if this isn’t labor.

The problem is, I don’t actually know what labor feels like. Emma is my first child, and every book insists you’ll “just know.” Well, I don’t. What I do know is that every twinge has me counting minutes on the clock, holding my breath, and trying to decide if this is it.

So far, all I’ve figured out is that my uterus didn’t read the manual.