Chapter 7
CHAPTER
SEVEN
STEVIE
There’s a knock at the door that pulls me from sleep. My eyes crack open, and I can still feel my mask covering my face…
There’s no way.
There’s no fucking way.
*Audrey’s voice immediately breaks through those thoughts. “Bo.”
“Hmm.” Boden’s sleepy answer is all the confirmation I need.
I fell asleep with my fucking clients. At work.
I’m off the bed and grabbing the spare clothes I keep in the room, just in case anything like this ever happens. “I’m gonna get dressed and head out. You both take your time!” I rush the words out, and they feel like poison on my tongue.
I throw my baggy pair of sweatpants on and a black, cropped baby tee and practically sprint out the door.
When I make it to the workers’ lounge and look at the clock, it’s already an hour past closing time. My heart pounds wildly as I think about the coordinators up front and the cleaning crew that has to come in nightly to take care of our rooms.
I go searching for Kerri, my manager, and starting to talk before she even sees me. “Kerri, oh my god, I have never done that in my life. I am so so so—”
She immediately cuts me off. “Stevie, babe, don’t you worry. One time is nothing; you’ve literally never been late with a client. We’ll just act like this didn’t even happen.”
My chest heaves as I work to settle my breathing.
I have literally never run late with anyone.
I am so strict with time, because when it comes down to it—time is money.
I don’t know why or how I even fell asleep with them.
The last thing I remember is Audrey eating my cunt for the third time, and orgasming fuck knows how many times, and then waking up to the knocking.
Thank fuck my mask stayed on. Even if they were out of it waking up, the last thing I need is them figuring out who the hell I am.
I can only assume it’s because my mind knows I’m comfortable with them, my body is safe with them. But they have no clue who I am, and what we did definitely crossed so many boundaries… Plus, they’re coming back tomorrow.
I see them leaving on the cameras, smiling and laughing as they talk to one of the other front desk gals, but I can’t force myself to go out there and tell them bye. My heart won’t let me.
Grabbing my things from my locker I head to the back exit and yell over my shoulder before opening the door, “I’m sorry again for running late, Kerri!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Stevie!”
I smile to myself as I push the door open and hit the unlock button of my Honda SUV.
“Let me hear this next contraction,” Beth, the on-site birth Doula, sounds slightly stressed, which is unusual for her. The answering roar from the person with her on her end of the phone has me immediately pulling my hair back into a clip and throwing on my scrubs.
And I send a quick prayer to Hecate for her to hold that baby in until I get there at least. “Beth, I’ll be there in five minutes.”
On my way, I send a quick text to the midwifery team’s group chat:
Me
Heading in for a labor, can I get an extra set of hands?
There are only a few hours until my scheduled shift at Sins, so I text them to let them know I won’t be in tonight.
That’s the perfect thing about working there.
They are so understanding of my schedule and know births happen when they want to happen.
They never count these last-minute call-ins against me.
This is my first year in the two-year certified nurse midwife program—if I can meet my birth requirement to graduate.
To say it’s been exhausting is an understatement, but it’s also been the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my life.
Which is a crazy thing to say as someone who never wants to have children.
But birth is something that cannot be explained unless you’re in the room experiencing it.
*I moved to Las Vegas specifically to work at Sins to pay my way through nursing school and eventually join the midwifery program out here.
Before moving here, I always assumed there wouldn’t be a ton of people interested in the hands off birthing that midwives provide in Las Vegas, but boy, was I wrong.
Sins made it possible for me to pay my way through the accelerated nursing program I was accepted to after I completed my final year of my associates degree—I only had a year left once I graduated high school since I was able to complete part of my degree in high school.
Being a Dominatrix gave me the financial freedom to afford my apartment, keep myself alive, my car, and my school tuition stress-free.
As I’m getting into my car, it hits me that I’m going to be missing the appointment with Boden and Audrey. The wave of sadness that washes over me is not good for my untouchable heart, but it only lasts the few minutes it takes to get to the birthing center.
After pulling in practically on two wheels, I grab my bag and water before running through the front door.
It’s a quiet day here besides the one person who’s actively laboring.
We have a team of three nurses that rotate in and out, and the owner—a midwife—actually lives upstairs, so she’s always available if she’s needed in an emergency.
It’s also how students are able to practice and get so many hours in, because she’s always here looking over us.
After dropping my things in the break room, I head straight for the patient’s room where I’m greeted by the distinct grunts of a person in transition and the steady pulse of the doppler echoing in the room.
Sara, the nurse who’s here today, gives me the rundown of what’s been going on, how many pregnancies this person has had, and how many living babies.
She informs me the water has broken already but the patient hasn’t been checked for dilation—although, based on her demeanor, I’m assuming we are deep into transition.
“Thank you, Sara.”
I kneel beside Josephine on the floor where she’s rocking back and forth on her hands and knees beside the bed, clearly in a lull between contractions. “Josephine, it’s Stevie the student midwife, how are we feeling?”
I watch her intently as she leans her butt back onto her feet, arching her back slightly, and I can tell she’s heading into another contraction as she murmurs, “Water…”
“Water to drink or birthing tub?”
“Tubbbbbbb,” she extends the word out on a deep growl, which I take no offense to because I can tell she’s focused. I’m up and getting the tub ready for her to get into.
Stephanie, the owner of the birthing center, comes down the stairs with a smile on her face, calm as ever, like always, and asks, “We’re about to have a baby, aren’t we?”
I give her a nod as I turn the faucet on and check the temperature.
Stephanie really isn’t that old, but she’s been birthing kiddos for over a decade now, and the calm she brings to any room she enters—which could be utter chaos—is something I hope to master once I’m licensed and have some experience under my belt.
* Dark - Catch Your Breath
* What’s On Your Mind (feat. Jacquees) - K CAMP, Jacquees