Page 77 of Torn In Two

Hawk nodded as the contraction stole my ability to speak. “I believe you. But I don’t know nothing about babies, Bliss. Shit.” He glanced over at Ice. “ETA on the ambulance?”

Ice’s lips pulled into a grim line. “They’re coming, but it’ll be twenty minutes.”

“Fuck!” Hawk shouted. “Why is this clubhouse in the middle of nowhere?”

I gripped War’s hand, trying not to hurt him but having nowhere else for the pain to go. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have come here. I should have stayed at home, in town. Or said something earlier—” Tears dripped down my face.

War shushed me, holding my weight, supporting me, and whispering, “No, baby girl. You did exactly what you needed to do. You’re exactly where you need to be.”

The familiar possessive growl in his voice soothed the ragged edges inside me, and the next contraction hurt a little less, because he was here, arms around me, whispering in my ear that I was doing everything right, everything perfectly, and very soon it would all be over, and our newest child would be in our arms.

I so desperately wanted to believe him. I clung to his thick biceps, moaning through my pain, letting his words wash over me until I got a breather.

“Bliss,” the man I didn’t recognize said tentatively. “I’m Grayson. I’m a doctor. I work with Kara and Hawk at the hospital. I don’t deliver babies normally, but I have in the past. I don’t think you have twenty minutes before that ambulance gets here. Do you?”

I shook my head miserably, the pain of another contraction making it too hard to speak. The baby’s head felt so low and like it would rip me in two.

“Can we get you onto a bed so I can examine you?”

Everyone turned to me for permission, and God, after everything I’d been through in my life, them giving me control over my body and my birth was so gratefully received. But this guy could have been Jack the Ripper and I would have accepted his help. He looked like an angel sent from Heaven. “Please,” I moaned.

Permission given, Grayson went straight into doctor mode, barking orders. “I need to get her onto a bed. Do you have any medical supplies here?”

Hawk nodded. “More than you’d think but not much you’d need for a birth.”

“Blood pressure cuff and oxygen monitor would be a good start.”

“I’ve got those.” Hawk raced away down the hallway.

Grayson got beneath my other arm, he and War practically carrying me back into War’s clubhouse bedroom, the one he rarely used anymore because his heart was at home with me, our girls, and Nash and Vincent and Scythe.

The soft mattress felt like a thousand burning spears beneath my back, and I screamed again. Kara followed us in, grabbing my hand, her big brown eyes terrified when I strangled her fingers, but here in silent female support I was grateful for, since Rebel wasn’t here to be my person.

“Where’s Hayley Jade?” I asked. “I’m so sorry. I don’t want to scare her.”

Kara shook her head. “Ice took her outside to wait for the ambulance.” She gripped my fingers harder. “You scream as much as you need to. Stop worrying about everybody else and do what you need.”

Grayson grimaced and laid his hands on my belly. “I’m so sorry. This is going to hurt.”

I shouted again as he poked and prodded at me. The pain mixed in with another contraction until my vision fuzzed out at the edges. “I can feel the head,” I groaned, moving my skirt aside and reaching between my legs to yank at my underwear.

War and Kara dragged it down my legs for me.

Grayson gave a nod. “That is indeed a head.”

A little relief spiked through me. “Oh, thank God. I thought she might have been breech.”

Grayson knelt at the end of the bed, one hand on my belly. “Definitely not breech but possibly sunny side up.”

“What does that mean?” Kara took the words out of my mouth.

“Normal presentation is baby comes out head first, face down.” He smiled at me. “I’m definitely no pro at this, but I think your little miss is face up.”

“Is that bad?” War asked, a shake in his voice.

Grayson shook his head. “It’s not ideal, but it’s a whole lot better than breech. That ambulance is going to be here soon, but I don’t think she’s waiting for it. It’s going to be harder than your other labors, but push, Bliss.”

Hawk rushed back into the room and fit a blood pressure cuff around my arm and another monitor on my finger, but I barely noticed.

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