Page 90 of Mending Scars

Kaiya started to stir. She writhed in my arms and moaned.

Fuck I hate when she’s in pain.

Tears flowed from her eyes, which were clenched shut in pain. Her cries became louder and her fingers dug into my arm and back. “Ryker!”

The agony in her voice sliced right through my heart. I directed my attention to the nurse. There was no mistaking the anxiousness in my tone. “Please get someone!”

“Sir, I nee-”

“Now!” My voice boomed through the room. “Can’t you see how much pain she’s in?”

Kamden reached for the clipboard. “I’m her brother. I promise I’ll fill everything out, just please get my sister some help.”

The nurse looked back and forth between both of us before handing Kamden the clipboard. Then, she grabbed the phone as Kaiya screamed out in pain again.

I pulled her closer against me. “It’s going to be okay, Warrior. They’re getting someone right now. Just hold on.”

Sweat coated Kaiya’s forehead as she buried her face into my chest. Kamden stood in front of me and stroked her hair. “Shhh,sorella.Everything’s going to be okay.”

Kamden began filling out the paperwork as I impatiently paced back and forth in the waiting area. After a few minutes, two medical personnel came through some double doors to our right. They wheeled a rolling hospital bed through and approached us. “Kaiya Marlow?”

I took a hurried step toward them. “Right here.”

The male nurse quickly glanced up at me. “Lay her down gently.”

I carefully lay Kaiya on the stretcher, but she wouldn’t let go of my shirt. “Don’t leave me,” she pleaded.

I ran one of my hands through her hair. “I’m right here, baby. I’m not going anywhere.”

She winced and squirmed on the bed as she pulled me closer to her. “Make it stop.”

Fuck. Shit. Fuck.

I hated being helpless. Not being able to ease Kaiya’s pain was killing me inside. I looked up at the female nurse across from me. “Please hurry. She’s in a lot of pain.”

She smiled sympathetically. “My name is Meredith, and that’s Jake. We’re going to take care of her.” She attached a medical bracelet to Kaiya’s wrist and continued speaking, “We need to check the baby’s heart rate. If he or she is in distress, then we’ll need to do an emergency C-section.”

I wasn’t an expert on pregnancy, but I knew that Kaiya wasn’t full term yet. “She’s only thirty-five weeks,” I replied with concern.

“I’m sorry, but if the baby is at risk, we have to deliver.”

“No,” Kaiya whimpered. “He’s not ready.”

I pried her hands from my shirt and held them in mine. “He’s gonna be okay, Warrior.”

Kaiya’s eyes watered as she squeezed my hands. She gritted her teeth and groaned in pain again.

Jake and Meredith pushed the stretcher through the open double doors in front of us. Soon, we were wheeled down the hall into a room with an ultrasound machine.

After getting settled in the room, Meredith prepped Kaiya, attaching various wires to her chest to monitor her vitals while Jake grabbed a small machine from one of the cabinets—it looked similar to the one Kaiya’s doctor had used when we listened to Hayden’s heartbeat.

Meredith applied gel to Kaiya’s stomach as Jake handed her the wand to the fetal doppler. Noise soon filled the room as Meredith moved the wand around Kaiya’s abdomen. I immediately recognized the sound of Hayden’s heartbeat, even though it was noticeably slower than the other times we’d heard it.

Meredith’s forehead creased in concern as she stared at the handheld machine. “Eighty-five bpm. We need to get an OB in here stat.”

“Wait, is that bad?” I questioned anxiously.

Kaiya moaned in pain as Meredith grabbed the phone. “I need an OB to room 103. I have a patient and fetal heart rate is 85 bpm.”

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