Page 168 of Altered

"Labor?" I shook my head and gaped. "Labor?"

"Labor," Lee confirmed.

For most of my life, I had coasted through, doing whatever needed to be done without thought, fear, or concern.

I had lost count of the number of men I'd killed.

Of the amount of times I'd come close to death.

I'd been shot, stabbed, beaten, and burned.

None of the above brought the fear of god into my heart like that one five letter word did.

Labor.

"But I just got back."

"Well, I'm afraid the baby's not working on your schedule," Lee quipped with a smirk.

"Labor?" I repeated, turning my attention to Hope. "You in labor, sweetheart?"

"Uh-huh," she choked out seconds before groaning in what sounded like absolute agony.

Jesus Christ.

What had I done to her?

"I'm sorry," I blurted out, feeling a massive urge to apologize to the woman for being responsible for making her scream like that. "I didn’t know what was I doing toyou!"

"Hunter," she cried out. "Come the fuck here!"

Oh shit.

Rushing to her side, I placed my hands on her shoulders only to quickly remove them again when she screamed at me to "back the fuck off."

"Do you want me to make a call, Bolillo?" Gonzalez offered then, distracting me from my personal crisis. "One of my men has delivered the babies of three whores. He's just outside and would get that baby out –"

"You keep that fucker outside and away from my woman," I warned him.

"Aye, aye, aye," Gonzalez mused. "First time fathers. Biggest pussies of them all."

"What can I do?" I demanded, turning my attention back to Hope. "Tell me what to do here, sweetheart?"

She reached out and grabbed my arms. "The pressure," she hissed, flinching. "My vagina feels like it's going toburst."

"Jesus Christ." I gaped in horror, looking her up and down. "Can thathappen?"

"Ugh," she grunted in relief.

Moments later a steady stream of water gushed down her legs.

"Is this supposed to happen, Lee?" I demanded, asking the one person in the room with the experience to soothe my fears. "She just pissed on my boots."

"It's her water breaking, idiot," Gonzalez chimed in. "Relax."

"Lucky," Lee came to my rescue by taking her daughter's hands. "Go and clean yourself up. We need to go to the hospital."

"Okay" I nodded. "Okay."

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