Page 44 of Second Chance for the Single Mom

I stretched out on the bed and sighed happily. Endorphins were flooding through my body, making me feel almost high.

This wasnothow I expected the evening to go. I didn’t mind that my car battery had died now that it had led to this.

I heard footsteps, and assumed it was Jordan moving around. But then a fist pounded on the front door of the apartment, and I heard the door fly open on its hinges.

“HALEY!” Sara shouted in a strained voice. “I need you. Something’swrong.”

23

Haley

Thankful that my pencil skirt was bunched around my waist, I jumped out of bed, yanked it down to cover myself, and then pulled my blouse back on. By the time I stepped out into the living room, Sara was waddling forward, knees bent and pain splayed across her face.

“I think I’m going into labor!” she hissed out.

Any embarrassment I had felt at being interrupted like this disappeared in the blink of an eye. “Oh no! Did your water break?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so? There’s a sharp, stabbing pain right here.” She touched a spot underneath her belly. “It’s like the worst stomach cramp of my—ahh!”she cut off with a cry of pain.

The bathroom door flew open and Jordan came running out. Fortunately he’d had time to put the undershirt on. “I’m here,” he said, taking Sara’s hand and putting another on her lower back. “Let’s sit down, all right? Easy, now. Right here, behind you.”

Sara didn’t seem to notice he was in his underwear, but none of us cared at that moment.

“Where’s the pain?” he asked.

She clenched her eyes shut and pointed to her lower abdomen.

“Surface level? Deep?” Jordan clarified with the precision becoming of his profession.

“A few inches deep. It’s… kind of spasming. I don’t know how to explain it better,” she managed to force out. Her face was flushed.

Jordan’s eyes widened. “A spasm?”

Sara nodded.

“Is she going into labor?” I asked. “I had false contractions when I was pregnant…”

“Neither,” Jordan said absently. “I’m going to put my hands on you, Sara. Is that okay?”

“Yes, do anything!” she cried out in pain.

While Jordan gently touched her lower abdomen, I held my sister’s hand. She squeezed my fingers so tight it was almost painful, so I whispered reassurances to her. I couldn’t tell if that was helping, but it let me feel like I was doingsomething.

“THERE!” she hissed. “Right where you touched.”

“You’re certain?” Jordan pushed.

“Why? Is that bad?” I asked.

“You’re certain the pain isright here?”Jordan insisted, ignoring me.

Sara’s head swung in a nod. “It’s starting to fade. I think.”

Jordan turned to me. “Get her a glass of ice water.”

Like a nurse attending a surgery, I ran into the adjacent kitchen. By the time I returned with the water, Sara’s face had returned to a normal color and she was breathing easily.

“It’s called Round Ligament Pain,” Jordan calmly explained. He took the glass from me and handed it to Sara. “That’s the ligament that supports the uterus. Sometimes, if a woman in her third trimester makes a sudden movement, the ligament gets strained too much.”

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