Page 86 of Ruin
“Here,” Lucian says softly, handing me my shirt.
“I’m at my house.”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” I tell him, then end the call and quickly get dressed. “Grizz thinks Anastacia is in labor.”
“Did he say how far apart her contractions were?” Lucian asks as he too gets his clothes on.
“I don’t think he even knows what a contraction is.”
Lucian huffs out a laugh.
When we’re dressed, we head out to his car. He knows where Grizz lives since he’s gone by a few times to check on her, and we get there in just under twenty minutes. The moment I step out of the car, I hear her screams. I hurry up the steps. Someone opens the door for us, and we go inside. I assume it’s Grizz’s brother because he looks just like him, only bigger and older.
“They’re in the bedroom down the hall, on the left.” He points and we go that way, the screaming getting louder the closer we get.
“Something could be wrong,” Lucian says quietly behind me.
“Thank fuck you’re here,” Grizz says when we step into the room.
Anastacia is rolling around, clutching her stomach. She’s crying and sweating. Her skin is flushed, and she’s pale.
Lucian goes over, putting his medical bag on the ground to dig something out of it.
“How long has she been like this?” Lucian asks.
“I don’t know. Like… forty-five minutes, maybe.”
“Was she complaining of pain beforehand?” he asks, putting the earpieces of the stethoscope in his ears, then the other part on her stomach.
“Yeah, a little. Said she had cramps and was nauseous. She came in here to lay down.”
She yells so loudly it hurts my ears.
“Sweetheart, I know it hurts, but I need you to breathe, okay? In through your nose, big, deep breaths. Let it out through your mouth, okay?” Lucian says calmly as he listens and feels around. “Are you having contractions?”
“I think so,” she whines, gritting her teeth.
“How often are they coming?”
“They aren’t going away!” she shouts. “It won’t stop!”
He nods, feeling around on her stomach again.
“What’s going on? Is she having the baby?” Grizz asks, his eyes wide.
He’s paler than she is, and if this weren’t so serious, I’d laugh about it.
“Her water hasn’t broke?” Lucian asks, and Grizz shakes his head, just as Anastacia shouts, “No!”
“It’s possible she’s in labor. Or these could be Braxton Hicks.”
“What the fuck is that?” Grizz asks, his hands spearing through his hair.
“False labor pains,” I say.
“Why the fuck would her body do that?”
“It supposedly prepares the body for labor,” I explain.
