Page 250 of Savior
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
DEAN
I park Serene just outside of the Emergency Room doors, tossing my keys to Viking as he pulls up beside me. I hurriedly dismount to help Vanna off the bike. Sliding her arm over my shoulders, I wrap my arm around her waist and carefully lift her off of the motorcycle. The moment her feet hit the pavement, she lets out another sharp gasp.
“My water broke on your bike…” she whispers. “Dean, this is too soon… He’s a month early!” her voice riddled with fear.
“You’re okay.” I tell her, “Ace is okay. He’s less than a month early, it isn’t so bad, baby. It’s only three weeks. You’re both gonna be just fine.” I need to be her rock through this. I can freak the fuck out when she isn’t looking. “Can you walk?” I ask, about to lift her into my arms and carry her in, but a nurse is already coming straight towards us with a wheelchair.
“Gonna park the bikes, and I’ll be right in.” Viking says. His voice is calm, the way I’m trying to keep mine. Though his eyes tell a different story. He’s almost as worried as I am. We exchange a nod and I follow alongside Vanna as the nurse wheels her into the E.R.
We answer their rapid-fire questions and are admitted to a room in the maternity ward, relatively quickly. She’s in her hospital gown and her feet are in the stirrups ready for her exam. I listen intently to her exchange with the doctor. She describes a feeling of increased pressure, though fortunately, her contractions aren’t too painful just yet, and began over an hour ago. Slipping on another pair of latex gloves, the doctor crouches down between her knees to examine her.
“Dean, I’m scared.” She says, instantly pulling my attention back to her. She’s looking up at me with wide eyes as the nurses hook her up to IV’s and monitors. Reaching out for me, I grab her hand to hold onto her.
“Babies are born earlier than their due date all the time. No need to worry about that, honey. A few weeks is alright.” The nurse assures her. It seems to bring her a sliver of comfort. Vanna smiles up at me, though I can tell she’s trying to put up a brave front.
“What’s todays date? I can’t remember.” She asks.
“It’s after midnight… October twenty-fourth.”
She sighs, as if she’s relieved. “At least we made it into Scorpio season.” She smiles. “Ace is still going to be a Scorpio, like you, after all.”
I’m about to tell her again that I love her, that everything is going to be fine, but before I can, the doctor speaks. “When did the bleeding start?”
“Must have just started.” a nurse says, hurrying to get all of the monitors hooked up.
I glance back at the doctor. His furrowed brow concerns me, but perhaps he’s just a serious man. At least, that’s what I try to tell myself.
“She’s only three centimeters.” He pushes away, and stands to get a better look at the monitors. I try not to focus on how much blood is on his gloves… I don’t recall Lucinda bleeding that much with Maddie… Not this early on…
A tapping sound draws my eyes to the floor at the edge of her hospital bed. There’s already a small puddle of blood…
My eyes shoot back to Vanna as a cold feeling begins to creep up my spine. A heaviness settling in the pit of my stomach. Her eyes are squeezed shut, her head is back against the pillows, and she’s holding my hand tightly.
“Something doesn’t feel right, Dean.” She whimpers. “I know I’ve never done this before… but something is wrong… I’m getting… so dizzy.”
I stroke her forehead to swipe the hair away from her eyes. Her skin feels damp, and she’s beginning to tremble.
“I love you, baby. Just breathe, doll. Keep breathing.” I try to say the words soothingly as my heart races. She’s shaking harder by the second.
Whatever is happening, is happening far too quickly…
The doctor is ordering nurses around, saying something about paging the anesthesiologist and some other surgeon. He seems adamant. Not as collected as he had been only moments ago. Something is definitely wrong.
Vanna’s fretful eyes open and meet mine again, and suddenly her lips part. She’s breathing harder. But this is more than fear induced… She’s struggling for breath… paling before my eyes…
“Vanna?!”
I hold her tighter. What is happening?
“Vanna, baby?”
An alarm begins to go off on one of the monitors. Someone says something about the baby’s heart rate dropping, the doctor barks more orders at his staff and Vanna trembles harder still.
“Is she wearing any jewelry? It has to come off!” A nurse says as they’re suddenly jumping around her, injecting her IV’s with some other medicine and slapping an oxygen mask over her face. One of them pulls off her engagement ring, shoving it at me and telling me I’m going to have to wait in the lobby, that someone will update me as soon as they can.
I don’t move from her side as chaos breaks out all around us. I keep my eyes locked with hers as I clutch her ring in my other fist.
