Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 69511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
“She’s kind of tied up,” he pointed to the cord that was still attached to… the placenta that was laying between Maven’s legs.
Nice.
“Oh,” I said as I looked around.
I found everything I needed in the drawer underneath the baby’s area, walking back over to clamp the cord using the little clips that were there.
I clamped, then handed Auden the scissors.
He looked around as if he wasn’t sure he was allowed to do it, and I rolled my eyes. “Get it done, Dad.”
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing, Athena?” he asked.
“I’m an expert,” I lied.
He cut the cord as Maven started to laugh.
Auden caught his little girl up in his hands and carried her over to the area that they used to clean the babies up.
I started fiddling with buttons, then turned on the lamp above the head.
“Like those little lights at tractor supply that warm up the chickens,” Auden mused.
I snorted and gave him some wipes, then said, “Look, it says your baby is seven pounds even.”
“Tiny,” Maven murmured from the bed.
I remembered the phone and hurried back to it, but stopped when I realized I had my gloves.
“Hey, grab that and take some pictures,” I urged Maven.
Maven reached for it, only wincing slightly when she did.
“Sure, just gave birth, but I’ll be my own photographer,” she teased.
Fifteen minutes later, the baby was diapered and once again resting on her mother’s chest, nursing.
“I’m so sorry,” a frazzled looking nurse showed up in the room. “Two babies decided to come at once and both of them got stuck in the pubic…”
She trailed off as she saw me cleaning up Maven’s sheets and Maven and Auden looking at the baby suckling.
“I think we might’ve been a little less work than the ones down there,” Maven mused tiredly.
The nurse helped me change the linen the rest of the way, then went about checking a few things on the baby.
“She weighed seven pounds even, her Apgar was ten,” I said as I started spouting everything out that I’d measured.
The nurse looked at me. “Are you a nurse or a doctor?”
“No, she’s a little genius that likes to study for fun,” Auden chuckled.
“What, uh, time was she born?”
That was about the time that the room started flooding with Carters, minus the one that I wanted to see the most.
Garnett was hugging me when I finally asked, “How is he?”
She scowled. “Stubborn as hell and going to the station with his brother to get a few things checked out.”
“He didn’t call me or want to come see me?” I asked vulnerably.
“I’m sorry, Athena. But he’s just really messed up right now over hearing about Garrett and the bounty on his head,” she whispered, patting my cheek.
I nodded.
“Is it safe for me to go home?” I wondered.
She looked at Germaine, who nodded. “Sure is.”
After saying my goodbyes to them, I walked over to Maven and Auden, who were talking quietly.
Worming my way between Auden and Maven, I leaned into her and hugged her neck.
“I’m going to go home and wash up,” I said. “I love you, but being covered in your bodily fluids isn’t on the top of my like to do list.”
Maven hugged me back and started to cry into my neck.
“I love you, Attie.”
I inhaled her scent. “I love you, too, Maven.”
Auden hugged me, too, and walked me out.
He waited until we were in the hallway before saying, “Thank you for helping us today.”
I giggled. “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
His eyes flicked down the length of the hallway, and a smile overtook his face.
“Looks like the Semyonovs finally got with the party,” he teased.
I left them to it after that, heading not for the parking lot, but for the main ER.
I was fairly sure my hand was broken.
Like no joke.
It was throbbing, and already purpling.
I was right, too.
After getting it X-rayed an hour later, I did indeed have two breaks in my hand.
They fitted me with a bright fuchsia cast, then sent me on my way with a prescription for pain meds as needed.
I didn’t bother getting them filled.
Since I called an Uber, I didn’t want to add on an extra stop on my way home.
Maybe after I took a nap, I might go out and get it filled.
But until then, I’d deal with the pain.
8====D
—Text from Garrett to Gable
GABLE
“What the fuck was that?” Quincy looked at me with anger rising in his voice.
“What was what?” I asked.
“You just asked for Callena?” he asked. “What the fuck for?”
I rubbed at my head, the lights from the bulbs above me making the splitting headache I had throb.
“I need to talk to her about something,” I grumbled.
“Well, in the meantime, you just broke that girl’s heart.” Quincy jerked his chin toward the hallway where I’d seen Athena disappear.
“I didn’t,” I defended myself. “I will talk to her in a minute. I really need to talk to Callena, though.”