Sitting at the table, I laid my head down on the table and closed my eyes. I was fucking drained already and her labor had just started.
So much shit was going on in my head, I found it hard to concentrate on my task at hand. Remi was going to need me to be alert and ready at a moment notice. Anything could go wrong with labor and delivery, so I needed to get my head on straight.
“You okay, Jess?” Savage said, sitting down next to me.
I didn’t even hear him come in.
Geez, I was out of it.
“Just tired.”
“Why don’t you go take a nap if it’s going to be a while.”
“Can’t. Remi might do me a favor and kill Reaper. I might have to help her bury the body.”
He laughed, then asked. “How long do you figure?”
“At least another six hours, maybe more.”
“Hungry?”
“I’m starving.”
“Want anything special?”
Lifting my head from the table, I turned to him and looked at the man. I don’t know why but after the way he acted out on the road, I wasn’t sure if he was being serious or not. Slowly narrowing my eyes, I relaxed my face and asked, “You’re offering to get me whatever I want?”
“Sure,” he nodded. “You’re gonna be busy tonight and ya gotta eat, right?”
“And if I asked for Momma Louise’s Gumbo, a bucket of fresh crawfish and a slice of her homemade cornbread, you’ll go get it for me?”
Savage gulped, then cautiously asked, “Uh, just where is this Momma Louise’s?”
“Downtown New Orleans.”
“Crap,” he said, his shoulders slumping. “Can’t you ask for something in this state? Maybe in this county?”
If I wasn’t so tired, I would have laughed. The poor man looked scared. Well, he did ask what I wanted. I wasn’t going to lie to him. I was hungry and nothing was better than Momma Louise’s Cajun food. Just thinking about her tasty hushpuppies had my mouth watering.
“You asked what I wanted and that’s what I want,” I said, getting to my feet. Stretching my arms over my head, I yawned hard before leaving him alone in the kitchen.
As the night wore on, I kept myself busy with mundane things, restocking the supply room, inventorying the medicine cabinet, finishing up Healer’s charts, and then filing them away. After checking in on Ink and his progression, I was happy to see he was improving. He still wasn’t out of the woods yet but it looked as if the antibiotics were finally doing their job.
As for Remi, she was only dilated to six centimeters. It was going on midnight when Reaper about lost his shit when she started crying because of the pain. That’s when Healer and I begged her to get an epidural. It took a lot of cajoling and in the end, Reaper had to promise her the wedding of her dreams before she gave in. Now, she was sleeping peacefully through her contractions.
Even Reaper had all he could take as he snored loudly in the chair next to her.
Looking at my watch, I noted the time before checking Remi’s vitals. Taking a look at the monitor recording her contractions, I noticed they were strong and coming closer. I also noted that the baby’s heartbeat dropped when the contraction crested and Remi’s blood pressure bottomed out. Monitoring her next couple of contractions, I slipped on a fresh pair of gloves and quickly checked her.
She was still only six centimeters. When I removed my hand, I noticed blood. Lifting her blanket to get a better look, all my tiredness was gone.
I knew what this was.
What it meant.
I knew what would happen if I didn’t act fast.
Adrenaline filled my body.