“Do you regret it?”
“Regret what?” she asks, not understanding.
“Doing something you didn’t want to do, just to please your parents?”
“I don’t know. I think sometimes I wonder what I would have done if Paige never went missing, but then I realize there’s no point in wondering. I just have to move forward the best I can.”
“Are you really though? Moving forward?” I find myself asking. After everything we have talked about, I’m not sure Bell really is moving forward.
“I guess I am, but I don’t like change. I don’t want to worry my family. I feel…” she trails off, searching for the right word.
“Lost?” I ask, liking the more I talk to her, the more I get her.
“Yeah, lost. I don’t always, but sometimes I wonder what if. Do you? What if things never happened the way they did?”
“All the time, sweetheart. But you still have to live your life.”
“Yeah, true.” She yawns and I know it’s time to hang up. As much as I don’t want to end our conversation, we both have work tomorrow.
“Okay, Bell, I’ve gotta go to sleep now.”
“Okay Jesse,” she says and it makes me smile. Jesus, I’m fucking pussy whipped without getting the pussy.
“Night,” I say and wait for her reply.
“Night,” she replies before hanging up. I flick the bedside lamp off and let my eyes drift shut, hoping again tonight, I won’t dream about bombs and fucking dying. Instead, a dream of a cute brunette who likes to suck cock would do the trick.
Ten BELL
“Someone help me,” a deep voice shouts down the corridor, echoing off the walls of the hospital.
Standing from the desk, I step out and peek my head around the corner. “My fiancée is in labor,” a man holding his very pregnant fiancée, who looks to be in the throes of a deep contraction, shouts out. He looks familiar, but my eyes refocus on the woman.
“Here,” I call, getting his attention.
“The baby is coming, now.” He moves toward me as I rush for a wheelchair and meet them halfway.
“How far apart are the contractions?” I ask when he places her in the chair.
“Every three minutes,” his fiancée pants.
“Holly?” I finally get a look at her face and realize it’s her. Holly and Sy.
“Oh hey, Bell.” She tries to smile, but her face contorts as pain hits her again.
“How long has it been at three minutes?” I ask, trying to get every detail I can for the midwife.
“Her waters broke twenty minutes ago.” Holly’s badass biker, Sy, takes over answering when she gets stuck on a bad contraction.
I look up at the man for the first time and notice he’s wearing his leather cut. A Knights Rebels’ cut. For a second, I falter thinking of Jesse.
“You’ve done this before?” I ask him over the screams of Holly.
“You could say that.” His eyes don’t leave hers as hers don’t separate from his.
“You’re doing good, baby, so close,” he encourages. “She’s not due for another two weeks,” he continues, giving me all the information I need.
“What’s your last name again, Holly?” I stop at the desk and ask the receptionist to page Dr. Fry.
“McAdams,” Sy answers and pulls out her health card.
“They’re going to need you to fill out some paperwork,” I tell him as another contraction has Holly screaming out. I might not be experienced in knowing when a baby is about to come, but I’ve seen a few labors and I know she’s close.
“Fuck the paperwork,” he says, throwing the card down on the desk.
“Oh, God, God, God. The baby’s coming, Sy.”
“Okay, let’s get you down to a suite.” I move back around the wheelchair and start to move her. The midwife, Cherry, walks out and follows us into the birthing suite. Rushford Hospital has its own birthing wing. I don’t get to come down often, but now that I know Holly is about to have her baby, I wish I could stay.
“Okay, this is where I leave you guys.” I step back and let Cherry move in.
“What?” Holly cries out and grabs onto my arm. “You can’t leave, Bell. Please, I need you to stay.” Her panic turns to pleading.
“I’m happy for you to stay,” Cherry says and moves in to help Holly up on the bed.
“Oh, okay,” I reply, watching Sy move in behind Holly and pull her back to his front. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a father take charge and I’m thrown for a minute.
“Are you sure, Holly?” I ask, not sure why she would want me here.
“I can’t do this, Sy,” Holly cries as Cherry pulls her panties down her legs to check her.
“You’re already doing it, baby. We’re doing it together. Don’t you want to meet our son?” He kisses her head. So in control, I’m drawn to watching them.
“She wouldn’t ask if she didn’t want you.” Sy looks up at me giving me the confidence I need.
“She’s ten centimeters,” Cherry cuts in, pulling me out of my trance. “Get gowned up,” she adds, moving over to the phone, calling to see how far away the doctor is.
“He’s coming?” Holly pants, as the room becomes a blur of action. I step back as I let Cherry and the doctor through.
“I need you to give me a push, Holly.” Dr. Fry comes to stand between her legs, gowned and ready to deliver her baby.
Holly draws a deep breath and begins pushing with the help of her man counting to ten.
“Good, very good, Holly. If you can give me a couple more of those, then we will get to meet this baby of yours very soon,” the doctor says and I watch as determination spreads over her face.
“You can do it, baby,” Sy whispers.
“Nurse Johnson, come and take a leg,” Dr. Fry orders and I follow, taking one leg as Cherry takes the other.
I hold her leg, and she takes another deep breath as she pushes to the count of ten again, this time pushing harder.
Not able to hold back, I look down as she pushes and I get a small glimpse of her baby. “I can see the head,” I encourage, spotting dark curls.
“You can?” She looks up at me and I nod encouragingly.
“Dark hair,” I tell her and her smile is blinding.
“Like his daddy.” She looks back at Sy and he kisses her.
“One big one this time,” the doctor encourages, and Holly gives it all she’s got.
The head crowns and the doctor orders no pushing for a moment.
“I need to push. I need to push,” she pleads but manages to hold off. Sy keeps whispering encouraging words, while Cherry and the Dr. exchange a few words about the next push.
“Okay, give me all you’ve got on the next contraction, Holly, and I’ll have your boy in your arms,” he says, and before I know it, the wailing cries of a newborn echo throughout the room as the baby is placed onto Holly’s chest.
“You did it, baby.” Sy kisses her head as Cherry moves to take the baby− conducting all the quick checks before quickly wiping and swaddling him. Once Dr. Fry has delivered Holly’s afterbirth, Cherry hands him back to her.
“Oh, God, look at him, Sy,” she cries, holding her new baby in her arms. “Hi Xzavier Dean,” she whispers and the name is just so adorable and fits him perfectly.
“I am, baby, and he’s beautiful,” he whispers as a tear falls down his face. I have to look away, giving them the intimate moment they deserve.
“You did very well, Holly,” Dr. Fry says after a few more minutes of tidying everything up.
“We should weigh him, Holly,” Cherry says, turning back to her. “Would Dad like to help me?” she asks Sy, as he carefully shifts out from behind Holly. He kisses her softly, whispering, ‘Fuck, I love you,’ before taking Xzavier and following Cherry.
“Thank you, Bell.” Her hand reaches for mine.