Page 12

“Ugh.” Jackie flounced back against the bed. After a second, she glanced at Joyce. “Can I do another walk around the hallways?”
Joyce let me take the lead on this question. “You can, and we can check you again in twenty minutes. But maybe we need to think about the next steps.”
Jackie held up her hand. “I don’t want any drugs though.”
I got it. She saw how her labor was going to go, and it wasn’t happening. I blamed movies and television for setting expectations too high with labor and delivery. Also, doctors who told patients a second or even the third kid might come quicker. Rarely did labor happen how anyone portrayed the act.
“I get it, I do, Jackie. You can do another walk, but if we don’t see any progression, we’re going to have to start you on Pitocin.”
Jackie reluctantly agreed.
Her worried husband, Matt, watched Jackie like a hawk.
“We wouldn’t let her walk if we didn’t think it was safe for both of them,” I said. Some of the uncertainty leached from his face. “At this point, she has been here twenty-eight hours. We get to this finish line, whatever it takes.”
“Thank you.” He trailed off after Jackie, holding her hand as she waddled.
I’d been jealous of their love… Fuck the support he was giving her. I did this part alone, and the ache in my soul was still there. Palpable. Like a breathing entity that lived inside of me, rearing its ugly head when I least expected it.
I shook off the melancholy and walked down the hallway toward Lucy’s door. As I drew near, loud music was seeping through the closed door.
What the hell?!
Pushing open the door, I find Lucy trying to rest, but can’t, because her douchebag boyfriend had the television blaring one of the superhero movies at full blast. Anger boils inside of me. We had a system. All she had to do was ask for pineapple juice. As it was, the phone mom, which I was inclined to believe was douche bro’s mother, had left before my break, leaving those two alone. She’d also taken the other woman, who I thought had been Lucy’s mom.
Not even close in my assessment. The woman was the boyfriend’s aunt.
“Turn that down,” I ordered the boy, who didn’t give a damn about the mother of his child trying to rest.
No surprise, he ignored me.How fucking rude. Two could play this game. I grabbed the remote at the side of Lucy’s bed and shut off the television.
“Hey,” the douchebag screeched. “I was watching that.”
“Everyone in this hall can hear this TV with the door closed. This is a hospital. Not a nightclub,” I snapped.
He shrugged, then pointed to Lucy. “She won’t shut the hell up, and it’s late. I can’t hear over her.”
See! I was right in my assessment.He is a friggen douche bag.“It’s called laboring. Sometimes it can get loud. Keep it down,” I warned him. “Otherwise, I’ll have maintenance disconnect the TV. Better yet, I’ll have security remove you.”
He sat up, narrowing his eyes at me. “You can do that?”
I wasn’t sure if I can or not. But he didn’t need to truth of the matter, so I nodded.
“Jesus, this place is worse than a fucking prison,” he grumbled, throwing the remote on the table before standing up. “I’m hungry. Can you get me some food?”
Like I did earlier with his mom, I gave him a fake smile. “There’s a cafeteria on the first floor. It’s open twenty-four, seven. You can go there.”
His brown eyes darted to Lucy and then back to me. “No, I meant from room service.” He snatched the menu meant for Lucy. “I want to order from here.”
“I’m sorry, food service is for the patient only.”
“Well, it’s for Lucy. She’s hungry,” he said, thinking he was being cute.
He wasn’t.
“Unfortunately, Lucy can’t eat. She’s only allowed to have ice chips, sips of water, and maybe, if she’s lucky, an ice pop until she delivers,” I stated. “If you want some dinner or a late night snack, you’ll need to go downstairs like I told you or go outside of the hospital.”
He huffed out a breath, then stormed out of the room, leaving Lucy to rest. When the door closed, I glanced at her. “Remember, pineapple juice.”