Page 322 of The Omega Exchange: Omnibus

Hopefully it means labor won’t last forever, and maybe it’ll be easier on her. I have no idea. I’ve read so much contradictory information over the last few months.

Melody is hobbling from the triage room to the room where she’ll deliver when she stops dead in her tracks.

“Uh-oh,” she whispers, holding onto Miller for dear life.

“Your water just broke,” the nurse says, sighing. “It’s fine, keep moving. On the plus side it’s clear and that’s a great sign.”

I frown, it feels like she’s annoyed that someone will have to clean that up.

How much could a hospital cost? I wonder if I could buy this one before Mel gives birth. She definitely doesn’t need to feel bad about leaking on the floor. It’s not something that’s controllable. I read that too. It also means the baby is moving down.

Another contraction hits and this one seems to be worse than the last few. Damn, it takes my breath away.

I think maybe I’ll quietly encourage her to take the epidural once we’re settled into a room.

Mel does eventually decide to go for the epidural without any of us even suggesting it.

“Oh, God,” Carver groans, glancing around like he’s looking for somewhere to puke. The nurse pulls her hand from under the sheet and measures her fingers against a weird set of beads.

“They’re dilation beads,” the nurse says, smiling when she catches sight of us staring. “You’re at almost ten centimeters.”

Melody groans. She’s been sick as hell since she got the epidural, but at least she’s no longer in agony. Unfortunately,she has been pretty consistently vomiting, which the nurse says happens sometimes.

“You’re doing great,” Nik says, kissing her forehead. “She’ll be here before you know it, and this will be nothing but a memory.”

“More like a nightmare,” Carver mutters. His anxiety and worry bleeds through the bond. We’re all doing our best to block crossover, but it’s hard considering we’re all anxious. Feeling helpless doesn’t help.

“It won’t be too much longer,” the nurse says, patting Mel’s calf. “If you feel the urge to push, let me know. I’m going to quickly update the doctor.”

Things move pretty fast after that. It isn’t long before another nurse joins the first. They completely change the bottom of the table and offer Mel leg holder thingies. Miller ends up with one foot and Carver takes the other.

“Where the fuck is Dr. Jamison?” Nik growls as Mel pushes through another contraction.

“Another patient from the same practice just delivered. He’ll be in as soon as he can,” the newer nurse says.

My heart pounds erratically. This seems dangerous. If she’s pushing then shouldn’t the doctor be here?

“Are there any other on-call physicians?” I ask, glancing between them. “If he’s occupied then...” I swipe a hand over my face and breathe through the panic.

“Pushing can take hours for a first-time mom,” the original nurse says. “If the baby starts crowning or is in any distress, we’ll get someone in here immediately. I know it’s stressful, but we do this every day.” She looks at Mel. “You’re doing great, Mom. And it seems like you’re going to have an amazing support system.”

“Yeah,” Mel whimpers.

I make my way up to her head and grab the wet rag from Nik.

“I love you,” I say, kissing her cheek.

Since she got the epidural, the contractions feel like a rolling wave of pressure clamping down on my lower stomach and sometimes my balls. Another comes. They’re right on top of each other now.

“Breathe with me,” I remind Mel.

Mel does a lovely impression of a feral alpha. Seriously, her snarl is impressive. And kind of fucking terrifying.

“Get the doctor. That can’t be normal. Is that supposed to happen?” Carver asks, his face as white as a sheet.

“For the love of God,” Miller growls. “Shut up or get out!”

“He’s not going anywhere,” Melody snaps. “I let him have sex with me. That means he’s going to get his ass up here and hold my damn hand. Not that any of you are ever touching me again. No way, not after this.”