Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 568(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 568(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
Her eyes, the first thing that drew me to her, are pooling with tears.
“Yes.” She sniffs, then before she can respond, I kiss her and all the world melts away. She’s all I need… she’s all I’ll ever need.
BLADE/JASON
“Oh God,” Eve moans, or whimpers, maybe both. Wisps of her golden hair wet with sweat stick to her forehead and cheeks.
“You’re doing great, Angel.” I caress her damp forehead and her eyes blink blue fire at me.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” She moans again. “I’m dying.”
My heart literally drops to the pit of my stomach and darts to the nurse who stands to the other side looking at the monitor. They have some belt wrapped around Eve’s stomach alerting us if our baby’s heart goes into distress.
“She’s not dying,” the older woman replies. “She’s in labor.” A small twitch ghosts her wrinkled mouth. Her clothes have a faint smell of smoke and I would give a thousand dollars for a cigarette. But that would require me to leave Eve, which is not an option. Instead I inhale the smoke that clings to her.
“You’re not dying,” I repeat her words. My voice doesn’t even sound like mine. What the fuck? I stare at the room we’re in. It’s bright with a large window showing the Hollywood hills perfectly. The white walls are typical hospital. One picture of flowers and butterflies is bolted to the wall, a huge flat screen on the other. My head is about to burst. Lack of sleep, nicotine withdrawal, and true mental agony at having to witness Eve’s pain make my head pound.
“Listen to me.” She pants, not from exertion because we haven’t even gotten to the push part yet. Eve’s late, like over a week past her due date. She’s swollen, uncomfortable, and nervous. After taking her to her last doctor’s appointment. I suggested it might be time to do something. Wisely her ob-gyn agreed, and she started getting induced at five this morning.
Another moan then, “I need Blade.” It’s clipped and strong. “Do you get me?” Her blue eyes blink at me like I’m not right in the head.
“O-kay,” I say, not getting her.
“No, you don’t.” She grits her teeth as more sweat forms on her upper lip. “No Jason right now. I need you to be Blade and get me some fucking drugs.”
I stare at this woman who has aged me in the last few hours. The nurse informed us that the hospital had only one anesthesiologist on right now. C-sections come first, so Eve has to wait. This is not my forte. Watching my very reason for breathing endure so much pain that she’s not even screaming makes me want to punch the wall. Christ, this isn’t like the movies or TV at all. A nerve-racking, heart-pounding amount of excitement courses down my neck. Blade gets shit done. I look up slowly at the nurse who freezes and slightly and frowns at me then takes a step back.
“I assure you she and the baby are doing great.” She sniffs and moves around me to pull up the ugly blue robe Eve is in so that she can make sure the heart monitor belt is still in place. “Yep. stil—” I cock my head and my hands fist.
Her eyes travel to my face, then my hands, and back to my face. “I’ll go see how much longer for the anesthesiologist,” she says, a disapproving frown on her face.
“Thank you,” Eve moans into the crappy plastic pillow. I don’t know who she’s thanking, maybe both of us. Even being incredibly nervous and in agony, she’s been remarkably nice to all the nurses.
“I want this over with. All I want is a healthy baby.” Her beautiful blue eyes focus on me. They shine with pain, and again my heart beats so hard my temples throb.
“He’s coming and he’s healthy.” She blinks as she hisses a moan but a small smile twists her lips.
“Sometimes I really love Blade.”
I grin and lean down to kiss her when the door swings open and a young Asian woman in a white doctor jacket bursts in with the old nurse behind her.
“Okay,” she says. “Let’s do this.”
Suddenly it’s as if I’m not in the room. I’m still next to her, still holding her hand, yet that’s all I can process. My brain seems unable to digest that I’m watching the love of my life take a needle. A fucking long needle injected into her back.
“You okay?” The anesthesiologist looks at me. “You’re pale. If you’re going to pass out, sit first. Or do I need to have a nurse get you some orange juice?”
I grumble something. It must work because she nods and goes back to Eve and announces, “She’s dilated. I’ll get her doctor.” I almost grab the woman and shake her to tell me what the fuck that means? But Eve has my hand as she starts to lift up and push. That old feeling of time stopping caresses my numb body and I stare mesmerized.