Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 94140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
I start on Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star again and sigh in relief when she finally falls into a deep sleep with even, steady breaths, allowing me the chance to finally get some rest.
Chapter 2
GIGI
I am exhausted.
I fall down onto the nurses’ couch as I wait for my best friend to finish her shift. Mine was supposed to be over three hours ago, and I’m only just finishing up now, but that’s life working on the maternity ward. It’s been a huge day, though it usually is. We’ve delivered eight babies, three of which turned into emergency C-sections, two were elected water births, leaving the other three as straightforward vaginal births. They were mostly easy, apart from the lady who was screaming from the second she walked in and wouldn’t give in until the baby was all but yanked out of her.
Trying to work out if I should start heading home or wait for my roommate, I pull my phone out and send a quick text to Mel, who works as a nurse in the pediatric ward.
Gigi – I’m finished for the day. How are you doing?
She texts back almost immediately.
Mel – Just finishing up now. Be there in 10 minutes.
Thank God.
All I can think about is getting home and crashing. It’s been a massive week filled with extra shifts, new babies, screaming mothers, and everything gross that goes along with being a midwife, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m firm in my belief that being a midwife is the best job on earth, and while it can be incredibly stressful, and sometimes downright devastating, it’s also incredibly rewarding. It’s also the best birth control any woman could ever need.
Scooching down on the nurses’ couch, I put my feet up and am just about to fall asleep when Mel barges in, looking way too chirpy for the end of a twelve-hour shift. “You ready?” she sings, making her way across the room to her locker and quickly riffling through for her things.
Mel hooks her bag over her shoulder as I get up onto my sore feet and scoop my things off the floor beside me. “I was ready hours ago,” I tell her with a yawn as we walk out the door together. We head out to the staff parking lot, stopping to say a few goodbyes along the way, and eventually collapse down into my beat-up car, thankful that we both have the whole weekend off.
“I heard you had an exciting day,” Mel grins as I start up my car and back out of my spot, doing my best not to crash into anything along the way.
“You heard about that, did you?” I cringe, knowing damn well this was going to come back to haunt me.
She lets out a booming laugh as she searches through her Spotify playlist for something to listen to. “How could I not? It was the talk of the whole hospital all day,” she says with a stupid smirk. “Is it true though? The newbie spilled the piss bag all over you?”
“Shut up,” I groan, confirming what she already knows to be true. “I had to rush straight into a C-section after, so I didn’t even get to shower first, just had to throw on new scrubs and wipe myself over with disinfectant wipes. It was awful.”
“Yuckkkkk,” she groans, scrunching up her face in disgust. “You’re so gross.”
“Tell me about it,” I say as I pull up at the liquor store for our traditional Friday night drink, though something tells me I’m going to need a little more than just one tonight. “It was nearly an hour before I could get cleaned up.”
“That’s the beauty of nursing,” Mel says with a sigh as we get out of the car.
We hurry through the parking lot, and as we enter the liquor store, Mel looks down at the baskets, probably wondering if we’ll need one for this particular shopping trip. “How messy are we planning on getting tonight?” she questions, already reaching for a basket.
“Depends if you have any plans for tomorrow,” I mutter, moving ahead and searching the aisle as if I don’t already know what I’m getting.
Mel practically skips to catch up with me, stopping to grab a bottle of Bailey’s along the way. “My only plan is nursing a hangover.”
“Music to my ears,” I say, leaning down and grabbing a bottle of Moscato before thinking better of it and grabbing a second. “You know what, I think we’ll be needing both of these.”
Mel laughs as I place them into the basket. “Good thinking,” she murmurs as she heads around the other side of the store to fill up on chips and candy. After throwing in a few extra odds and ends, we make our way to the checkout. Once we’ve loaded our spoils into the car, we dash across the road to the pizza place and order takeout.