Mended(56)

“Oh, oww,” she cries, taking short breaths.

Cole pulls out his cell, starting the stopwatch. After buckling her in, he runs to the driver’s seat and starts the car, turning the fan up to blow cool air on her damp skin.

By the time they reach the hospital, her contractions are ten minutes apart. They get her registered and in a room before Cole allows himself to relax a little, though he’d never let Savannah know he’s nervous. Good Lord, what if something goes wrong? He scrubs his hands over his face as he lets out a long, bottom-of-the-lung sigh.

“Twenty bucks for your thoughts?” Mark walks up the hall toward Cole. Cole shrugs off his jitters and nods at the man he will always consider his brother. “How is she holding up?”

“Good.” He takes the coffee Mark hands him. “They need to do another exam. I just wanted to give her some privacy.” He shakes his head, chasing away the images from his head. “There’s a lot of people…down there.” He makes an action with his hands. “I thought I might murder someone.” He rubs his hand over his scalp. “I just want her, them, to be okay.”

Mark’s hand lands heavily on his shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze, “Savi’s a fighter, and it stands to reason that little spitfire in there will be a fighter too, just like Mama.” He grins, making Cole feel like he’s got a whole extra set of balls right now. “Besides, you think any of those doctors would piss off the Green Beret in the delivery room?”

Cole laughs, letting the tension go.

“Excuse me, Daddy?” A nurse peeks her head out the door. She looks like a pixie. “It’s time.”

“Go make me an uncle.” Mark smacks his shoulder. “Seriously, give Savi a kiss for me.”

“Yeah.” Cole finds himself grinning. Holy shit, I’m gonna to be a dad.

The clock reads seven, and they’ve been at this for five hours. Savannah’s exhausted, Cole is beyond beat, which is odd because he can usually be up for sixty some-odd hours and still have no problem functioning. But this…this is different, this is his love and his child. His mind slips away momentarily.

Mark glances at Cole through the garage window. The corner of his right eye is bleeding, his lip is cracked, and his arm hangs loose. Cole watches as Mark’s mother grabs a chair and lifts it above her head. He lunges forward, kicking in the window, but by the time his eyes adjust, he sees Mark unconscious on the floor. His mother smashed a chair over her own son. A mother. It’s disgusting. Cole pushes her out of the way and drops to his knees, feeling around Mark’s body. Please be okay!

“Cole, Cole?” Savannah’s voice pulls him from the memory. “Could you hand me some ice water?”

He nods, promising himself that his child will never go through anything like what Mark had to endure.

“Okay, Savannah, I know this has been exhausting for you, and we need to do a C-section. You can’t pass her shoulders, and she is lodged in there pretty tight.” Dr. Brown looks over at Cole, and he feels the blood drain from his face. “It’s routine, and it’s actually less stress on the baby.”

Savi reaches for his hand and gives it a hard squeeze. He pushes aside all his own fear as he looks down at her scared eyes.

“Less stress for the baby and no more pushing sounds like a good plan to me.” He leans down, kissing her lips. “I’ll be right there with you the whole time, my love.”

“Okay,” she sighs, her voice so weak with exhaustion that she barely gets the single word out. “Let’s do this.”

Dr. Brown nods at Cole. “Okay, Dad, you go with the nurse and put on some scrubs. Savannah, we need to get you all set up for the anesthesiologist.”

After thirty agonizing minutes of pacing outside the room, Dr. Brown calls Cole to come in. Savannah is lying on a table, arms strapped down, and a sheet is blocking her view of what is happening.

“Hi, baby.” He moves into her view, grinning behind his mask.

“I feel funny.” She grins, but he notices her whole body is shaking. He looks over at a doctor sitting next to her head.

“All normal. Some people get the shakes, some people get the shivers.” The doctor extends his hand. “Dr. Melnik. I’m the anesthesiologist and an OBG as well. She’s in great hands here.”

“Cole Logan, the father. That’s great to hear.”

“Savannah?” Dr. Brown says over the sheet divider. “Tell me if you can feel this.” Cole peeks over and sees the doctor poke the bottom of her belly.

“No.” Her voice is shaky.

“Perfect.” Dr. Brown grins at Cole but doesn’t warn him when she makes the first cut.