“Three days? A lot can happen in three days.” I wanted to flop onto my bed, but decided against smearing it with the bloodlust. “Do you think…do you think he’s behind this?”
He paused. “It remains a possibility I cannot ignore.”
The pain in Misha’s heart resonated through the harshness of his voice. Someone he loved likely wanted him dead. “If it is Uri, is there any way you can stop him?”
“No. He gathers his strength from all in his keep. My power fuels his.”
I groaned. “And now you have more because I gave you back your soul.”
Misha’s tone softened. “Do not ever apologize for granting me such a gift.”
“Yeah, but I bet you’re wishing I’d kept the receipt.” I welcomed his laughter, but it also saddened me. “Misha, what can I do? I want to help.”
“Nothing, my love. Continue to keep me informed at all costs, but do nothing. I will not have you risk your life for me again.”
I stared at my phone when he disconnected. Crap. Now what?
CHAPTER 28
“My wife wants to have a natural birth. No medications. No IV. We are refusing any and all interventions. Western medicine is destroying our nation.”
I nodded at the first-time father-to-be as I finished my internal exam of his wife. I smiled at the woman as best I could. “You’re one centimeter dilated and your cervix is about seventy percent effaced.”
Her eyes widened as she looked to her beloved for support. “What does that mean, exactly?” he asked for her.
I removed my gloves and washed my hands. “Well, it means it’s not quite time for the baby to be born.” I smiled at the wife. “Your bag of water is still intact, the baby is moving well, the heart tones look fantastic, and you’re not showing signs of infection. I’ll call the doctor and let her know the facts. Most likely she’ll be sending you home. You can take Tylenol for pain and a warm bath for any further discomfort. Call us for strong, painful contractions occurring every five minutes, or if your water breaks, you develop a fever or bleeding, or your baby stops moving regularly.”
The father blinked back at me like I’d informed him he was having gremlins and that he shouldn’t feed them after midnight. “But…but…she’s contracting.”
I skimmed the fetal heart rate tracing on the computer. “Yes. About every twenty-two minutes now.”
“But they hurt her…a lot when they come.”
I sat on a rolling stool and scurried over to where the father sat in a chair next to his wife’s bed. “Let’s talk.” I smiled once more. “Labor—true labor—occurs when contractions come at strong, regular intervals and the pain is such that you can’t walk or talk through them.” I looked at the wife. “You updated your Facebook status during the last contraction. During labor your cervix will also open up and thin out.” I shook my head. “I’m afraid that hasn’t happened yet.”
The woman tilted her head. I was pretty sure she understood, especially when she started texting all three thousand of her closest friends. Her beloved remained unconvinced. “So she’ll continue to experience the same amount of pain, but the contractions will occur more frequently—every three to five minutes?”
“No, the pain will continue to increase and become more severe.” Until it feels like Godzilla is reaching up inside her and tearing out her intestines.
“You don’t understand,” he said, like I was the stupid one. “She’s in pain when they come. More pain than I’ve ever seen her in.” He frowned and pointed a stern finger at me. “What you mean is, the pain will stay the same and the contractions will just come more frequently.”
It was getting harder to keep smiling. He was lucky I didn’t bite off his damn finger. “Sir, there is a human being trying to come out of your wife’s body. Trust me when I say the pain will get much worse.”
Panic spread across his features. “Oh…”
I stepped from behind the triage curtain to where Shayna was doubled over trying to suppress her giggles. The doctor sitting at the desk next to her smirked.
“Hi, Dr. Summers. I was just about to call you.”
“No need. Heard the whole thing.” She handed me a slip of paper. “Here’s your discharge order.” She rose and walked around the desk to the patient’s triage bed. “I’ll just say hi.”
I leaned over the counter. “What are you doing?”
“Just finished a nonstress test. Everything is fine; she’s going home, too.”