“That’s nice, isn’t it?” he said. “I’ll just tape it down, and we’ll release the valve every so often to check if you’re mending properly.”
I turned toward him as he was taping down a funny-looking piece of plastic below my collarbone.
Edward removed his plastic gloves and tossed them into a wastebasket. “I need to see how far along you’re dilated.”
“I’ll help with that.” Katharine entered the room briskly and set a few paper bags on the floor. “Why don’t you step into the hall while I get her ready,” she said, her voice projecting authority.
“Time is of the essence,” he murmured to her, slipping into the hall and keeping the door cracked.
Katharine helped remove my shredded shirt and bra and then pulled off my pants.
“Where in the world did you get that?” I asked.
She tied the hospital gown around my neck and draped it over me. “You’re having a baby, but you’re still entitled to a little modesty.”
“Thank you.”
“Relic, you can come in now,” she called out.
Katharine stood back and smoothed her hair down on each side of her head, making the part in the middle more pronounced. While Edward bent my knees and performed a quick exam, she stood in front of the mirror and wrapped her hair into a tidy bun.
Another torrent of pain struck me, and I grimaced, curling to my side.
“How far apart have they been?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Minutes? They’re getting closer together.”
God, I felt so weak, as if I might pass out. Holding my breath gave me palpitations and made it more difficult to control the pain.
“She’s lost a lot of blood,” I heard him saying to Katharine. “She needs to deliver now. I don’t know what kind of internal damage she has, and the longer she stays this way, the harder it will be for her to heal. She needs to shift.”
“Her wolf isn’t going to let her shift as long as the baby’s in there,” Katharine snapped.
“That’s why we have to get this baby out now. I can’t perform a cesarean—it’s too risky. Her blood pressure is dangerously low, and I don’t have the equipment to keep her stabilized. What she needs is a blood transfusion, or at the very least, a saline drip.”
“Do you have an office?”
“We wouldn’t make it in time.”
“I’m still here,” I said. “Let’s do this. I’m ready to have this baby.”
Tears spilled from my eyes, and Katharine smoothed my hair back.
“How’s Naya?” I asked. “Did anyone call Ivy?”
She blotted my tears with her sleeve. “Stop thinking about others for once, and think about yourself.”
“I want Austin,” I whined, giving way to a torrent of sorrow. “I want Austin… I can’t do this alone. He’s supposed to be here. What if he’s hurt and he needs me?”
A fierce bark sounded from outside the house.
“Your souls are linked more than you know. I’ll get that,” Katharine said, moving out the door.
Edward stripped one of the blankets off the bed and moved a lamp and table at the end.
As soon as I heard toenails scratching against the wood floor and racing up the stairs outside the door, I pushed up on my elbows. “Austin!”
His black wolf tore through the house and plunged into the room like a dark shadow. He weaved around Edward to the left side of the bed, looking at me with those crisp blue eyes.
I stroked his fur with my left hand, feeling comforted as he licked my arm and nuzzled against my good shoulder.
Meanwhile, Katharine had returned with a handful of folded towels. First, she laid something plastic across the bed and beneath me, then she draped a sheet over it. Once the bed was protected, she spread the towels underneath my back and lower legs.
Clearly she wanted to save the mattress.
I personally didn’t give a shit. I was half-alive, with a gunshot wound, and preparing to bring a child into the world, so planning a trip to Mattress Firm wasn’t something I was especially concerned about.
“You’re not going to shift, are you?” I asked, stroking Austin’s ear. I could see the familiar flicker in his eyes that told me Austin was wide-awake and aware of what was happening.
“He’s in protective mode,” Katharine said, handing Edward some medical packages.
My brows pinched together. “Exactly what store did you go to that sells medical supplies and a gown?”
She tapped her chin and smiled. “The hospital market something or other.” She handed Edward a few small bottles. “I wasn’t sure if you would have enough pain medicine.”
I turned to look at Austin. “I really like your mom.”
Katharine spoke quietly to the Relic. “Is there anything we can do to speed it along?”
“Standing often helps, but I’d rather she conserve her energy.”
A cold sweat covered my body. When Edward approached, Austin growled, his eyes never leaving the Relic for a moment.
I swept my hand across his ear and gave it a light pinch. “Austin, the Relic needs to do his job. Come on the other side of me.”