The line stays silent.
“Adrian?” I ask.
“I’m here,” he murmurs. “Just having a silent panic attack.”
“You and me both.”
“On my way, baby.” He hangs up.
I lie down and try to calm myself some more, and twenty minutes later I hear Adrian’s Corvette roar up the driveway and the door slam with force. Then I hear his voice. “Ashley! Where are you?” he calls.
“Up here,” I call back.
He takes the stairs two at a time and comes running into the bedroom. “Oh, my God, what’s going on?”
I smile, and he comes and sits next to me on the bed and takes my hand in his. “Are you all right?” he pants.
I giggle. “A lot calmer than you seem. Did you just get a speeding ticket on the way here?”
He widens his eyes. “Like I care?” He shakes his head and rubs my stomach. “What happened?”
I shrug. “I’m probably being overdramatic.” I pause. “I’ve just been having back pain since last night, and now my stomach has started to contract.”
He frowns as he listens.
“And I Googled it; if I’m in labor I need to get to the hospital to try to slow it down a little.”
Adrian’s eyes widen in horror. “You’re a doctor, Ashley. How do you not know if you’re in labor?”
“Because I’m not in pain,” I snap. “I’m uncomfortable.”
“Oh. Right.” He bites his bottom lip as he thinks for a moment. “Well, let’s call the hospital and see what they say.”
I nod. “All right.”
He Googles the number on his phone. “Do you want to speak?”
“Yes.” I hold my hand out for the phone and he passes it to me.
It rings. “Hello, can I have the maternity ward please?” I ask.
“Sure, transferring you now.”
It rings again. “Hello, maternity ward.”
“Hello, this is Ashley Tucker.”
“Hi, Ashley,” the nurse replies.
I scrunch up my face. “I’m probably being a drama queen, but I’ve been having Braxton Hicks for two hours now.”
“How far are you, Ashley?”
“Thirty-six weeks.”
“Okay. Any showing or broken water?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“All right then. Can you come in, so we can see what’s going on?”
I nod. “Okay.” I pause. “Do you think I’m in labor?”
“Probably not, dear. Don’t worry. As long as your water doesn’t break, everything will be fine.”
I smile and nod. “All right, I’m on my way.”
I pass the phone back to Adrian. “What did they say?” He frowns.
“As long as my water doesn’t break, it’s all good.”
He puts his hand on his chest. “Oh, thank God.” He grabs my hand and pulls me off the bed and I waddle into the bathroom I feel the urge to go and then bam.
I feel a sharp pop.
My water breaks… all over the floor… like, flooded.
My eyes widen. “Fuck! Adrian!” I call.
“What?” he calls.
“My water broke!”
“What?” he shrieks. He comes running into the bathroom and his face falls in horror when he sees how much there is. He puts both hands over his mouth before he regains his composure. “This is fine,” he speaks calmly. “This is all fine.” He takes out his phone and starts to dial a number.
I laugh; the look of sheer terror on his face is priceless. “Who are you calling?” I ask.
“Cameron,” he snaps. He starts to pace with his hand in his suit pocket.
“Cameron is in surgery.” I shake my head. “He’s going to be hours.”
His face falls.
“Let me call him.” I pick up my phone and dial his PA’s number. She answers on the first ring. “Hi, Ash!” she greets.
I screw up my face because I really don’t want to say this out loud. “We have a problem.”
“What’s that?” she murmurs.
“My water has broken.”
“Oh. Fuck!” she replies.
I smile; I’ve never heard her swear before.
“How long do you think he’s going to be?” I ask.
“Oh God, Ash.” She hesitates. “I’ll put him on the phone.” I hear her walking into the surgery; she sits at the nurses’ station at the back of his operating theatre. The phone goes silent; she must have covered the phone with her hand.
Moments later. “Hey, Bloss,” Cameron answers calmly. “You’re on speaker, babe,” he reminds me. I close my eyes. That means that the ten people in surgery can all hear what he’s saying but his hands are tied up doing the operation and he can’t hold the phone.
“Cam.” I screw up my face. “I just called to tell you that my water has broken and I’m with Adrian and we’re on our way to hospital.”
“Fuck,” he growls.
“How far apart are the contractions?” he asks calmly.
“That’s the thing, I don’t think I’m in active labor yet. It’s all right, no need to panic.”
“No pain?” he questions.
“Just back pain.”
“How long have you been having back pain?”
“All night.” My eyes widen. “That’s not…” My voice trails off. Don’t tell me I’ve been in labor since last night.
“Ash?” Cam asks.
“I’m just going to get to the hospital, and I’ll call you back, all right?” I try to comfort him.
“Oh my God,” he replies. “Drive carefully, please.”
“How long do you think you’ll be in surgery for, Cam?” I hate to ask but I need to know.
“At least two hours,” he replies.
I close my eyes and I can almost hear his heart rate rise through the phone.
“It’s okay, it’s going to be a lot longer than that,” I reassure him.
“Just get here safely. Put Adrian on the phone,” he asks.
I pass Adrian the phone and I go and get changed and put a pad in, as I’m still leaking amniotic fluid.
Fucking hell.
“Yes.” I hear Adrian answer. “Yes, I know,” he replies. “Cameron. I fucking know that.” Adrian snaps. “Yes, I know!” He listens for a moment. “Just hurry up and finish your operation, will you!” Adrian demands.
I smile; Adrian has no idea he’s on speaker. These two always scream at each other when they get stressed out. I get an image of all of Cameron’s interns and the nurses listening and what they must be thinking.
“Fine,” Adrian snaps. “Yes! I know!” he yells.
I walk out of the bathroom to see Adrian roll his eyes, his hand on his hip as he listens to Cameron’s lecture. He exhales heavily. “See you soon.” He hangs up and then quickly falls into role play and fakes a calm smile. “Ready to go, chick?”
“Yep.” I grab my handbag.
He looks around. “Where’s your hospital bag, Ash?” He frowns.
“God, I can’t believe this.” I shake my head because I’m forgetting everything.
I think for a moment. “Did Cameron remind you to get the hospital bag?”
He smirks. “Yes.”
“What else did he tell you?” I frown because it seems I can’t think without my husband doing it for me these days.
“To organize with Jenna to get Owen and to keep you calm.”
I nod. “Right.” I look at Adrian, who is now perspiring heavily. “We’ve got this, Adrian. We can do this without Cam if we have to.” I grab my bag. “And we might.”
Adrian looks like he’s about to faint.
“I know,” he murmurs.
Burning pain rips through my stomach, and I bend over and hold my stomach.
“What’s happening?” Adrian cries.
“Contraction,” I murmur. “Oh, that’s a real one.” I wince.
My stomach clenches hard and the pain is strong. “We need to get to the hospital, Adrian…and quick.”
“Quick?” he stammers with wide eyes. “How quick?”
“That wasn’t a first contraction.”
He looks at me blankly, not understanding.
“That was a ‘things are moving faster than I would like to’ contraction.”
Adrian puts his hands on his head. “What do I do?”
“Get me to the hospital.”