On the Altar

Chapter 18

POV- Crystal, age 16

The receptionist stares at us and pages Dr. Green. "Be quicker, I'm bursting, Misty!" I cry because the pain is too much. I look down at my bump and say, "Love ya, kids, but you're tearing me apart."

Misty chuckles as she holds me and Dr. Green steps into view. She puts me on a gurney and wheels me into a room and Misty follows us. Dr. Green examines me and says, "Christy, you're only two centimetres dilated, so I can't give you an epidural just yet. Breathe through the pain, I'll come back to check on you in some time." She smiles and leaves. Misty leaves to get me some ice chips, because, apparently, I can't eat anything even if I'm starving. She comes back with them and I take a few in my mouth. She holds the cup and says, "So, how do you feel?" She says this with an expression on her face which is half amused and half 'please don't kill me' if that makes any sense. I would answer her, if not for the pain shooting through me, threatening to blind me.

"Misty, call Dr. Green and tell her that I'm popping out these babies with or without her!" I hiss towards her and she just smiles and says, "Okay, I'll go." She keeps the chips on the chair she was sitting on and goes out to call Dr. Green. Those two take their own sweet time coming back, while the babies push and pull on my uterus, or cervix or whatever part they're tackling, and Dr. Green checks me again. "Christy, I don't think these babies will be out any time soon. You're still two centimetres." She says in a sorry tone.

What? I can't be in labor for the whole night! I'm not that strong physically! My body cannot handle that kind of stress! Hell, I can't run ten feet without panting. 

"Can't you give them something?" I ask her pleadingly, hoping this gets over soon so I can sleep.

"I can't give you anything unless you're dilated to two for a very long time. It's just been ten minutes, Christy. You need to be patient, the babies decide when they come out." Dr. Green says comfortingly, but I don't feel damned comfortable. 

"And, no, I can't give you an epidural unless you're dilated to three." She answers my unasked question. I give her a puppy-dog face, at least I try to but I don't think it looks cute with my sweaty, gross, swollen face. "No, I can't. Try to relax, I know it's hard. I have a son of my own, I was in labor for twelve hours." I think my eyes widen in shock because then Misty says, "I don't think it will take that long though, right Dr. Green?" "Uh..I can't ...oh, I'm getting paged, see you in twenty!" She says cheerily and leaves, not-so-subtly evading Misty's question.

Well, at least she's honest.

I try to 'breathe through the pain' as Misty and Dr. Green tell me to, but I know it's a whole bunch of crap as soon as I try it, it does nothing to subdue my pain. I feel normal for some time, I look at the monitor which shows the babies' vitals. When I first heard their heartbeats months ago, that was the time I began letting go of my mother's blatant disregard of her grandbabies.

The pain strikes again.

I grip the sheets tight and ride the wave that threatens to milk my insides. Misty holds my hand and when I let go, she clearly winces in pain, but has a look on her face that tells me she doesn't mind.

She would have been an awesome mother...

After a while, Dr. Green comes back into the room, and examines my cervix. "You're seven centimetres now, Christy. Just three more to go!" She says cheerily and Misty and I shoot her a look that shows how damn cheerful we are exactly. "You can stand up, walk around the room a bit, free your legs. Let gravity do its job." She says and her pager beeps. "Oh, I have to go, but I'll be back soon." She says this and leaves.

Misty looks at the time and says, "We have to call my parents, grandparents, and Marty, since Jen is already here. They'll rip me apart if they found out you had the babies and I didn't call. Be right back." She says and leaves to find better cell connectivity. 

I move around the room for a while, and pain hits my body again. I grip the side of the bed I was lying on and wait it out. Misty comes back after a while and mutters soothing words of comfort to me, and I give her my best shut up look because my mouth can't speak while it's groaning in agony.

After a few beats, Dr. Green comes in and instructs me to lie on the bed once again. She examines me and says, "Christy, you're ten centimetres. Time to push."

Oh s**t, I'm gonna be a mother....

I push hard with all my energy, my upper body at a ninety-degree angle from my legs. With sweat beading my forehead and me screeching like an animal, I don't look like the prettiest picture. But I don't think my babies would mind.

"Keep on pushing, I see a head." Dr. Green says steadily while I hold Misty's hand in a death grip and push with all my might. Little wails, followed by full-blown sobs fill the room, as my first baby is born. "It's a girl." Dr. Green says with a smile on her face, and I see a nurse whom I hadn't even noticed take her away, for cleaning her probably.

"Good job, kid." Misty says softly with tears in her eyes. Dr. Green looks at us and says, "Well, there is one more baby, and I think I see another head. Time to push, you're doing a good job." She says calmly, as if there's not a human being trying to come out of my body, destroying my v****a in the process. I don't mind it, nothing other than the pain bothers me, but still, it wouldn't hurt her to be less jolly.

I push, I push and tire my body so much that I want to go to sleep right this second. Dr. Green tells me, "Yes, I see a head, push, Christy." I push again, hard, and the crying of a baby fills the room again. "It's a girl, again." I hear Misty say as I give in to the darkness, with my last thought being,

I'm a mom.