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“Papa always does his tables when he feels sick. After he has his treatment. He says it helps keep his mind dis-dis..”
“Distracted?”
“Yes, distracted.”
Seven times six?
Err, my mind is like mush, but I eventually figure the answer. Then I start working through the rest of the sevens until I get to fourteen times seven and…
AGHHH! It hurts so much. I can’t do this any longer. I don’t feel like pushing at all. I’m going to be stuck in this hell forever.
The pain lessens.
What’s eight times three?
Hands are rubbing my back. I don’t think it helps the pain, but I don’t want them to stop. It’s like if I feel their touch, I know I'm not alone.
Baby, you gotta help your Mama, I don't have much gas in the tank.
All I want to do is collapse on the floor and sleep for a million years. Arms are holding me up, and I sink into them, letting them take all my weight. My legs won’t stop trembling. Another contraction starts to build.
It’s too soon; the last one just ended.
No. No. “Noooooooooooo.”
This time it feels like something breaks inside me, like my spine just snapped. “Back…broke…” I try to tell them, but they don’t hear me.
“Nooooooooooo.”
It’s too much, I-I-I-
Have to push.
“Wait, Daisy,” someone says. They’re not the boss of me. I’ve got to push, I have to. I have to push my broken spine all the way out of my body.
“Daisy, baby, pant! Pant.” Puff puff puff; air blows in my face. Pant? I have to pant? I don’t think I have any breath left, but I try a little.
“Good girl, so good. Pant like me, huh, huh, huh…”
Something is stretching me; I’m burning. Between my legs is nothing but fire. I wish I could scream, but I have to pant.
“Killian? Is she good to go?”
“One second… yeah, yeah—she’s there.”
“Alright baby, stop panting now. The next time there’s a contraction, you're going to give a big push, OK?”
Push? I don’t want to push any more. Now I just want to sleep. Sleep…
For a second, I actually am asleep until…
“AHHHHHHH!” The push feeling is back, and it’s even bigger this time.
“Yes, I can see the head! So close, baby.”
“Push, Daisy…”
What do you think I’m doing? “AHHHHHHH!”
