My Soldier: A Miliatary Romance (30 page)
Read My Soldier: A Miliatary Romance Online
Authors: Leah Holt
I wasn't taking any chances, and I wasn't going to let her talk me out of it. We were going to the hospital. End of story.
Helping her into the car, I jumped into the front seat. Slamming the key into the ignition, I barely waited for the car to start before letting my foot fall like lead onto the pedal. The hospital wasn't far, a ten minute drive from the apartment at best.
Outside I was trying to stay calm, and relaxed. But inside, I was a torrent of knots and boulders crashing inside my gut. “Are you alright? How are you feeling?”
“Just drive, I'm alright. I promise, I'm okay.” Avni's breathing had grown shallow, her body tensed and tightened with each cramp that squeezed her insides.
“We're not far, do you want to call your mom?”
Shaking her head yes, Avni fumbled around with her phone. “Mom, Levi's taking me to the hospital. I have really bad cramps, I might be in labor.” Her mouth turned razor thin as she nodded softly to her mother on the speaker. Stuffing the phone back into her purse, another wave of torment hit her.
Punching the door, Avni yelled. “Fuck!” A deep painful grunt exploded from her lungs as her eyes closed tight.
“We're almost there. What did your mom say?”
“She's laughing at me. Says the baby decided to come a little early.”
The baby is coming? The baby is coming... Oh my God... The baby is coming!
The tires squealed as I turned into Grace Memorial Hospital. Throwing the car into park at the main entrance, I ran to her door and threw it open. Holding Avni's elbow, I tried to walk with her slowly into the double doors.
But I really wanted to lift her over my head and run her inside.
As the glass slid open to let us in, I lost it. “Help! Someone help! She's having a baby, we need someone over here now!”
“Sir, calm down.” A woman with short curly hair rushed up to us. “Are you having contractions, Miss?”
Avni's lips had formed a tight circle as she nodded yes. “I... I think so.”
“Follow me.” The woman grabbed a wheelchair and helped Avni into it. “Sir, how long has she been having contractions?”
“I, I don't know. A half-hour, maybe less. Is she going to be okay?”
“Yes, she'll be fine. But by the look of you, you won't be. Are you normally green?” Giggling, she held her card to the sensor, and took us into the delivery ward.
We had been there a few times before. While I was still recovering in the hospital, they let me head down there for a few lamas classes with Avni.
But to be honest, in that moment, everything they had told me flew right out the window.
I couldn't think of one damn thing that they had said us. Nothing.
And I wished I could, maybe I could help her if I could remember one stupid thing they taught us.
The only thing standing out was the very interesting, mind altering video of a live birth. Those images will stay with me forever.
I don't even think half the shit I saw in Afghanistan compared to the sight of what I saw in that video.
Avni keeled over in the wheelchair as another contraction came in harder and stronger. That one was the worst yet. But with what was about to come, it was nothing.
Ten hours, ten long hours of watching my love curl, curse, and yell. Avni had dilated quicker than they expected. The nurse said it was because our little girl was ready to meet us.
Our little girl. Wow, I'm about to be a dad.
Breathing through my nose, I tried to stop my heart from racing. My entire body was shaking, tingling, burning, from an eager and exciting fear I couldn't understand.
We were about to bring a new life into the world. A new life into our world. A little piece of heaven was about to be laid into our arms. And the excitement was one I could never fully explain.
“Alright, Avni. I know it hurts, but you need to breathe through it.”
The look of the devil coated Avni's face, her lip turning up in anger. “Breathe through it?” Her voice was hoarse and rugged. “How about you fucking breathe through it!”
I waited to see if her head was going to start spinning. Avni had asked for an epidural, they had given it to her. But it wasn't working, she said she could still feel everything.
The doctor checked the baby and realized she was in a position they called, 'Sunny side up.' Our little girl was facing up instead of down.
So the back of her head was putting pressure on Avni's spine. The epidural was a waste of time, her legs were numb but the intense pain hitting her spinal cord was not.
Avni's hands twisted against the bed rails, the small bolts doing everything they could to keep the arms in place. I felt useless, a waste of space inside that room.
There was nothing I could do for her, nothing I could do to take the pain from her. This was a task only Avni could complete. And for that I felt horrible.
I never wanted to cause her one ounce of pain in her lifetime. But this, this tied my hands. I couldn't stop it, and it killed me inside.
“Avni, you need to give me one final push! Come on, one more!” The doctor yelled, bending over at the end of the bed. Plastic goggles fitted his face, hair hidden under a baby blue cap.
With one final gasp, Avni screamed louder as she bared down on her hips. Her shoulders gave way, and she fell back into the pillow with labored breaths.
The room fell silent for what seemed like eternity. In the deafening silence, I could hear everyone's heartbeat.
Or maybe it was just mine, beating the inside of my head.
A high-pitched scream broke the thick air. “Congratulations, you have a healthy baby girl.” Holding up our newborn, Avni burst into tears as the doctor laid the baby onto her chest.
My eyes welled up, the small cry of our child breaking through my fuzzy mind. Looking down, Avni was coddling our perfect baby.
And she was beautiful.
Her large eyes blinked rapidly, head floating around the room as she cried the deepest, newest cry of life.
Pressing my finger into her hand, tears clouded my eyes. “Phoenix, you are even more beautiful than I could ever have imagined.”
The creation from our love, the new life that had risen from the ashes of our former world; she was finally here, our little Phoenix.
My heart hurt, my body ached. Not from pain, not from sadness...
It was from a love that was so insanely strong, it caused me to hurt all over.
Lowering down to Avni, I kissed her forehead and whispered into her ear. “You are the strongest person I know. This child is lucky to have you for her mom, and I will make everyday of the rest of your life, just as amazing as the day before. Thank you for this.” Brushing her hair back over her ear, I held her in my arms. “I love you.”
Tear filled eyes peered up at me, her face delicately snuggled into the new life we had just brought into the world. “I love you too, Levi.”
Her mother had told me once before, she had whispered it so kindly, and seriously into my ear.
“Avni loves you, Levi. But she doesn't realize it yet. Trust me, I know my daughter.”
She became my everything. My love, my air, my life.
The mother of my child, the woman who held my heart in her hands.
She made me a better person, she brought me back from death.
And I could never thank her enough for that.
Without her, I'd be nothing.
With her...
I'm alive.
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T
o my sister:
Though I can no longer hug you, I still feel you. Though I can no longer see you, I still hear you. Though our worlds have been separated, you are always with me.
Never forgotten and always remembered.
I love you.
––––––––
T
o my husband:
Thank you.
You gave me life, you gave me love. You lifted me up when I was falling, and held me close when I thought all was lost. And when I needed you the most, your hand reached out and pulled me back home.
I love you.
G
rowing up in a small town with little to offer, Leah Holt's imagination was able to run wild. She loves to write romance with intense alpha guys, the ones we all desire but dare not admit to. Who doesn't love a bad boy riddled with muscles and tattoos?
Having limited opportunities in life, writing has become an outlet for her to let out all of the dirty, forbidden thoughts inside of her head.
If you want to chat with her, you can email
[email protected]
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