| Woodstock |
| The tears came then... she couldn't help it. She was always strong, and she knew that she probably looked like a blubbering idiot, but she was scared and there was nobody there to comfort her now. No, since David had died, there hadn't been anybody that could really comfort her deep down inside. She missed him terribly, and the pain of that loss was still so raw. Especially now. His son was about to come into the world, and he wasn't there to see it. The bitterness of that thought punctuated even the severe twist within her abdomen right then. The pain was getting more and more insistant. Clarity started to creep upon her. This was the time she needed to keep her head the most. Her baby needed her. And she would kill to protect her son if need be. So now she shifted into instinct, calming herself for the sake of her child. She breathed deep, keeping the rhythm she and Daphne had practiced each night as they fell asleep in the big four poster bed of their childhood that amazingly still smelled like the lavender sented sheets her grandmother used when ever they visited. She pictured that bed. How comfortable it was to wake up in each morning. How good it smelled each night. How cool the sheets were against her skin. Her eyes were closed and her breathing rhythmic she began to feel that control she needed to get through this. Her surroundings fading in now. Voices... so many voices. The wall of sound that was the crowd beyond the walls to her left. Commotion behind her. She felt the hands that rested on her forehead and wrist now. After panting through another contraction, she opened her eyes and gazed up into the friendly eyes of the woman she had mistaken for an angel. She knew she was only a woman now... she could see the smile lines about her mouth and the laugh lines that creased in the corners of her eyes. She gave the good samaratian woman a grateful smile, but it turned into a clenching of teeth as the waves of pain began to increase once more. At this point, talking was minimal at best. She so wanted to push... but she was frightened. There was no doctor, she didn't want anything to happen to her baby. What if she pushed too soon? What if she started to push and the baby wouldn't come still? What if she couldn't deliver and needed a c-section? There was no doctor, her baby might die! Fear began to creep back in. She grasped for straws and began to voice her fears to the woman tending her. "I'm afraid... I... I want to push... but it's too soon!" She panted then braced herself for yet another barage of pain. "I know dear, the ambulance is on it's way, hang on honey and don't push!" The woman soothed her. "No! No, I mean it's too soon... I'm not due for another two weeks!" She tried to clarify. The woman just smiled gently and pushed the hair off the girls sweating brow. "That's ok dear. The little one comes when they're ready, not when the doctor says they are. Trust me... I've had enough of my own to know dear." She tried to ease her mind. But, she could still see the doubt in the young womans eyes. Then she could see the pain clouding her vision again. Her brows knit and she looked at her watch. She gave a worried look over the girls head and once more pushed her hair back from her face. "Dear, what's your name?" The woman asked her. She was distracted a moment from the pain but then answered. "Lauren..." She huffed, her voice strained and rough. "Lauren Stanton." "Well Lauren, is there anyone you'd like us to call? I could try that number again you tried." She suggested. The girl shook her head, a look of great pain painting her cheeks. "No, she's not there. It's no use." Lauren explained, grasping the womans hand harder as the pain increased. The blonde woman looked worried. Noticing the ring on her finger she tried something else. "Well then what about your husband?" She suggested. Lauren shook her head again, a pause as the pain peaked. "No Mam..." "Diana..." "Diana then... he's gone." She breathed. A look of understanding filling Diana's eyes. "He was killed in a plane crash seven months ago." Lauren finnished. A sudden still seemed to suck the noise from the room for a moment. "I... I'm so sorry..." Diana whispered. Then the reality of the situation was clear to them all... and an explosion of pain caused her to let out a small yell. It was evident to Diana... the ambulance wasn't going to make it there in time... |
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