Dear Ex Wife Please take me back by The Every Woman

Chapter 67 ~ Cry in the room?

ATHENA

I don't know how we get to the hospital or how I find myself in the VIP room. But all I know is I'm suddenly on the bed with an IV on my hand.

Those G****e searches I did about how labor occurs didn't prepare me enough for this.

I groan as the world spins while the contractions come in waves, slow at first, like an approaching storm.

I grip the bedsheets, my breathing uneven as the dull ache in my lower back sharpens. The nurse moves around the room, checking the monitors, speaking in a calm voice, but her words blur into the background.

"You're only three centimeters dilated," she says, offering me an encouraging smile. "We still have a long way to go."

How encouraging. I grimace.

Three.

I exhale sharply, frustration mixing with the discomfort. Every second feels like an eternity.

Alex stands by the bed, watching me, his arms crossed. The usual arrogance in his expression is gone, replaced by something unreadable. Concern? Guilt? I don't care. I don't want him here.

I feel a different kind of rage inside me. I love this baby, but I can't help feeling like he is the one causing this pain.

"Get out," I mutter, squeezing my eyes shut as another contraction rolls through me, the pressure intensifying.

He frowns. "Athena -"

"Out," I snap, my voice hoarse but loud enough, despite the pain twisting in my belly. "I don't want you here, Alex."

His jaw clenches, his green eyes darkening, but after a moment, he nods.

"I'll be outside."

Without another word, he turns and strides out of the room, closing the door behind him.

The second he's gone, I release a shaky breath, my body slumping against the pillows.

Time moves strangely slow.

one lasting about thirty to forty seconds. The pain starts in my lower back and spreads forward, a dull tightening that makes me

like the nurse suggests, but it's exhausting. My legs feel

I try, sitting, lying down, and even pacing around the room,

you want to try the birthing ball?" the

shake my head. I just want

I'm only four

going to

it's 7 centimeters, the pain

every four minutes, each one gripping my body with brutal force. I

last. My body tenses instinctively, fighting against it, but the nurse

says gently. "Tensing up makes it

supposed to relax when it feels like my insides are being twisted

at the nape of my neck. The pressure in my pelvis

through another contraction, gripping the

much longer?" I

"You're eight centimeters

Eight.

of this. How i'll be holding my precious little angel, it makes all the pain worth it. If this is what it will take for me to hold Rayen, then I

lifetime, yet I still have a

great, Athena," the

I feel like I'm

being pried open, my pelvis stretching beyond its limit. A raw scream ips from

arching off the bed.

can't do this," I sob,

firmly, gripping my

Almost.

the doctor

"One more to go."

nurse brushes damp hair from my face. "Breathe, Athena. You're stronger than

Am I?