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Jo sat anxiously waiting in the hospital. Lina had been taken away as soon as the ambulance got in, and Nick had been forced to wait alone for a couple of minutes until Jo and Alex got there. It hadn’t done him well. When they rushed through the doors he was sitting alone on a chair with tears hanging from his eyelashes. Now he had wiped them away, but his face was still white as a sheet. Alex had his arm around him, and they were talking quietly to each other. Jo tried her best not to let any more tears out, she could see from Nick’s clenched teeth that he was forcing his back, and she was afraid that anything could break his last bit of self control. Her thoughts started wandering away to Lina, how she had been the last year. The ups and downs, her happiness and her tears throughout the experience they had shared. Her complaints about how fat she had gotten, and her tears of joy when the baby kicked for the first time. She had to make it through this, she just had to.


A voice broke through her thoughts. “Mr. Carter?” All three of them looked up at the doctor that had spoken.

“Yes? Is she ok?” Nick said, his voice shaking.

“As of now, both her and the baby are stable. She was going into labor, but we managed to stop the process. We want the baby to stay in the womb as long as possible, because premature babies are always very vunerable. At eight months, the chances are of course good that the baby would make it, but we still prefer that it stays where it is. Do you have any questions, anything at all?”

“Can I see her?”

The doctor smiled. “She asked for you to come. We do suggest that you go in one at a time though, because she needs her peace and quiet. She’s in room 11 D, down that hallway. Here’s my card, if you need anything, or have any questions, don’t hesitate to call.”

Nick looked at Jo, the color was returning to his face. “Do you mind?”

Jo smiled and took his hand. “Of course not. I’ll see her after you’ve been in there. We can go grab a coffee down at the cafeteria or something.”


With a weak smile on his face, Nick kissed her on the cheek and rushed through the hallway. Alex took Jo’s hand and led her through the hallway in the other direction, following the signs towards the cafeteria.

“Quite a scare, this.”

Jo let out a deep sigh. “Yeah. I don’t think I’ve ever been more afraid ever. And I really mean EVER. What I went through has nothing on this.”

“That says a lot about you, you know that?” He looked at her, with love shining through his eyes.

“How so?”

“You care more for everyone else in your life than you do for yourself. It’s an amazing thing, it really is. You gotta watch out though. You deserve to be put first sometimes too, you know?”

Jo shrugged. “Maybe. But that’s a hard thing for me, putting myself before others. I’ve never done it before, and I don’t know how I can start now. It’s just not my style, I guess.”

Alex stopped, still holding her hand tight which made her stop too. “I’m so glad I’m marrying you. I’ll always put you first.” When she laughed and looked away, he grabbed her face gently by the chin and forced her to look in his eyes. “I mean it. Since the day you set foot in my life, you’ve been my number one priority, and I will do my all to keep it that way. I swear.”

She looked in his eyes, feeling tears well up in her own. “I know. God, I love you.”

“I love you too.” He pulled her close and kissed her softly. Applause interrupted them and made them jump. Two elderly ladies sitting in wheelchairs looking at a TV in the hallway had let their attention wander from the soap they were watching, and turned it to the two young people, and they were now applauding and wiping tears from their cheeks. One of them rolled a bit closer and took Jo’s hand. “He’s a keeper, that one, mark my words. Don’t let him get away.”

Jo smiled at the woman. “I won’t. I’ll never ever let him go.”

“That’s my girl,” the lady said and rolled back to her friend. As Jo and Alex kept walking, they could hear the ladies sighing deeply, and retelling the story of the two kids in love to a newcome blue-haired lady. They just smiled at each other, clutching their hands tighter together.


Two coffees and a shared brownie later, Nick came down to the cafeteria, smiling ear to ear. “They’re okay. My girls are okay! Oh god, they’re gonna be fine!” He collapsed onto a chair in a hysterical mix of giggles and tears. Jo gave him a hug.

“Of course they are! I’m going up there. Did she ask for anything?”

“She wanted some chocolate, she got a craving.” Nick wiped his cheeks with a napkin as Alex left the table to get a coffee for him. When he came back he had bought a chocolate bar for Lina as well, and Jo took it and went for the elevator.


Carefully Jo opened the door to room 11 D and peeked in, waving the chocolate bar. Lina was sitting in bed with a smile on her face.

“Oh, chocolate!”

“Yup, heard you craved some.”

“You’ve got no idea!” Lina ripped the paper open and took a big bite. Jo sat down and told the story of the old ladies. Lina laughed.

As she finished, Jo fell silent for awhile, then looked at Lina and asked: “So, what happened? And how are you feeling?”

“I don’t know exactly what happened. They were talking about my placenta, and it sounds disgusting, so I just kinda shut my ears, you know. But I’m put on bedrest until the baby comes. Can you imagine that? Bedrest! Me!”

“Uh, yeah, I can. You have to, Lina, for the baby.”

“I know. But I hate not being able to move around.”

“Oh really now? I hadn’t noticed.” The sarcasm in Jo’s voice was obvious.

“Don’t be like that. I’m pregnant!”

“Really? Oh gee, I hadn’t noticed.”

“You’re just repeating yourself now.”

“Really? Oh gee, I hadn’t noticed.” Jo laughed.

Lina stuck her tongue out and made a face at her, but couldn’t help but laugh too. “You wanna know a secret?”

“Yeah, what?”

“I don’t think the labor stopped. It just took a break. I’m having contractions.”

“What?” Jo looked skeptically at her. Lina had never been good at handling pain. When she was little she fell off a couch while they were playing, and fainted, only because she was so scared that it was going to hurt. So the thought of her friend hiding contractions made Jo laugh.

“Don’t bring up the couch-incident. I’m serious. Come on, put your hand on my stomach.” She pulled down the blanket that had covered her stomach. “There should be another one in... NOW!” She breathed through clenched teeth.

Jo put her hand on Lina’s stomach, but she didn’t need to. She could see, as well as feel, how the belly cramped underneath the robe that Lina was wearing. She flung her other hand out pressing the alarm button, and before she knew it there was an entire team of nurses and doctors in the room. There was no time for hesitation. Jo rushed out the door and towards the cafeteria to get Nick. He just couldn’t miss this. He couldn’t.