Old Friends

[XiaoLu]

"Just aimlessly, I guess? Thank you for staying." Yena murmured as she leaned against Andrew. Throughout the walk, she would have to stop frequently, either because of pain or to catch her breath. She had no idea what she would have done if Andrew hadn't been there for her. After this was all over, Yena would owe him a great deal. They walked for a couple of hours before Yena decided she had had enough and slowly made it back to her hospital room, where a nurse checked her again, telling Yena that she had dilated another two centimeters.

As her labor progressed into the evening, Yena settled down in a small ball of horrible pain and tried to relax, her nerves wearing down a little bit. With each hour, the contractions would get closer and longer, causing her to moan occasionally.

At the 2 am mark, not being able to endure the pain, she requested for sterile water injections. Sitting on the edge of the bed, slumped over, the nurse injected her lower spinal cord, causing a sharp stinging sensation with each needle making the young lady wince. Feeling the pain lighten up, Yena took the time to type out an email explaining the current situation before telling them piano classes would be canceled until further notice.

Towards 4 am, Yena had cold flushes, her whole body freezing to the touch as she shivered underneath the thin shift. "It hurts, Andrew." She cried, cheeks and eyes pink from crying and from frustration.

 

[Yatagarasu]

And so, Andrew walked aimlessly around the hospital building, but also made sure to pay attention to Yena, as she was still in a whole world of pain. He stopped every now and then to let Yena take a break. They kept strolling around the building until early dawn, when Yena wanted to get some sterile water injections, and couldn't endure the pain anymore. In the end, they both had to stop what they were doing and they both retreated back to Yena's room.

When Yena began to experience another level of agonising pain, Andrew immediately called for the nurses to come back to help his friend. At this point, he was already exhausted from everything that had happened today. I'm not even the one in labour and I'm tired as hell. However, he pretended that he was perfectly fine and stayed by Yena's side.

"Don't worry," Andrew reassured Yena, who was red from the tears that came out of her eyes. "I call the nurses and they will be here in no time at all."

 

[XiaoLu]

It felt like someone was squeezing all of her insides together as hard as they could for a full minute or as if she were being repeatedly stabbed. However her back had stopped hurting after the water injections, which came as a relief to Yena. The nurse hurried in before examining her again, "nine centimeters. You're almost there honey, you're doing amazing dear."

The nurse left for a quick moment before a doctor and a few midwives were sent in. Yena was shifted to her right side to help relieve any pain on her back and her left leg was lifted up. From the corner of her dark blue eyes, Yena could see a tray full of different tools and appliances that brought another edge of fear. Trying to listen to the doctors who were explaining what she needed to do. With the next contraction, Yena felt an overwhelming urge to push. Squeezing Andrew's hand, she gave it her all, a small cry of pain escaping her mouth.

This whole process repeated itself for the next two hours. She could tell by the atmosphere that the doctors were worried and there was the word "emergency c-section" being thrown around. Physically, she wanted to give up, her hair had been drenched in cold sweat, and the pain had reached an intolerable point. As a final resort, a nurse inserted a needle on Yena's hand, delivering a mild dosage of an induction drug to strengthen her contractions to help Yena along.

It took about fifteen minutes for the drug to set in and if Yena had thought the pain was bad before this, she hadn't felt anything. Her soft cries of pain soon filled the room as her upper body curled up into a ball of agony. A nurse messaged Yena's back and offered both comfort and reassurance, coaching her along. Within forty minutes of receiving the drug, she could feel a burning sensation with a push, and the midwife told Yena the baby's head had emerged and it wouldn't be long from then. The contractions barely gave her any time to take a break inbetween. Struggling for a breath, a scream escaped her mouth as she squeezed her eyes shut, her body taking over to do what it did most naturally. Bearing down hard, Yena moaned again, both hands holding onto Andrew's hand, before giving the baby a final push. The pain faded as quickly as it came, and Yena's head fell back onto her pillow as she struggled to breath. With her heart in her throat, she waited for the crying, hearing a moment of silence before shrill cries filled the room.

"It's a girl! Would the father like to cut the cord?" The midwife exclaimed as a nurse wiped the baby down before placing it underneath Yena's hospital gown and onto her bare chest for skin to skin contact. Tears streamed down Yena's cheeks as she watched her baby curled up onto her chest. Stroking her baby's body gently, she stared at the mop of dark brown hair that was so painstakingly familiar. "Arabella Cadence." She murmured kissing her daughter. "She's beautiful.."

After letting Yena hold the baby for a couple of minutes, the nurse took her, weighing her, "Nine pounds eight ounces! It's a wonder she didn't get stuck and you didn't tear!" Placing the baby back onto the mother's chest, "What name did you have in mind? You've got quite a tough one," the nurse smiled, directing her compliment to Andrew, mistaking him as the husband.

Too tired to correct the woman, "Arabella Cadence." The nurses were able to clean Yena up within a couple of minutes, transferring her to a different ward in the hospital. When she was settled down into the blankets, Yena facetimed her mother, since it would be about 7 pm in China currently. Leaning back against the hospital bed, which was raised into a sitting position, she barely had the energy to lift her head up or keep her eyelids open, after all, the young mother had been in labor for 18 hours and had eaten nothing but three spoonfuls of rice, an egg, and three cups of ice chips for the past twenty four hours.

Her mother picked up after the second ring, "I tried calling you twice, where did you go-" The question was cut off when her mother finally noticed Yena's surroundings, "What happened?"

Fighting to stay awake, Yena's eyelids fluttered a bit, "You're a grandmother now." The baby had started to breast feed and Yena angled the iphone to show her mother. "Andrew was with me the whole time.... I think we owe him a lifetime's supply of chocolates or something.. It wasn't a pretty sight."

"How long were you in labor?" Yena's mother asked, as she stared, shocked.

"About 18 hours or so?" Yena looked at Andrew for confirmation, "It started at about 1 o'clock yesterday when you were on the plane." Yena's head had started to droop as she began to loose the battle with sleep.

Her mother noticed quickly at her daughter's fatigue, "Can I talk to Andrew? You should sleep for now." Handing the phone to Andrew, Yena murmured a thanks before she fell completely asleep.

 

[Yatagarasu]

Andrew was too stunned to even comprehend what was happening. He was trying to get his mind organised, but Yena's painful screams kept interrupting his thoughts. Those shrieks alone were enough to cause all sorts of pain for him as well. He didn't even want to put himself inside Yena's shoes right now, as he obviously knew that giving birth wasn't exactly a pleasant experience all the way through. He allowed his childhood friend to grab onto both of his hands, although he quickly realised his mistake when she squeezed them as if her hands were clamps. Great, I can't free my hands. At this rate my hands are going to get crushed. After many hours-this wasn't an exaggeration-Yena finally let go of Andrew's hands, signalling that the baby had finally came out.

Instinctively, he pulled his hands back and shook them. He checked the clock to see the time. Holy crap 18 hours since she started going into labour. He then saw the baby being taken out from under the covers, and even he began to have some tears forming from his eyes.

Suddenly, the nurse offered him to cut the cord, as she thought he was the father of the newborn. "Sorry, b-but I'm not the father of the baby." Andrew let out a nervous chuckle, before taking a small step back.
"You can still cut the cord if you wish," the nurse replied, still offering the scissors to Andrew.
"...Alright." Andrew took the scissors from the nurse's hand, and then took a deep breath. Why am I cutting the cord? Then again, Yena's husband died before he can see his first daughter, so it should be fine right?

He then opened the scissors up and placed the sharps edges onto the umbilical cord, and snipped it, before giving the scissors back to the nurse. He then followed the others nurses as they transferred Yena into a different ward. He then immediately took a seat to take a rest from what had happened in the last couple of hours. He wanted to sleep, since he hadn't slept for a good day or so, and he was yawning every ten seconds. Since he was absolutely out of energy, Andrew didn't pay attention to the conversation that Yena was having with her mom, until Yena asked for confirmation for how long she was in labour, which indeed it was around 18 hours.

Afterwards, Andrew then took the phone from Yena's hands and facetimed with her mother. "Hi," Andrew greeted with a little hand wave, trying to cover up all evidence that he was tired. "You're a grandmother now! How awesome is that? But apparently, you would like to talk to me...What is it may I ask?"

 

[XiaoLu]

"Thank you for being there for her.. I don't think she would have been able to pull through if you weren't there... We owe you a lot." Yena's mother cried, "it's surreal.. I can't believe she had the baby. I just really wanted to thank you, Andrew." Tears streamed down the elder lady's face. "I'll let you guys sleep now, you two must be exhausted.. I'll try and book a ticket home tomorrow." Bidding her goodbyes and thanks, she hung up.

When her mother hung up, Yena stirred, blinking, "How's your hand?" A weak smile flickered onto her face signalling that she was teasing, "Would you like to sleep on the bed as well?" The bed was large enough that they could both fit comfortably. As Yena finished nursing, she placed Ara into the small crib beside her bed, which the nurse had placed there for her. Admiring her baby, she drank in the small cherub face, the tiny button nose, small lips, and tiny toes and fingers. The small white knit hat that had been stretched over Ara's head hide her dark curls. Her whole body was sore and the only thing she wanted to do was sink into the fluffy white pillow.

 

[Yatagarasu]

"No need to thank me," Andrew replied to Yena's mother. "I was just helping out a friend in need." He bid his goodbyes to the elder, before giving the phone back to Yena.

"My hands?" Andrew laughed, before shaking his hands again. "Yeah I'm still surprised that they are still completely intact." He joked, before admiring the newborn that were in the hands of Yena. Her cheeks are so...puffy. He kept looking at the newborn that was now in the crib, and was slightly intrigued, for no particular reason at all. Maybe it was just his paternal instincts kicking in.

Not so long after, Andrew remembered that he hadn't slept for a very long time, and another wave of fatigue washed over him. In the end, he gave up and decided to sleep next to Yena on the bed.