Strictly Professional

65: Five A.M.

ELLE
Never Say Never-The Fray

Everything happened so quick, it was almost a blur. One minute, we were laying in bed, the next, I was sitting there trying to get our doctor on the phone while Niall ran around like a maniac, trying to pack a hospital bag. I hadn't packed one yet. I didn't think I needed to. I was seven months. I had two more to go. My water wasn't supposed to break yet. I didn't understand what was happening, and I was scared. I was terrified, nervous and completely unprepared. The nursery wasn't even done yet, we were missing so much stuff we had to buy. We didn't even have a carseat.

I tried compiling a mental list of things we needed to do after labor while Niall drove us to the hospital. I needed something to occupy my mind, make me forget about the negative thoughts that I denied even acknowledging and distract me from the contractions. They weren't that bad yet, about ten minutes apart each since I began timing them. But there was no mistaking that I was in labor. The baby was coming sooner than any of us expected, and there was nothing we could do about it.

I was nervous, but Niall was an absolute wreck. His hands were shaking, his face red and his ability to talk steadily or clearly gone. I've never seen him look so anxious or terrified. His knuckles were white as he drove, constantly looking around every side and corner as he exceeded the speed limit. His chest was heaving, cold sweat coating his forehead.

"It's too early for this. We were supposed to have two more months." He muttered to himself, nibbling on his bottom lip. I nodded, my throat completely dry as I kept both palms onto my bump. We both had this fear in our heads, but neither of us wanted to admit it out loud.

"My mother. We should get my mother here to help us." He mostly talked to himself, trying to get his phone out of his pocket while he kept driving. He handed it over to me, right after, his hand incredibly unsteady as he did so.

"Call Tara. Put her on speaker."

"Ni, it's five A.M." I kept my voice gentle, not wanting to worsen his panicking state.

"Just call her, please." Sighing in defeat, I did as he asked, calling her and holding the phone up as it rang. She answered in a groggy tone, clearly interrupted from being asleep. Niall asked her to arrange for him mother to fly to London as soon as possible, catching her off guard by how rushed his words were. She caught on that something was wrong and I took over the call, quickly explaining that we were on our way to the hospital. Shocked, she wished us luck and reassured us that she'd do everything she could to help before the call ended. Tara wasn't technically working for Niall anymore, at least not in the position of his personal assistant. But we still kept in touch and even met up with her and her husband from time to time.

Just when I put the phone down, I felt another contraction. This one was a lot stronger than any other I had so far, making me wince in pain. I pressed my head on the seat behind me, pinching my eyes shut and gritting my teeth as I went through it. I tried to count the seconds in my head to keep track, but I lost count after a while.

"Breathe Ellie." For the first time in a while, Niall's voice sounded calm and soothing. I took in a deep breath and released it from my nose, feeling the pain going away slowly. Once it was over, I opened my eyes and looked at him.

"Was that worse?" He asked, glancing between me and the road with evident concern on his face. I nodded, continuing to take deep breaths.

"A little."

"It came sooner too. Eight minutes from the previous one." He was back to acting panicked at that realisation, looking behind him to change lanes and overtake the car in front of us.