"Your Dying... But I love you..." - (Chapter 200 onwards)

Chapter 304 - "24 Hours...?'

Chapter 304 - "24 Hours...?'

Clara's PoV

Getting to the hospital was all a bit of a whirlwind and a very long 20 minute drive at half past 3am.

John was panicking the entire time and he wasn't even here.

He's in a different bloody country so he's absolutely no use to anyone right now.

'How many weeks is she?' The receptionist asked.

'Clara?' Jane asked turning to look at me.

'34 weeks and 6 days. 35 weeks tomorrow' I muttered nervously. It was kind of that moment where I was waiting for something to happen.

Having had the one pain and then my waters breaking... I was kind of waiting for the moment when the pain would be back.

'And your waters broke when?'

'Two hours ago. I mean I feel fine' I shrugged. 'But obviously I don't want to ignore it' I said as David strolled in with my bag having parked the car.

I felt kind of sorry for David because I had barely gotten or been bothered to get to know him over the four years I was dating John and I feel kind of bad about that now - considering how good he's being about all this.

'Nope. We'll send you up the maternity ward. They'll be a nurse and some midwives to meet you there' she smiled pointing the way.

It was upstairs - of course - which didn't surprise me, but it was the same hospital that I had got stuck on that very lift so there was no way I was going to be getting in that.

'You can't seriously expect to go up two floors of stairs Clara? We'll be here all fricken day'

'Well I ain't getting stuck in that damn lift again. I ain't having this baby in a lift. Better to be safe than sorry' I mumbled bracing myself and climbing the stairs.

Despite my stubbornness, I managed to get up the stairs and to the maternity ward quite simply, but was definitely looking for somewhere comfortable to sit when I got there.

'Earlier than I expected Clara, but come on through and we'll see what's happening' Alex smiled.

- - -

'Has anyone called my Dad?' I asked when I was finally sitting down and situated in the room.

Alex had seemed quite concerned that my waters had broken already and we were just waiting for a scan to see what's happening.

She had handed me a horrible hospital gown that I really didn't want to wear because my butt would be hanging out, but she did point out that anywhere below my waist and a baby will be hanging out very soon.

'Yeah. I told him you were in labour but your not in labour yet so there's no point panicking. He gets here when he gets here' she assured.

Alex cleared everyone out the room of course when she came in and ran a scan and a few other tests.

The most uncomfortable tests of my life.

I had a pretty bad feeling about this. I mean I don't want to delay if it's going to harm her but I also don't want her to be born if she's not ready.

'And you say you've had no contractions?'

'No. Sorry. I mean there was that one pain but then my waters broke 30 minutes later. Since then no pain at all really. Except my back'

'Well she's certainly ready. You probably felt her move?'

'I had a bath last night and she stopped moving yeah. She was in an uncomfortable position for me but I wouldn't have noticed she was facing down' I shrugged.

'She was adjusting herself for labour. That's for certain. She's facing down but I don't think she's ready quite yet... She looks pretty healthy for 35 weeks. I can't see any need to induce you yet' she smiled strapping a monitor to my stomach and measuring her heartbeat.

'So is she okay?'

'She's fine. Healthy heartbeat and just preparing herself. We'll wait 24 hours from when your waters broke, and if you haven't started having contractions by then we'll induce. Your two centimetres dilated for now. But it could be a while yet'

'Meaning?'

'Well force labour. If she's ready it's more dangerous to leave her in than out. If there are any complications there's more we can do for her out here than in there' she smiled assuringly but somehow the only thing that comforted me was 24 hours.

'So John can get here? He's in Spain but on a flight home in 2 hours. I just need him to be here'

'As long as it's safe for you and the baby then that's fine. I want to keep an eye on your blood pressure, and we'll keep a close eye on baby's heartbeat. If anything changes we'll know about it... My advice for now is try going back to sleep. When labour kicks in you won't be getting any of that' she chuckled.

- - -

'And your okay? Have you actually had any contractions?' He asked as I had explained everything to him.

He was literally on board the plane and trying to have an argument with the air hostess about keeping in contact.

'John. I'm fine. And she said 24 hours. She's said that's good because it means I would have hit the 35 weeks mark and she'll be a little better off' I said assuring him.

'But I'm on a plane. That's three hours where I can't know what's happening' he mumbled as I heard the hostess hissing at him.

'Sir. You must terminate your call and hang up now. We take off in 10 minutes'

'My ex-Girlfriend is currently In labour in London' he snapped back.

'John don't be rude. I promise if anything happens you'll be made aware of it as soon as you land' I sighed.

'No having her until I'm there' he snapped down the phone.

'Call me when you land' I said smiling at the door wishing he could be here but knew he was on his way and that there was nothing else that could be done.

I hung up and stared into space for a moment.

I needed space and time to think.

It was all happening so fast. I should have had at least 5 more weeks to be thinking about all this, but now it looks like I only have 24 hours to think it all through logistically and realistically.