Waters of Oblivion

Chapter 36: The Delivery

Reine sighed. This certainly wasn't the definitive proof she wanted. She felt obligated to tell Max and Gabe the truth, but was this enough to warrant those conversations? And even if she delayed on that front, she had to talk to them about her own feelings.

Although the first task was daunting, it was the second she feared the most. She hadn't quite made a decision herself.

"Is my friend Noor here, too?" she asked Nancy, who had fetched a pair of rubber gloves and was pulling the curtain closed.

"Is she that cute little Middle Eastern girl?" The woman returned to her bedside, lifted the covers, and exposed Reine's lower half. "Let me just take out your Foley, and I'll find her for you."

Before Reine could negatively react to her last-second warning, Nancy had already finished the task. Snapping her gloves off and throwing everything in the bio-hazard bin, she pulled the curtain open just enough to reveal the door. "Are you sure it's the girl you want to see first?"

Reine nodded.

"Very well. Just give me a minute." The nurse disappeared from the room.

Reine strained her ears to try to hear what was going on just on the other side of the glass wall, but the only sound was that of her own breathing. She balled her fingers in frustration, but a sharp pain ran through her left hand in response. Looking down at the appendage resting at her side, she saw a thin, clear tube inserted into a vein on top. Affixed to her pale skin with tape, the catheter was previously connected to the intra-venous drip Nancy had already removed.

"I'm the worst friend in the whole world, screwing up your life at every turn," Noor said after she burst through the door and made a beeline to Reine's bedside. "And you still want to see me." She hugged her friend before abruptly pulling away. "You do want to see me, right? I mean, you didn't call me in here just to yell at you for getting you kidnapped."

Reine scoffed at the absurd statement. "What are you talking about?"

"I made you go to Switzerland. You wouldn't have been there if it wasn't for me." Noor began to sob. "Wescott couldn't have taken you so easily. You wouldn't have gone into early labor-"

"Sweetie, stop. You can't blame yourself for any of that, and what's done is done." She held out her arms for another embrace. "I'm so glad you're here."

"Me too," the girl whispered between sniffles. Straightening up, she wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. "Not here here because you know how much I hate hospitals, but with you. How are you feeling, Rennie?"

"Extremely mortal." She groaned, attempting to sit up again. "Every piece of me aches. Can you help me up?"

Noor gently grabbed her arm and assisted Reine with swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

"Oww," she let out a small whimper when the stitches on her abdomen began to stretch.

"What is it? Are you okay? Do you want to lie back down?" Noor's already large brown eyes widened at her friend's reaction.

Reine shook her head. "No. I need to get into the bathroom over there." She nodded toward the far side of the room where a door stood slightly ajar. Lowering her feet to the floor, she leaned on Noor for support. "If I look even as half bad as I feel, I'm going to need all of your help."

"No one cares about what you look like right now, Rennie. Not after all you've gone through." Noor slowly guided her across the linoleum floor, until Reine lost her balance. "Whoa, easy does it."

"I'm a bit dizzy." Reine took a deep breath. "Why am I having trouble walking?"

"I've only gotten the info second-hand, seeing as I'm neither your husband nor father of your children." The girl winked with a mischievous smile as they continued their way to the bathroom. "But apparently you went into cardiac arrest twice during delivery so the doctor put you into a medically induced coma for a bit."