That October Night

Chapter 37

"W-what....why are you here?"

"Well, I guess now it is." He answered his own question, taking the seat beside me. He immediately entangled his hand with mine. "I'm hurt you didn't tell me that you were leaving yourself. I know that you don't see me as much, but it's the least you could've done, Shorts."

I gulped. "You're supposed to be at school. Does your mother even know you're here?"

"That's not important right now. Why didn't you tell me?"

I looked around for answers that could only come from me. How could I tell him that I suddenly had feelings for him? As in I love him kinda feelings. It took me this long to finally figure this out, and I avoided him for this same reason without realizing it.

I yanked my hand out of his. "Well...I-"

Rudely, he hushed me with a finger to my lips. I eyed him with confusion, but he cocked his head to the side. "Mrs. Mitchell, what's wrong?"

I followed his gaze to my mother who was behind us with her hand on her waist. Her face was twisted in what seemed like pain. Before she had a chance to answer Raymond, she let out a terrifying yelp. Chris was next to her in seconds, and my father was on the verge of yelling along with her.

My mother was digging her nails into my father's skin, and he was trying his best to be a man about it.

"Sir, I'd like you to have a seat please," the flight attended said to Chris. "Were about to board in five minutes."

"Okay and? Can't you see my mother's clearly in pain? Stop the pilot. Get help. Do something," Chris barked.

My brother was the king at controlling his emotions but when it came to seeing any of us in trouble; that side of him always got tucked away.

"Let me deal with this, son," dad calmly said to Chris. My mother shrieked again. Dad dragged his attention to the flight attendant. "Miss, would you like it if I sued this airline? My wife is-"

His words got cut off by mom. "Honey now's not time. IS THERE A DOCTOR IN HERE? I NEED A DOCTOR ASAP!"

"Y-y-es mam," the flight attendant stuttered, dashing in the back. My mother was drenched in sweat in less than five minutes, her screams not assuring us at all. I was so afraid of the unknown that I started pulling on my hair and rocking in my seat. Raymond took a strong grip on me, pulling me into his chest.

"This is not what your mother needs right now, Shorts. Get a hold of yourself and console her in the best way that you can," he whispered to me.

Stunned, I blinked rapidly, my eyes searching his. He was serious and so freaking sexy right now. Determined, I wiped my eyes with the back of my hands and went to my mother's side. Whenever we traveled, I always carried a comforter with me and so I used that to put behind her back for support.

Support of what exactly? I don't know. All I knew was that she looked like she needed it there.

"That's my girl," Raymond encouraged proudly with a low whistle. Despite my hidden smile, I rolled my eyes at him.

The flight attendant came back with a well-dressed woman. Automatically, the woman excused us. Chris and I got out of the way, watching the woman drop to her knees. She inspected mom as if she knew exactly what she was doing.

"Hi. I'm Helen and I'm an RN. How long have you been feeling these pains and how much?" Helen went straight to the point, everything about her screaming professionalism. "I need you to take in deep breaths as you explain this to me."

My mother did as she was instructed. "I don't know. Like an hour ago? It wasn't as painful as now, so I thought it wasn't serious. It kept going and coming, but now the pain is increasing with even the slightest of movement."

Helen brightened at the flight attendant. "I'll need this area cleared out in less than three minutes. Family stays, everyone goes. She doesn't have much time."

The flight attended hastily alerted everyone to leave. Raymond was making his way to go too, but I stopped him. "Please stay."

I didn't know what Helen meant by 'she doesn't have much time' and that left me horrified. I needed Raymond more than ever. I took his hand, gently pulling him to sit back down. As expected, he obliged without a fuss.

"She's pregnant, isn't she?" Chris questioned, his question sounding more like a factual statement.

"You're a smart young man." Helen then went on instructing mom on what to do.

Chris flew his hands up in the air. "See? Nobody ever listens to me."

My mother laughed through the pain in disbelief. "I can't be pregnant. I've been seeing my period. I don't look pregnant. I don't feel pregnant. Wouldn't I have felt at least one kick?"

Helen smiled. "Nothing's impossible. You haven't felt your baby moving because it's possible that the placenta is in front of your baby. What you're experiencing is a medically cryptic pregnancy."

"My wife's really pregnant?" Dad was beaming but his expression dropped quickly. "Will our baby be alright?"

Chris and I exchanged looks. We knew all too well that he was referring to our brother who had died. We stayed close by long enough to hear the response of Helen. I began praying to God, this time with more faith than I've ever managed to muster up.

"Yes, he will."

With relief, I sighed into Raymond's chest. "Thank you, God," I whispered loud enough for myself to hear. "Thank you, God."