“Child Bride?” The concerned and somewhat surprised voice came from the general vicinity of the living room. “Where are you?”
“Mal? I’m in the bathroom off the main bedroom.”
Heavy footsteps rushed up the hallway toward me as I wiped the sweat off my face and wrapped my robe a little tighter. I thought a hot shower would help, and it had for a while. I stood in there with the spray on my back. Now, however, everything sucked to the extreme.
The drummer stuck his blond head around the doorway, and his eyes went wide. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know.” And I was done. Guess it was the knowledge I was no longer alone. I burst into tears. “I-I think it’s a kidney stone, maybe. Or just really bad period cramps.”
“Shit.”
“Call an ambulance.”
“Yes. Right. On it,” he said, pulling his cell out of one of the pockets in his battered black leather jacket. “Yes, hello, my friend is in real bad pain. She thinks it’s a kidney stone or period cramps.” He listened for a moment before putting his cell on speaker, turning to me. “She’s in her late twenties. Ev, describe the pain. When did it start and stuff like that?”
“Um. I had this weird back pain all day while I was working at the café. Then I came home to pack and it just got worse and worse.” I stopped to suck in a deep breath, staring up at the ceiling, trying to hold myself together. “I keep needing to sit on the toilet. Like I want to push something out, but nothing’s coming out. And the cramps or whatever they keep coming in like waves, closer and closer together. They’re really bad.”
“Ma’am,” said the voice over the cell. “How far apart are the cramps?”
“Every minute or so now.” Which was when another ripped through me. “God…fuck!”
“Pre-existing conditions?”
Unable to speak, I shook my head.
“She says no,” added Mal.
“An ambulance is on the way,” said the voice.
“Thanks.” Mal hung up and tossed the cell aside while I cried some more, clutching at my middle. The usually cool and comedic drummer’s eyes were wide and panicked. “What can I do to help?”
I opened my mouth wide and yelled. Nothing else would do. My body was tearing itself in two. Slowly, gradually, the pain eased again, and I could think straight for a minute. “Thank God you’re here. Why are you here, by the way?”
“Had to come to town for a last minute solo promo thing last night. Plus Anne wanted me to check out a kindergarten she likes for Tommy. Figured I’d catch the jet back to Nashville with you in time for the concert tomorrow. Nothing like catching a red eye across the country.”
“Oh.”
“You weren’t answering your cell, but the doorman said you were in. Thought you must have been asleep,” he explained. “I was going to wake you, make sure you didn’t miss the flight.”
I nodded tiredly.
“I better call Dave.”
“No,” I panted. “Wait until we know what’s wrong. I don’t want him to worry. Hopefully the paramedics can give me something, then everything will be fine. Maybe we can still make the concert.”
He gave me a look of much disbelief.
“Sorry about the TMI.”
“Like that matters.” He snorted. “My bedside manner is excellent. I could have been a doctor.”
“You could not have been a doctor.”
“A great doctor,” he continued, ignoring me. “And a brilliant surgeon.”
“Dave says you can barely manage holding two sticks at the same time.”
“A genius one, really. Probably would have cured everything by now.”
“Stop,” I said with a weary smile. “Don’t make me laugh, I don’t have the energy.”
“Sorry.”
The pain struck me again, and I screamed bloody murder. Mal nearly fell over backwards. It would have been funny if I weren’t possibly dying.
Suddenly, my body wanted to push, and I just gave in and did as directed. Nothing in my life had ever felt like this. It was excruciating.
But the weird and awesome thing was something shifted inside me. We were maybe getting somewhere, and oh thank fuck for that. I yelled and pushed and strained with my toes curled and every muscle in my legs and lower abdomen putting in effort. The pain slowly eased again. Just a little. But it kind of felt like it was always there lurking low, near the base of my spine.
“Breathe,” ordered Mal, his face tense.
I nodded and panted some more. At least I wasn’t alone anymore. Alone had been scary.
“Is this normal for a kidney stone?” he asked.
“No idea.”
Then he grabbed a white towel off the wall and stuffed it below my lower body. “The bath mat’s wet.”
Whatever.
He leaned to the side. “Shit. Ev, the liquid looks all reddish and pink. Think I better have a look and see if you’re bleeding.”
“Okay.”
“Neither of us want this, but…”
“Just do it.”
He gently pushed my knees wide apart and froze. “Ah, Ev?”