I snickered. “Arsehole.”
He grinned at us.
“I’d jump this counter and wring your neck if I wasn’t so excited,” Bronagh said, bouncing from foot to foot. “Which room is Branna in?”
“Number one,” Ash answered. “Sally is in there with her and so is Taylor; she’s doin’ beautifully. She’s already dilated to eight centimetres.”
Ash barely finished his sentence before Bronagh squealed excitedly and ran towards room number one at the end of the corridor. I made no move to follow her; instead, I stared at the door of the room where Bronagh just vanished.
“You look scared.”
I looked back at Ash. “Just scared? Because I feel terrified.”
His lips twitched. “Have you never seen a baby being born?”
“Not in person, and I avoid it on the telly whenever I can,” I answered. “I wasn’t expectin’ to go into the room. I thought it would have been a private moment.”
“From what Branna tells me, you’re her family. You don’t get any more private than that.”
That made me smile.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “We’re a family.”
“Then get in there,” Ash encouraged. “The more support, the better, and it’s better you than me, to be honest. Bronagh can focus on Branna, and you can focus on Ryder. The man looks like he is going to drop any second.”
I nodded, swallowed, then turned and walked towards the room Bronagh disappeared into. When I reached the door, I knocked on it gently, and maybe two seconds went by before the door was pulled open, revealing a very distraught Ryder.
“Lana,” he said, relieved. “Get in here.”
He took my hand and pulled me into the room, closing the door behind us. Instantly, my eyes landed on Branna. She was on her hands and knees on her bed, her head down, and her hips swaying from side to side as she groaned. She was wearing a pretty pink nightdress, and her hair was pulled back into a tight French plait.
Bronagh was beside her, with her jacket and bag hung up on a rack across the room. She had her long-sleeved t-shirt rolled up to the elbows, and her hair was pushed behind her ears. Her attention was 100% on her sister as she roughly rubbed her lower spine. I noticed two women, one older and one younger, pattering around the room checking machines, checking on Branna, then chatting to one another like there wasn’t a woman in excruciating pain next to them.
I assumed them to be Sally and Taylor that Ash mentioned. I had heard Branna talking about them before, but I had never met them in person.
“You’ve got this, Bran,” I said to her, finding my voice. “You’re gonna be a mammy soon.”
Branna lifted her head, and though she was sweaty and red faced, she smiled at me as best as she could.
“I’m so happy about you and Damien, honey.”
My heart warmed. “Thanks, Bran.”
She lowered her head, and said, “’Ere comes another one.”
She moaned in pain, and Ryder, who still had hold of my hand, squeezed it.
“Hey,” I said, gaining his attention. “She’s goin’ to make you a daddy real soon, and she is goin’ to be perfectly okay.”
He bobbed his head, and I knew he was repeating what I had said over in his mind. He gave my hand another squeeze, then moved over to Branna’s right side. He kissed her cheek, head, then hunkered down beside her, grabbing her hand as she powered through a contraction.
She suddenly cried out in pain, and I jumped with fright.
“I really shouldn’t be ’ere for this,” I said to no one, my stomach tightening. “I think I’m gonna faint.”
Ash snickered as he entered the room, and that frightened me as well, which told me just how wound up I was. I focused on him.
“This room is over capacity, right?”
“Yes,” he answered with a twitch of his lips. “But Branna works here, so having extra people in with her is no problem.”
I frowned at the man. “You were supposed to agree with me, then escort me off this ward and to a waitin’ room.”
Ash rumbled with laughter. “My bad.”
I focused on my friend and so did Ash.
“You’re doing beautifully, babe,” he said to her. “You’re flying along.”
Branna groaned in response, and Ryder sort of glared at Ash, while Bronagh continued to rub her sister’s back and spoke words of encouragement to get her through the current contraction.
“She’s progressin’ like lightnin’,” the older woman, who I assumed to be Sally from what Branna had told me, beamed with pride. “Those twins will be ’ere within the hour, mark me words.”
Ryder looked like he was about to faint.
“Isn’t this happenin’ too fast?” I quizzed to Ash. “Shouldn’t she be in labour for hours? Me ma was in labour for twenty-seven hours before she had me, she said it’s the reason I’m an only child.”
“Every woman is different,” Ash answered with a one-shoulder shrug. “When I came on shift this morning, the woman who had been in labour for twelve hours when I left last night was still in her room labouring while another woman came in and left an hour later after having her baby.”