I'm so excited! Lola is back!! Relief ~ Lola Part 45 ~ Prompt: meat and gravy

freedomtowrite (65)in #freewrite • 5 years ago

Part 44

As she rocked back and forth trying to regain control of her heart rate, determined not to have a panic attack, her stomach tightened, and small sharp twinge stabbed at her side. Her breath stopped. She held very still as sweat perforated her brow. Her belly relaxed for a moment, then spasmed again.

“It’s okay,” she said to herself. “I’m sure this is normal for 25 weeks.” She took a long inhale followed by a slow exhale. Then the pain came back again.

Lola heard footsteps rustling just outside her door.

“Mom?” Lola tried.

Her mom pushed open the door slightly holding a bag of chips. “Lola, these are terrible, you gotta taste it," she laughed. "Honey?”

“Something’s wrong,” she said as tears filled the brim of her eyes.

Lola's eyes flitted open to the bright lights of the hospital room. She felt the all too familiar feel of tubes running from the crook of her elbow up to the the IV. She took a deep breath and immediately regretted it as the smell of cleaners burned her nose.

"You're awake!" Her Aunt Myra, wearing the brightest orange skirt and mismatched floral top, set down her crossword puzzle and walked briskly to her bedside.

"You gave us quite the scare! There I was, knee deep in the petunias when Charlie comes running out, you remember Charlie, handsome man I met down there at the skating rink? Anyway, he came running out with the phone saying your mother had called and you were in the hospital again! So I came as fast as I could, straight away! Well, I had to change out of soiled britches, I didn't think they would let me in like that! The first thing I could find was this! Don't tell Charlie though...but this was a gift from Bill last year. Do you remember Bill? Oh that doesn't matter!" She gave a cheerful laugh. Then her face turned serious.

"They said it was stress, sweetie - what brought you here, all those cramps. Praise Jesus they weren't real contractions! They thought it might be best for you to sleep here, just for observation."

Lola tried to force her mind to be more awake, but she was having trouble.

"The baby," she whispered with sudden realization. "She's going to be okay." Unexpected joy seeped through her.

"Oh sweet child, she is!" Aunt Myra stooped down and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "I'll tell you what, you get some rest and I will get back to that crossword. There will be plenty of time to talk later." A sheet of paper beside Lola caught her attention, and she picked it up. "Meat and gravy? That's what they're serving you later? I'll go pick you up something good." She winked, and gave her hand a squeeze.

📃A special note to the readers📃

It's been eight months since Part 44! I'm really excited to see where this story goes, and finish it with an ending it deserves! So much has changed here on Steemit, so although I'm nervous about creating more of this story, I hope you all enjoy it and it finds you well!

If you would like to start from the beginning to see a fuller picture, I've linked all the parts below! And thank you to all my readers!