Free Moments In Time: A Collection of Short Fiction by Dominic K. Alexander, Kahlen Aymes, Daryl Banner, C.C. Brown, Chelsea Camaron, Karina Halle, Lisa M. Harley, Nicole Jacquelyn, Sophie Monroe, Amber Lynn Natusch Page A

was the only guy who was supposed to be in my wife’s pussy, and here was this dickhead, feeling her up. I wanted to wipe that smile right off his face.
    “Cassie, you’re four centimeters and definitely in active labor. I’ll have the doctor come in to see you soon. In the meantime, I am going to place this monitor on your belly and get your IV started.”
    The corpsman took care of everything he had to do, but Cassie was still clamming up in excruciating pain. The doctor who was supposed to come and see her still hadn’t made his way into the room, and Cassie’s pain was tearing me apart. There was no reason she should have been lying there so long with no help in sight.
    Finally there was a knock on the door, making me jump to my feet in anticipation of some relief for Cassie.
    “Hey. We’re here,” Nat said, walking through the door with Cassie’s best friend, Dalton.
    It was nice that they were here to support Cassie, but my anger was ready to fucking blow. I charged out of the room and headed straight for the nurses’ station.
    “My wife had been in there in pain forever. When is someone going to come and see her?”
    “What room is your wife in, sir?”
    “Room six.”
    The nurse, a petite brunette, typed something into the computer before looking up smiling at me with a mouthful of braces. “Commander Johnson is the OB on the floor today, and she’s on her way to your wife’s room. Give her a couple more minutes.”
    “My wife is damn near dying in there,” I said through gritted teeth. “We’ve been waiting long enough.” Trying to rein in my emotions, I turned around and stalked back to Cassie’s room.
    When I returned, Dalton was sitting in the chair closest to the bed, holding Cassie’s hand as she grimaced and screamed her way through another ungodly contraction. With every scream, a piece of me died. I had no idea the level of pain that she was experiencing, but my heart hurt at the thought of it. I wanted to ease her pain, but I couldn’t. I wanted to wipe away her tears but they just kept coming.
    Finally, there was a knock on the door and the doctor stepped into the room. She looked young as hell, not quite what I had in mind.
    “Hello, Lance Corporal Cruz. I’m Commander Johnson. I’ll be delivering your baby today. How are you feeling?”
    I wanted to snatch this chick up by her hair and scream in her fucking face to take one guess as to how Cassie was feeling. Her shrill screams could be heard up and down this labor and delivery floor, so that was a stupid-ass question to ask her, given the circumstances.
    Commander Johnson sat at the edge of the bed and once again, someone had their fucking fingers up in my wife. Cassie took in a sharp breath, panting it out in quick little spurts. Loose hairs stuck to her sweat-coated forehead as she held firmly to my hand on one side and Dalton’s on the other.
    “Lance Corporal—”
    “Just Cassie,” I corrected her. This was no time for formalities. I wanted Cassie to be seen and treated as any other woman who came in to have a baby.
    “Cassie, you’re now five centimeters. Would you like anything for the pain?”
    Yes!” I blurted out, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. “She’s practically dying. What are the options?”
    “Alex! I can speak,” Cassie blurted out, shooting me some vicious eye daggers.
    “I know, babe. But I—”
    “I can speak.” Cassie turned to the doctor and calmly replied, “I’d like to get an epidural.”
    Commander Johnson smiled. “I’ll send the anesthesiologist right in.”
    When she left the room, I pulled up a chair and sat down, looking down on Cassie with concern. “Blondie. That epidural thing is a big fucking needle. You can get something in that IV, can’t you? Isn’t that what they told us in those classes?”
    “Alex! I can’t deal with this pain any longer. I haven’t slept well in weeks, and I’m just physically tired. The epidural is my best bet.”
    “She’ll