Free Guarding Me by Megan Slayer

Maya’s shoulder.
    “This is boring,” he whispered. Anything to take his mind off the bloody Caesarian section being performed on the video.
    “Not the most exciting thing I’ve ever done.” She squeezed his thigh. “I’ll make it up to you later.”
    “Oh, yeah?” He couldn’t wait to hear her answer. Sex wasn’t out of the question—not yet. He glanced over at her. Maya winced again. He’d noticed her suppressing groans all day. “Babe.” He leaned closer to her. “Are you okay? The color keeps draining from your face.”
    “Feels like the baby wants to pop out, but it’s too early,” she bit out. She closed her eyes. “I feel like I’m going to explode.”
    Levi turned his attention to the screen, then back to Maya. Could be Braxton Hicks. He checked the time on his watch. 15:46, or 7:46 in the civilian world. The more the nurse talked, the more Levi paid attention to Maya. She blew out a couple of long breaths and gripped his leg tighter, then released. He looked at the time. 8:03. Hmm. Not ten minutes apart. He tapped his foot on the floor. Natalie’s kids both came early.
    “Do I have any questions at this point?” the nurse asked. She smiled. “We do have quite a few first-time parents here.”
    “Yeah,” Levi piped up. “I think my fiancée is going into labor.”
    “No.” Maya shook her head.
    “I’m pretty sure you are,” he replied.
    “I meant, no, my water just broke.” Fear flashed in Maya’s eyes. “Help me?”
    Levi’s instincts took over. “What’s the next step from here?” He hated to sound so gruff with the nurse, but he couldn’t handle the terror in Maya’s voice.
    “Here’s a chair.” The nurse, Molly, steered the wheelchair to where Maya sat. “Things are going to be fine. Babies have a tendency to want to show up at the most inopportune times, but you have nothing to worry about.”
    Maya hesitated before leaving her chair. “I made a mess.”
    “Not the first time that’s happened.” Molly grinned. “Everything here is easily cleaned. Nothing to worry about.” She spoke into her radio, then her gaze vacillated between Levi and Maya. “How close together are the contractions?”
    “They might be false labor,” Maya said. “They aren’t close together.”
    “Honey, if your water broke, then it’s time.” Levi massaged the back of her neck. “A little less than fifteen minutes apart.”
    “How’d you know?” Maya snapped.
    “I watch and listen.” He glanced at his watch once more. “The last one was about ten minutes ago, so if they are indeed fifteen minutes, then the next one should hit in a minute or two.”
    “Great.” Molly steered Maya to the door. “Oh, good. You’re here.” She spoke in hushed tones with another nurse, then continued wheeling Maya down the hall. “We’ll go straight up to the birthing ward. Mr. Court, I’ll have you go to registration.”
    “I don’t want to miss anything,” he protested.
    Maya handed him her wallet. “All my info is in there on a card. I’ll try not to start without you.” She offered him a weak smile. “But hurry.”
    Levi nodded. The soldier in him took over. He hurried to the first floor to the registration desk. He read off her information like he was orchestrating planes through the sky. Thank God she’d given the hospital written permission for him to sign her in. He filled out form after form, inputting information over and over. Christ. How many pieces of paper were there? Wasn’t this country supposed to be going paperless?
    “Okay, Mr. Court, you’re set. Here’s your band.” The receptionist wrapped a wristband around his wrist, then pointed to the main bank of elevators. “You know where the birthing floor is?”
    “I do.” He didn’t give her a chance to say anything else before he sprinted to the stairs. No way in hell he’d miss the most special moment of his life. Common sense told him Maya would never have the baby in a matter of forty-five minutes.