Pam's eyes shot open and she blew out a long deep breath. The time on the alarm clock read 5:15. Her dream seemed so vivid and real. She was soaked with sweat and her robe was wet underneath her.
Oh my God. Did I wet the bed? She reached down and felt the soaked terrycloth. Great. First morning sickness and then heartburn, backache and sore boobs. Now I'm wetting myself. Perfect.
“Ugh,” she grunted as she sat up. A gush of liquid spilled out from between her legs and Pam froze. Her eyes grew wide and her heartbeat quickened in her chest. She gathered the back of her robe through her legs and made her way to the bathroom. As she positioned herself on the toilet, she tried to make sense of what was happening.
Okay...okay...what did they say? If I do a Kegel and the flow stops, it's just pee.
She attempted to stop the flow of water, but it continued to trickle down.
Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.
“Jim...Jiiii-mmm!...JIIIII-MM!!!!!!”
Jim stumbled into the doorway of the bathroom and hung on to the door frame to balance himself upright.
“What? What's going on?” he said panting with his eyes squinting against the bright light of the bathroom.
“Um...,” her voice shook, “I think...I think my water broke?”
“What?”
“My water broke. It's going all over and I wet the bed and it's...it's everywhere.”
Jim was still half asleep and could not fully comprehend what was happening. He let go of the door frame and held up his hands as if he was trying to push away the information that was hurdling towards him.
“Okay...hold on, hold on...what could this mean?”
“It means I think I'm in labor and my water broke and I think the baby is coming and I...I...”
Jim snapped out of his sleepy haze and rushed to her side.
“Huh...whooo...okay...are you feeling any contractions?”
“Ummm...no, I don't think so. I just woke up and I was all wet...God Jim,” her voice quivered. “I still have 5 weeks. This is too early...what's happening?”
“Okay, Beesly?” Jim held her hands and locked eyes with her. “We'll go to the hospital and they can tell us what's going on, all right?”
Pam nodded as tears slipped down her cheeks.
“All right,” he stood up and ran his hands through his hair. “You go get dressed, I'll get some things organized and then we'll go...okay? You good?”
“Yeah...yeah...okay,” she said as she bit down on her bottom lip. “I'll just go get dressed.”
Pam stood in their bedroom, mentally trying to focus on what she needed to do. She couldn't think about the baby or the water running down her thighs or the million things that could go wrong. Right now, all she had to think about was getting dressed. As she shakily slipped on each article of clothing, she made a mental checklist in her head to make sure she wouldn't forget anything.
Okay, underwear...on...pants...yep...bra...bra...where is my bra? It's so damn big I shouldn't be able to miss it...ahh, okay, there it is. T-shirt...good and hoodie...all right, now socks.
She gingerly walked over to the bed to sit down and put on her socks and Jim breezed through the door just as she finished sliding the last sock over her heel.
“All right, I called your mom. She wanted to meet us at the hospital, but I told her to hold off and we'll let her know what's going on. I left a message on the machine at work to tell them we won't be in today--”
A look of fear crossed Pam's face. “You didn't tell them I was in labor, did you?”
“Well, yeah, I told them your water broke and we're going to the hospital.”
She rolled her eyes.
“What? It isn't a secret, is it?”
“No, but now Michael will know and I don't want him at the hospital or in my room or anywhere near me.”
Jim shook his head. “Look, don't worry about that. I will take care of Michael. Let's just focus on getting you to the hospital. Okay?”
He slowly guided her downstairs and they stepped outside the front door into the cool morning air. Ink blue and slate gray clouds streaked across the sky and the air was calm and quiet. Jim carefully directed her around to the passenger side of the car and eased her into her seat.
“Oh shit, I forgot my wallet. Hold on, I'll be right back.”
He ran into the house and Pam sat alone in the silent car. Her mind started to race and the shock of what was happening began to take hold and unravel her. All of the fears and worries that she had for the baby hit her all at once. Her body began to tingle and tremble. By the time Jim returned and opened the driver's side door and positioned himself behind the wheel, she was shaking and sobbing and clutching the door handle so tight that her knuckles were white.
“Hey, hey,” Jim pulled her into an embrace across the gear shift and stroked her hair. “C'mon. It's okay. Shhhh...” He pulled back and wiped her tears away with his thumb, cupped each side of her face and spoke in a strong, calm voice.
“Look at me. Pam. You can do this. I am going to be with you every step of the way. Everything is going to be okay.”
She looked into his eyes. They were dark and wide in the ill-lit car. These were eyes that knew her and loved her and and believed in her. She searched his eyes and allowed them to calm and soothe her. Pam drew in a quivering breath and nodded.
“All right,” he said as he placed a quick but tender kiss on her lips. “Let's go,”
Jim started the car, pulled out ont the street and drove into the dawn.
