The contraction had eased, but my whole body stayed tense.
“Alright,” Masters said gently, “let’s get this in before the next one hits. Elena, I need you to sit up on the edge of the bed and round your back like a cat.”
I nodded, already moving. “I know.”
Tori helped swing my legs over the side of the bed, her hand steady on my arm. I shifted to the edge and curled forward, arms around my knees, chin to chest—just like I’d learned in med school and seen a hundred times during my OB rotation.
Knowing didn’t make it easier.
Didn’t make the fear go away.
Didn’t stop the twist in my gut at the thought of a catheter threaded between vertebrae into the epidural space.
“Lean forward just a little more,” Tori said. I’d been the one at the bedside so many times. This time, I was the one gripping the sheets.
Chase hovered close by, looking equal parts terrified and useless. “Can I…?” he asked, hands half-raised.
“Stand in front of me,” I said quickly, voice tighter than I meant. “Just—let me hold on.”
He was there in an instant, arms bracketing mine as I leaned into him. His shirt was soft and warm against my forehead.
“I got you,” he whispered. “Right here, Sweetness. Just breathe.”
The antiseptic smell hit first, cold and clinical. Then came the sting of the numbing shot. My shoulders flinched. The real pressure followed—deep, invasive, wrong in every way.
I clutched Chase’s forearms and held still.
“Almost there,” Masters murmured. “Just a little more…”
Chase kept whispering to me. Nonsense, mostly—pet names and praise and jokes that didn’t land—but I latched on to the sound of his voice, let it anchor me.
And then it was done.
“Catheter’s in place,” Masters said. “You can lie back.”
I eased down with Tori’s help, letting my head rest against the pillow, limbs buzzing with a mix of adrenaline and relief.
Chase wiped a tear from my cheek with his thumb. “You okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Just… I’ve seen that done a million times. It hits different when it’s you.”
Chase brushed my hair back and just looked at me for a beat—like he couldn’t believe I was real. “You’re doing so good, Elena. I’m so fucking proud of you.”
I squeezed his hand. “Stay close?”
“Anything you need.”
Chapter Forty-Four
CHASE
Now, March 2025
Elena was therefor me in my hardest moments. I’d vowed to always be there for her during hers.
But,damn, she was squeezing my hand really fucking hard.
“Okay, Elena, big push,” Tori coached from the foot of the bed.
