Emerging Compassions

Chapter 37: Adding Injury to Labor Pains...

(Cindy's POV)

The feeling of being in labor can be compared to the feeling of turning inside-out or being split in half from the general waist area upward, and that's what being in labor felt like to me that day. It couldn't have happened on a worse day, which was the day we were scheduled to have our graduation ceremony.

"Cindy, are you okay? ?" Carl wanted to know, concerned.

With a huge strain in my voice as I tried to ride through the intense pain I was experiencing, I snapped, "Do I look okay, Llama-Boy? ! I'm in LABOR, here! ! !" I looked over at Libby and saw that she was in similar pain to mine. Her contractions had forced her to sit right where she stood, straining immensely hard against it. With the both of us going through the same thing, I understood how she felt... I felt another intense contraction, then it finally subsided for the time being. "Whew! They're finished, at least for now...," I muttered, breathing a sigh of relief.

Libby groaned immensely, straining under the pain and pressure, then breathed a sigh of relief as her contractions seemed to subside for the moment, saying as she stood back up, "Phew, for the time bein', they're over..."

"Now...," I told them with a sigh of relief, "We oughtta start getting ready for our graduation ceremony! It starts at 7:30, so we have about 3 hours to prepare."

"I agree, Cin! Let's go!" Libby agreed, the 2 of us about to head to my place, but Jimmy stopped us

"Cindy, Libby, are you kidding me? ! !" Jimmy exclaimed in disbelief, "Your bodies need this time to prepare for the birth of your children! ! You've just had your first set of contractions, and they're bound to become progressively more frequent as time passes!"
Sheen nodded and added, "He makes a forceful argument..."

"Jimmy," I retorted, "I've waited my entire LIFE for this moment, and I am NOT about to pass up this glorious opportunity, labor pains or not! I'm not about to ruin my perfect attendance record, and that includes our graduation ceremony! !"

Emitting a sigh of defeat, he said, "Alright, Cindy, you win. But, as SOON as the ceremony's over, I'm escorting the both of you to the hospital! Are we clear? !"

"Crystal," the 2 of us chimed in unison. Then I put in, "Let's go prepare ourselves, shall we? Libs and I will head to my place, and the 3 of you boys will use Jimmy's place."

"Deal!" the 5 of us agreed in unison, heading in separate directions to opposite homes.

Libby and I then headed to my place to prepare for the ceremony. After we headed inside and as we were ascending the stairs towards my room, I groaned as another contraction made itself known, forcing me to grab the railing as I bent over under the pressure.

Libby turned around and asked, "Cin, are ya SURE you're okay? ?"

Righting myself after a few moments, I replied with a deep breath, "Whew... Yeah, I'm fine. That was just a little one..."

She just glared at me slightly and muttered, "For now..."

The 2 of us retreated the rest of the way to my room, then shut the door behind us.

Libby took a seat in one of my fluffy lounge chairs, then wanted to know, "So, ya got any fancy outfits fo' us to wear this evenin'?"

I gave her a wink and nodded, saying, "You bet, Libs!" I reassured her, opening my closet's folding doors to reveal its contents, then picked out the 2 dresses we each would wear that evening and laid them neatly on my bed.

Then, Libby suddenly hunched over and groaned again, complaining, "Oh, great... Another contraction..." A few moments later, it seemed to subside as she sat upright again. "It's gone for now...," she informed me, then took a look at the dresses I'd laid out and got all starry-eyed.

"Well, what do ya think?" I asked, hands on my hips.

"Oh, it's absolutely gorgeous! ! ! Lavender is TOTALLY my color, and I adore the decorative rhinestones! ! Thank goodness this came with spaghetti straps an' in maternity size!" Libby exclaimed, leaping from her seat, picking up the dress, and holding it up to herself while admiring herself in my full-length mirror.

"Well...," I suggested, "Why don't ya go try it on in my bathroom? I'll try on mine, as well." My dress was just like hers, except it was a deep hunter green and it had a little bit of a lime green lace trim just above the bust area and below the skirt's hemline at the ankles.

"Awesome! !" she squealed, and did just that while I changed into mine in my bedroom. She emerged right as I finished zipping mine up. We took one look at eachother and squealed with delight at how beautiful we looked.

When we caught our breath a few moments later, Libby put in, "Let's pick out our shoes now!"

"Do let's!" I agreed, and we each picked out open-toe stiletto heels that matched our dresses and large rhinestones adorning the toe area. I gasped and practically squeaked, "Oh, my gosh! SO CUTE! !"

"Let's do our hair an' make-up now!" Libby told me excitedly, so we both hurried into the bathroom and applied it to our faces, lipstick, blush, eye shadow, the like... I spritzed on some body glitter spray, strawberry-scented, to my neck, chest, temple, and cheek bone regions for good measure, as did Libby.

I first braided my ponytail into a few braids, then twisted them around to form a bun and secured it with a few large, sparkly green flower clips. Libby stuck with her classic look adorned with mini lavender butterfly clips. All that primping took a good 2 and a half hours since we had contractions every so often.

"Last, but not least, jewelry!" I announced, rushing over to my jewelry box with her and selecting green rhinestone themed jewelry while Libby chose some amethyst pieces.

We each grabbed our matching purses, each with lipstick and our cell phones, and my Eau d' Amino Acid perfume in mine for good measure, as we headed out of the house and waited for Jimmy to escort us to Lindbergh High School in his hovercar.

The boys emerged from Jimmy's place within minutes, and I had to admit, they looked pretty fashionable for a few nerds, but that hardly even covered the surface when it came to Jimmy... He donned a tuxedo, not unlike what he had worn at that fake wedding for Jet Fusion and Beautiful Gorgeous so many years ago, and his hair was slicked back just like the time we were kid newscasters. He was definitely a LOT hotter compared to back then! !

I snapped back to reality with a jolt, making me suddenly jump a bit, when I heard Jimmy ask of us, seated in his hovercar's driver's seat with Carl and Sheen, "So, Cindy, Libby, shall we head over to the school now?"

"Oh, yes, of course!" I managed to say as she and I climbed in, I choosing the seat right next to him. Out of the corner of my eye, I couldn't help but notice Libby rolling her eyes at me sarcastically.

"Are we all buckled in?" Jimmy wanted to know before we took off.

"We are, but Carl isn't," Sheen teased, poking Carl playfully.

"Ow! Be careful, Sheen!" he yelped, rubbing his shoulder, "And yes, I AM buckled up, Sheen! ! !" He then blew a strawberry at him for good measure.

"You 2 either settle down or I'll have your parents take you!" Jimmy scolded.

"Sorry...," the 2 boys muttered in unison, buckling themselves in like he, Libby, and I had already done.

"Good. Now, let's go," he told us, starting up his hovercar and taking us on our way.

It only took us 10 minutes at the most to reach our school, then he piloted the hovercar to the parking lot and settled into a parking space. We all got out and proceeded to head inside.

We were heading upstairs to the second level and towards the rooms where we'd prepare for the ceremony when I grabbed the railing and lurched forward again, yet again in the pains of another contraction. That time, it lasted almost a whole minute before I could catch my breath again. Jimmy took notice and questioned, concerned, "Are you SURE you still wanna go through with this, Cin? ?"

I caught my breath and stood straight up again, then remarked with a light scoff, "Jimmy, are you kidding me? ! Like I told ya before, I can handle myself, and I am NOT about to pass this up! ! !"

"If you say so, Cindy...," he said, but not without a stroke of intense concern in his tone of voice.

We then continued up the stairs to the second level of the school, then split into guys and girls as we headed to separate rooms to prepare for the ceremony.

When Libby and I arrived, we noticed that several more of our female classmates had gathered in the same room as us, putting the finishing touches on their hair, make-up, or anything else that needed last-minute primping.

Just before we headed down one of the hallways that connected the dressing rooms, guys and girls, to the auditorium where the graduation ceremony was taking place, I grabbed Britney's arm and snapped, "Britney Tenelli, a word? !"

"Uh, sure, Cindy...," she replied in an unsure tone, following me to where we were out of hearing range of the others. Then she added with a questionable look in her eyes, "What, like, IS it, Cindy? ?"

"Remember a couple weeks ago, when my friends and I finally got back from being missing for a couple months? SOMEONE started a rumor back then about Libby and me being sluts and the 2 of us sleeping around. Was that you? !" I hissed, tightly clutching my lime green pocketbook.

"Like, it was NOT me-," she began, but I didn't let her finish.

"Look, I KNOW it was you, cuz both you and Oleander are the school blabbermouths! Either admit it, or you'll be walking out of this school tied hand and foot with only your hair! ! !" I sneered, getting close to getting up IN her face. When it involves clearing things up about some rumor, I sure as heck don't mess around!

"Okay, OKAY, Cindy, jeez! !" Britney stammered, gently pushing me away from her, "Just get outta my, like, personal space, okay? ? I admit it; it was, like, me who started the rumor... Just don't hurt me! !"

I finally let go of her, satisfied that she'd admitted the truth to me. The 2 of us then joined the rest of the girls, and by then, they were already lined up alphabetically according to last name.

While waiting for my name to be called, I yet again felt another excruciating contraction, forcing me to bend over from the pain while clutching my protruding stomach. Britney obviously noticed my cries of pain, so she turned to face me and asked, taking one of my hands to support me, "Like, are you okay, Cindy? Do you, like, need to sit down?"

After an excruciating 5 minutes of labor pains, I stood upright again and informed her, "No, I'm fine now, Brit." I looked ahead of me and saw that they were all the way down to the "N's", with Jimmy accepting his diploma next.

This continued in an orderly fashion for the next 10 minutes until I heard my name being called by Principal Willoughby, me being one of the last students, with only Nissa Wellington, Carl Wheezer, and Ike Wolvermein still to accept theirs. I walked formally up to accept my diploma when I felt something wet. I knew immediately what had happened: my water had just broken and I had just started to go into true labor! With that, I walked quickly up to the principal, grabbed my diploma, then hurried offstage to the first 2 rows of seats and up to where Jimmy was already seated with Libby and Sheen not far off, breathing heavily.

"Is it time? !" he anxiously wanted to know.

"You bet! !" I told him as Carl was receiving his diploma. He apparently saw how much in pain I was, so he hurried down and joined us.

"We have GOT to get you to the hospital, STAT! !" Jimmy exclaimed, grabbing my arm and rushing me to the nearest exit, then down the stairs to the first floor with the others not far behind.

I was apparently running too fast in my stiletto heels, so on the last step to the first floor, I tripped and, since Jimmy was still clutching my arm, sent both of us flying forward and onto our stomachs. Thankfully, the floor below was carpeted and that softened the blow a bit.

"Ouch...," he muttered, rubbing his left forearm with his other hand, though it had the cast on it. He then sat up and looked over at me, saying while grabbing one of my arms and helping me up, "Cindy, are you alright? !"

Sitting completely upright, I stated, "I think so... I-" But when I tried to stand up, an intense pain flew through my right ankle as I put pressure on it. "YEOW! ! !" I yelped, the pain sending me back down onto my left knee with my right leg extended in front of me, "I think I just sprained it!"

Libby hurried over to me, being careful not to fall herself since she was also wearing stiletto heels, and knelt down beside me, asking while putting slight finger pressure on my ankle, "Does that hurt?"

I grimaced in pain as I replied, trying not to yell and attract attention, "Yes, OW! !" Then another familiar pain made itself known: another contraction, only that time I was in actual labor! I winced and groaned immensely, trying my hardest to fight the urge to push.

"It's sprained, all right! Let's get you to the hospital now!" Jimmy exclaimed, then added while picking me up, "Looks like I'll be carrying you since your ankle's sprained! Let's go, guys!"

With that, he whisked me off to the hovercar with the others not far behind. I just wrapped my arms around his neck gently while he rushed me over there. He then set me in the back of his hovercar, saying, "You'll do best in the back where there's more room for you to lay down. Sheen, you can take the front with me."

"Sweet! Shotgun! !" Sheen announced while clambering into the front passenger seat. Carl and Libby got in on either side of me and buckled themselves in, then Libby, being the awesome best friend she is, buckled me in, as well. Sheen and Jimmy were the last ones to buckle up, then he started it up and sent us outta there in a flash!

While on the way there, Libby gasped and looked down at her lap, then interjected hurriedly, "Neutron, ya better hurry up! My water just broke, too!"

I laid my arm around her shoulder and reassured her, straining against the urge to push, "Just hang in there, Libs. I'm sure we'll be just fine!"

"Hang in there, ladies! We're almost there!" Jimmy put in as we fast approached the hospital.