Play Softly (The Devil's Share Book 4) Read Online Free

about to put a needle in your spine.”
    My eyes flicked to his and then back to Dr. Jones. “Thank you for coming. I’m just really exhausted and cranky.”
    He nodded and then he and his nurse started their well-rehearsed dance of setting up and getting me ready. “Lexi, my nurse is going to check you one more time before we do your epidural.”
    I let my head fall back against the bed. “You need to stick your hand up into my body one more time, before you get me numb? Sure. Seems logical.” Why wouldn’t you do something uncomfortable before you get me out of pain? The nurse came over and sat on the foot of my bed, lifting the sheets.
    Luke stood. “I think I should probably go…”
    I reached out and grabbed his hand. “You leave now and you’ll see what’s happening down there.” I gestured to the end of the bed and squeezed his hand tight.
    Dash was down there with his face close to the nurse’s; he seemed amazed at what she was doing. His eyes narrowed as he looked down at his own hand, confused. Luke wrinkled his nose. “What’s wrong with your fiancé?”
    I rolled my eyes. “You don’t want to know.” Dash was becoming curious about the concept of fisting.
    “Okay, what we need now is for Lexi to sit on the edge on the bed. Dad, you sit in that chair right there and help her stay still. You think you can do that? She has to stay completely still.” Dr. Jones was talking as he was suiting up.
    Dash nodded and sat down in front of me. “Yeah I can do that.” He looked at me with a nervous smile and took my hands in his. Luke winked at me then left the room. I didn’t blame him. I was glad I wasn’t in a position to see the needle.
    I leaned my head on Dash’s shoulder, more than ready to do whatever was necessary to feel some relief. I had my eyes closed and I was concentrating on staying calm and still, just deep breaths in and out. Very zen. Until I noticed the shaking. “Dash. Are you kidding me right now?”
    “What? What’s wrong?”
    “You’re bouncing your feet,” I whisper yelled. “I’m about to have a needle in my spine and your job is to help me be motionless. Stop. Moving.”
    “Oh. Sorry. I didn’t realize I was doing that. I’m nervous.” He kissed my cheek.
    He’s nervous? For freaking real?
    “Dad, are you sure you’re okay to do this? I really can’t have Lexi shift at all for about sixty seconds.” I could feel something cold being rubbed on my spine, but I couldn’t see anything.
    “Yeah. I’m good now.”
    I closed my eyes, tight. I took two deep breaths in and out, and it was done. I guess in comparison to constant contractions, epidurals were a cakewalk. It took another few minutes for them to get me repositioned and back in bed. And then my new favorite person, Dr. Jones, instructed me to try to get some rest.
    Which I did.
    For all of five minutes.
    Then every alarm in the room starting going off at the same time. Nurses came pouring in, barking orders, and rolling me over on my side. I had no idea what was going on, but instantly I started to cry. Two nurses were moving cords around, repositioning me like I was a rag doll. Dash had been shoved out of the way and an oxygen mask had been placed on my face. It was total anarchy and it was terrifying. After a couple more seconds the alarms quieted and the nurses seemed to relax.
    “Okay, Lexi, I need you to try to calm down now. The baby is fine.” Nurse number one was right in front of me. I sort of hated her for some reason. “But if you keep acting like this, you could put her back in distress.”
    Acting like this? “Maybe I’d be able calm down if someone would tell me what the hell just happened.” I tried to roll back over onto my back, and nurse number two put her hand out to stop me.
    Nurse number one rolled her eyes. Yep, I definitely wanted to punch her. “It’s not a big deal. The epidural made your blood pressure drop, which made the baby’s heart rate drop. It’s pretty common.