Amore - Part 2

Cold sweat trickles down my forehead. My legs are up in stirrups. Mama stands beside me, clutching my hand. The lights blur my vision and my back aches. Everything in my body feels sore, tired, and worn out. I’m exhausted. I can’t stop. My eyes flick to my left. Mama is staring down at me, her mouth in a tight line, her eyes bloodshot. She’s tired, too.“Keep going, Julietta,” the midwife calls to me, her hands at the ready.“You’re going to be just fine,” Mama soothes, lifting her hand and rubbing a cool towel over my clammy forehead.“Push!” yells the stout middle-aged midwife.I bare down and push. Pain unlike anything I’ve ever felt in my entire life explodes through my body, clutching my mid-section like a vice. It hurts. It hurts so much. Probably as much as my numb and broken heart. I heave, spittle flying from my mouth. My screams echo through the room, but there is only one thought in my mind.Please. “Push,” she cries again.Please. God. Please.“We have a head.”Please. “One more big push.”