'Push! Don't push. Pant! » Her head was spinning and the room was spinning. The floor faced the ceiling. Samuel heard the commotion. "My sweetie!" My baby! The pained voice cried out. He rushed up the stairs like a frightened animal smelling of death. "Valarie, Valarie." Her echoing voice kicked him in the chest. A few seconds passed but it seemed like an eternity before he reached his wife. Cold sweat covered her body as she huddled tighter than a fist on the floor in the corner. He wondered if he was dying as terror gripped him and he crawled on his hands and knees and took her into his arms. She felt his warm breath. Sign of life! Her heart thanked God. He sat cradling her as only her heartbeat spoke. Fear filled the corners of his eyes. The night passed. Valarie's sounds had long since lost their voice. His blank eyes stared beyond sight as both bodies merged into a mass of broken pieces. Samuel took Valarie to bed. Samuel was very upset by what had happened. He couldn't reconcile her adamant not wanting a child and her moans of pain for a child. His soul was restless and troubled. He was confused and lost. A few days had passed and Valarie was still in bed. Samuel felt horrified. He needed to clear up the confusion and so he approached her shyly. But as he approached he looked at the limp, lifeless body in the bed. He held her, but where she so often recoiled from his touch, he now allowed it. She didn't have the strength to push him away, even if she wanted to. He could see that his mind was absent from the room. He wanted to be there for her and for her to be there. He wanted to feel what she was feeling. But in the meantime he would be content with what he had. He s......middle of paper......ds of the child crowded his thoughts. The suction of the child's hunger caught his attention, activating his mind. He walked around for a while, anxiety rising from his forehead. He finally stopped and parked in front of a store. He paused as his body slumped onto the steering wheel. Samuel found his courage as his heavy footsteps and pounding heart approached the shop door. The sound of the door opening amplified as he pushed his trembling body against it. With trembling hands she grabbed the baby's essentials. He fumbled with the counter as the money fell from his hands. The cashier asked him if he was okay. He nodded, unable to speak, as his trembling hands exchanged the money for milk, diapers, and the baby's clothes. Samuel quickly left the shop and walked away, wiping the sweat from his forehead. When he reached home he hurriedly entered the house.