As soon as Zeke, Kai and Lucas arrived on the delivery room floor level of the hospital, the scene that welcomed them were two nurses trying to lead – or more like coax – Alex out of the delivery room. From what they saw, Alex was having none of it and was trying his best to be stubborn and adamant in keeping himself in that room.
Seeing that the nurses seemed to be having a hard time in getting him out, Kai rushed towards them.
"What’s going on?" Kai asked one of the nurses who was sporting an exasperated look while staring helplessly at Alex.
"Uhm. The patient in this room had requested for her husband to leave the room, sir." The nurse explained with a wry smile. "We also think it’s better for Mr. Qinn to wait outside." She then stepped closer to Kai and murmured in a low voice, "He is not helping his wife relax by being in there. In fact, we think he is stressing her out more..." Kai raised his brows as he turned to look at the nurse in surprise.
At that moment, they heard Abi’s pained voice and seeing how Alex’s reaction at what he had heard, Kai understood why the wife had given him the boot. A lopsided smile hung on his lips even as he immediately grabbed Alex by the upper arms and pulled him out – none too gently, in fact – and the nurses shot Kai looks of gratitude as they sighed in relief and ran to quickly close the door behind the two men.
Alex spluttered in protest as he was dragged backwards out of the room and still attempted to reach for the doorknob with his free hand to open it. However, Kai had anticipated that he would do that and was one step ahead of him as he pulled Alex back to the bench where the other two men were waiting silently. "Quit it, Alex. Didn’t Abi said that you don’t need to be there? Kelly’s already in there beside her to give emotional support. And you definitely aren’t helping at all especially with you being in your current crazed state. My god, just stay here and relax, will you? Jeez! And stop acting so crazy. Abi’s not the first lady to ever give birth in this hospital. The doctors and nurses know what they’re doing." Kai told him, exasperated. Before Abi was wheeled into the delivery room a little while ago, she had told him not to accompany her in her delivery. Kai knew it was because Abi knew of Alex’s temper. She knew very well that her husband definitely could not take it seeing her in so much pain. And they were right.
When Kai heard that Zeke was coming, he had left Alex on this same bench and had told him to stay calm and wait right there. Did Alex force his way inside after Kai left and when he heard Abi’s scream as she was going through her labour contractions?
Letting out a sigh, Kai glanced over at Zeke who was standing there, looking at Alex with a deadpan face.
"Ah, Zeke is here now. So don’t worry anymore and just calm down." Kai told Alex, hoping to distract the stressed out father-to-be. It seemed to have worked as Alex lifted his face to look at Zeke.
Zeke let out a quiet sigh and sat leisurely next to them. "I can’t believe you called me here for this." Zeke commented dryly with a subtle twinkle in his dark eyes and Alex immediately glared at him.
"Shut up. This is a serious matter, Zeke." Alex gritted his teeth angrily. His emotions were all over the place right now. He could not calm down at all, especially when he was hearing his wife’s screams of suffering right now. Each scream literally drove a sharp lance of pain into his heart, making feel as though he would lose his mind at any moment. However, he dared not do so as he was afraid that she would call for him in the event that she needed him to be by her side. The anticipation of his child coming into the world and the worry for Abi’s wellbeing made him so antsy and restless he did not know what to do with himself. If he were a lesser man, he would be wringing his fingers already!
"She’s an immortal, Alex. You know there is nothing bad that will happen to her –"
"That’s not the issue here. My wife’s in so much pain." Alex groaned as he dropped his head into his hands.
"That’s normal. All humans suffer like that when they give birth, I know you already know that."
Alex’s aura flared, angered at the unsympathetic and apathetic tone that Zeke is taking with him. Though he knew full well that child birthing was not something new, Alex usually do not even care anymore about Zeke’s usual emotionless responses but at this moment he could only flare up in anger.
Thankfully, they saw Andrew and Abi’s grandparents rushing over. Seeing that the ever so regal looking husband of their beloved granddaughter now looking so dishevelled and panicking like some fragile piece of glass, Abi’s grandma immediately approached him and held onto Alex’s hand. The firm but gentle grip from Abi’s grandma managed to lend some semblance of calm to Alex’s chaotic heart and mind.
"It’ll be alright, son." She smiled at him as she patted the top of his hand. "Do not worry, you know our Abi is a strong girl, right?" Her eyes twinkled comfortingly, helping Alex to breathe easier.
Somehow, Alex finally mellowed down. Kai let out a huge sigh of relief seeing him calm down and glanced at Zeke, shaking his head.
All of them then sat there in a comfortable silence and Alex stopped his nervous rambling. He sat there quietly, staying calmly in his seat. Kai offered to go with Alex to the roof top for a while so he could at least get a short reprieve from not hear Abi’s audible suffering. But Alex shook his head in refusal and then commence to just sit there unmoving like a statue. His hung his head down and stared at the floor as if in intense concentration.