She begins taking slow, deep breaths, and I glance over at her, studying the way she stands with her legs open, back crouched, and concentration etched over her pretty face. “How are you doing?” I ask, trying to keep her calm as the elevator starts moving.
Her breathing becomes labored as beads of sweat begin appearing on her forehead. “Not good,” she says honestly, looking as though she’s ready to start panicking “I feel like I need to push.”
Oh, crap.
“You’re going to be alright,” her husband says, soothing, his gaze nervously flicking to mine. “Just hold on a few more minutes, and we’ll get you in a bed where you can push and scream to your heart’s content.”
She shoots a wicked glare at her husband, and as he catches her eye, a massive smirk cuts across his handsome face. “Just you wait, Asher Mayson. The second we get into that birthing suite; you’re going to wish that you had kept your running commentary to yourself today.”
I smother a laugh, trying to keep professional, but they’re the kind of couple that you can’t help but enjoy being around. Tears of pain spring to her eyes as another contraction tears through her. Asher leans into his wife and presses a kiss to her forehead, giving her all the comfort in the world. “Whatcha going to do about it?” he teases, his lips pulling into a grin against her clammy skin.
She rolls her eyes. “I’ll tell July that you’ve been mean to her momma and all kinds of hell will rain down over you.”
Asher’s eyes bug out of his head. “You wouldn’t,” he gasps just as the elevator comes to a jolting stop, sending the small confined space into darkness and making me throw out my arms to catch myself before I slam into the walls and make an Autumn shaped imprint.
The woman sucks in a pained breath. “What the hell’s going on?” she shrieks, the panic clear in her tone.
Asher moves around the elevator, pulling out his phone and turning on the flashlight app. He glances over the buttons of the elevator and presses the emergency call button three times but gets nothing in response. “It’s probably just a power outage from the storm,” he explains, somehow also managing to calm my racing nerves. “The back-up generators should kick in soon.”
While his words are soothing to me, they do absolutely nothing for his wife, who braces herself against the wall of the elevator. “DO SOMETHING,” she demands. “I’m not about to push this baby out in some shitty elevator.”
“You won’t,” he promises as a pained scream tears through her.
I step into her side as she glances up at Asher with tears in her eyes. “I can’t hold on much longer. It hurts too much. I need to push.”
“You’re doing great,” I tell her, taking her hand and allowing her to drop her weight on me in support. “This is one of the best hospitals in the state. The generator will power on any second and we’ll be up on that maternity ward in no time.”
She groans low, the contraction taking it’s damn time to work itself through her body. She starts shaking her head. “I can’t … I … It hurts too much.”
“You’ve done this three times before,” I remind her. “You’re superwoman. You can do it again.”
She drops her weight against the wall of the elevator as Asher begins pacing in frustration, the seconds ticking by with no sign of power. My nerves take over, fearing more and more that I’m about to experience my first delivery on the floor of the darkened elevator, without a clue what I’m doing.
I mean, sure. In theory, I know what I’m doing. But reading about it and seeing it in movies isn’t the same as experiencing it first hand. The pages of every single textbook I’ve ever read start filtering through my mind, only it all goes blank the second her hand slips inside her old, baggy sweatpants and her eyes go wide.
She sucks in a sharp gaze, meeting her husband’s stare. “She’s coming,” she panics, tears heavy in her eyes as her chest rises and falls with rapid movements. “I can feel her head.”
Oh, no, no, no. This isn’t good. This can’t be my first impression here. What if I fuck it up? What if I do something wrong? I wanted to build up to this moment. I wanted to deliver a baby with the guidance of one of the incredible doctors here, but clearly, this baby has other plans.
I glance back at the doors. They’re still not opening.
“Fuck,” Asher says, rushing into his wife’s side. “Are you sure?”
“AM I SURE?” she screeches. “Yes, I’m fucking sure. The baby is coming—NOW!”
Fuck … FUCK. What am I supposed to do?
Both Asher and the woman stare at me for guidance, and I swallow back my fears, letting out a slow breath. This baby is coming whether or not I’m ready to deliver it.
Snap into it, Autumn. You can do this.
“Okay, umm …” I look up at the man. “Take your shirt off and lay it on the ground then help me get her to the floor. We’re going to have to deliver this baby.”
He moves like lightning, stripping his shirt off and laying it on the floor so that his wife has somewhere just a little more comfortable and cleaner to lie on. Asher scoops her up in his strong arms, not needing my assistance in the least, and drops down to one knee before gently laying her down. He moves in behind her to keep her body propped up and then looks at me for guidance.
Crap.
I meet her panicked stare as I reach for the waistband of her sweatpants. “I’m going to take these off,” I warn her, though I’m sure that my intentions were already perfectly clear, but you know, consent and all that.
She nods viciously as my fingers curl around the sweatpants and I start drawing them down her legs, only to get my first real glimpse of her crowning baby. “I’m November,” she says with a pant, meeting my eyes. “I figured if you’re going to be feeling around my coochie, we better be on a first-name basis.”
I can’t help but grin as Asher adjusts himself with his phone so that I can see what I’m doing just a little bit better and as the light shines down brightly on her vagina, I see just how right she was. This baby is coming, and it’s coming now.
I look back up and give her a warm smile before tossing my handbag toward her husband. “Ahhh, a woman with my same low standards. I love it. Though for the record, maybe next time you could buy me dinner first before throwing second base on me like this.” She laughs, and it seems to relax her just a little bit, so I indicate to my bag by her husband’s side. “Can you go through that and find my phone? We’re going to need as much light as possible.”
He doesn’t hesitate, and I focus on November, only the more I take in everything before me, the more my nerves seem to fly. “Why do you look like you’re about to shit your pants?” November asks me.
I meet her eyes, swallowing past the lump in my throat and ignoring the way my palms seem to sweat. “I’m going to be real with you,” I start. “Today is my first day in the midwifery training program and my first day at this hospital. I’ve never done this before, but I promise you, I won’t let you down.”