Fighting the wind and rain, he attempted to shield his eyes and the droplets that felt more like shards of glass. It was to little avail. He should have grabbed his jacket from his truck, but he wasn’t thinking about anything besides helping Lauren. Now, a ways away from her Pathfinder, he worried she and the baby would be in distress if he didn’t return. He needed to get back to her, but he hadn’t found anybody that could help her yet. And he needed to help her.
A woman in a blue Corolla saw him approach her vehicle, and she rolled down her window slightly. “Is someone hurt?” she asked.
“A woman is in labor. She needs help delivering the baby. It’s coming now. Are you a doctor?”
She shook her head. “Midwife. I can help.”
“Oh thank fuck. This way.”
Nodding, she shut the lights off for her vehicle, reached for a bag from the back seat of her car and followed him through the cars, the wind and rain now at their backs, propelling them forward.
“Here, here,” he said, pointing to her gray Nissan. “She’s in the back seat.”
The midwife nodded. “Is she alone?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you comfortable staying to support her?”
No. But he’d do it anyway.
She didn’t wait for him to respond and opened the door. “Hi there. I’m a midwife, and I hear you’re having a baby in this storm.”
“Where’s Isaac?” Lauren shouted.
“I’m here, I’m here,” he said, poking his head around the midwife to see her.
“Can you climb into the back seat through the hatch and go support her?” the midwife asked. “Maybe let her sit up between your legs. Rub her shoulders and hips. Let her squeeze your hand.”
He nodded as the midwife climbed into the truck and shut the door.
Soaked through to his marrow and freezing, he knew he needed to get out of the rain, but he knocked back on the door before opening it. “I need to pull her vehicle off to the berm. Put her hazards on. Do the same for my truck. It’s not safe the way we are now.” Thank fuck his cop-sense was coming back. He was beginning to worry it might be gone for good.
Nodding, the midwife dropped the passenger seat the same way the driver’s seat was and Isaac shut the door, popped the driver’s seat back up and climbed behind the wheel.
“Might as well gimme your keys so I can pull your car off to the berm, too,” he said, turning over the ignition. “Not safe where it is now.”
The midwife made a “mhmm” sound in agreement and handed him her keys.
It took some finesse to pull over, as all vehicles were bumper to bumper, but eventually he managed, tossed on the hazard lights and shut off the Pathfinder. Then he went to do the same to his truck and the midwife’s car, finally calling 911 as he did so. They were dispatching an ambulance to the scene, but given the gridlock, they would be severely delayed.
It felt like forever until he was climbing into Lauren’s vehicle through the back. He was glad to finally be out of the rain but terrified about what was going to happen next. Closing the hatch door behind him, he helped Lauren up to a sitting position and scooted in behind her.
She was wet too, but that was probably from rain and sweat. Her forehead felt warm, and she was limp like a noodle as he maneuvered his body around hers.
The midwife perched on the folded-down driver’s seat and dug around in her bag. “All right, those were some big contractions. Do you think you can talk now?”
Lauren nodded.
“Good. My name is Nicki. What’s yours?” She snapped on some purple latex gloves.
“Lauren.”
“Hi, Lauren, nice to meet you. Now, while we’re between contractions, I’m going to ask you a few questions. Are you okay answering them?”
Lauren nodded.
“Great. How old are you, Lauren?”
“Thirty-two.”
“And how far along are you?”
“Forty weeks, five days.”
“Oh, so this little one is overdue. Your first?”
Lauren nodded again.
“And the father?”
“A guy I dated for a few months. He ran when I told him I was pregnant.”
“That fucker,” Isaac blurted out.
Nicki’s gentle gray eyes turned sad. “I’m sorry about that.”
Lauren opened her mouth to say something, but another contraction came on first, and she wailed and groaned in Isaac’s arms, her body twisting, face contorting in pain. The midwife was staring at her watch.
When Lauren finally relaxed, Nicki lifted her gaze. “And they’ve been like that for a while now?”
Lauren nodded. “My water only just broke like thirty minutes ago. Contractions started right after that. But they’ve been long and intense.”
“We’ve been timing them,” said either Bianca or Celeste from the phone. “They’re three minutes apart and lasting for a minute.”
Nicki put a stethoscope into her ears and placed it on Lauren’s belly. “Friends?”
Lauren nodded.
“How has your pregnancy been? Any concerns throughout?”
Lauren shook her head. “No. Doctors say I’m healthy. Baby is healthy. I was GBS negative.”
What the fuck was GBS? Was it a good thing she was negative?
“Good. No need for penicillin.” Nicki went quiet and stoic for a moment as she listened to the baby in Lauren’s belly. “Heartbeat sounds good. I have my doppler too if this didn’t work, but I can hear the heartbeat just fine.”
Nicki pulled a blood pressure cuff from her bag, wrapped it around Lauren’s arm, inflated it, pressed the stethoscope to the inside of Lauren’s elbow and stared at her watch again as the cuff deflated.
Nodding, the midwife removed the cuff and stowed it back in her bag. “Blood pressure is normal. That’s good.”
“I had a stretch and sweep earlier today,” Lauren said, her hands rubbing over the top of her belly. “Doctor said I was only two centimeters and hard as a carrot.”
“Yes, well, that can change at the drop of a hat. And since you had the procedure, that probably got things moving.”
What the fuck was a stretch and sweep? Hard as a carrot? Did he want to know what that meant? Probably not. He could only imagine, and that image did not sit well in his brain.
“We need to remove your pants so I can take a look,” the midwife said. “Are you okay with that?”
Lauren nodded. “Whatever. I …” But just like before, she couldn’t get the words out before the contraction hit her hard.
Isaac had no clue what to do. He placed his hands on her shoulders and massaged, but like hell if he knew if he was doing any good.
When the contraction ended, Nicki helped Lauren remove her pants and underwear. She was wearing a long gray tunic dress thing, so at least she was able to keep her modesty.
Not bothering to look between Lauren’s legs, Nicki put her hand beneath her dress.
“You’re nine centimeters, Lauren. I can feel the head. This baby is coming now. How do you feel?”
“Like my body is going to be split in two,” Lauren whimpered, her head slumping to the side and against Isaac’s shoulder. “I’m already so tired.”