Page 16 of Blizzard Babies
“A car spun out in front of me, and I went off the highway,” she says. “We landed in a ditch not too far from here. I don’t know how far, exactly, since I walked.”
“I’m coming to find you,” I say hurriedly. “Stay where you are.”
I pull up the address she gave me and am glad to see it’s less than a tenth of a mile away. I go in the direction the GPS pointed, and finally see her standing on the front porch of a small house across from the strip mall, waving frantically.
If she’s okay, Laurel is too, I tell myself.
“Hi.” I join her on the porch and give her a hug. “Glad you’re okay. Do you remember where you left the car?”
“That way.” She points. “I’m not a hundred percent sure it’s directly that way, but you can see my footsteps for now.”
“I’m going to try to follow. You should stay here.”
She looks conflicted. “Yes, but?—”
“I know, hon. I know you want to help, but it’s better for me to go alone.”
She finally nods, and I squeeze her arm before running back in the direction of the snowmobile.
My only goal now is to find my wife as quickly as possible.
I really don’t want our daughter to be born on the front seat of an SUV in the middle of nowhere, without medical assistance.
Of course, I’m not quite sure how I’m going to get my very pregnant wife to a hospital either. If they weren’t able to drive the SUV out of wherever they were, I don’t think I can put a woman in labor on the back of my snowmobile either.
Christ, this is a clusterfuck.
I need help but don’t know who to call.
An ambulance won’t be able to drive in these conditions, but maybe a fire truck can? I don’t know any firefighters personally and calling 911 will be difficult since I can’t give them a location.
I’m going to have to find them first and then make a decision.
Just as I restart the snowmobile, a flash of red catches my eye.
“Oh, thank fuck,” I mutter to myself. Then I gun the engine and take off after the fire truck.
Chapter 9
Laurel
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine giving birth in a car, but my little girl already has a mind of her own. She’s crowning, and I’m stretched out in the front seat of Charli’s SUV, leaning back as far as I can go, trying to push her out.
And it hurts like a motherfucker too.
Gage is getting snipped the minute we get out of this because this natural childbirth stuff is bullshit.
I’m more worried about the baby than myself, though.
We have no way to cut the cord and without cell service, we can’t even look up what to do. Thank goodness Sara has a good amount of medical experience from her time as a vet tech. It isn’t the same, but a lot of the science classes are, and she’s also first aid certified.
“You’re going to have to push,” Sara says softly, meeting my gaze. “We can’t hold off any longer. Whether Charli found help or not, she’s here, Laurel. I see her head and a whole lot of dark hair.”
“Maybe I should go look for Charli,” Whitney suggests.
“No!” Sara and I snap in unison.
“Okay, okay.” Whitney chuckles. “I’m just scared.”
