Page 141 of The Last Man on Earth
“No! Fuck.”
Someone comes up behind me and covers me with a blanket, but I’m too busy watching Vincent and staring at the little thing that just came out of me. Why isn’t she crying?
He wipes her face, then turns her over and back up again. “She’s not crying!”
“Pat her on the back. Firm pats. Make her mad.”
He does what she says. One pat. Two. Three. And then the air fills with the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.
“Thank you, Jesus,” Vincent whispers. “She’s crying.”
“I hear it,” Dr. Ellery says. “Congratulations, Mom and Dad! We have some strong lungs over there. Now, wrap her in something dry.”
“She’s in my shirt.”
“Okay, put her against Ariana’s chest to keep her warm.”
“I got her,” says a voice I don’t recognize, and then I’m being hoisted into the backseat next to JR, who promptly bursts into tears.
It’s chaos.
The stranger wraps the blanket around the front of me, then Vincent hands me our baby. The tears burst out of me then, and now we’re all crying.
“Vincent, you need to clamp the cord. Do you have string or shoelaces? Something that’s as clean as possible.”
His Jordans are already in his hand. He yanks the laces out and says, “Got it.”
“Tie it about six inches from the baby’s belly, then another tie two inches below that. Don’t cut anything until the paramedics arrive.”
He does exactly what she says, his hands steady and precise.
Sirens wail in the distance.
“I hear the sirens,” Dr. Ellery says. “Keep me on the line until you’re in the ambulance.”
Vincent leans over and kisses my forehead. “You did it, baby. I’m so proud of you.”
I’m too weak to speak, but I give him a small smile as I stare at the squalling little girl in my arms. She’s absolutely perfect.
The paramedics take over swiftly, cutting the cord, checking vitals, wrapping our daughter in a warm blanket. Vincent refuses to let go of my hand as they lift us onto the stretcher.
“I’ll meet you there,” he whispers. “I love you.”
As much as he doesn’t want to, he has to let me go.
Through the ambulance window, I stare at the cloudless sky and think about how ironic it is that I was deathly afraid of giving birth on the island only to wind up giving birth on the side of the road.
But I did it, and Vincent got me through it. Just like he got me through life out there.
I close my eyes and smile.
I wasn’t sure it was in the cards for me, but here I am with a full house.
Chapter 65
Epilogue
6 months later…
