Page 104 of Lily In The Valley
“Now’s not the time, Khalil. Bring Zay. Now. Vanessa’s in labor. The baby’s coming.”
“What? Hold on, I can’t hear you.”Fuck. I had to work double time to keep myself calm so Vanessa wouldn’t panic more. I heard Khalil shuffle in the background. A car door slammed, then the engine started.
“Kelly, you on speaker. What did you say?”
“Nessa’s eight centimeters dilated,” Nessa howled in the background as another contraction pushed through.
“Kelly, that was two minutes,” Nyah said, staying focused. Lynn held Karter out of the way.
“Khalil, I don’t give a fuck about how many speed zones you break, get me home to my babies,” Xavier urged through the speaker.
“Hurry, Khalil. This is moving too fast.”
“On my way.”
I hung up and turned to Nyah. “Grab towels. Boil water if you have to. Just keep the room calm.”
“I got you,” she said, moving like a soldier.
Vanessa’s breaths came fast and shallow.
“I can’t,” she whispered between breaths.
“Yes, you can,” I said, wiping her brow. “You are. Youaredoing it.”
The front doorflew open twenty minutes later.
Khalil and Zay rushed in, eyes wide.
“She’s in here!” Nyah called.
Zay dropped to his knees next to Vanessa. “Baby, I’m here.”
“I hate you,” she groaned as another contraction hit her. “I’m so scared, Zay.” Xavier moved to sit behind her, supporting her back against his chest. He took a towel from Nyah and wiped her face.
Khalil came to my side by the kitchen sink. I was on my final scrub of antibacterial soap I found under a cabinet in the guest room.
“Need me?”
I didn’t look up.
“I’m scared,” I whispered. “What if I mess something up? That’s not just a patient. That’s my best friend. They already lost one child. I can’t be responsible for another.”
He touched my shoulder.
“I don’t want to hear that right now. You are one of the best doctors around. There’s nobody more capable of delivering this baby. You’re Dr. Reid. Bad ass doctor that can do whatever. You tell us what you need. We got you. I got you. You hear me?”
His voice anchored me. Deep. Certain. I nodded my head and took a deep breath, exhaling as I walked back over to Vanessa.
Just as Vanessa gritted through another contraction, turning Xavier’s hands a ghostly shade of purple, Lynn opened the door and two paramedics rushed in, red kits slung over their shoulders.
“Who’s the patient?” one of them asked.
“Over here,” I called from the floor, gloves on, hands steady despite the tremble in my heart. They knelt beside me. One reached for Vanessa’s wrist to check her pulse.
“She’s fully dilated,” I said. “The baby’s crowning. I’ve already checked for prolapsed cord and abnormal positioning. No signs of rupture. Vitals are elevated but stable. We don’t have time for transport. This baby is coming now.”
The other medic glanced down. “You a doctor?”
