Page 45 of Healing Hazel
“It’s your turn,” Hazel said softly from beside me.
“Huh?” I asked, then shook my head. “Oh, right. My answer is easy. Women.”
“Obvious much?” Lawson quipped, then added, “Though I think you might want to change that to onewoman?”
I shook my head. “Now, that would be obvious as everyone knows I love that one woman.” I bent to kiss Hazel’s cheek. “But think about it. Without women none of us would be here. They are the ones who not only put up with us, a woman was responsible for birthing each of us. So, yes, I’m thankful for all women and especially those in this room who are going to soon be bringing the next generation of babies?—”
“Ohhhh—”
Every head turned to where one of those women had just groaned. Mira’s eyes were huge as she found her husband’s and then she looked across the expanse to where I was sitting. “I-I think I’m?—”
Her groan had me pushing back my chair and her next cry of pain had Wes rising so quickly, his chair fell over to crash to the floor. A single glance at his face told me my radar had been both right and wrong. Right in that Mira wasn’t going to reach her due date and wrong in that my estimate she might be just a week early. If the pool of liquid around her chair was any indication, her water had broken and if the tinge of color in that pool was accurate, she was in trouble.
Wes swept her up in his arms. “I’ve got you, baby,” he said, though with her next cry his eyes telegraphed the fact that while he was a doctor, he was a husband and expectant father first.
“Is there a bedroom?” Erika asked as she and Jared stepped forward.
“Yes!” Sadie said, rushing forward.
“No time,” I said, having reached Mira, my fingers on her pulse.
Quincy’s voice broke over the concerned rumble of others. “The clinic?”
I was once again calculating and shook my head. “No. Call for an ambulance. Tell them we’ll meet them on the highway.” Before stepping outside, I turned and found Beverly MacIntosh standing, ready to help. “Bev, call the hospital and inform them we’re on our way”—I dropped my voice—“tell them to have an operating room and neonatal team ready.”
Wes sat in the backseat with Mira spread across his and Hazel’s laps. Wes was constantly assuring her that he had her, that everything was going to be fine, just hold on. Hazel sat and held Mira’s hand, not even flinching as Mira’s fingers squeezed hers with every contraction that was coming far too close together.
Quincy had the bubble light on the roof already revolving as the Range Rover pulled out ahead of us. Derek had called ahead and the gates were already wide open, allowing us to proceed without pause. Lawson drove with complete concentration, though I knew part of him was thinking of his own impending fatherhood.
“Everything is going to be fine,” I reassured him, earning a curt nod. Leaving my brother to drive, and Wes to reassure his wife, I concentrated on the situation as a whole. “Pulse?”
“It’s thready so I can’t get a true reading,” Hazel said, looking up to meet my eyes. “But it’s rapid.”
I nodded, willing the truck to go faster. This was one of my biggest fears. Though babies had been born in caves, in fields, in millions of bedrooms in millions of homes with no issues, when it came to that birth that wasn’t following the rules, every cell in my body wished the hospital wasn’t fifty miles away. Still, I didn’t let my worry show. I reached over the seat to cover the women’s joined hands with my own.
“We’ve all got you, Mira.”
Her eyes opened, her fear obvious in her expression, but she nodded. “I-I know, but if something—” A moan cut her off, which Hazel immediately took advantage of.
“The only thing that is going to happen is that your baby will be in your arms a little earlier than expected,” she said with conviction.
I gave Hazel a nod. She might not yet have her nursing degree, but she already possessed the bed-side manner every future patient of hers would be grateful for.
Flashing lights alerted us to the ambulance’s presence before we even saw it. Topping a rise, we drew up next to it. Within moments, and despite Wes’ protests, I had Mira transferred from his arms to a gurney. When he tried to climb into the ambulance after the attendants slid her inside, I pulled him back.
“I’m sorry, but there’s no room.”
“There sure as fuck is!”
“Wes, I need to be with her,” I said, as gently as I could while remaining firm.
His attempt to push past me was thwarted not by me, but by Hazel. She reached out and laid her hand on his arm. “Wes, let Nigel do his job. We’ll be right behind them, I promise.”
His growl was almost feral, but Hazel didn’t flinch. “Please, you know he’s right. Mira needs him.”
The sound my friend made had my heart clench but he nodded and allowed Hazel to pull him away.
I climbed into the back and he met my eyes as I was pulling the door closed. “She’s my entire life,” he said, the fear in his voice tangible.
