“Do you see down there?” She pointed to a roofline through the forest to the right.
A small cabin emerged from the forest-growth across the ravine, its porch facing the waterfall.
“That’s mine now. I’m keeping it for vacations and…well, times to get away, you know?”
Henry could only imagine what a getaway that would be. Remote. Quiet—except for the sounds of nature and the welcome consistency of the waterfall. “It’s lovely.”
She opened her mouth to respond but then grimaced, her palms going back to her stomach, as they had done several times throughout the walk.
“I think we should start back, Julia. I’ve allowed you to walk too far.”
“Nonsense. I chose this walk and I’m fine.” She waved again, starting the descent down the hill. “My body doesn’t know what to do, probably. It’s been a little while since I’ve taken a walk like this.”
He offered her his arm, and she slid her hand through, leaning in close to him—whether from fatigue or nearness, he didn’t care. He liked the fit.
They’d made it halfway down the hillside, Henry helping her over various unsteady spots along the way, when she stopped, wide eyed and clutching his arm. A whimper escaped her lips and she looked down.
What a curious reaction. Henry followed her gaze to her feet. A sudden shock of cold traveled from his head to his toes. Liquid pooled at Julia’s feet and her increasingly pale face did nothing to soothe his sudden sense of dread.
He took her by the shoulders. “Please tell me you’re hiding a bottle of water somewhere on your person and it just ruptured.”
A squeak like the sound of a wounded animal came from her mouth as she shook her head.
That narrowed it down to two possibilities, and Henry had a sinking feeling he knew which option this was.
“I…I think my…”
“Yes, I think so too.”
“I…I’m not due for three more weeks.” She blinked up at him, searching his face as if he had some sort of solution to the dilemma.
“Does the baby know that?” He winced at the question and placed his palm on her back for support. “Should we…”
“Yes.” She made a stiff turn back toward the trail. “I think we need to get to the—”
“Most certainly.”
Her first few steps came slowly before she stopped altogether to hold her stomach.
“How can I help? What do you need?”
How fast did babies come? Would he be required to…help? He shook the thought from his head and prayed for heavenly intervention. From his limited knowledge of the process, that required him to…And how did one prepare to…
His thoughts couldn’t even form full sentences at the idea.
Her gaze came up to meet his. “Henry, we’re well over an hour away from the nearest hospital, and I’ve already disconnected the phone service for Millie’s house.”
“That means we can’t phone for help.”
Her bottom lip began to quiver as she slowly nodded her head.
At the vulnerable look on her face, strength surged into his body, and without a word, he slipped Julia into his arms and started down the hill as fast as his feet would go.
“Henry?” She gasped, sliding her arms around his neck. “What are you doing?”
“Sweeping you off your feet, dove.” His bit of humor lit her gaze before she grimaced from another pain. “Hold on, Julia.” He forced confidence into his voice he didn’t feel. In fact, his pulse hammered retreat drums in his ears. “You and this baby are going to be all right. I’ll make certain of it.”
∞ ∞ ∞
This was not happening.
Henry had cut a twenty-minute drive down to fifteen, and phone reception was mere minutes away. He needed directions to the nearest hospital, and fast, because Julia’s discomfort grew by the second.
Her contractions had increased to nearly nonstop in the past few minutes, pacing themselves at…two minutes apart. What did that mean? Was that a good thing?
Not for him, if Julia’s chattering on proved true. She was talking as if…they wouldn’t make it to the hospital. Heaven help him! He clung to the soothing sounds of Beethoven gentling from the car speakers. He’d chosen it to help keep Julia calm, but he felt fairly certain he needed the music just as much.
“You know, my mom says that nature takes over and things happen naturally.” Julia’s words spilled out in a nervous outburst. If Henry weren’t already driving much faster down the gravel road than he should have been, he’d have taken her hand to reassure her. He’d tried once, and she’d nearly squeezed his fingers off when another contraction erupted.
He checked his mobile again. Still no bars. But they had to be close to reception now.
“Though I had hoped for some medication to help with the pa—”
Her words disappeared into another bout of breathing exercises. With a look and a few vigorous nods, she encouraged him to join in. He’d always wondered what the breathing exercises did in the birthing process when he’d seen them in movies. After a few minutes of pacing his breaths to Beethoven he felt slightly light-headed, but the exercises seemed to help Julia get through the pain. Were they just a distraction from what was to come? Or truly relaxing? Because they weren’t working, if that were the case. His body tensed at her every whimper, and there was nothing he could do to help her.
“There’s the pole. We should have reception.” Julia pointed to the right side of the front windshield and pulled out her mobile.
“Yes, excellent. Directions to the nearest hospital, then?”
She sent him a look from her periphery. “Or directions for how to deliver a baby.”
Henry nearly stopped the car. “Pardon?”
“I’ve taken all the birthing classes. Any time contractions get to three minutes or below”—she held up the number of fingers— “all the medical advice is to go directly to the hospital. I’m at two.”
He squeezed words through his dry throat. “I’ll drive faster.”
“We have to prepare.” She froze. “Here comes another one.” She reclined the seat and began her rhythmic breathing again.
Henry tugged out his mobile and spoke into it for the nearest hospital.
“They’re getting much more painful.” Her words came soft and weak through her pain.
He chanced a look at her. Her hair flowed loose and wild around her face and her eyes shone large and dark in the fading daylight. He pushed a strand of hair from her face. “What can I do?”
She relaxed back into the seat, her breathing slowing despite his accelerated driving pace. “Listen to me, okay? I don’t know exactly what’s happening with my body, but things are moving fast.”
He glanced down at his phone as it searched for an answer, the screen emerging with text and a map, and the lovely little red symbol of a cross noting the hospital. Perfect. Destination.
“Okay, what do we do?” Julia read the information displayed on her slightly larger phone screen. “This post says to make the mother as comfortable as possible in a reclined position.”
“The hospital is only fifty minutes from us.” His suggestion released in a staccato rhythm that matched his heartbeat. “That isn’t too far.”
“As contractions increase in intensity and become closer together, the mother’s hips will need to be elevated.”
The voice inside his head was screaming at fortissimo, but by some divine intervention the tone escaping his mouth remained calm. “What is the emergency number in America? Nine-one-one?”
She nodded and breathed through another contraction. Halfway through, her breath turned into a whimpering cry. Henry’s foot pressed down with more pressure. Oh Lord, help us.
“Turn off the music, Henry.”
“Pardon?” Surely she couldn’t be serious?
“I…I can’t concentrate. It’s getting too difficult to concentrate.”
He stared at her a moment and then switched off Beethoven but held on
to the final strains internally. Yes. He needed some calm. Focus.
“Allow the mother to be as close to the floor as possible if there is no bed”—she squeezed out the words— “because the baby will be slippery when he arrives.”
With those words, the music in his head came to a jolting halt. “Julia, you can’t have this baby in a car, can you, dove?” He cleared his throat of the frog obstructing his deeper tone.
She rolled her eyes and glared at him in an un-Julia-like way. “Do you think I want to have this baby in the car, Henry?”
He cringed. “Stupid question.”
She began a strained reading again. “Ensure that your hands are clean before you begin examining the mother.”
A small bottle of hand sanitizer hit him in the chest. The fortissimo scream in his mind returned with a vengeance. No music. Only screams. And panic.
“I think we should stop the car.”
He pressed down a little harder on the accelerator.
Another contraction hit her as he dialed nine-one-one.
“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?” the female voice responded through the speakers as he focused on keeping the car on the road.
“Yes, thank you.” He breathed out the words as relief poured over his shoulders. Help. Clarity. “My…my…”—he looked over at Julia— “girlfriend.”
Her attention shot to him, and her bottom lip dropped. Well, at least he’d distracted her. He offered an apologetic shrug and hopefully a smile, but he wasn’t certain. His mouth was so dry he could hardly feel his lips.
“She’s in labor, and we are still some distance from the nearest hospital.”
“And we don’t think we’ll make it,” Julia whispered through her pain, but the force of her waving for him to repeat her message to the operator belied the softness of her words.
His throat seized at the possibility. “And we don’t think we’ll make it to the hospital, if you know what I mean.”
Dead air hovered over the line as Henry waited for the operator to respond. Five seconds. Ten. His grip on the steering wheel tightened.
“What is your current location?”
Henry repeated Julia’s rasped directions to the operator before the contraction sent her writhing against the seat. His breath constricted in his throat. He had to do something, anything. “Please, we need help. She’s in a great deal of pain.”
“That’s usually part of the process, sir. How close are her contractions? Every three minutes? Five minutes?”
“Oh no, much less. She’s having at least one every minute.”
Another ten-second pause. “Sir, you need to pull over on the side of the road and prepare to deliver a baby. An ambulance has been dispatched to your location. Remain on the phone with me, and I’ll talk you through it.”
An explosive drum rhythm beat in his mind, blocking out everything except that he, Henry Wright, was about to deliver a baby. Lord help us all.
“Henry.” Julia’s hand covered his, grasping, squeezing, pleading through her touch. “This…this baby…I…I need to push.”
Julia’s desperation sent him into motion. He met her watery gaze, and the same force of purpose infused him as it had on the hillside looking over the waterfall view. She needed him to be strong. He steered the car to the side of the road and jumped from the driver’s seat to round to the other side, calling out to the operator as he opened Julia’s door. “All right, we’ve stopped. What…what now?”
“Is there a place in the car she can lie back, to get as comfortable as possible?”
He glanced into the box-filled backseat and hatch of the car, then to the front of the vehicle. If he pillowed her back and head, she could relax against the armrests at least. He dug through the boxes in the trunk for one of the quilts they’d found at Millie’s as well as a massive fur coat.
Julia examined the miscellany as he drew the items around to the front. “A fur coat?”
“You need something soft to recline on for comfort.” He fumbled with the cloth in his arms. “I’ll wrap the quilt around it, see? To protect it.”
She looked up, her eyes weary and sweat beaded on her brow, but her smile quivered into place. “I’m so sorry to put you through this.”
“Shh.” He stuffed the fur into the blanket and reached around her to place the massive pillow-like shape. “I’d rather you have a hospital, but I’m happy to be with you right now.”
Her eyes widened again as another contraction swelled her into pain he couldn’t control or take away. One breath. Two breaths. A truck pulled up behind them as Julia released her third exhale, and a middle-aged woman with a long, dark braid ran from the vehicle, her white uniform labeling her as an emergency service provider.
“Hey, I heard about your situation on the radio as I was driving home from my shift”—she thumbed back toward her truck—"and knew you’d be on my way. I’m Sue.”
A swell of relief nearly brought tears to Henry’s eyes. “Henry. Thank you.”
She offered a crooked grin. “No father ever wants to start his child’s life this way, and I can assure you, no mother does.” She pushed past Henry and assessed the situation. “Do you think we can get her to the truck, in the back? At least then she can lie back a little more.”
Julia shook her head as another cry escaped her lips. “I can’t. I need…I need to push.”
Sue pulled a pair of surgical gloves from her pocket and put them on. “I’ll examine her first, then see if we have time to move her.” She gestured toward Julia with her chin but kept her eyes on Henry. “What’s her name?”
“Her name?”
The paramedic gave him a long-suffering look. “The woman having the baby? Your girlfriend?”
He blinked. “Yes, right. Julia Jenkins.”
As Sue knelt before Julia, Henry turned his back to the scene, his face aflame with the awkwardness of it all. He might have affirmed to Sue and the operator that Julia was his girlfriend, but would she ever consent to actually becoming so after he’d put her in this situation?
“Well, honey, there’s no time to spare.” Sue’s voice held a hint of surprise. “Your baby’s crowning, which mean it’s going to be here any minute.”
Henry felt a slap to his arm and turned ever so slightly to see Sue’s incredulous face staring him down. “Do you have something to wrap the baby in?”
“Pardon me?”
“A blanket? Cloth of some sort? Anything? I need something warm to wrap the baby in when it comes. And that’s now.”
The vintage gowns in the back of the car came to mind and he grimaced.
“A shirt or jacket will do.” Her voice tensed.
Henry’s fingers rushed to the buttons of his outer shirt, quickly jerking it off and handing it over.
“Okay, Julia. I want you to give me one good push.”
Julia’s cry followed. “Fantastic.” Sue’s voice smoothed out the words, calm and steady. Henry couldn’t thank God enough that a competent individual had shown up like an angel of mercy to relieve both him and Julia of such a task for each other.
“The head is out. Rest a second. Breathe in and out. Good. Now, I need you to push again so we can get out the shoulders.”
Henry stood behind Sue, his face turned away from the car, but every sound, every breath kept him on alert. He crossed his arms, rubbing the bare skin exposed by his sleeveless undershirt. He wasn’t cold, but he needed to do something. He raised his face to the sky and started another prayer as he waited through a painful cry from the woman he loved. There was nothing he could do. Nothing to be said. No music. He was helpless to her.
A siren sounded in the distance, piercing through the growing evening noises.
“Looks like your ride to the hospital is here just in time,” Sue said. “But Julia, I need one more good push then you’ll get to meet your baby.”
“I can’t. I don’t think I can.”
The anguish in her voice broke him, and he turned, training his focus on her
face. “You can. I know you can.” Sue’s body blocked his view of Julia’s lower half, but Henry only sought out Julia’s eyes, attempting to transfer whatever strength he had to her. “You’re one of the strongest and bravest people I know, remember? Once more, Julia.”
Her gaze locked with his, binding them somehow in this instant of uncertainty and pain and fear.
And courage. “You can, Julia.”
With a deep breath, she pinched her eyes closed to focus on the task at hand.
He turned back around, aching through the sound of her cry that only moments later was replaced by the sound of a very different one. A baby’s cry. He caught his relieved breath in his hand as the wobbling tone built in volume and filled him from the outside in.
“Henry, here.” Sue’s voice pulled him from his reverie, and he turned long enough to find her handing him a wriggling bundle wrapped in his shirt. “Hold your daughter.”
“Daughter…” Henry stared in awe at the red face scrunched in a cry. “You’re a girl.” He pulled the bundle closer, and the baby calmed against his warmth.
“A girl?” Julia’s voice peeled into the sound of the approaching ambulance.
“We need to finish up here, Julia. One more push should do it, then we can move you and your little girl into the ambulance, all right?”
The baby stared up at him, apparently oblivious to anything else but his face. He ran a finger down her cheek and gave away his heart for the second time in as many weeks. His daughter?
“She can’t be a girl,” Julia cried through another push.
Sue’s rich laugh bubbled out. “And why not?”
“I don’t have any clothes for a little girl.”
“Well, that can be remedied easily enough. I bet your handsome prince here can go off and purchase something for your little one, can’t you, Henry?”
Henry pulled his attention from the curious baby in his arms and met Sue’s expectant expression. “What? Yes, of course. I’d be happy to.”
“I think your boyfriend is as smitten with this baby as you’re gonna be, Julia.” Sue reached out her hands for Henry’s bundle, and with a slight reluctance, he gave the baby over to the paramedic, who then settled the newborn on Julia’s chest.
When You Look at Me (A Pleasant Gap Romance Book 2) Page 21