The Quarter Moon (Afterlife saga)

by Hudson, Stephanie

  “Have you lost it? You gotta be kidding me Kaz, at a time like this for fuc…”

  “Libby, calm down, I can explain.” I said interrupting her.

  “I doubt that,” Carrick said under his breath making, me snap my cutting gaze to his.

  “Get down here and help! Oh and while you’re at it make her see you!” I demanded and was utterly amazed to see him do as I ordered. He folded himself gracefully to the floor by my side and he touched Libby’s knee gently. I was about to stop him from touching her but it was too late and soon Libby was freaked.

  “AH! Who… the Hell…are you?!” She shouted between puffs.

  “Calm down Libby…this is…umm…the doctor.” I said weakly shooting a look of disbelief to Carrick and receiving the same one back.

  “Oh Hell no” He whispered sideways to me.

  “OH, thank God!” Libby said visibly relaxing a little after her contraction.

  “Oh, now that’s fitting,” Carrick responded drily.

  “Just roll with it and help me through this!” I snapped through gritted teeth.

  “Fine! But you do realise this is kind of the opposite to what I do, don’t you?” I looked sideways and said,

  “Yeah, thanks, I got the memo. Now help me with this. What do I do?” I was close to grabbing him by his suit lapels and shaking the shit out of him. I was sure with my bubbling rage that I would hear bones rattle with little effort.

  He let out a big and exaggerated sigh before turning to face Libby.

  “Right my dear, as you no doubt know your baby is coming and your contractions are too close together to get you to the hospital, we are going to have to deliver the baby here but don’t fret, you are in good hands.” I snorted at this and he gave me a look as if to say ‘do you mind?’

  “We need to get her lower half bare” He said, taking off his jacket and folding it neatly over the banister. I looked down at the soaked jeans my sister was still wearing in a daze and jolted when fingers snapped in front of me.

  “Do you fancy catching the baby through her pant leg? No, I didn’t think so. Keira, you are going to have to focus now, first undress her, then go and fetch as many towels, sheets or clothes to soak up the blood and dry the baby. GO!” He shouted and I jumped before I got to work.

  I yanked down her jeans and knickers off together throwing them over my shoulder and running to the hamper my sister had left situated by the door to the basement. I grabbed the towels and washing I had brought down with me this morning. As I was running back to the bottom of the stairs, I noticed a pair of my dirty knickers stuck to the pile so threw them over my shoulder, slipped to the side as I rounded the corner with an armful of material going flying.

  “Shitty, shit shit!” I cursed as I scrabbled along the floor, arms wide open scooping back up everything I’d dropped.

  “Will this be enough?” I asked breathless from panic as I made it back to them on another skid.

  “That will be fine.” He responded so calmly it made me thankful I wasn’t doing this alone. Well, that was until I asked him my next question,

  “You have done this before…right?” I whispered through Libby’s screaming.

  “I have seen it done once….” Then he looked thoughtful for a moment and continued,

  “….but the cow died.” Then he started to lift Libby down until she was sat up against the last step with a cushion he placed behind her head.

  “A COW!” I shouted and he shot me a look, one eyebrow raised.

  “I’m sorry, would you prefer to see my résumé before I aid you in saving your sister and her child’s life or would you just like to crack on?” He nodded back to the point where my sister was clearly pushing out her baby.

  “Oh shit! Ok, yeah you’re right, sorry… Come on Libby! You’re doing great!” I said moving up to her and taking her hand in mine, which she was soon trying break. Thankfully I’d given her the one that wasn’t already broken.

  “AHHHH!” She screamed once more and then started breathing in great puffs and blows. She was bright red and I pushed her wet hair back from her sweat covered face.

  “Oh God! The baby, it’s coming, I need…I need…AHHHH!” She took a deep breath and pushed her chin to her chest to push down.

  “That’s it Libs, you’re doing great, you’re doing it!” I felt the tears running down my cheeks and I looked to Carrick, whose face was serious and frowning.

  “What is it?” I asked and his answer chilled my blood.

  “The baby’s heart rate is dropping.”

  “NO!” I shouted and then moved to closer to Carrick.

  “Do something!” He frowned at me and then turned back to Libby.

  “You need to push harder!” He said sternly to Libby but she just let out a strangled sob and kept shaking her head.

  “I can’t, I can’t…I…” My heart broke at seeing my sister in so much pain.

  “You must or your baby will die.” He said and I hit him on the arm.

  “Don’t tell her that!” I said seeing my sister burst in to body shaking, harder sobs that weren’t helping her in pushing.

  “What can I do, tell me! I need to help her!” I demanded grabbing him by his rolled up sleeves.

  “You need to help her push, I suggest trying anger.”

  “WHAT?”

  “Anger will help, in this case trust me, make your sister angry, in fact, make that very angry.” I frowned at him and was about to tell him I needed a more practical answer, when Libby screamed as another contraction hit.

  “Right, Olivia, you need to push and push hard!” I said as sternly as I could muster with what I was seeing.

  “I can’t! AHHHH!”

  “Yes you can, you must! If you don’t, I will tell mum!” I said thinking that always did it in the past, but then again she wasn’t trying to fit something the size of a melon from a place that…well you get the picture!

  “I CAN’T!!!” She screamed and I could see her trying to find the energy to push harder but it just wasn’t enough.

  “Try harder.” Carrick said opening her legs wider.

  “She is trying.” I said in Libby’s defence, but he shook his head in small motions.

  “Not her, you! Anger her Keira, I am sure you have it in you for pissing people off.” He shot me a look that told me I could indeed.

  “Right Libby, listen up, if you don’t push and I mean push like your life depends on it, then I will tell Frank about the time you kissed those two brothers in college and then got drunk and played strip poker!” I shouted at her, feeling like the worst sister in the world. She gave me a utter look of disbelief and then scowled,

  “You wouldn’t!”

  “Oh yes I would, NOW PUSH GODDAMN IT!”

  “I am going to…..AAHHHHHH…kill you!” She screamed at me but I just held her hand and screamed with her,

  “AHHHHH, YES, THAT’S IT!” We then both took deep breaths together.

  “COME ON! PUSH!” I shouted at her again.

  “I am PUSHING FOR CHRIST’S SAKE!” She said, half in rage half in pain but Carrick was right, it was working.

  “I see the head, now one big push and the baby will be here.” Carrick said just as calmly as if he was ordering a Big Mac from the drive thru!

  Just then Frank burst through the open door, out of breath and in a mad panic.

  “LIBBY!” He shouted and then took in the scene quickly.

  “Oh SHIT!” He added.

  “Oh thank you, thank you.” Libby said looking up to the Heavens and I blinked back the onslaught of tears.

  “Frank, the baby…the baby, its coming, its coming!” He rushed over to take my place, skidded landing on his thigh and Carrick grabbed my hand to drag me to where the baby would come.

  “Oh baby, you’re ok, you’re ok sweetheart,” Frank said holding on to her.

  “The baby isn’t coming, the baby is here! Now push!” Carrick ordered her and I looked down to see the baby’s head emerge. It was by far th
e most beautiful, yet at the same time the most nauseating thing I had ever witnessed in my life.

  “I see the head, Libs! I see it!” I said looking up at Libby gripping on to her husband with force enough to rip his shirt. Then Carrick grabbed my hands.

  “You must see the baby into this world, I cannot bring new life forth into this plane, but you can.” Carrick positioned my hands ready.

  “Now Libby, you are doing really well, but this last contraction I want you to push gently and the baby will slip out nicely… are you ready?” He said soothingly and I was touched at the knowledge that even Death himself could be so sweet.

  Libby nodded quickly and Frank held her tighter.

  “This is it babe, you’re doing so good, oh baby I love you.” He said making the tears come even harder than before.

  “Oh…now, now! Coming now!” She said and then took one last breath before pushing her baby into the beautiful world we live in.

  “Yes Libby, you’re doing it…I can see, Oh my God, I can see!” I said and then a baby literally slipped out and into my waiting hands.

  We all cried out and I tried to control my shaking as I held the tiny person in my hands. Carrick handed me a towel and told me to clean the blood off her.

  “Her?” I asked and then looked down over the slightly blue baby who was getting a pink colour rising up through her little limbs.

  “Yes Keira, congratulations, it is a little girl.” He said beaming at me and I turned to Libby and held up her baby.

  “Libby! It’s a girl!” I shouted and she lifted her green eyes from her husband’s chest and the look of pure love touched her daughter for the first time, mother to baby.

  I picked the first thing I could from the pile on the floor and wrapped my niece up in it.

  “Rub her back Keira, to get her crying.” Carrick said and then nodded. I did as I was told and before long she let out the best sound in the world.

  The sound of new life.

  I looked down at her once more and was grinning like a fool when I saw what I had wrapped her in was my dad’s old college sweater. I couldn’t think of anything more fitting at that moment and I quietly told her I loved her before handing the baby to her mum and dad. The afterbirth came shortly after that and even with the cord still attached it wasn’t a problem as they took their daughter in their arms for the very first time.

  Frank was crying along with Libby and then he grabbed her by the head and pulled her to him to kiss her deeply. He pulled back and looked from mother to baby and said,

  “I am so, so unbelievably proud of you! Both of you, both my girls! I love you so much! Thank you God! Christ I love you baby, I love you… You did it!... Jesus, Libby we did it!” He said and Libby looked down and kissed her baby on the head.

  “Yes, we did. I love you to, both of you.” Libby said and the heart melting moment was perfect.

  “So, we were a bit late then?” A paramedic said from the doorway, smiling at the sight. I quickly moved out of their way to let them get to work on helping my sister and when I stood up, I knew that this was one of those rare times in life that I was witnessing pure greatness. I don’t think for as long as I lived that I would ever forget this moment in time, this sight right now that had me realising just how precious life really was. Of course, one look to the man on my right had me backing up that statement with a shudder.

  Carrick walked over to reclaim his jacket and bent down to retrieve his black case that never seemed to leave his side. That’s when I added a deep shiver to the shudder, as I remembered in detail just what powers lay within that innocent looking case. He came back over to me and nodded to the door and I followed him out.

  His hair shone like silver thread in the sunlight and I saw him lift his head to the fresh air to inhale deeply.

  “Nope, still prefer the smell of death I am afraid.” He said looking back at me smiling and I wrinkled my nose.

  “Uhh, gross Carrick!” He laughed and the sound of it actually had me smiling. He was a really nice guy if you could overlook the whole ‘Soul collecting’ thing.

  “So, don’t fancy a career change then?” I asked only half joking. He gave me a dazzling smile and for an older gentleman he certainly didn’t lack in the looks department. His steel coloured eyes that matched the silver in his hair gleamed at me.

  “I think not. Besides, most deaths aren’t half as messy.” I laughed in disbelief and he raised an arched eyebrow at me. He then looked me up and down and I followed his eyes to find my top soaked in blood.

  “But all births are without a doubt… bloody affairs.” He added and I took in his crisp beige suit wondering if he owned any other colour, but thankfully I stopped myself from asking.

  “I can’t believe I am going to say this Carrick, but I am actually glad you were here.” I said and then offered him my hand. He looked taken aback for a moment and there was no hiding the emotion my gesture put in his eyes. He transformed his cool features into a breathtaking grin and took my hand in his. He started to shake it and I was so overcome by the moment that I said out loud,

  “Oh bugger it, come here!” And I pulled his hand to me as I stepped in to wrap my arms around him. If someone had told me five months ago that I would be hugging Death himself in thanks, I would have been asking who supplied their crazy pills!

  He stiffened in my hold at first and then decided to just roll with it. He patted me on the back softly before I let him go. When I pulled back I had tears running down my face. He reached up and took away one of my tears, holding it in his closed palm before lifting it to his mouth. I gasped when I saw him lick it from his skin and then close his eyes. Once again he was looking up to the sky as if listening to someone.

  “Such an unpolluted soul and rare….very rare indeed.” He said to himself before looking back at me.

  “And of course, still as feisty as ever, which I am most pleased about. There are not many people that would be so bold as to threaten Death itself Keira but I must say, you do so very nicely. Until next time, Chosen One.” He said, nodded and then he turned to walk away.

  “I hope not Carrick, but no offence!” I shouted back and without even turning his head he responded,

  “Oh but we will Electus, you can be sure of that. Oh and Keira…” I didn’t say what I wanted to but instead just waited for him to finish.

  “….take care of that niece of yours…she is special that one and…most important to him” He said and without a look, he simply swung up his briefcase over his head in way of a wave goodbye. He left me stood there feeling baffled by his cryptic parting comment, but I was soon brought back to the now when Libby was being lifted into the ambulance I had only just noticed waiting there.

  I ran over to my sister and gave her a teary kiss and told her I loved her. I touched the baby’s head, who was now resting her little eyes in sleep on her mother’s chest and was touched to see her still snuggled peacefully in my dad’s old sweater.

  Libby was still so emotional and Frank had to pry her curled fingers from my top to let me go so as they could both go and get checked out at the hospital. After a mammoth bear hug from Frank, I told him that I would stay at the house and clean up, ready for when they got home. He thanked me again, only this time there was a single tear running down his cheek.

  He leant down and whispered in a thick emotional voice,

  “I could never thank you enough for saving them both, you did it…you saved my family and…man…Jesus kid, I love you!” He said and I felt more tears hit my neck before he turned his face away and jumped in the back of the ambulance, wiping his cheeks as he went. Once they went out of sight I fell to the ground and cried, but for the first time since Draven had left, leaving my chest feeling empty, I felt it full and the tears I shed were finally ones of utter happiness.

  The rest of that day I spent cleaning up, which I am ashamed to say also made me a little sick. I didn’t know how all these great people that became nurses and doctors did it, but they had my deepes
t respect even more, that was for sure.

  I got a phone call from Frank later, telling me they were keeping them overnight just to be sure, but for me not to worry. Libby was doing great and the baby was sleeping and feeding like a trooper, Frank’s words not mine. He also told me quite a few times how damn beautiful his baby girl was and I knew by the added ‘F’ word that Libby wasn’t in hearing distance.

  It was this amazing feeling that had me on this sort of cloud the rest of the day and for the first time in a week I couldn’t wait for people to come home. I just kept seeing my little niece’s face looking up at me and my heart seemed to swell. It was only when I was washing up humming ‘You’ll be in my Heart’ by Phil Collins to myself, that I looked up and saw a shadow of a man in the forest that surrounded the driveway.

  I squinted my eyes as the sun was going down, but I could still make out the giant of a man who stood staring at the house. I still couldn’t make out any features, only that he wore black, was extremely tall and had a heavy frame to match. It wasn’t a wild guess to know that it was the same man I had met in the woods, the one that had helped me get to Libby in time.

  So what did I do...? The only thing I could think of, I clicked the kettle on.

  I was soon walking out to the forest, that now looked even darker than from the kitchen window and with both hands I held on to the steaming mug.

  “Hello...Hello?” I said a bit louder but I didn’t get any response or see anyone through the thickness of the trees. But something in my gut told me he was still there, waiting, so I did what I came to do.

  “I umm…I wanted to say thank you… for my sister and the baby, what you did…well, I will be forever in your debt…I wish I could say this to your face, but something tells me that isn’t going to happen, so this was the only way I could think to thank you.” I placed down my Homer Simpson mug and then dug out the mini packet of Oreo cookies from my coat pocket to place next to them.

  “I made this for a friend of mine once and he seemed to enjoy it. It’s hot chocolate and some biscuits. If you need anything else or want anything else to drink, just let me know.” I said feeling like a right dork talking to the trees. I started to walk back until I whizzed back round, thinking of something else.