by Kathryn Shay
“No, Nora, don’t go.” Paige grabbed for Nora’s arm. “Don’t go. The baby’s coming.”
“Okay. I’ll make the call.” Hurriedly, Dan left the room.
“Nora, it’s coming now.”
“Well,” Nora said with a calm she didn’t feel. “I have some medical training. And Dan’s an EMT, so if the medics don’t get here in time, you’re still in good hands.”
Paige’s grip on Nora’s arm intensified. She moaned as a contraction slammed into her. “Ohhh...”
“Breathe in, Paige. Like we learned in class. Let the air out slowly.”
The contraction crested, but another seemed to hit immediately. It was too soon for them to be coming so fast.
Dan returned. “The medics’ll be delayed. The only ambulance is on another call.” Nora tried to hide her concern. Serenity House was located on the outskirts of town; under the best of circumstances, it took at least fifteen minutes to drive out here.
Another contraction. When it finally subsided, Paige whimpered, “I want my mother.”
“I know you do, sweetie, I know.”
“Oh, God, it hurts.”
“Nora,” Dan said, “get some towels and sterilize a pair of scissors.” His voice was confident, cutting through Nora’s panic. “It won’t be long.”
Nora did as Dan asked. By the time she returned, Paige was soaked in sweat and breathing hard. Dan and Jade were at her side. Nora took Dan’s place on the bed, and he went to wash up.
After a fierce contraction, Paige drew in a deep breath and grabbed Nora’s hand. “They’re really dead.”
“Yes, sweetie.”
“Mom said I could keep the baby. That they’d help. They can’t now, right?”
“No, they can’t now. But—”
“Then I don’t want it.”
“Oh, Paige. You don’t have to decide now.”
“I don’t want it.” She lifted her shoulders off the bed, and tightened her hold on Nora’s hand. “Promise me, you’ll take it right away. I don’t even wanna know what it is.”
“Sweetie, now’s not the time—”
“Promise me!”
“All right, I promise. I’ll take it away until you have time to think about it.”
“I don’t want to know...” Another contraction. “I don’t want to know anything.”
Dan returned, and forty-five minutes later, Nora watched as the tiny infant slipped into his hands. Sirens blared in the background. Paige turned her face to the wall. “Take it away,” was all she said.
Nora’s throat clogged and her eyes blurred, but she wrapped the baby in a blanket and stood holding it by the bed.
“Take it away!” Paige screamed.
Slowly, cradling the newborn to her chest, Nora turned and walked out the door.
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