Page 44 of Prognosis Do Over

‘Pant, Lou. Pant,’ Bree instructed.

‘Pant,’ Will parroted.

The pain was too much. ‘I can’t,’ she wailed, overwhelmed.

‘Yes, you can,’ Bree and Will both demanded, in unison.

Lou choked on a sob and reached deep inside her for the last skerrick of control she had left, and she forced herself to pant as her body tore in two.

‘Good, Lou,’ Will whispered in her ear. ‘Good. You can do it. Good panting.’

‘Shut...up,’ she ground out through gritted teeth.

And then, miraculously, the pain was gone. Lou heard a huge grunt escape her mouth as the head slipped out, and she collapsed against the bean bag, gasping in relief. It was over — the pain and the pressure and the burning.

‘You did it!’ Bree exclaimed. ‘We’ll wait for the next contraction to deliver the shoulders.’

Lou was too caught up in the bliss of relief to register that the job wasn’t quite done yet. She vaguely heard suction happening, and Will congratulating her on a job well done.

The next contraction started down low, and Lou squeezed Will’s hand in anticipation.

‘Okay, last push,’ he said quietly into her ear. ‘Then you’re all done.’

Lou nodded, and squeezed her eyes shut one last time. The burning and the pressure were there again, but not as bad as last time, and she sagged gratefully against the bean bag and Will’s shoulder as she felt the baby slip out completely.

For a few seconds nothing else mattered other than the fact that it was over. Not whether the baby was all right. Or its gender. Or whether she was still in one piece. Just that miraculously, after seven and half months, and five hours of the worst pain she’d ever been through, it was over.

‘You did it. You did it.’ Will was whispering in her ear and kissing her face, and still the overwhelming sense of relief fogged her thought processes. And then the baby cried, and the fog disappeared instantly.

The baby. How was the baby?

‘The baby?’ she said to Will.

She felt frantic suddenly that it had taken her this long to focus on the most important part of all this. She looked behind her at the bawling newborn lying on the mattress between her legs. His lusty cries were a salve for her fears.

‘He looks fine,’ said Bree, preparing to cut the cord. ‘Do you want to do it?’ she asked Will.

Will blinked. Did he? The baby wasn’t his. Hell, it wasn’t even Lou’s. Yet, strangely, he did want to. He’d been a part of the birth, totally helpless for most of it, but this was something he could do. He looked at Lou.

Lou looked into his face, his ridiculous Clown Doctor hair not even registering. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, they’d just been through a deeply intimate experience. Together. And now the pain was gone, and her thinking was clear, she didn’t want him to ever forget this bond.

She nodded. ‘Set him free,’ she whispered.

Will’s hand shook as he took the scissors. Jan’s little boy was the hugest thirty-four-weeker he had ever seen. His unimpressed face screwed up, his powerful lungs bellowing his displeasure. If this baby needed any form of assistance he’d be amazed.

He paused before making the final cut, totally transfixed. Apart from Candy he was simply the most beautiful baby Will had ever seen. Bree touched his elbow.

‘Come on, Will,’ she joked. ‘Do the deed. The team’s getting bored.’

Will had done this many times before, and cut quickly and efficiently through the thick tissue of cord between where Bree had clamped. Will instinctively went to pick up the still crying infant, to comfort him, soothe his cries, but an impatient resus team member scooped the baby up before he had a chance.

‘Is he okay?’ Lou asked, turning her body around so she was facing the activity, leaning back against the bean bag, the pain in her back miraculously gone.

‘He’s perfect,’ said Will.

Lou felt tears well in her eyes and reached out her hand to him. Will took it and squeezed it and smiled at her, and she loved him so much there was an actual ache in her chest.

Lou smiled back for a few seconds. ‘Thank you, Will,’ she said.

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