Page 88 of Justice Denied

“Breathe with me.” He met her gaze, his steady and calm. He held out his hand, and she slipped hers inside. Her own breathing slowed in time with his. In, out. In, out.

Then the pain began to build again. She squeezed his hand as hard as she could and threw her head back against the seat. Her feet plowed into the floorboards, lifting her bottom off the seat. A guttural cry escaped her lips. She could not do this. She did not want to do this.

“Breathe, sweetheart, breathe. Short, panting breaths when the contraction hits.”

Seth walked her through the breaths until the contraction eased. “I don’t think the baby is going to wait until we can flag down help.”

“No…way…to…call?”Please, let him find a way to get help.She would not do this in a car, she would not do this from afar. Good grief, she must be addled if she was making nonsensical Dr. Suess rhymes.

“We’re on our own unless someone sees our hazards and stops.”

His voice held no hope of that happening, as much as she prayed for it. Tears spilled over and down her cheeks as fear and panic jostled for dominance inside her. “I don’t want to do this.” Her body refused to listen as it built momentum designed to expel the baby she had been harboring for so many months.

“I know.” He laid his hand alongside her cheek for a split second, the warmth of his touch easing her panic a fraction. Then Seth opened his door as a sharper, stronger contraction nearly overwhelmed her, wrenching a scream from her that echoed in the enclosed space. He was leaving her to do this alone?

Through the haze of pain, she made out his figure as he jogged around the hood to her side. She barely kept up with his movements as he opened the passenger back door, then hers. “We need to get you into the back seat.”

“No.” She shook her head, sending strands of hair whipping back and forth. “I can’t.” The need to push saturated every nerve, but she clamped her legs together, not willing to give in, not here, not now.

“Yes, you can. We can do it together. We have too.” He leaned his forehead against hers, the compassion and love in his eyes stealing the final shred of her resolve.

“Okay.”

At her agreement, he eased her legs out of the car, then supported her body as she tumbled out of the vehicle and into him. He absorbed her weight with ease. She screamed as a contraction drove her to her knees. Only Seth’s strong arms kept her upright. He lifted her up onto the back seat, swinging her legs around so her back was to the passenger side door.

“Don’t move. I’ll be right there.”

A brief pressure on the top of her head, then he closed the door. As she struggled to manage another contraction, she focused on that moment. On the expression in his eyes. On what she’d learned over these months of being around Seth. He was an honorable man. He wasn’t at all like her ex. He would never knowingly hurt her.

God had brought him into her life, allowing her to see what true servanthood looked like on this fallen planet. If Seth had lived while Jesus walked the earth, he would have been first in line to wash someone else’s feet. He would have served the lepers, given hope to the hopeless. His love of Christ shone through all his actions, especially in his gentle treatment of her. Her mother had been right.

She could trust him with her life.

She could trust him with her baby’s life.

A peace stole over her, washing into the nooks and crannies of her mind, overflowing the pain and fear of this baby’s conception. A blast of cool air from the shattered hatch window hit her at the same time as another contraction. Seth climbed into the back seat, crowding her space as he closed the door. He rubbed his hands together, the smell of something sharp and citrusy filling the space. “I found some hand sanitizer in the console.”

She bit back another yell as the pain built and built and built, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the man opposite her. “Seth.”

She must have whispered the name because he didn’t pause in leaning over the backseat and rummaging in the hatch area. He plopped back on the seat, something in his hands. “I found a couple of sweatshirts. I think they’re clean.”

“Seth.”

He shifted closer, his hand capturing hers. “Yes?”

“Help me.” She whimpered through the contraction as the urge to push increased. “I…trust…you.”

“Thank you.” Seth squeezed her hand, as a tear rolled down his cheek. He was crying. Not because he was sad, but because her words had made him so happy. Of that, she was sure. With a groan, she surrendered to the birthing process, thanking God for bringing this man into her life for such a time as this.

ChapterThirty-Two

Seth trembled as he held the sweet baby girl, so tiny in his hands. Once he’d helped Jetta remove her jeans and underwear, the birth had progressed like lightening. “She’s perfect. All fingers and toes accounted for.”

He wrapped the infant in one of the sweatshirts and laid the bundle in Jetta’s arms, umbilical cord still attached. A knock at the window startled him. He glanced up to see flashing blue lights and the figure of someone standing by the back door.

“I think it’s a police officer.” He used the second sweatshirt to wipe his hands before opening the door and stepping out into the cool night, closing the door quickly behind him.

“License and registration, please.” The officer shone his flashlight over Seth, illuminating the blood and fluids covering his clothing.

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