Page 108 of Boston
Cora returned to Kat’s side. “They’re here, honey. Everything’s going to be okay.”
Kat released another heart-wrenching cry as two men entered the room, one with a medical bag. “She’s at a six,” Cora said. “And her contractions are coming less than a minute apart.”
Both men wore grim looks on their faces, but the one carrying the bag set it down on the cedar chest opposite of the bed and opened it. He passed out gloves and said, “All right, Kat,” in a calm voice that stretched just a little bit too tight. “You’re going to be fine.”
“Do you have any drugs?” she asked. “It hurts so much.”
“I’m so sorry, honey,” he said. “But we don’t have anything we can give you. I’m going to check you now. Okay?”
“He’s going to check,” Cora said, her own heartbeat accelerating. Out in the other room, she heard her phone ring and then stop after the first ring.
“You’re at an eight now. Yep, these babies are coming, and they are coming fast.” He smiled at Kat, who simply stared at him as if he had spoken Japanese.
“Cora,” Boston said from the doorway. “It’s Jeremy, and he wants you to put Kat on the line.”
She darted over to him and took her phone. “Thank you,” she said, and rushed back to her sister’s side. She held the phone to Kat’s ear, and she said, “I’m so sorry. I should have gone with you. I should have gone.”
Jeremy said something, but Kat shook as she kept crying. “No, you don’t get it,” she said, “I’m dilated to an eight, Jere, and we called medical. I’m having the babiesright here.”
She started to strain again, and Cora pulled the phone back and put it to her ear. Jeremy sounded frantic, and she said, “You need to slow down and breathe too.”
“All right, Kat,” one of the men said. “You’re at a nine now, and on this next contraction, you’re going to push, because these babies are little, and I bet we can get them out.”
“The babies are being born right now,” Cora said, taking a step away from the bed. “So just focus on getting back without getting in an accident.”
“All right,” Jeremy said breathlessly. “Yeah, okay, I have to get back,” and then a loud slamming noise came through the phone.
“Whoa, are you okay?” Cora asked.
“Yes,” he barked. “I’m just so angry at myself that I left her there.” He swore, and then the call ended.
“What’s going on?” Kat asked.
“He’s fine,” Cora said, tucking her phone smoothly into her back pocket. “He’s on the way, and he’s going to be here in no time.”
Kat nodded, a panicked look coming over her face. She tried to push herself up a little bit, and she groaned.
“You need to push this time, Kat,” the man said. “A really big, nice, long push.”
Cora moved to her shoulder and held her hand in both of hers. Kat yelled as she pushed, and the next thing she knew, the man said, “There you go. He’s out.”
The baby didn’t cry, though, and he took a cloth from the other man, and did something down by Kat’s feet. “Can you get me another towel?” he said, almost whispered.
“Yep.” The second man turned toward the door, and Boston stood there with a gray towel in his hand.
“I just got it out of the dryer,” he said.
The second medical officer took it and returned quickly to the bed, where he started doing something with the baby while the first man did something else.
“Why isn’t he crying?” Kat demanded. “Shouldn’t he be crying?”
Neither one of them said anything, and Cora didn’t dare move down for fear of what she might see. “It’s okay,” she said to Kat. “He’s okay.”
He just had to be.
In the next moment, the blessed sound of a very angry baby filled the air and relief like Cora had never known brushed through her. Both of the medical officers relaxed too, and the man with the new towel continued to wipe down the baby.
“It’s a boy,” he said. “Not sure if you guys knew.”
