Page 34 of The Forever Formula
At that question, I noticed Noah look back at me with an eyebrow arched. He seemed to still be addressing the woman called CJ, who was giving me quite the death glare.
“She’s an old friend,” I heard Noah say as Mr. Davis said, “About five minutes.”
I don’t know why it should bother me that Noah called me anold friend. I was, after all.
But I couldn’t worry about that right now. I knew why Mr. Davis had called. The nearest hospital was forty-five minutes away, and contractions five minutes apart meant the baby was coming now. Since I was five minutes away, ten at most, it would be best if I rushed over to help however I could while we waited for help.
Confirming that he’d already called for an ambulance and that Tahlia was at his house, I told him I’d be over in five minutes.
I probably should have said good-bye to Noah, but there was no time. “I’m borrowing your truck,” I shouted instead before bounding down the front steps two at a time. I sensed both he and CJ were staring at me, but I couldn’t worry about that now.
After flying down the winding dirt road, I screeched to a stop in Mr. Davis’s driveway and sprinted from the truck. I wasn’t even sure I turned the engine off.
Mr. Davis greeted me at the door. His face held a worried expression. “Thanks for coming.”
“Absolutely.”
“Have you ever delivered a baby before?” he asked, leading the way inside.
“Once or twice,” I said. He didn’t need to know that one of those times was a goat. I smiled at the memory for a second before I heard the sound of a woman groaning in pain.
Things just got very real.
Was I really up for a home birth right now? Ten minutes ago, I was making out with Noah. There was never a dull moment out here in the mountains, it seemed.
“Come on. Tahlia’s back here,” he said, leading me further into the house.
In a back bedroom, Tahlia was lying in bed. Sweat droplets covered her forehead, and her face was red and strained. She looked young, maybe eighteen or nineteen.
“Tahlia, I’m Nurse Rachel. I’m here to help you. Everything is going to be okay,” I told her, then turned to Mr. Davis. “Bring me towels, any gloves if you have them, a bowl of warm water, and a sharp clean pair of scissors.”
Tahlia’s eyes popped wide then.
“Just for the umbilical cord,” I said gently to her. “If it comes to that. How far apart are you now?”
“Four minutes,” she said, breathing out the words.
I gave her my most reassuring smile. “Very good. I’m going to wash my hands and then examine you, if that’s okay?”
The fear in her eyes was apparent, but she seemed to be holding it together. She gave me a tight nod.
Once my hands were clean, Mr. Davis had returned with the supplies. I examined Tahlia, aware that more people were coming into the room.
I turned to a young man around her age. “Are you the dad?”
He nodded, his expressions swinging between looks of panic and excitement.
“She’s dilated to about ten centimeters now. That means you’re going to be a daddy very soon.”
Turning back to Tahlia, I gave her a steady but serious expression.
“Do you feel like you need to push?” Part of me was hoping to delay this a bit. Maybe give the EMTs time to get here. If her body was amendable to that plan.
She nodded and let out a piercing groan.
“That’s what I thought. It’s time to start pushing. Next contraction, okay? You and me, and ... Daddy.” I looked back to the man in question.
“Lincoln,” he told me.
