Page 147 of Resisting Isaac
Extremely tightly. This woman has agrip.
“Baby? Tell me what you need.”
Her breathing is shallow, one hand squeezing the life out of mine, the other bracing on her lower back. “I’m . . . uh. I think?—”
Her face crumples.
“Elena?”
“I think my water just broke.”
I glance down and there is clear fluid running down her legs.
Silence.
Dead. Stunned. Silence.
Then Ivy squeals from beside the huge camera, claps her hands and calls out, “The baby is coming! Someone call an ambulance.”
Eli yanks his phone from his pocket and makes the call, rattling off the information I’ve made everyone memorize for just such an occasion.
Maybe I’m alittleover protective. I may never have been in the scouts, but I do believe in being prepared.
Elena holds onto my arm with both hands now, eyes wide and wild. “We need to—oh my God—I think I’m having a contraction.”
“Hey,” I say, taking both her hands and pressing my forehead to hers. “You’ve got this, baby. We’ve got this. Just breathe.”
“Yeah?”
I nod. “Yeah. Deep breaths. Like we practiced.”
She cries out in pain, which breaks my heart.
“Eli, what’s the ETA on that ambulance?”
He shakes his head. “They put me on hold.”
My eyes nearly bug out of my head. “Are they kidding? What the—you know what, fuck this. I’ll take her myself.”
Elena groans and doubles over. “Oh my God—okay this one’s worse?—”
I lift her into my arms and kiss her temple. We head toward the driveway with half the crew in tow.
Eli jogs over to us. “Isaac, both ambulances are at an accident on the edge of town. They said it could be an hour until they get here.”
I look at Elena. “Do we have an hour?”
She shakes her head then cries out in pain. “I don’t think so.”
“We’re going.” I put her in the passenger seat of my truck and buckle her in. Then I turn to Ivy. “There’s a fancy leather maroon bag on the kitchen table at our house. If you can grab it and bring it to the hospital, that would be amazing.”
She nods rapidly. “Of course.”
I climb in the truck. Crank it up and grin at my girl.
“You ready to have a baby, baby?”
“Ready or not, it’s time.” She braces a hand on the dashboard. “Drive, cowboy.”
