Page 6 of Operation: Silent Angel
The rest of the morning went by quickly and quietly, a word they’d normally not use in Ops for fear of jinxing it. It was nearly lunchtime. Madison went to the kitchen to get them both something to eat from the leftovers that were sure to be there. Angel ordered lunch for the entire office most days, and there were always plenty of leftovers for those who worked weekends or odd hours.
The Ops desk phone rang an external call, and Yvette saw the incoming call was from Kaylee Sloan, wife of Delta Team Operator Gary ‘the Undertaker’ Sloan. He was currently deployed on a mission in Detroit. She answered it on her headset to keep her hands free. “Ops, this is Yvette. Hi Kaylee.”
“Hi Yvette,” she said.
Yvette could hear something in her voice with just those two words that instantly put her on alert. “Is everything okay?”
Kaylee emitted a nervous laugh. “That depends on how fast you can get Gary home. My water just broke,” she said, her voice a bit higher pitched than normal. “I already called Elizabeth. She’ll go with me to the hospital, but I want Gary there.”
Kaylee Sloan was eight months pregnant with twins. Sloan was on his last scheduled mission prior to the birth of his twins. Yvette tapped out a text message to both Shepherd and Cooper on her phone. “I bet you do. I’ve just notified Shepherd. I’m sure he’ll do all he can to get Sloan home to you before the babies take their first breaths. How far apart are your contractions?”
“I haven’t had any, I don’t think. I mean, my entire stomach and back have been so sore for weeks because I’m so huge. I just hurt all the time.”
Yvette wasn’t quite sure if that was good or bad. Realistically, Kaylee Sloan could be in active labor and not even realize it. “Do you want an ambulance, or for me to send a team medic over, just in case?”
“No, just get Gary home, preferably before these babies are born. I don’t want Gary to miss it,” she said.
“Shepherd just messaged back. He’s notified Sloan and Lambchop, and Sloan will be en route to the nearest airport to catch a commercial flight ASAP. Flight time from his location is just over an hour. Angel’s already working on getting him on the next flight into O’Hare.”
“Sounds like he’s nice and close, good,” Kaylee said, her voice sounding a bit more strained. “So, he should be back in the area in like, six hours, tops, right?”
“Yes, probably before, hopefully to the hospital within four hours,” Yvette said.
“Okay, these girls better stay in there that long,” Kaylee said with a laugh.
Yvette remembered that they had found out the twins were both girls. “Let me know when Elizabeth arrives. I’ll stay on the line with you until then,” Yvette offered.
“If you’re not too busy, that would be great, thank you, Yvette. I’m just relaxing on the couch until Elizabeth gets here. She shouldn’t be too long. Rae was home, and she left Olivia and Hahna with her. She’s already on her way. I have my bag ready, and I’ve called Doctor Norman.”
“Sounds like you have everything covered. Madison is on duty here with me, though she is out of the room right now. I’ll let her know that Rae has Hahna.” Hahna was the little girl Madison and Cooper had found on a mission, brought home, and adopted a year and a half earlier thanks to Shepherd’s connections. Rae was the fiancée of one of the Operators from Charlie Team. They lived next door to Elizabeth and Doc Williams.
Everything in Ops was quiet for the next ten minutes while Yvette stayed on the line with Kaylee until Elizabeth arrived to drive her to the hospital and stay with her until her husband arrived. Shortly after she hung up after reminding Kaylee to have someone call back to Ops after the babies were born, Madison re-entered, carrying two containers with their lunch.
“Elizabeth called,” Madison said, setting one of the two containers onto the desk in front of Yvette. “Kaylee’s in labor, and Elizabeth is going with her to the hospital. Did Kaylee call?”
“Yes, shortly after you left the room. So, you know then that Rae has Hahna.”
“Yes, Hahna will be fine with Rae. She and Lilly play so well together. How did Kaylee sound?”
“Just worried Sloan wouldn’t make it back in time. I messaged Shepherd, and Sloan was able to leave the mission right away. He’s already on his way to the airport. Shepherd authorized commercial to get him home ASAP.”
“I hope he makes it in time,” Madison said. “Kaylee’s going to try to deliver the babies vaginally. They’ll monitor the babies, but if there’s any distress, they’ll do a C-section. I know Kaylee really wants to deliver them naturally, though.”
“Getting two healthy babies is the goal, regardless of how they’re delivered,” Yvette said. She sat down and opened the lid of the container Madison brought. Inside were a sandwich wrap and a large serving of each of the two salads Angel had ordered for lunch the previous day. “Looks good. Thank you for going down and grabbing it for us.”
“There’s a lot left if you want more.” Madison sat beside her and opened her container as well. She took hold of the chicken Caesar salad wrap, lifted it, and took a healthy bite. “The day’s gone quickly. Do you have any plans for the afternoon after you’re off shift?”
Yvette checked her watch. She would be off shift in an hour and a half. “Not really. I’m off tomorrow and Monday and back on shift Tuesday morning at zero four hundred for ten hours.”
“Yes, I saw that on the schedule. You’re on five days straight for ten hours each day. I’m glad you’ll be in there supporting our next mission.” Madison would be deploying with Alpha Team on Monday morning. It would be a quick turnaround for the team, but Shepherd promised they’d have four days off between the next mission and the one that would follow it. “Do you have any plans for your two days off?”
“Just my errands, laundry, the normal stuff,” Yvette answered. “And a visit to the hospital to see Kaylee and the twins at some point too.”
“Yes, I’ll have to get there as well if I can. I promised Hahna I’d take her to the pool tomorrow since I had to work today. She loves to swim. I’m trying to talk Cooper into an in-ground pool in our backyard.”
Yvette laughed. “Is it that hard of a sell?”
“It’s the pool company having access to the backyard that’s the issue for him.”
