11
Oh, Baby!
Noli ~ February
“Cashmere Cove, 911, what’s the address of your emergency?”
I keep my voice even and steady as I take another call, even though I’m tired down to my bone marrow. This has been an incredibly long shift. It’s Valentine’s Day, and I want nothing more than to go home, curl up in my pajamas, and go to sleep. Instead, as soon as I’m done with the marathon that’s been my workday, I’m facing down a date with Collin. I have no idea what he’s planned, but he better be sticking to his end of the bargain—nothing romantic or stupid.
I don’t have my hopes up. Ever since the disaster at Romeo’s, I’ve been feeling nothing but stupid around Collin. Which is why I’ve kept my distance as much as possible. It’s been a month since that night, when I got all vulnerable and then he invited his friends and made me feel about two feet tall with the attention he gave to other women in place of me.
And I feel stupid for feeling small. It’s a fake arrangement we’ve got going on. I shouldn’t be affected by his behavior. But I thought… I don’t know what I thought.
I guess I hoped maybe he was different. Or he was showing signs that he was different.
But it turns out he’s the same as Nelson—not trustworthy.
The same as my dad—quick to move on to the next best thing the moment life gets hard.
I got my hopes up only to get let down again.
“I think I’m going to have a baby.” The woman on the other end of the line is panting.
I sit up straighter, all thoughts of Collin fleeing. “Can you tell me your exact address?”
She rattles off a street on the far side of town and then moans.
I put her information in and immediately check my mapping system to see what units are close and who’s available to respond. We don’t have a ton of local ambulances. Collin happens to be the closest patrolling officer. I may or may not take a morsel of pleasure in sending my fake boyfriend and the force’s resident playboy over to the scene of a homebirth. I may or may not think to myself,Let’s see how you handle this, hotshot.
If I do, it’s all while doing my job. And I’m dang good at my job.
I dispatch Collin immediately while I work to get more information from the laboring woman on the phone.
“What’s your name, ma’am?”
“Cynthia Lindale.”
“Is anyone at home with you?”
“No. My husband’s deployed. This is our first baby.”
Oh my gosh, this poor woman.
“We’re going to take care of you, Cynthia. Can I call you Cynthia?”
“Uh-huh.” She’s wheezing.
“Alright. Good. I’m Noli, and I’ve got help on the way, okay? I need you to breathe normally for me.” Her breaths even out. “That’s it. That’s perfect.”
I dispatch an ambulance and the fire department. It’s going to take them a solid ten minutes to get to her. Collin will be there in two.
“I’m such an idiot. I should have gone to the hospital hours ago.”
“You’re not an idiot.” I figure praise and positive reinforcement can’t hurt, considering this woman is about to birth an actual human. “You’re doing great.”
“I didn’t want to jump the gun, you know? The last thing I wanted to do was to get to the hospital and be sent away. But here I am, going to have this baby at home. Serves me right.” Cynthia laughs a hysterical laugh.
I pull up the protocol for pregnancy and childbirth. We have it saved in our systems. This is not the first time I’ve walked someone through giving birth, if you can believe that.
