“Take some more deep breaths for me, okay?” I listen, and she does what I ask. “Good. That’s good. How far along are you, Cynthia?”
“Thirty-eight weeks,” she grits out. “Hold on. Big contraction.”
I wait, and after 45 seconds, I hear her whimper.
“Did you get through it?”
She grunts in response.
“You’re amazing. Good job. Where are you in your house?”
“Bathroom. First floor.”
“Is the exterior door unlocked?”
“Yes. Oh no, I think I need to push.”
I’m in CAD communication with Collin, filling him in on everything I know as soon as I’m learning it from Cynthia. I’m tracking his patrol car, and he’s pulling up outside. I jump on the radio.
“Caller is in the bathroom. Baby is coming. Front door is open.”
“10-4,” Collin’s voice crackles over the radio. “Headed in.”
I resist the urge to make a joke about how the baby’s head is going to beoutif he doesn’t hurry. I scan my screen. The ambulance is still six minutes away.
I pick up the radio again. “You’re on your own with her for another five minutes.”
“Roger.” Collin sounds nonplussed.
That’s typical of him. The man never seems fazed by anything.
“Mrs. Lindale, Cashmere Cove Police,” Collin’s voice sounds through the phone line, stirring me from my thoughts.
“In here!” Cynthia hollers. “I need to push! I think I need to push!”
“Cynthia, hand Officer Rattler your phone,” I say.
“Reporting for duty,” Collin comes on the line.
I’m staring at a childbirth checklist, and I say a quick prayer because it’s a literal miracle every time a baby is born, and I really want Cynthia to have as un-traumatic of an experience as possible under the circumstances. “Put me on speaker phone,” I instruct. “I’ll walk you through this.”
“So bossy. Cynthia, was Ms. Kasper this bossy to you? I sure hope not.”
I roll my eyes.
Cynthia lets out a strangled laugh.
“Officer Rattler, wash your hands and glove up.” I keep my voice level. “Cynthia, where do you want to be? In the bathtub? Would you be more comfortable somewhere else?”
“Bathtub. Good idea.”
I hear shuffling.
“Rattler, get some clean blankets underneath her.”
“Aye aye, captain.”
Again, Cynthia chuckles, and as annoying as his suaveness may be to me, I have to hand it to Collin. He’s completely putting Cynthia at ease, and if she’s worrying about some random stranger helping her deliver her baby, at least she’s laughing at this point.
