“Oh God,” Kara moans, falling across the seat. “I think you should start timing my contractions.”
“Why?”
“They’re close—too close,” she says, breathing deeply.
“What does that mean?”
“IT MEANS I’M HAVING A BABY!” she screams, her face contorting. I wouldn’t have been surprised if it did a one-eighty like something from The Exorcist.
“Okay, breathe.” I do that crazy breathing thing that I have seen in a few movies. Kara looks ready to kill, but I have no idea how to help her.
“What time is it?” Kara growls. I look at the dash.
“Seven-oh-two,” I tell her, grabbing her hand.
“I feel like I need to push.”
“Don’t push,” I say, panicked. Pushing means the baby is coming.
“I have to.”
“If you need to push, then you push,” Kai says from the front seat. I think it’s awfully generous of him, seeing how he’s all the way in the front seat, while I’m back here with her. I know that I need to man–up, but I have no idea what to do; and the thought of a baby popping out is making me freak.
“Oh God! Here comes another one!” Kara screams, her head laying against the back door, one foot in the seat, and the other on the floor. “I need to take off my pants.”
“What?” I pinch myself to make sure this isn’t a very strange bad dream.
“I need to take off my pants. I feel like the baby is coming, so I need to take off my pants,” she repeats over and over, every time her voice rises a little bit.
“Okay, I’ll help you.” I swallow all my personal fears and help her to remove her pants. Kai is in the front seat on the phone. I have no idea who he is talking to, but hopefully it’s an ambulance. Mr. Sumo is speeding, but his facial expression hasn’t changed since we came out of the tornado shelter.
“Liz, I am really scared.”
“Hey, it’s going to be okay.” I run my hand over her forehead, trying to comfort her.
“It’s not going to be ok. I’m going to have a baby in the backseat of a car. I think that might be the definition of not okay.”
“Just concentrate on breathing.”
“Here comes another one.” She shoves her foot into my stomach; my breath leaves me with the pressure. Her other foot is still on the floor. I have the perfect shot of her vag, and I don’t want to, but I look down. That’s when I see a round something coming out.
“Holy shit,” I whisper, looking up at Kara, whose face is bright red. “I can see the head.”
“What?” one of the guys from the front seat ask.
“I see the head!” I repeat.
Kara falls back against the door. I rub her knee; the interior lights come on, so I place her pants across her legs so no one else can see what I’m seeing.
“I don’t think you have much to go,” I say, trying to be encouraging. Kara looks ready to kill me. Her foot goes back in my stomach, this time a little harder than the last, making me grunt in pain. Then she screams so loud that I think my eardrums burst. I look down just in time to see a little face. I look around for something to wrap the baby in. There is nothing, so I rip my shirt off over my head, and hold it out, ready to catch him. Everything happens so quickly after she pushes that I’m not even sure I remember how the baby got into my arms, just that he is there and crying. Kara is laying back against the door breathing heavily. The cord is still attached, and I know that I need to find a way to tie it off and cut it. That’s when I hear the most beautiful sound I have ever heard in my whole life. I look through the windshield and can see the lights of an ambulance racing towards us.
“Thank God,” I sigh, as we pull off the road. The ambulance is on the other side. When they open my door and take Kara and my nephew, I feel my first real sense of relief since this day started.
Trevor
“Where the fuck is she?” I put my head between my knees, trying to breathe. Nothing is working. I can’t take a full breath. I don’t know what I will do if something has happened to her. I look up to see my dad coming down the hall towards me with his phone to his ear. I stand, walking towards him. “Have you heard anything?”
“Liz and Kara are on their way in. An ambulance intercepted a black SUV out on old Spring Place Road. One female gave birth before the ambulance was able to make it to them; the other has suffered a head wound, and is going to need stitches and possibly a transfusion when they arrive.” I rub my hands over my face a few times. Knowing that Liz is on her way here gives me a sense of relief; knowing she is hurt has me pacing back and forth in front of the emergency room doors. I need to hold her and see for myself that she is okay. As soon as I see the lights flashing, I run out the doors. The ambulance hasn’t even come to a complete stop before I’m pulling the door open. Liz is sitting on the bench; Kara is strapped down in the stretcher, holding a small bundle in her arms. The two EMTs look at me in shock when I climb into the back, pulling Liz into my arms. She is cold and pale, but awake.