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Who am I kidding? No one would believe me anyway.
Krista Chinto still couldn’t believe it. Many women had their children at home. But in the back of an SUV while her husband, boyfriend, or whatever he was, had been in the bar drinking? Well, that just made her sick.
Even now on the plane ride home, she couldn’t get that poor woman out of her mind. You didn’t need to understand the language to know she was scared to death.
They were lucky her conference ended early, otherwise she wouldn’t have been walking by when she had. Who knows what would’ve happened? That infuriating man probably would’ve gotten in the driver’s seat and driven off, leaving the woman to have the baby alone in the back seat. He seemed so repulsed by the thought of having to assist in delivering his own child.
Krista shook her head. The man might have been well dressed, but fine clothes and a nice vehicle didn’t make him a good person. All it meant was he had money. That didn’t buy happiness in a family and from what she’d seen, not even love.
Granted, she was thirty-four and single, but she knew love when she saw it. What those two seemed to share held all the warmth of strangers. The only time she saw a soft side to him was when she placed the baby in his arms. His eyes had lit up when he was looking down at his little girl. It was as though she wasn’t what he was expecting. Babies never are.
But even the joy of a newborn wasn’t going to prepare him for the road ahead. There were going to be sleepless nights, and sickness, and times when the baby is crying and what would he do then? Turn to alcohol? Krista didn’t know if he had a problem, but even a foot away from him all she could smell was beer, and it was only two in the afternoon. She could only imagine what he was like as the day went on. Hopefully, today, he spent it at the hospital, where he belonged.
Back home, Krista was known for speaking her mind. Normally she would’ve laid into him, telling him exactly what she thought of his lack of care and concern. Instead she held back as much as she could, and did all she could do for them: help bring their baby into the world.
Even though she wasn’t supposed to practice in New York as a physician, she had taken an oath to help others. She had done that, but for some reason, she couldn’t get them out of her mind. It felt like she hadn’t done enough. That they needed her, and her leaving, somehow was letting all three of them down. Staying hadn’t been an option, and neither was going with them to the hospital. She would’ve missed her flight. It wouldn’t have been the end of the world, but she had already checked out of her hotel.
Krista might not have known their names, but that hadn’t stopped her from at least attempting to obtain an update from the hospital while waiting to board the plane. Not surprising at all, but no one would give her any information. That was good, because it meant they were following proper procedures.
All there was left to do was hope and pray that something she had said to the new father would stick with him. Sadly, her gut told her no, but she tried to be optimistic.
The pilot announced they would be landing. She buckled up and braced herself, holding onto the armrest, white knuckled. Flying was fine, but she hated the descent. Her stomach always started to do flips. But Montpelier wasn’t next door, so she gritted her teeth and flew when she had to.
At least this would distract her from thinking about New York. Krista was looking forward to getting back home. Even though she was only gone two days, it seemed so much longer. She wasn’t a person who enjoyed large cities, coming from such a small town herself. Even though it was the capital of Vermont, it was one of the smallest capitals based on population. Being the only obstetrician, she knew everybody in town.
Even after she landed it would take almost an hour to get back home. But Burlington International Airport was the most convenient. It gave her the ability to fly in a jet, instead of what she considered a puddle jumper. She would never survive in one of those small propeller planes.
Thankfully, before she knew it she was on the ground and claiming her luggage. Soon she’d be in an Uber bound for home. She didn’t relish driving the poorly lit highways alone at night. She enjoyed company and hopefully the Uber driver would be in the mood to talk.
When she got inside the vehicle, she found it was being driven by a college student studying for an exam. He was rattling off questions and answers.
“What course are you taking?” Krista asked.
“I’m taking Business 101.”
“Oh, that’s nice.” He went back to reciting more questions. She wasn’t sure where he was getting the information, because his eyes were on the road and his hands were on the wheel, which Krista was grateful for. She tried again with the chit chat. “Where are you from?”
“Boston.”
Obviously, the young man was not interested in having a conversation. She’d been trying to read the same book for the last few months and never seemed to find the right time. She pulled out her Kindle. Maybe she could get a chapter in before she made it back home. She knew her patients would be calling to schedule their follow-up appointments. And not because they needed them, but because they wanted to hear all about her trip and how the conference was. There was so much she had to say, and then there was even more that she didn’t want to talk about. There was no way she would share the ordeal on the side of the road. That was something she hoped she’d be able to forget.
Who am I kidding? I remember every baby I’ve ever delivered. I don’t want to forget any of them.
Krista couldn’t focus on her book - she had too much running through her mind right now. Not only was she trying to come down from the emotional roller coaster of delivering a baby on the side of the road, but the fact that she had just given a presentation in front of hundreds of well-known obstetricians from all over the country still shocked her. She felt confident in her knowledge and her ability, but for the most part, Krista was a private person. She was still amazed that they had asked her to come and talk about what it meant to be an obstetrician in a small town. A town where everybody knew everyone.
At least no one knew me in New York.
It wasn’t long before the Uber driver pulled into her driveway. Krista lived alone, except for her dog Donnie, a golden retriever. Of course, she couldn’t leave him alone for days. Donnie didn’t even like to be left alone for longer than eight hours. As she expected, she could hear him barking up a storm as she got out of the car. Her dog-sitter Laurel came out to greet her.
“Krista, I didn’t expect you back so soon.”
That was funny because Laurel knew when her plane was scheduled to land. Laurel might be an excellent dog-sitter, but she was not great when it came to other details. But Donnie looked like he’d had a wonderful time, because he stuck close to Laurel’s side, panting happily. He did not come rushing over to greet Krista. Then again it could be the fact that Laurel was standing there with a dog treat in her hand. Donnie was a very loyal pooch, mostly loyal to his stomach.
“Well, I’m back now. You can head home early,” Krista said. She never imagined Laurel would still be at the house. The sitter could’ve left right after feeding Donnie his dinner.
“I can’t go yet.”
Krista was puzzled. “Why is that?”
