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Before she could panic, Mia soothed her, still rubbing her cheeks. “Now we just have to wait.” Contrary to her worried eyes, her voice was steady. “I’m not sure what they teach during those Lamaze classes, but I know they talk about breathing. I guess it must be something like meditation. What do you say we try? I think it could be helpful.”
At Izzie’s agreement, we all tried focusing on our breathing. Mia and I did it for moral support, as much as for our own sake.
From time to time, I walked around the car, trying to get at least a figment of a signal. I didn’t wanna leave them alone again, seeing as how Izzie’s contractions were getting longer and more frequent. It was getting hard to ignore we’d probably have to take matters into our own hands. Mia grabbed the blankie I’d brought and threw it over Izzie, rubbing her arms up and down to keep her warm and comfortable.
Until her next contraction came. Every time she tried to control her desperate scream, I became more despondent.
“Five minutes. Almost forty seconds.” Any other person wouldn’t have noticed the waver in her voice, but I’d been working with Mia for far too long not to pick up on it.
It was time to face reality.
“Pull the blankie over your heads. Cover as much of her as you can. I’m breaking her window, and the one from the back seat.”
As Mia worked fast on her end, I trudged to their side of the car and pulled out my jacket. The cold weather only served to push me forward. It was invigorating.
I rolled my coat around my hand and forearm and started punching the cracked window. When I broke through, I toed off one of my boots again to jab out the few points of glasses that remained. Careful not to hurt them, I bunched up the blankie that covered the girls, pulled it out of the car, and shook it to let the shattered glass fall away. When I was satisfied with my job—as if I ever could be satisfied in a situation like that—I draped it over Izzie again.
I looked up straight into Mia’s eyes, and we knew what we should do. “Do you have a first aid kit?” She nodded and pulled the box from under the passenger seat. “Good. I’m going inside.”
I rounded the hood to the driver’s seat and heard her saying to Izzie, “Honey. I’ll slide your seat back so you can have more room between your legs, okay?” Isabella agreed despite her distress, and Mia pulled the lever beside the seat, easing it all the way back.
Mia put the stuff I brought on the back seat, grabbed one of the bottles of water, and let Izzie sip it, while she gorged on the other one.
“I’m scared. It’s been too long, I don’t think I can wait for someone to come for us.” Right on cue, she let out another scream, holding Mia with strength until both their hands became white.
I placed my hands on the top of the door. “Hang on tight. I’ll try not to move the car too much.” I pulled myself up and slid into the car through the driver’s window. Once inside, I turned to Izzie. “Is it okay if I check your dilation?” I took her whimper as an agreement. Mia pointed to the glove compartment, from where I fished some surgical gloves and sanitizer.
Getting between her legs was a challenge, since I was too big for that, but we managed to make it work. I placed Izzie’s right foot on the dashboard and the left one on the change gear. After we were settled, I sheathed my hands with the gloves and pulled up the hem of Izzie’s dress to feel her.
When I curled my lips, Mia’s eyes turned troubled, and she mouthed, “We can’t lose this baby.”
She understood my distress. It was time. Concealing my worry, I tried to infuse cheer into my words. “Let’s bring your baby to the world.”
“What?” She panicked.
“We’re delivering your baby,” I announced. “But don’t worry, we have everything under control.”
I hated myself for lying to her.
That couldn’t be happening. It was supposed to be one of the greatest days of my life. I should be feeling excited and sharing it with my man, the father of my child.
I shouldn’t be strapped to a car seat, after being thrown off the side of the road by maniacs, terrified I could lose my baby before he was even born. As much as I trusted and loved Mia and Danny, I should be surrounded by professionals, not by a man who could barely fit inside the car and a woman who was still bleeding from the side of her head.
I let out another painful and fearful scream.
Danny touched my knee, waiting until I looked at him. “We don’t have time to wait for someone to arrive. But we got you. We got this, okay?”
All I could do was nod. I felt if I tried to say anything, I might throw up from fear and pain.
All my insides were coiled, and I could feel the lingering pain from the last contraction. Once again, I heard Mia’s mumbled words. When I peered up at her, her eyes were closed in concentration. Danny followed her again, just like he did over the phone.
“What are you doing?”
She opened her eyes, and serene determination dominated her features. “We were praying.” I wasn’t expecting that. “Whenever we have something important to do, we pray afore. It helps to keep us grounded and feel that someone bigger than us will take charge if it gets to be too much.”
At my conflicted expression, Danny squeezed my knee. “I know it might sound weird. I was doubtful at first, even being raised by a Catholic mother. But it feels like an extra layer of protection.”
As he talked to me and Mia ran her hand through my hair, I saw Danny working at my feet, laying things from the first aid kit around on the driver’s seat and positioning me for my dreaded fate. I was about to refute their theory when I felt it again. My body was most certainly being ripped in two. The pressure on my back became too much for me to bear. Wave upon wave of excruciating pain coursed through me, tightening my muscles beyond my control. My trembling legs would’ve left their position if it weren’t for Danny holding them.
