Deliver Me

DELIVER ME

“You’ll have to spread your legs wider,” Elijah softly encouraged. “Don’t
be afraid. I do this several times a day. I’ve never had any complaints.”

Her breathing escalated, the hot breaths fanning his face.
Eli tried to maneuver his shoulders into a
more comfortable position. No easy feat in the backseat of the compact Nissan
Sentra.

“Tell me your name
again, sweetheart.”

“Cassandra,” the teenager let out in a rushed gasp. The hem of her
sundress rolled down her thighs. Again.

“This is in the way.” Eli bunched up the material and pushed the dress
over her head. “That’s better. Now just relax. I know it’s scary, but it’ll be
easier if you stay calm.”

Eli ran his arm across his brow. It was hot, but the summer storm raging
outside the car prevented him from opening the door. A rivulet of sweat
followed a path from the matted hair at the girl’s temple, then sluiced down
her jaw line. The valley between her breasts glistened. Eli captured her knees
and spread her legs as far as the small space would allow.

He had to open the door. He couldn’t do anything cramped up like this.

Eli reached behind him and opened the back passenger door. The hot rain
pelted his legs as soon as he stepped onto the slippery gravel. It wasn’t the
most ideal environment, but he’d have to work with what he’d been given.

The young girl that lay before him cried out in pain.

“Shh.” Eli quieted her with calming words while his fingertips rubbed the
area giving her the most pressure. Expertly, he soothed away the ache, but he
knew at any moment it would return worse than before. He could no longer wait.
Neither could she.

He reached down between her legs. “This is going to hurt.”

The girl gasped, her back arching. “Oh, God. I can’t take this.”

“A little more. That’s it. It won’t be too long.”

Her earth-shattering scream pierced the air.

“Okay, Cassandra, I need you to push. We’re almost there.”

Where in the hell was the ambulance?

Eli freed one hand and reached into the pocket of his khaki slacks,
retrieving his cell phone. He speed dialed Methodist Memorial Hospital and
waited impatiently for the operator.

As soon as he heard the click, he barked into the phone, “I requested EMS
twenty minutes ago. Tell them to get to the 2700 block of Pine Street now,”
then slammed the phone shut and shoved it back into his pocket.

“Why isn’t the ambulance here yet?” the girl asked between rushed
breaths.

“They’ll be here soon.” He smoothed the damp hair back on her forehead. “I
told you not to worry. I’ve delivered more babies than I can count. I won’t let
anything happen to you.”

Eli rubbed the base of her torso with gentle circles. He felt the muscles
contorting underneath his palm.

“Okay, Cassandra, this is going to be a big one. Grab onto the headrest
and push as hard as you can.”

She did as she was told, gripping the driver’s side headrest and nearly
pulling herself off the seat with the force of her push.

“That’s perfect. Keep pushing until I tell you to stop.”

The tiny brown baby entered the world riding a wave of fluid. Eli caught
him in the palm of his hand and turned him over, quickly wiping away the film
from the baby’s mouth and nose. A sharp cry filled the car.

“You’ve got a son.”

He heard the high-pitched shrill of ambulance sirens coming down the
street.

“Great timing,” Eli muttered under his breath. He made swift work of
unbuttoning his shirt. He’d managed to keep his upper body out of the rain, but
sweat still caused the shirt to stick to his back. He peeled his arms out of
the sleeves, then wrapped the damp material around the newborn, placing the
baby in the cradle of his mother’s arms.

Eli backed out of the car. He stretched his six-foot-one frame and sighed
as the muscles in his back loosened. He’d maintained that crouched position for
over a half-hour.

He closed his eyes, relief washing over him like the late summer storm
beating down on his bare chest and shoulders. His pants were drenched, but it
didn’t matter. He’d helped bring another life into the world. He’d done his
job.

Eli raised his head to the heavens and let the warm rain hit his face,
opening his eyes to stare at the darkened New Orleans sky.

The ambulance pulled into the alley, its blue and white lights
illuminating the bricks of the dilapidated buildings they were sandwiched
between. Two paramedics jumped out of the rig, one carrying a bright orange
box, the other pushing a gurney.

“Dr. Holmes? I didn’t realize you were the one who’d called this in.
Where’s the pregnant woman?”

“She’s not really a woman, and she’s not pregnant anymore, either. She
just delivered a baby boy. They’re in the back seat of the car,” Eli informed
him, tilting his head toward the decrepit vehicle.

The paramedic with the box opened the car door and went to work.

“How’d you find her?” The other medic asked as she unfolded a sheet of
plastic. She quickly spread it over the gurney and tucked in the corners.

It wasn’t until she’d spoken that Elijah realized it was Abby Douglas.
The low slug baseball cap covering her forehead and eyes had prevented him from
recognizing one of the first women he’d met when he started at Methodist
Memorial. It hadn’t taken long before Eli found himself breathing rapidly over
her sweaty, naked body in an empty storage room.

“I was on my way to the little snack shop on the corner when I heard a
scream coming from the alley. I found her crouched behind those garbage cans.
She was at least six hours into labor.”

“She’s lucky you had a snack attack.” Abby shot him the sly grin that had
snagged him the first time. She was still pretty hot. He wondered if she was
seeing anyone.

The two medics helped the teenager and her baby onto the gurney, covering
mother and child loosely with a sheet to shield them from the rain.

Eli leaned against the ambulance’s open door. “I’m going to run home and
clean up, then I’ll go down to the hospital.”

“Are you on tonight?” Abby called from deep inside the vehicle. She was
hooking up a saline bag to the portable IV stand.

“Nah, but I want to make sure they’re okay.” He motioned his head toward
the teen, who stared reverently at her newborn. “Besides, they can always use
an extra pair of hands at the hospital since so many still haven’t returned
since Hurricane Katrina.”

“Tell me about it. Only about sixty percent of EMS is back.” Abby pulled
her cap more snuggly onto her head. “I’ll tell them to expect you in OB
recovery. I’m sure they won’t be surprised that Super Doc has struck again.”

Elijah smiled and gave the pretty paramedic a wink, then stepped out of
the way as she closed the door.

A loud crack reverberated through the air and the torrential rain poured
harder from the dark sky. Eli hardly took notice. With a satisfied smile he
watched as the ambulance made its way up the city street.

* * *

He should have known better. When had he ever come to this hospital and
not gotten sucked into the never-ending wave of chaos?

One hour.

He’d promised himself he’d check on the teen mother and her baby, visit a
few of his other patients, and be back home in
one
hour.

Nine hours later, Eli stretched out on a bed in an empty delivery room.
His shift started in a little over two hours. Didn’t make any sense to go home.

“Dr. Holmes?” Eli sleepily cocked open a single eye. One of the floor
nurses hovered over him, half her face illuminated by the strip of light
filtering in through the crack in the door. “You asked to be woken at five.”

“You gotta be kidding me?” Eli groaned. Hadn’t he just closed his eyes
five minutes ago?

“Five-oh-two, actually. I’m a couple of minutes late. We need you. There’s
a breech in room six.”

It was mornings like this that made him rethink his career choice.

Eli shook his head and threw his legs over the side of the bed. He hadn’t
chosen his career. It chose him. The story had made headlines: “Medical Student
Delivers Twins in Elevator.” And Super Doc had been born. After that, could he
really choose anything but obstetrics?

The door opened again. “Dr. Holmes, room six.”

Eli shoved his arms into a pair of scrubs that had been left by the
nurse—they took such good care of him—and pulled it over his head
as he left the room.

The patient’s scream met Eli before he got to the delivery room. It was a
surprise every glass in the hospital had not shattered.

“How are things going over there?” Elijah asked. He spread his fingers as
a nurse quickly slipped latex gloves over his hands, then made it to the
wailing woman’s side. “I’m here now,” he soothingly assured. “Everything’s
going to be okay.”

The woman’s eyes widened with fear. One nurse held her hand while another
adjusted the fluorescent light that extended high above the bed.

“The nurse said I’d need a C-Section. I—I don’t want a C-Section.”

“Shhh...” Eli whispered. He checked her dilation. “I wish this little one
could come out naturally, but it doesn’t look like that will happen.”

Her eyebrows spiked as concern washed over her face.

“Just trust me,” Eli said.

Her lips pursed as she was gripped with a contraction. Eli waited for it
to subside, gently rubbing the underside of her belly.

“Okay,” he said softly, knowing the calming tone would put her at ease, “in
a few minutes, you’ll have a brand new baby.” Eli performed a precise five-inch
slit, and in less than three minutes, pulled out a screaming, squirming baby.

“Is she okay?” the new mother asked.

“
He
is just fine. I told you to
trust me,” he winked. “Dr. Tanner will take it from here,” Eli said, regulating
the remaining duties to the first year resident. “Nurse Johnson, let recovery
know that Mommy and her new baby are on their way,” Eli called as he shucked
off the gloves and the gauzy light green drape, and dumped them in the garbage
on his way out the room. Methodist Memorial’s highly capable nursing staff
could handle the rest.

Elijah took off in the direction of the empty delivery room, hoping to
catch a few more hours rest. Otis, the janitor who’d worked in OB since Jesus
was a child, walked toward him, pushing an industrial size load of linens down
the hall. He held his hand up for a high five.

“Another success, Dr. H?”
 

“And,” Eli pointed at the clock on the opposite side of the hallway, “It’s
not even six o’clock.”

Eli felt as if he’d walked a minefield when he made it back to the room
without being noticed by anyone else. Just as he prepared to celebrate his feat
with an hour of uninterrupted sleep, a high-pitched voice called out, “Dr.
Holmes, room three!”