Just Good Friends (18 page)

When they pulled into the driveway outside the big house,
Koti joined her in leaping from the car and hurrying up the steps. Hannah had
thought to leave the door unlocked for them, and Kate pushed through it with
relief, calling for her friend.

“Still here.” Hannah came into the hall and stood leaning
against the wall. “Koti. You’re here too?”

“Just the driver,” he told her. “Are you all right?”

Hannah nodded, but Kate could see the strain in her face.
“They’re closer together now. Stronger, too. I think we need to leave right
now.”

“I’m glad you came,” she told Koti. “You probably know the
way. Auckland City Hospital.”

“I’ll get you there. No worries.” Koti helped her gently
down the stairs and into the car, while Kate got in behind him, where she could
see and touch Hannah in the passenger seat.

“Drive fast,” she told Koti, as she saw Hannah stiffen with
a contraction. She might not know much about childbirth, but it was hard to
mistake Hannah’s audible breaths and the way she held her abdomen.

“No worries,” he said again, grimly this time. “On our way.”

“Were you able to reach Drew?” Kate asked Hannah with
concern, once she felt the hand that had been gripping hers relaxing again.

“No. All I could do was leave a message for the trainer.
They were playing again by the time I called, and he didn’t answer. Is the game
over yet?” she asked Koti.

He glanced at the dashboard clock. “Not quite. Another ten
minutes or so. You’ll hear from him soon, though.”

“Why don’t you give me your phone, so I can answer it?” Kate
suggested.

Hannah fumbled it out of her purse, then handed it back. She
lay back against the car seat for a few minutes, then stiffened again and
reached for Kate’s hand.

“Should we be timing these?” Koti asked when it was over.
“They seem pretty close together.”

“I’m not sure it matters.” Hannah laughed a little, but Kate
could feel the tension and fear in the hand still gripping hers. “I think it’s
pretty clear this baby is on the way.”

“It’s going to be all right,” Kate assured her. “We’re
almost there. Aren’t we?” she implored Koti.

He smiled at Hannah, his voice calm and encouraging. “Sweet
as. Another few minutes, and you’ll be the most exciting thing to happen to
Auckland City Hospital all year. Birthplace of another All Black, eh. He’s a
boy, right?”

 Hannah smiled back at him, tears close to the surface. “He
is. I hope he’s all right. That he isn’t too little,” she said, a sob escaping
her.

“He’s all right,” Koti told her with certainty. “Can’t wait,
that’s all. Wants to meet his mum.”

Hannah sobbed again, and Kate pressed her hand. Then dropped
it hurriedly to fumble for Hannah’s phone, ringing at last.

“Hannah’s phone,” she answered.

“Who’s this? What’s happened?” She heard Drew’s voice, sharp
with worry.

“It’s Kate. And Hannah’s all right,” she said quickly. “But
the baby’s coming early. We’re on our way to the hospital now. Almost there.”

“Let me talk to her,” he commanded.

“We’re at the emergency entrance,” Kate told him as Koti
pulled in. “I’m going to call you back on this number in a few minutes, OK? I’ll
call you back,” she repeated as she disconnected and hopped out of the car.

“Give it to me,” Koti said. “I’ll ring him, soon as I park
the car. You need to help Hannah now. I’ll find you. Go on.”

Kate nodded and handed him the phone.
Let me do this right,
she prayed as she hurried beside the orderly pushing Hannah through to the
maternity ward. She wished she’d watched a movie, at least. She was so
unprepared.

Hannah was quickly settled into a birthing suite and changed
into a hospital gown. Within minutes, her midwife appeared, her face and manner
calmly reassuring.

“Baby decided to make an early appearance, did he?” she asked
Hannah, pulling up a stool to examine her. “Let’s have a look.”

“Early and fast. Six centimeters already,” she told her, after
an examination that was clearly uncomfortable. “Where’s Dad?” she asked Kate.

“Christchurch. Playing,” Kate told her. “He’ll be trying to
get back now. But I’m not sure that’s going to happen in time.”

“Not likely,” the midwife agreed. “We’ll have a present for
him when he turns up, eh,” she told Hannah.

“What about the baby? Is he going to be all right?” Hannah
asked desperately. “It’s too soon.”

“Barely preterm,” the midwife reassured her. “He’ll be 37
weeks in a few days. We’ve got the fetal monitor on you, and his heart rate’s
normal. He’ll be a bit small, need to be watched more closely. But he should be
just fine. Unfortunately, you’re too far into labor for us to offer you much
pain medication. We don’t like to give narcotics too close to the birth.
Especially with a young baby like this. You’re going to have to manage this one
naturally, I’m afraid.”

“I can do it,” Hannah told her with conviction. “I don’t
want anything that’s going to increase the risk, even a little bit.”

The midwife left, promising to return in a few minutes. Kate
was grateful for the competent, professional nurse who remained. She knew she
was out of her depth here. All she could do was hold Hannah’s hand and reassure
her. She hoped it was enough.

Another nurse appeared at the door, a little wide-eyed. “I
have Koti James waiting out here. He’s got Dad on the phone. But we can’t let
you use the mobile in here, I’m afraid. Only in the waiting room.”

 “Have him come in,” Kate decided. “He can tell her what
Drew said, anyway. And then he can call Drew back.”

When Koti appeared, putting his head around the door
cautiously and then stepping inside at Kate’s invitation, she updated him
quickly on the midwife’s report.

“How’s Drew getting back?” she asked. “What’s the plan?”

“They’re getting a plane sorted now.” Koti moved around
where Hannah could see him and gently picked up her other hand. “He’ll be with
you soon as he can manage it. And you know he can manage a fair bit. Said to
tell you,” he cleared his throat, “tell you he loves you. That the baby will be
fine. And to remind you to trust him when he says that. Because he’s always
right.” 

Hannah smiled tremulously. “Thanks,” she said, squeezing his
hand. “Would you go call him back? Tell him I’m all right, now I’ve heard from
him. Tell him I have you and Kate here to help me.”

“And Koti,” she said as he nodded and turned to leave.
“Please tell him to be careful getting here. No risks, OK?”

“I’ll tell him,” he promised. “No risks.”

When Kate looked back later, she could hardly believe she had
made it through the next couple hours. She marveled at Hannah’s strength as she
labored through the increasingly strong contractions, asking for frequent
updates on the baby’s condition.

“I just want him to be born,” she told Kate desperately
between contractions. “So he can be here, and safe, and looked after.”

The midwife returned as promised, and Hannah seemed to relax
a little at her confident assurances. Koti came in and out at regular
intervals. When Hannah heard that a flight had finally been arranged to get
Drew home, some of the tension seemed to leave her.

“Tell him I’m fine,” she told Koti every time, even though
Kate wouldn’t have described it that way. She didn’t think Hannah could be any
more relieved than she was herself when it was finally time to begin pushing.
Ten minutes later, though, she was wishing she was anywhere else. She’d known
that having a baby wasn’t easy, of course. But hearing the restrained Hannah
cry out in pain made her want to run from the room. She gritted her teeth and
went back to encouraging and reassuring her friend.

At last, when it seemed to her that Hannah’s fragile body
couldn’t take any more, the baby’s head appeared, with the rest of him
following in quick succession. The midwife caught him with deft hands, and soon
the welcome sound of a newborn’s cry filled the room.

 “Here’s your son, Mum,” the midwife told Hannah, placing
the baby gently on Hannah’s abdomen. “We’ll warm him up with you while we cut
the cord. A beautiful boy.”

Hannah’s trembling hands went down to hold him as she looked
at the little body.  “Oh,” she breathed. “He’s here. Look, Kate. He’s here.”

“He sure is,” Kate said, beaming with relief and joy. “You
did it. You did such a good job.”

“We’re going to have to take him from you for a bit now,”
the midwife told Hannah after the baby had been weighed, measured, and checked
by the waiting pediatrician. “He’s a wee bit small. We want to make sure he’s
kept warm, keep an eye on him.”

“Is he all right?” Hannah asked in alarm. “Is something
wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” the midwife reassured her again. “A
healthy boy. Just a bit thin, like all babies born at this age. He’s full-grown
in length—56 centimeters. 22 inches,” she went on as she saw Hannah trying to
calculate. “But only six pounds. He hasn’t had time to put any fat on yet,
which means you’ll need to be more careful about keeping him warm. We’ll keep
him in the neonatal unit for now to observe him. Just a precaution, Hannah.”

Hannah looked desperate as the nurse gently put the baby
into the Lucite bassinette and prepared to wheel him away.

“Kate,” she urged. “Please, ask Koti to watch him. Watch him
until Drew gets here. Please. And to come back and tell me. I need to know he’s
OK.”

Kate nodded. For the first time that evening, she left
Hannah alone, and went to find Koti.

He jumped up from where he was sitting, hands clasped and
head bowed, in the waiting room. “What? Is it all right?”

“It’s perfect,” Kate answered, lightheaded with relief.
“Better call Drew and tell him that he’s on his way to see his son. But Hannah
wants you to go to the neonatal unit. They’ve taken him there to monitor him.
Can you stand outside and watch him? And come tell her he’s all right, from
time to time?”

“She’s been working so hard,” she said with a break in her
voice. “And she’s been so worried that something would be wrong. Now they’ve
taken him away, and she’s frantic to know how he is.”

“No worries. I’ll call Drew, then I’ll be there straight
away,” he promised.   

Drew picked up on the first ring. “Koti? What’s happening?”

Koti smiled. “You’ve got a son, mate. Doing well too, from
what I hear.”

Drew exhaled. “And Hannah? How’s she?”

“Good as gold,” Koti reassured him. “Where are you?”

“Taxiing,” Drew said grimly. “Took bloody ages to get a plane
sorted. We’re taking off now, though. Be there in a couple hours. They’re both
all right? You’re sure?”

“Good as gold,” Koti said again. “They’ve taken the baby to
the nursery, keep an eye on him, from what I understand. Hannah asked me to
watch him. I’m going to do that now.”

“Don’t leave them,” Drew commanded. “Stay with them till I’m
there.”

“No worries,” Koti told him. “I’m here till you are. Kate
too.”

“We’re taking off now. Tell Hannah I love her.”

He disconnected, and Koti absently put the phone back into
his pocket. Walked out to find the nursery. To watch over Drew’s family until
he could do it himself.

He was still there two hours later, leaning against the
corridor wall, when he saw Drew headed down the corridor towards him. Usually
so self-possessed, the other man looked rumpled and grubby, his hair on end as
if he’d been pulling his hands through it. Koti could see that he’d thrown his
warmups on over his uniform and gone straight to the airport. Worst of all, he
still had staples closing a long wound in his forehead. He hadn’t even taken
the time to have them removed and the cut stitched after the game.

 Koti stood up as Drew came to a stop in front of him. He
watched the new father turn to search for his baby through the glass wall of
the nursery. Heard his breath catch as he saw his son in the bassinette labeled
“Callahan—Boy.” Sleeping peacefully, swaddled snugly in a blanket, his tiny
head covered by a blue cap, the baby showed no sign of all the drama that had attended
his birth.

“He’s all right?” Drew asked Koti.

“No worries, mate,” Koti assured him. “They’ve been checking
on him. It means Hannah hasn’t been able to see him, though. That’s been hard
on her.”

“Where is she?” Drew asked urgently. “Show me.”

Koti walked him down the hall to the room where Hannah had
been transferred. Stood back as Drew entered the room. Kate was curled up in a
chair by the bed, but jumped up on Drew’s arrival.

Drew didn’t hesitate. He went straight to his wife and
pulled her gently into his arms. And the reserved Hannah, whom Koti had never
seen at a disadvantage before that evening, burst into tears and threw her own
arms around her husband.

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “I shouldn’t have made you go. I’m
so glad you’re here. We have a baby. Did you see him?”

As Drew held her and murmured words of love and
encouragement, Kate edged around the two of them and joined Koti in the
doorway.

“I’d say that’s our cue to leave,” she muttered.

“Too right.” Koti sighed in relief. “Should we say goodbye?”

“I don’t think they’d even hear us,” Kate smiled tiredly.
“Let’s go.”

They paused a minute outside the nursery to take a final
look.

“He’s so tiny,” Kate marveled. “But let me tell you, having
him was an effort. A really big effort. I didn’t realize. When she was in the
middle of it, I thought, no thanks. This is too hard.”

“But when he was born . . .” she sighed. “I suspect Hannah
thinks it was worth it.”

Koti took her hand and squeezed it. “Reckon they both do. It
may not have been what they were expecting, but it turned out well. Thank God.
You were awesome. Bet you didn’t know you could do that.”

“I thought I’d been terrified before,” she admitted. “But
this was something else. I’m glad I was there. I’m glad you were, too. You were
so good. So calm. But I’ve never been more scared in my life.”