“Are you crying?” Claire said, peeking over at Gia, who was lying on the bed next to her.
“No.”
“You are too crying!”
“So what if I am?” Gia said defensively. “It’s a sad movie!”
Claire shifted her weight in the bed. She was getting stiff. “Yikes!”
“What?” Gia said, sitting up so quickly she knocked her popcorn bowl on the floor.
“Oh, nothing. Sorry. Didn’t mean to frighten you. Maggie just gave me quite the kick.”
“Maggie?” Gia said, reaching down to pick up her bowl and the few bits of popcorn that had spilled out onto the floor.
“Yeah. Do you like it?”
“Love it. Sounds very Irish,” Gia said.
“Callum insisted on an Irish name, but I was the one who chose Maggie.”
“Maggie doesn’t know it yet, but she’s going to be the most loved baby ever born.”
“That she is,” Claire said, rubbing her belly and glancing at the clock on the table next to her. “It’s getting late. I wonder where Callum is.”
Claire sat up in bed and slowly lowered her feet onto the floor.
“Whoah! Where are you going?” Gia asked, sounding alarmed.
“To the bathroom. I have to pee. Unless, of course, you want to stick a bedpan under my butt.”
“That’s what I thought. It’s only five feet away. I’m allowed to get up to use it every once in a while as long as I don’t stand too long. I’ll be fast.”
She stood up, gingerly, and stretched her arms and legs as soon as she was in an upright position.
“You have no idea how good it feels to get out of that bed.”
As she headed into the bathroom, Gia picked up the remote and flipped through the channels.
“Hey!” she called out to Claire. “You’ll never guess what’s on! The Bridges of Madison County. Remember how we watched that movie over and over again in college? Clint Eastwood is still so sexy.”
The bathroom door opened and Claire stood in the doorframe. Gia’s eyes remained on the screen.
“Oh, I love this scene,” she said. “You know, where they slow dance in the kitchen and she’s wearing the new dress she bought.”
“Gia.”
Gia turned her head and noticed Claire standing there.
“My water broke,” Claire said.
“You’re kidding, right?” Gia asked. Seeing the ashen look on Claire’s face, she knew the answer before Claire shook her head.
Gia jumped off the bed and rushed to Claire.
“And I’m bleeding,” she said, both her voice and her body shaking.
Gia took her by the arm and led her to the bed. She helped Claire lie down, putting a pillow under her legs.
“Don’t move,” Gia ordered. “I’ll call the doctor. Where is your damn phone?”
“Callum probably left it in the kitchen. Or on the couch? He was playing a game with it when his phone wasn’t charged.”
Gia could kill Callum at this moment. Sure, she had her own phone, but Claire’s doctor’s number wasn’t in there.
“I’ll be right back. Don’t move. You hear me? Don’t move!”
“I will. Don’t move!” Gia called over her shoulder as she ran out of the room.
• • •
“I’m here, love. I’m here.”
Claire turned her head to see Callum rolling into the operating room. He was wearing scrubs and, despite the situation, seeing him brought her some small relief. If she wasn’t so scared, she would’ve made a comment about how they could save the outfit to play doctor and nurse one night at home.
“I didn’t think you’d make it,” she said, instead.
“Did you honestly think I’d miss Maggie’s grand entrance into this world?”
“No.”
“There was a lot of snow on the roads. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left you.”
“It’s okay. Gia took care of me,” Claire said.
“Thank God for Gia.”
Claire nodded. She’d said that to herself a million times over the past few years.
Gia had finally called an ambulance after reaching Claire’s doctor and, upon looking out the window, realizing there was a near-blizzard going on out there. Gia could’ve driven them to the hospital in Claire’s car, but considering the falling snow, and the fact she didn’t know where she was going, it seemed better to dial 9-1-1.
As soon as Claire and Gia arrived at the hospital, Claire was rushed up to the O.R. Gia had called Callum and he’d reassured both of them he’d be there shortly and wouldn’t miss a thing. Nonetheless, when the nurses asked Gia if she wanted to put on a pair of scrubs, just in case the father didn’t arrive on time, she did so to ensure Claire wouldn’t be alone during the delivery.
She stayed with Claire until Callum rolled into the O.R. Gia was sure she’d never before been so happy to see anyone as she was to see Callum at that moment.
“Okay,” Dr. Lindberg said, from his place behind the curtain dividing Claire’s neck and head from the lower half of her body. “You shouldn’t feel any pain, but you will feel some pushing and then some tugging when I go to get her out.”
Claire nodded. “Okay.”
“Take a deep breath. It won’t be long until she’s here,” the doctor said.
“Do you want to look?” Claire asked Callum.
“No thanks, love. I’m not so good with blood and all that. I’ll just keep my eyes on you. We can see Maggie together.”
Claire nodded again, as Callum squeezed her hand.
“Listen, Claire,” Dr. Lindberg said, his voice suddenly very grave. “Once she’s out, things are going to move very quickly. I’m going to cut her cord and hand her to the nurse and then I’ll need to do some repair in here.”
“What kind of repair?” Callum asked. The fear in his voice did nothing to calm the panic rising in Claire’s chest.
“It’s what we thought might happen. The placenta has grown outside the uterus.”
The doctor stopped speaking as he continued to work on Claire. The room was very still. No one spoke, not Claire or Callum or any of the members of the medical team.
Claire held her breath. She’d been here before. In an operating room that looked just like this. With a sheet in front of her face. With a husband holding her hand. Only, this was a different O.R. in a different state with a different doctor—not the one who’d delivered her first three babies—and a different husband. But one who was as loving as Jack, and just as anxious and excited to become a dad as Jack had been.
Everything was the same, yet everything was also so different. She’d never before been so scared to give birth as she was now.
What if something happened to her baby? She couldn’t bear it. She wouldn’t be able to live if she lost another child. She hadn’t told Callum this, but it would be the end of her if they lost Maggie.
Just then, a baby’s scream broke through Claire’s fear. Claire hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath until that moment, when she released it. The cry was pure and clear and the most beautiful sound Claire had ever heard.
“You have a daughter!” Dr. Lindberg announced. “And what a set of lungs on her!”
Claire couldn’t see anything, but could sense the medical staff moving quickly from behind the curtain.
“Can I see her?” Claire asked.
Dr. Lindberg didn’t say another word and Claire assumed he was busy “fixing” whatever it was he needed to fix. She wasn’t too worried. The baby seemed to be fine and Claire had full confidence in her doctor. Now that Maggie was safe, she knew Dr. Lindberg would make sure she was, too.
“Sure, sweetie,” a nurse said, reminding Claire of Gia and the term of endearment Gia often used when speaking to Claire. “Let us clean her up and weigh her and then we’ll bring her to you.”
“Seven pounds, four ounces,” a nurse announced from one side of the room.
“I can kind of see her,” Callum said, squeezing Claire’s hand tighter. “She’s really here.”
A moment later, the nurse walked over to Callum and Claire, their baby girl in her arms.
“I can’t hand her to you just yet,” she said. “But you can see her. Look at how beautiful she is.”
She held the baby close to Callum and Claire so they could gaze at their daughter’s face.
“She has all her arms and legs, right?” Callum asked nervously. The thought she might not be born with all of her limbs had actually never occurred to Claire. For a moment, she felt ashamed. Of course it would have been something Callum would fear the entire pregnancy, no matter what the ultrasounds seemed to reveal. She couldn’t believe he’d never mentioned his worries to her. But, of course, they’d both been worrying about so much already.
“Two arms, two legs, ten fingers, ten toes.”
Their baby had all her parts.
• • •
“She’s beautiful,” Callum said, his voice full of relief. He couldn’t take his eyes off his daughter. His daughter. He couldn’t believe it. He and Claire had made a child, together. She was here and healthy. Claire was right. He’d worried all those months for nothing.
“Look at her eyes, Claire. She’s looking at us like she already knows who we are. Isn’t she just gorgeous, love?”
When Claire didn’t respond, Callum turned toward his wife.
“Claire?” Callum’s voice cracked. “Claire!”
Claire’s eyes were closed and her face suddenly had a sickly gray pallor Callum had never seen before.
In less than a half a second, everything in the room began to spin and move at lightning speed.
“Mr. Fitzgerald, we need you to leave.”
“But Claire…” He held tightly to her hand.
“Mr. Fitzgerald,” a nurse said firmly. “I need you to move your chair and get out of the way. Please go wait outside the door.”
“I can’t leave her. Claire, love,” Callum said, looking back at Claire’s ashen face. “Wake up. Come on, love. Wake up.”
“You need to go and let the doctor do his job.” The nurse’s voice was decisive and absolute.
Callum nodded and mechanically reached down for the knob on the arm of this chair. He put it in reverse and then forward again as he rolled out the door and into the hallway where Gia was waiting for him.
He wasn’t sure how much she’d heard, but when Callum saw the fear in Gia’s eyes, he knew she’d heard enough.
Gia was terrified.
He wanted to reassure her. He wanted to tell Gia about their beautiful daughter, Maggie, who was as lovely as Claire and as healthy as they could ever pray she’d be. He wanted to tell her how great Claire had done during the delivery.
But he could say none of those things. All he could think about was how the color had left Claire’s face. How she’d been there with him one second and then the next, it was if she was gone.
Gia grabbed Callum’s hand. Her palm was clammy with fear.
“Pray, Gia,” he said. “Pray. Pray harder than you have ever prayed before.”