As soon as the late shift bell rings, I hop off my seat and run out the door while everyone else is still stretching and pushing their stools under the worktables. In the corridor, I hear someone calling me. I turn and see Ming. He grins and waves for me to wait, but I spin around and bolt away. I glance back and see him standing there, confused, workers streaming out of the workroom around him.
I rush back to the dormitory.
Just inside the building, Yuling, who lives on my floor, sees me and streaks toward me, shouting my name. I don’t even ask; I know something has happened with Yun. I follow Yuling up the stairs and along the hall, which is still mostly deserted. I slow as we get close to my room, but Yuling grabs my hand and pulls me to the bathroom.
Yun is on the floor in the far corner, panting like an animal. Her eyes are squeezed closed and her face is twisted in pain, the fluorescent lights over the mirrors giving her skin a greenish cast.
“I came in, and she was calling for you,” Yuling says. “Yelled at me to go get you.”
I dash over to Yun and kneel beside her. She opens her eyes and grabs my hand, squeezing so hard it’s like she’s crushing my bones. I let her. Seeing her in so much agony makes my chest hurt.
After a moment, Yun’s grip loosens on me. Her face is slick with sweat, but the rigid look falls away. “You’re here.” She breathes the words so faintly between pants, I almost don’t hear.
Yuling crouches behind me. “Is she having a baby?”
I nod, fighting down my own panic.
“She has to go to the hospital!” Yuling says.
“Yes. Help me get her up!”
We lift her, and she slings her arms around our shoulders. We half-drag her out of the bathroom, but as soon as we reach the hallway Yun stops. She grabs her sides, clenched in pain again.
I peer down the long hall toward the stairs at the other end. I have no idea how we’re going to get there and then down four flights. And then across the complex to the front gates. And then to the hospital. I have plenty of money for a taxi, but the closest hospital is—
I can hear hollow voices and the clomp of footsteps in the stairwell, girls arriving back from work. “Into my room! Right there!” I fumble for my keys and thrust them at Yuling. She unlocks the door and pushes it open. I get Yun inside and lower her onto my bunk while Yuling clicks on the overhead light.
I drop to sit on the edge of the bunk to catch my breath.
“It’s coming! I know it is!” Yun huffs. She starts twisting side to side on the bed. For a moment, I think she’s writhing in agony. But no—she’s just trying to wriggle off her pants. I reach over to help her tug them off.
“She can’t have a baby here!” Yuling pulls her phone from a pocket. “I’m going to call an ambulance!”
“No!” Yun growls fiercely.
Startled, Yuling freezes. We look at each other, not knowing what to do. I turn back to Yun.
“No. The fines . . . the hospital charges . . .” She’s lying back with her knees up, her eyes closed, a moment of rest. I’m petrified, knowing another terrible pain is coming.
Yuling is right—we need an ambulance, Yun needs to get to a hospital. But I don’t have anywhere near 40,000 yuan. What if we get all the way there, only to be turned away because we can’t pay for the birth permit?
“Yun,” I say, “what should we—”
Yun lets out another smothered cry. Her fingers scrunch up the blanket she’s lying on.
The baby is coming. Right now. Even if Yun would agree to try the hospital, I’m not sure we’d make it there in time.
I turn to Yuling desperately. “Do you know anyone on this floor who has children?” I know lots of women come from the countryside to work in the factories, leaving their children with grandparents, sending money home for their education. Most of them live off grounds with their husbands, though surely someone in this dorm has had a child and would know how to help deliver one.
Suddenly I think of Dali. She came from the countryside, and she has a much younger brother she helps support. She’s the smartest person I know. “Upstairs! Room 606! Get Dali!”
Yuling races out of the room. I joggle my leg nervously, biting at my hangnails as I watch Yun. She keeps her eyes closed, the skin between her brows pinched up like she’s concentrating on something. I want to say something that will help her, but I can’t think of anything. I can’t believe this is happening. I’ve never been so scared.
Yun has two more pains before the door flies open and Yuling is back. Dali is with her. I jump up, relieved.
“Oh, shit!” Dali says when she sees Yun lying in the bed, naked from the waist down. “Move over, move over. I know what to do.”
I scramble out of the way, and Dali crouches next to the bed. “I helped my mother when she had my little brother.” She yanks my blanket off the foot of the bed where Yun has kicked it, folds it into a pad, and places it on the floor. “Yun, get up! Get on your knees and lean over the bed.”
Yun rolls her eyes to Dali and blinks, but when she doesn’t move, Dali slips her arm under her shoulders and hoists her up until she starts getting off the bed. She kneels at the side of it with my pillow folded and tucked under her arms. Her naked bottom shines pale and white. Although it’s astonishing to see her like this, I can’t help thinking that from behind I can hardly tell she’s pregnant. How did all this happen?
Yuling has left the door open, and several girls pass by on the way to the bathroom. They see what’s happening and begin crowding behind her. I gesture furiously at Yuling, and she quickly shuts the door.
I curse under my breath, but then Yun is having another cramp. She grits her teeth, her face screaming pain, but no sound comes out except heaves of breath. I don’t know how she isn’t yelling. I bite on my own knuckle to keep from crying out.
There’s knocking on the door. Someone shouts, “What’s going on?”
I hear the key turn, and the door starts to open.
I push Yuling out of the way, lunge to the door, and shove it closed. I jam my foot against it.
Pounding starts from the other side. “Who’s in there? Luli? It’s Shu! You can’t keep me out!”
A roommate. Most of them are getting off the overtime shift. They’ll all be here soon. They have to sleep. If I don’t let them in, they’ll report me. I look at Yuling, but she just gives me a don’t-know-what-to-do face.
“Wait a minute.” Dali wiggles off her coat and puts it over Yun’s naked backside. She gestures at me to go ahead.
I crack open the door. There are several girls around Shu. I will myself to speak calmly. “It’s my friend. She’s sick.” I gesture for the others to go away. They try to peer in, but I hold the door close and keep myself wedged tightly in the opening.
“Let me in now, ” Shu whines. “I’m tired.”
I nod at her friends. Shu gets the message and shoos them away. Once they’ve gone into the bathroom, I let her slip through.
Shu gapes at Dali and Yun bent over the bedside. “What sort of sick?”
I ignore her, but Yuling pipes up, “She’s having a baby!”
I shush her, but the door opens and three more of my roommates come in. They’re all worn out, and I almost think they would have just gone to their bunks without noticing, except that Shu makes a big show of rushing over to gawk at Yun. The other girls are instantly curious. All their tiredness falls away as they circle around with questions and probing eyes.
“Be quiet!” Dali snaps at them. She snatches the coat off Yun. “It’s coming. I can see the head!”
The girls gasp, then fall silent. I draw back, putting my cold hands to my cheeks.
Yun begins to groan, a deep guttural animal sound. She’s been so quiet with her pain before now. Brave. I’m sure I’m more scared than she is.
“Get some towels or something!” Dali shouts.
We all scramble to our lockers between the bunks. I’m so nervous I can’t get my lock unfastened, and by the time I place my towel on the floor with the others, Yun is squatting, and I can see a dark dome between her legs.
“Luli, get behind her and let her lean on you,” Dali orders.
I quickly move into place, unsure of how to position myself. But Yun leans back between my legs and loops her arms around my bent knees as if she does this all the time. I can feel the heat coming off her. The room is hushed except for Yun gasping and moaning as she pushes. Even Dali looks frightened as she holds a towel under the baby, waiting for it to come out.
Yun groans, nearly a roar, and now the baby’s head is fully out—now a shoulder. “Pull it!” she rasps.
“You have to push it out!” Dali’s hands tremble as she moves the towel closer to the baby.
Yun takes several breaths. Her hair is matted to her flushed, damp face. Beads of sweat spring up at her temples, and she leaks tears. I grab one of the towels the girls have thrown on the bed and mop her face.
“You can do it. You can do it.” I lean forward to put my face next to hers and whisper in her ear, feeling tears running down my own cheeks. “It’s almost out. You’re almost done!”
Her arms clamp hard against my legs. Her jaw clenches, and she pushes with a hard, low moan. I feel her whole body shudder, and she releases a deep, shaky sigh. Then Dali has the baby in a towel.