A Home for Christmas (19 page)

“What kinda nonsense is that? How's that gonna help her have the baby?”

Janice looked up at Blake.

He tipped his head toward the door. “Hoyt, why don't you and me go see about boilin' some water?”

Blake clasped the man's shoulder and ushered him out of the room.

On their way out, Janice said, “Blake, we'll need some clean towels and blankets.”

He turned back and winked at her. “Sure thing, Doc.” He pushed a complaining Hoyt out the door and shut it behind them.

The blood pressure looked good, but her patient looked exhausted. Janice brushed a hand across the woman's damp forehead. “Try to tell me what you're experiencing.”

“My water broke last night, so I took to bed, but the pains didn't come. They didn't start till this mornin'. They been real strong, but I've not been feeling like I need to push. Just hurtin' and the baby, well, I ain't feelin' no pressure down low like I did with the others. I just hurt so bad.”

“Okay. Let me check and see how far you've dilated.”

Sally nodded weakly. Janice pulled her hair back with a band and put on latex gloves. She didn't like what she saw. She wasn't effaced as a woman having her fourth child, and who had been in labor all day, should be.

Janice removed the gloves. “I'm going to examine your stomach to try and feel the baby's position.”

Sally nodded again. Blake came back into the room then with a tall stack of towels and blankets.

“Where's Hoyt?” Sally asked.

“I put him to choppin' wood.”

“How'd you do that? There's a pile out there a mile high.”

“I told him we'd need it.”

Sally laughed, then moaned as another contraction came. Janice squeezed her hand. “Okay, just breathe through it. In through your nose. Out through your mouth. That's it. Good.”

When the contraction passed, she said, “Sally?”

The woman opened her eyes and looked at her. “What is it, Doc?”

“The baby's breach.”

“Oh, God. Am I gonna lose her?”

“I'm going to do everything in my power to keep that from happening. First, I want to check the baby's heartbeat to make sure that it's strong, then,” she hesitated for a moment, and continued, “then I'm going to turn it.” Yes. Given the circumstances, it was the only thing she could do. “It will be painful. If the baby's heartbeat is strong, I can give you something to help with that. If not—”

“I ain't worried about the pain. Just save my baby.”

At Janice's words, Blake felt his knees go weak. He set the blankets and towels down and slowly backed toward the door.

“Blake, I need you to stay. Can you hand me a blanket?”

Oh, God.
He took a deep breath and handed her the blanket. Janice took it and positioned it across Sally's legs. Then, she pulled Sally's nightgown back exposing her swollen belly. Blake set the towels and blankets on the dresser and grasped the bedpost for support.

“You okay?” Janice asked.

“Yeah. I'm good,” he lied.

Janice squirted some kind of gel-like substance on Sally's belly, then rolled a triangular shaped devise across it. The sound of a strong heartbeat filled the room. Janice smiled.

“That's your baby's heartbeat, Sally. It's good and strong.”

“Thank God,” she said softly.

A tear rolled down Sally's face. Blake swallowed his queasiness and took a hand towel out of the stack. He blotted the moisture from Sally's face, and she smiled up at him.

“You're gonna be fine, Sally. Dr. Thornton is gonna take care of everything.” He claimed the smile Janice gave him all for his own. God, she was an extraordinary woman. She wiped the gel off Sally's stomach, then got a syringe and a vial of medicine from her bag.

“What's that?” Sally asked.

“Something to help with the pain.”

Sally shook her head. “I don't want to be drugged up. I want to have my wits about me when I welcome my baby into the world.”

“This won't impair you. It'll just take the edge off the pain.”

Sally considered that. Blake squeezed her hand. “It'll be okay,” he said.

She chewed her lower lip, then moaned as another contraction hit. “Breathe through it,” Janice said. “You're doing great. It's all going to be over soon.”

After the contraction passed, Janice gave Sally the shot, then said, “We need to turn the baby now, Sally. Are you ready?”

Sally nodded.

“Squeeze Blake's hand.”

Blake brushed the hair off Sally's forehead. She was a sturdy woman, but still, he hoped she'd be okay. She'd already been through so much. Janice grabbed a towel and bottle of something the color of iodine from her bag, then set them aside.

He refocused on Sally. “Go ahead. Squeeze. I can take it,” he said.

But when Sally squeezed, he thought
he'd
need a doctor's attention before this was over. The woman had a killer grip. Sally moaned. She even cried out, then Janice said, “There. Oh, yeah. Here we go.”

Hoyt burst into the room. “What's happenin' in here. I heard Sally hollerin' all the way outside. What are you doin' to my wife?”

“Oh . . . she's a comin', Hoyt. I can feel her. She's a comin'.”

“She certainly is. She's crowning.”

Blake moved back out of the way as Hoyt took his place at his wife's side. He should leave. This was a private moment, but he couldn't take his eyes away from what Janice was doing.

“Okay, Sally. This is it. With the next contraction, I want you to push. I don't have time to give you a local. Are you okay?”

“
Ohhh . . .
here it comes.
Mmm . . . 
”

“Support her shoulders, Hoyt. Blake, dump my bag on the bed here next to me and get a towel. Now!”

Blake did as she said.

“Okay, Sally. Stop pushing. Squeeze Hoyt's hand, scream, do whatever you need to, but don't push!”

Blake stopped, transfixed. It was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen. Still, something wasn't right. “What is that?” he asked.

“The cord's wrapped around her neck.”

“Oh, Lordy. Is she okay?”

Janice cupped the baby's head and carefully unwound the cord. That done, she suctioned mucus out of its mouth and nose. Still, the baby wasn't moving. “You're doing great. One more push and she'll be here.”

“She's okay then?”

“Sally, I need you to focus for me. Push with the next contraction. Let's get her here.”

“I'm ready when you are.”

“Okay. Push. That's it.”

And then the baby was a squirming, round, red mound in Janice's hands. “That's good, Sally. You can relax now.”

“Is she okay? Is my baby all right?”

“Everything looks fine. Blake, open up that packet for me please.”

Sally laughed. She was actually laughing!

Janice indicated a sealed plastic package of surgical instruments. He opened it and held it for her.

“Sally, Hoyt, how would you feel about a son instead of daughter?”

“A boy? It's a boy?” Hoyt breathed in a hushed voice.

Sally just kept laughing and crying as Janice put clamps on the cord. She held the scissors out to Hoyt. “Would you like to cut the cord?”

He did as she asked. He looked at least three inches taller as he gazed at his son. When he'd finished, Janice rubbed the baby with the towel. It began to cry. A squeaky little noise that hardly qualified, but a cry all the same.

“Is he all right?” Sally asked again.

“Looks perfect,” Janice confirmed as she handed the baby to his mother.

She cuddled the little bundle up close. “A boy.” She looked up at her husband, love and tears shining in her eyes. “Hoyt, we have a son.”

The huge man Blake had known most of his life melted. He tenderly kissed his wife, then his baby, tears shining in his eyes, too.

“Blake, I could use that warm water now and a large, clean bowl.”

Blake retraced his steps to the kitchen and with the help of one of the girls, got the things Janice needed. Back in the bedroom, Janice continued to work with Sally. When she'd finished, Hoyt took care of the soiled towels and the bowl.

As he was carrying them out, Sally said, “Hoyt, be sure and bury the afterbirth in the north end of the garden.

Janice frowned, but didn't comment. She turned her attention to the baby. She and Sally washed the tiny little boy together. When they'd finished, Janice took out her stethoscope and examined the baby.

When she'd finished, Sally asked, “How is he?”

“He's perfect, Sally. Absolutely perfect. You can breastfeed now if you'd like.”

She turned to pick up the contents of her medical bag scattered across the bed while Sally settled the baby at her breast.

Blake watched. He couldn't help it. It was the most natural thing in the world. So amazing. That precious life nursing at his mother's breast would have died without Janice. He'd witnessed her saving a life. And he'd played a part. He got her here so she could do it, fetched things, and offered moral support. He couldn't process all that he'd seen here, but he knew it had changed him forever.

When everything had been cleaned up and put away, Sally's nightgown and the sheets changed, Janice held the baby while she sat beside Sally on the bed.

“Doc, we can't thank you enough for what you done,” Sally said.

She elbowed Hoyt.

“Uh. Yeah. Thank ye, Doc. We're beholdin' to ya.”

Janice smiled. “I'm so glad I could help. He's beautiful.” She touched the baby's palm and he curled his tiny hand around her finger.

She snuggled him closer, her heart nearly bursting with emotion. He had a head full of dark, curly hair and huge blue eyes. “He's going to be a heartbreaker. What will you name him?”

“Well, we was gonna name him Charissa to go with Marissa, Larissa, and Clarissa. We just assumed it'd be another girl.”

“I don't think that'll work.” Blake laughed. He stood tall and handsome next to her, his arms folded across his chest. She didn't know how she could have gotten through this without him. She hadn't ever allowed herself to need anyone, but today, she'd needed Blake.

“Me and Hoyt talked while you was cleanin' up, Doc. If it's all right with you, we'd like to name him Thornton, because if it weren't for you, he wouldn't be here.”

“And not only that. I mighta lost my Sally, too.”

Janice blinked. She didn't know what to say.

“We'd call him Thorn,” Sally went on to explain. “Doc?”

Blake touched her shoulder as she felt the tears fill her eyes. She clasped Sally's hand. “I'd be honored,” she managed.

After a moment of pulling herself together, she handed the baby back to its mother and said, “This is your fourth child, so I'm sure you know how this works. With the complications you had, you're going to be more sore than you probably were with the other births. It'll be safe to take acetaminophen for the pain. I've left some on the nightstand for you. Anything stronger wouldn't be good for the baby since you're breastfeeding.”

“I'll see that she don't overdo,” Hoyt said.

“Is there anything else I can do for you before I go?”

“No. We'll be just fine, Doc,” Sally said.

Janice stood and looked up at Hoyt. “I'd like you to bring them in to the office in about a week for a check-up.”

She expected him to argue, but instead he agreed.

“I'll do it.”

“Oh, Hoyt. Could we get a tree from the tall pines afterward?”

“Sure, darlin'. Anything you want.”

She smiled up at her husband with love for him clearly displayed in her eyes, and all those old feelings stirred inside Janice. The intense desire to hold her own baby while a loving husband held her in his arms. A warm, welcoming home where they'd always be together to share and build a life together. To finally have and experience all the things she'd never known. Could it be possible? It seemed more than possible in this moment. It seemed so real with Blake standing next to her. Like a miracle on the same level as the birth of this precious child.

But she could never have this kind of family. The kind where the mother stayed home and took care of her husband and family. That's what Blake wanted, and she couldn't give it to him. With her, he'd have to stay with the children while she did rounds, saw patients, and went out on weekends and in the middle of the night to deal with emergencies like this. Did she really want her children to grow up like she had? Without a mother to care for them?

Janice stood. “See that she rests, Hoyt. She's had a long, hard day.”

“I'll take care of her, Doc. Don't you worry.”

She felt Blake's strong hand on her arm. “We'll see ourselves out.”

“Thank you again, for everything,” Sally said. “Will you send the girls in to meet their baby brother?”

“Of course,” Blake said.

Janice was glad to let him take control. She was both mentally and physically drained. All she wanted to do was go back to her uncle's, go up to her room, close the door, shower, crawl into bed, and shut out the world. She couldn't deal with anything else today. In her world—her sterile, lonely world—she could work a twenty-hour day, handle case after case.

But this was different. She'd met these people in their homes, amid their loved ones. Her emotions had gotten all tangled up in the work she'd done since she arrived in Angel Ridge, with these people she'd grown to care for. The mother, whose family depended on her, dying of cancer. A precious little boy who would grow up without a mother to nurse him through his minor childhood illnesses. A woman with an absent husband who'd desperately wanted a child, but had lost it. And a perfect baby born into a family filled with love.

Janice rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand as they walked out to the car. It didn't help that she hadn't slept in nearly twenty-four hours.

“You all right?” Blake asked, his hand still on her arm.

He opened the door to his truck, but held her in front of him with a hand at her shoulder. She looked up at him and nearly broke down. It would be so easy to go into his arms, to let him comfort her, to let herself depend on him. Fall in love with him. He was everything a woman could want. But she wasn't a typical woman, and her life wasn't her own to give. For the first time, even with having delivered that incredible little boy, she regretted her choice of careers.