A Home for Christmas (18 page)

“Of course.”

“Could you get me some cool water and a towel?”

“Sure. I'll wait outside the door. You can get it from me when you're ready.”

“Thanks. Bebe, how far along are you?”

“Twelve weeks.”

“Blake tells me you've had some bleeding.”

“Yes. Am I going to lose my baby?”

“I'm going to do everything I can to see that you don't. Try to stay calm, okay? That's very important.”

The woman nodded, her gray eyes huge and frightened. Janice squeezed her hand. While she checked her pulse and blood pressure, she asked several questions to determine how much bleeding there'd been, if she was having contractions, if she'd been as still as possible or moving around.

Not liking the answers she'd been given, Janice opened the case containing the ultrasound. She removed it and found an electrical outlet.

“Do you know what this is?”

Bebe shook her head.

“It's a small ultrasound. Have you had an ultrasound?”

“No. The doctor said there was no need unless there's a problem.”

“I'm going use it now to see how the baby's doing.” Janice raised the woman's gown and squirted the gel, then rolled the monitor over Bebe's flat stomach. She made some adjustments to get a good picture on the small screen. There it was. The fetus was normal size. Janice rolled the wand to get a profile, then moved to get a reading on the heartbeat. She made another adjustment, praying she'd find it. She moved the wand again . . . and again. Nothing.

“Can you see my baby? Is my baby all right?”

Janice turned the machine off.

“Doctor?”

Janice took Bebe's hand. This was one of the worst parts of being a doctor. Delivering bad news. “Mrs. Ferguson, I'm afraid you're having a miscarriage. I'm so sorry.”

“Are you—sure?” her voice broke and tears fell from her eyes.

Janice pulled a couple of tissues from a box on the bedside table and handed them to her. “I'm sorry,” she repeated. She wiped the gel from her stomach, lowered her gown, and pulled the covers back up to her waist. “I need to consult with your OB/GYN, but I would recommend that you go into the hospital for a D&C.”

“Oh, God.”

She began to sob. Janice squeezed her hand and shoulder. She wanted to hold her, but as her doctor, she had to remain detached and professional.

“What's wrong?” Blake came into the room. “I heard—Bebe?”

He rushed to the bed, knelt and put an arm around the distraught woman's shoulders. Bebe pressed her face into his shoulder. Blake looked at Janice, an unspoken question in his eyes. Janice shook her head. She stood and put the ultrasound back in its case.

After a moment, when the sobs had lessened, she said, “Mrs. Ferguson, if you could give me your doctor's name . . . ”

Bebe sniffed and pulled away from Blake. “Kendell Griggs.”

Janice opened the nightstand drawer and found a phone book. She dialed the number, and after a few moments, spoke with Bebe's doctor to make arrangements for Bebe to go to the hospital. She hung up and explained to Bebe and Blake. Janice opened her bag and took out a syringe and a vial of Demerol. “I'm going to give you an injection. This will ease the pain and will also help calm you.”

Bebe just nodded. The tears continued to stream down her ashen face.

“Blake, can you call Carl?” Janice asked. “Tell him we need a transport?”

“Is that necessary?”

“She'd be more comfortable.”

Janice administered the injection while Blake made the call.

“I got here as soon as I could. Oh, my dear girl.”

A tall woman with gray hair and Blake's eyes came into the room. She went straight to the bed.

“Oh, Mom Ferguson. My baby's gone. It's gone.” And the tears came again.

“Oh, my. Oh.” She enfolded Bebe in a hug and looked at Blake. “Where's Doc Prescott?”

“He's in town with Susie. This is Dr. Thornton, his niece.”

“I'm so sorry, Mrs. Ferguson. I'll just wait downstairs for the ambulance and leave you all alone.”

Almost as soon as she stepped out into the hallway, her cell phone rang. “Hello?”

“Dr. Thornton, this is Mable.”

“Yes, hello Mable.”

“Doctor, I've just received a call from Hoyt Crawford. In fact, I have him on the other line. His wife, Sally, is in labor. It's her fourth child and she's had all her babies at home. She was planning to do the same with this one, but there seems to be a problem.”

“Yes?”

“She's been in labor too long and the pain is real bad.”

Janice frowned. “I don't understand, Mable. Labors are typically long and painful, especially without anesthesia or pain medications.”

“She says this is different from the others.”

“In what way?”

“She's been in labor too long and the pain is real bad.”

Janice sighed. “Tell Mr. Crawford he should take his wife to the hospital.”

“They live too far away. He says they need help now. They want you to come.”

Her? Deliver a baby outside a hospital?

“Mable—”

“When should I tell them you'll be there?”

Janice set her bag by the front door and rubbed her stiffening neck. “Mable, if there are complications with the delivery, there's very little I'll be able to do without the proper equipment.”

“All the more reason for you to be there. I'll put him through so he can give you directions.”

“No! Mable—”

“Hello? Doc? Is that you?”

Janice took a deep breath and let it out. “Mr. Crawford, this is Dr. Thornton. Mable tells me your wife is having a difficult delivery?”

“Yep. Real bad. You sure got a high-pitched voice for a doctor.”

Janice looked up at the ceiling. “I'm settling a patient into an ambulance at present. As soon as she's transported to the hospital, I'll be happy to come to your home. Could you give me directions?”

“Right. Well, you head outta town towards the mountains.”

“Okay. What road would I take?”

“The road out of town. You go a ways, and just before you come to the river bridge, you turn left.”

Janice jotted the directions down. “Okay, does that road have a name?”

“The river road.”

“Yes. Does it have a name?”

“The river road, I done said!”

“Sorry.”

“Then you go down to the big cedar barn just past the post office and take the next road to the left and head up into the hills. At the first fork, bear to the right. At the next fork, bear to the left.”

Janice swallowed. She was queasy just thinking about it. “Got it. Left then right.”

“Here's where it gits tricky. Look for the driveway at the old oak tree with the split trunk, then take the second drive after that. I hope you got four-wheel drive, ’cause most of our gravel washed down to the road in the last rain.”

Janice pushed her hair back from her face. “Do what you can to keep your wife comfortable. I'll be there as soon as I can.”

Janice disconnected the call when she saw the ambulance parallel park in front of the house. Bebe's husband pulled in right behind it. She quickly made several notations on a blank sheet of paper in Bebe Ferguson's file, then opened the door for two men bringing in a gurney followed by the husband.

“What's going on here?” Cory asked.

She took Cory aside and quietly gave him the news. “I'm glad you're here. Your wife's been asking for you.”

He dropped his briefcase and took the steps two at a time. As she turned her attention to the other two men, she heard Blake say, “About time you hauled your sorry ass home.”

“Blake!” a female voice remonstrated.

“I'm Dr. Janice Thornton.” She shook hands with the men. “Mrs. Ferguson is upstairs, second door on the left. She needs to be transported to Blount Memorial Hospital.” She pulled the paper out of the file. “I have instructions here for you to give to her doctor when you arrive.”

“Carl Jamison. I'll get that from you after we've loaded her up. What's the problem?”

“She's having a miscarriage. I've administered fifty milligrams of Demerol.”

“Did you start a line?”

“No. Her vitals are stable. I think it can wait until she gets to the ER.”

The older man nodded and said, “Let's get her loaded up, Sonny.”

Blake made it down the stairs just as the men started up. “Carl. Sonny.”

“Blake. Sorry about your sister-in-law.”

“Thanks, Carl.”

Janice punched the number to the office into her cell phone, but before hitting
send
, she asked, “How is she?”

“Calmer. The shot helped.”

“Good. Did I hear you chewing your brother out?”

Blake's face flushed. She wasn't sure if it was the result of anger or embarrassment. “He should have been here.”

“Well, he's here now. I shouldn't have to tell you that Bebe doesn't need to be upset further.”

“Now you sound like my mother.”

Ignoring that, she held up the phone. “I have to call Mable. As soon as we get Bebe in the ambulance, I have to go deliver a baby.”

“Who is it?”

“Crawford . . . I can't remember the first name.”

“Sally Crawford?”

“Yes, that sounds right. Can you take me by my uncle's to pick up supplies and to get my car?”

“Don't bother. You'd never make it to their place in that BMW.”

“I have to.”

“They live up in the hills outside of town. They've got a real steep driveway, and I'd bet it's washed out.”

“Yes, Mr. Crawford mentioned that. I thought I'd walk up.”

He propped his hands loosely on his hips, looked away, and then said, “It's too far and straight up the side of a mountain. With you not being familiar with the area, it'd be a miracle if you found it.”

“I'll manage. If I get lost, I have my cell. I'll call them.”

“You won't get a signal up there.” He paused. “I'll take you.”

“No. You should be with your family.”

“Mom's keeping Bebe calm, and she's got Cory to go with her.”

“And I'm guessing it wouldn't be a good idea for you to be in the same room with him right now.”

“Yeah,” he said harshly. “Look, I know I'm probably the last person you want to take you up there, but right now, I'm all you've got.”

She checked her bag, as much in an effort to hide her emotions as to assess what she'd need to add if she had to deliver a baby. What if the woman needed a C-section? She pushed the hair back from her face. She hated to admit it, but she felt horribly out of her depth. How did her uncle manage?

She should take Mable with her, but with her uncle gone, the nurse would have to stay at the clinic in case someone came in needing medical attention. She looked up at Blake, “I don't suppose you've delivered a baby before?”

“No, ma'am. A couple of colts, but no babies.” He dipped his head and looked into her eyes, a sideways grin on his face. “I'm real good at boilin' water. Will that do?”

Janice smiled, too, her earlier testiness with him melting away. “I suppose it'll have to.”

“You'll do fine.”

Heaven help her, but standing here, seeing the confidence Blake had for her shining from his pale blue eyes, she felt like she could do anything with him by her side.

Chapter 10

In just under an hour, Blake pulled up to the Crawford house. Well, house was perhaps overstating the matter. It was more like a trailer with a room added on to the front of it. Old, rusting cars were parked all around the property. A few old appliances added to the ambiance. On the front porch, there was an old couch, a refrigerator, and a sleeping hound who raised his head and yawned when Blake killed the engine. She'd heard about people living like this, but she wasn't sure she'd ever believed—

“We'd better get in there,” Blake suggested.

Janice focused on the man beside her. She took a breath and willed her stomach to settle back into its normal spot. The drive had been a nightmare of hairpin curves, dips, and nearly vertical climbs. “Right. Let's go.”

Blake got out and came around to help her down from the truck. He retrieved her medical bag from behind the seat and handed it to her.

Carrying the ultrasound under his arm, he followed her up to the front door. When he knocked, a dog from inside began barking. The dog on the porch peered up at them, but didn't move.

“Git the door, Marissa,” someone called out.

The door swung inward and an imp with a mass of strawberry blonde hair and huge blue eyes said, “Is you the doc?” She was looking up at Blake.

Janice bent and said, “Yes, I am. Can you show me where your Mommy is?”

The little girl looked at her warily. She grabbed Blake's hand and led him to a back room. He gave her an apologetic look over his shoulder, and Janice followed. A small dog danced around their feet, yapping loudly.

“Hush, Barney.”

A younger girl feeding yet another little one called the dog down. The dog quieted immediately and backed off. For all the disarray outside, the inside was spotless. The furniture was old and worn, but clean.

In the back room, they found a young woman lying in the center of a bed. Her light brown hair lay limply against the pillowcase. Her pale cotton gown was damp and clinging to her skin. A large man with curly red hair sat next to her. He looked like he'd been to hell and back. When they entered the room, he stood.

“Blake.” He held out his hand and the two men shook. “I didn't expect to see you here. Where's the doc?”

“She's right here. This is Dr. Janice Thornton. She's Doc Prescott's niece.”

“You gotta be kiddin' me? Ferguson, my wife's in a bad way. She needs a real doctor, not some nurse or midwife.”

“Hush, Hoyt,” the woman in the bed said. She held her hand out to Janice. “I'm Sally Crawford.”

Janice took her hand. “I'm pleased to meet you, Mrs. Crawford.”

“Please, call me Sally.”

“Thank you.” She sat on the side of the bed. “How are you doing, Sally?”

“Not too good. Somethin's wrong. I can tell. I never had this much trouble havin' the girls. Why, with the baby, I barely had to grunt and she shot right out.”

Janice removed a blood pressure cuff from her medical bag. “I'm just going to check your pressure.”

The woman nodded.