been no time to prepare,
no warning. The girl had been giving birth even as Lucinda arrived. Before any background
information could be obtained.
The neonatal resident, Dr. Edward Greene, came running from the other direction.
“Condition?” he shouted.
“Critical. She’s barely breathing!”
Greene took the baby from Lucinda’s arms like the second runner in a relay race. He
turned and raced up the hall toward the neonatal intensive care unit. Lucinda stood
there and watched him go. The adrenaline in her blood dropped drastically, and she
braced her arms against the nearest wall, nearly sagging to the floor. Holding back
the tears was choking her. She wasn’t supposed to get this involved… Wasn’t supposed
to feel this strongly—
“Hey…hey, hold on…”
A pair of strong hands clasped her waist from behind. Holden Fortune’s voice surrounded
her. She managed to stiffen her knees, stand up straight, swallow the tears, and turn
to face him.
“Jeez, you look awful.”
“That baby looked worse. Did you see…?”
Holden nodded, sending a grim glance in the direction Dr. Greene had run with the
child. “Will it live?”
Lucinda shook her head. “I don’t know.”
Holden looked down into her eyes. “What happened?”
There were shouts and crying from a room a few doors down, and Lucinda blinked herself
back to reality. “Can I tell you about it later? I need to talk to the mother right
now.”
“Not a job I imagine you’re looking forward to.”
“No. It’s not.”
“I’ll be here when you come out,” he said.
Now why should those words give her a surge of comfort? She wasn’t sure. She only
knew that knowing he would be there after this ordeal, knowing someone would be there,
made her feel just a tiny bit better.
Holden watched Lucy’s face across the table in the hospital cafeteria as she sipped
stale coffee and poured her stress out. She cared. Doctors weren’t supposed to, he
thought, at least not to this degree, but he didn’t think she could help herself.
“Premature,” she was saying. “At least nine weeks, maybe more. And his mother never
saw a doctor until she was in the final stages of labor. The baby was crowning when
I got to her. No neonatal specialist in sight. We had to call Greene in from home,
and even then he was almost too late.”
Holden nodded, saying nothing. Just letting her talk it out.
“The baby didn’t breathe. We had to bag her to get her started, and then she was barely
getting enough oxygen into her bloodstream to keep her lips from turning blue. Their
lungs aren’t fully developed at this stage. If the mother had come in earlier, we
could havegiven her a shot to help that along, maybe even stopped the labor altogether.”
“So why didn’t she?”
Lucy closed her eyes. “She figured the less time she spent here, the less it would
cost her.” She sighed. “She started screaming when she saw that baby, so tiny, so
limp, and just as blue as… She kept saying she’d have come sooner if she’d known…
See, that’s just it. A lot of these women don’t know. They don’t know the first thing
about prenatal care and the risks they’re running by not getting it. They need education…and
once they have it, they need a place to go where they can get the care they need at
low or no cost. Otherwise, the education will be useless.”
Holden nodded, seeing now why this clinic idea of hers meant so much to her. “You’ve
had one hell of a day of it today, haven’t you, Lucy?”
She met his eyes. “I’m probably boring you to tears with all this. And it’s not as
if you haven’t had a hellish day yourself.”
“I don’t think you could bore me if you tried. But I do think we could both use a
little diversion.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Such as?”
“A movie? You name it.”
She lowered her head. “I’m too exhausted for that.”
“Well, you have to eat, don’t
no warning. The girl had been giving birth even as Lucinda arrived. Before any background
information could be obtained.
The neonatal resident, Dr. Edward Greene, came running from the other direction.
“Condition?” he shouted.
“Critical. She’s barely breathing!”
Greene took the baby from Lucinda’s arms like the second runner in a relay race. He
turned and raced up the hall toward the neonatal intensive care unit. Lucinda stood
there and watched him go. The adrenaline in her blood dropped drastically, and she
braced her arms against the nearest wall, nearly sagging to the floor. Holding back
the tears was choking her. She wasn’t supposed to get this involved… Wasn’t supposed
to feel this strongly—
“Hey…hey, hold on…”
A pair of strong hands clasped her waist from behind. Holden Fortune’s voice surrounded
her. She managed to stiffen her knees, stand up straight, swallow the tears, and turn
to face him.
“Jeez, you look awful.”
“That baby looked worse. Did you see…?”
Holden nodded, sending a grim glance in the direction Dr. Greene had run with the
child. “Will it live?”
Lucinda shook her head. “I don’t know.”
Holden looked down into her eyes. “What happened?”
There were shouts and crying from a room a few doors down, and Lucinda blinked herself
back to reality. “Can I tell you about it later? I need to talk to the mother right
now.”
“Not a job I imagine you’re looking forward to.”
“No. It’s not.”
“I’ll be here when you come out,” he said.
Now why should those words give her a surge of comfort? She wasn’t sure. She only
knew that knowing he would be there after this ordeal, knowing someone would be there,
made her feel just a tiny bit better.
Holden watched Lucy’s face across the table in the hospital cafeteria as she sipped
stale coffee and poured her stress out. She cared. Doctors weren’t supposed to, he
thought, at least not to this degree, but he didn’t think she could help herself.
“Premature,” she was saying. “At least nine weeks, maybe more. And his mother never
saw a doctor until she was in the final stages of labor. The baby was crowning when
I got to her. No neonatal specialist in sight. We had to call Greene in from home,
and even then he was almost too late.”
Holden nodded, saying nothing. Just letting her talk it out.
“The baby didn’t breathe. We had to bag her to get her started, and then she was barely
getting enough oxygen into her bloodstream to keep her lips from turning blue. Their
lungs aren’t fully developed at this stage. If the mother had come in earlier, we
could havegiven her a shot to help that along, maybe even stopped the labor altogether.”
“So why didn’t she?”
Lucy closed her eyes. “She figured the less time she spent here, the less it would
cost her.” She sighed. “She started screaming when she saw that baby, so tiny, so
limp, and just as blue as… She kept saying she’d have come sooner if she’d known…
See, that’s just it. A lot of these women don’t know. They don’t know the first thing
about prenatal care and the risks they’re running by not getting it. They need education…and
once they have it, they need a place to go where they can get the care they need at
low or no cost. Otherwise, the education will be useless.”
Holden nodded, seeing now why this clinic idea of hers meant so much to her. “You’ve
had one hell of a day of it today, haven’t you, Lucy?”
She met his eyes. “I’m probably boring you to tears with all this. And it’s not as
if you haven’t had a hellish day yourself.”
“I don’t think you could bore me if you tried. But I do think we could both use a
little diversion.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Such as?”
“A movie? You name it.”
She lowered her head. “I’m too exhausted for that.”
“Well, you have to eat, don’t
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