Standoff

"It's the placenta," Doc explained. "Where Katherine's been living the past nine months. Your uterus contracts to expel it just like it did to get Katherine on her way. It'll hurt a little, but nothing like having the baby. Once it's out, we'll clean you up and then let you rest. How does that sound?"

 

To Tiel he said, "Get one of those garbage sacks ready, please. I'll need to save this. It'll be examined later."

 

She did as asked and again distracted Sabra by talking about the baby. In a short time, Doc had the afterbirth wrapped up and out of sight, but still tethered to the baby by the cord. Tiel wanted to ask why he hadn't cut it yet, but he was busy.

 

A good five minutes later, he peeled off the bloody gloves, picked up the blood-pressure cuff, and wrapped it around Sabra's biceps. "How're you doing?"

 

"Good," she said, but her eye sockets were sunken and shadowed. Her smile was wan. "How's Ronnie holding up?"

 

"You should talk him into ending this, Sabra," Tiel said gently.

 

"I can't. Now that I've got Katherine, I can't risk my

 

Daddy placing her up for adoption."

 

"He can't do that without your consent."

 

"He can do anything."

 

"What about your mother? Whose side is she on?"

 

"Daddy's, of course."

 

Doc read the gauge and released the cuff. "Try to get some rest. I'm doing my best to keep your bleeding at a minimum. I'll be asking a favor of you later on, so I'd like you to take a nap now if you can."

 

"It hurts. Down there."

 

"I know. I'm sorry."

 

"It's not your fault," she said weakly. Her eyes began to close. "You were super cool, Doc."

 

Tiel and Doc watched as her breathing became regular and her muscles relaxed. Tiel lifted Katherine off her mother's chest. Sabra mumbled a protest but was too exhausted to put up much resistance. "I'm only going to clean her up a little. When you wake up, you can have her right back. Okay?"

 

Tiel took the girl's silence for permission to take the infant away. "What about the cord?" she asked Doc.

 

"I've been waiting until it was safe."

 

The cord had stopped pulsing and was no longer ropy, but thinner and flatter. He tied it tightly in two places with shoestrings, leaving about an inch between them. Tiel turned her head aside when he cut it.

 

The placenta now completely free of the baby, Doc tightly sealed the trash bag and once again relied on

 

Gladys's help, asking her to put the bag in the refrigerator before continuing to minister to the new mother.

 

Tiel opened the box of pre moistened towelettes. "Do you think it's safe to use these on the baby?"

 

"I suppose. That's what they're for," Doc replied.

 

Although Katherine put up little peeps of protest, Tiel sponged her with the wipes, which smelled pleasantly of baby powder. Having had no experience with newborns, she was nervous about the task. She also continued to monitor Sabra's gentle breathing.

 

"I applaud her courage," she remarked. "I also can't help but sympathize with them. From what I know of Russell

 

Dendy, I'd have run away from him too."

 

"You know him?"

 

"Only through the media. I wonder if he was instrumental in sending Cain in here?"

 

"Why'd you hit him over the head?"

 

"Referring to my attack on a federal agent?" she asked, making a grim joke of it. "I was trying to prevent a disaster."

 

"I commend your swift action and only wish I'd thought of it."

 

"I had the advantage of standing behind him." She wrapped Katherine in a fresh towel and held her against her chest for warmth. "I suppose Agent Cain was only doing his duty. And it took a certain amount of bravery to walk into a situation like this. But I didn't want him to shoot Ronnie. And, just as earnestly, I didn't want Ronnie to shoot him. I acted on impulse."

 

"And weren't you just a little pissed to discover that

 

Cain wasn't a doctor?"

 

She looked at him and smiled conspiratorially. "Don't tell."

 

"I promise."

 

"How'd you know he wasn't a medical man? What gave him away?"

 

"Sabra's vitals weren't his first concern. For instance, he didn't take her blood pressure. He didn't seem to grasp the seriousness of her condition, so I began to suspect him and tested his knowledge. When the cervix is dilated eight to ten centimeters, all systems are go. He flunked the test."

 

"We both might get sentenced to years of hard labor in federal prison."

 

"Better that than letting him shoot Ronnie."

 

"Amen to that." She glanced down at the infant, who was now sleeping. "How about the baby? Is she okay?"

 

"Let's take a look."

 

Tiel lay Katherine on her lap. Doc folded back the towel and examined the tiny newborn, who wasn't even as long as his forearm. His hands looked large and masculine against her baby pinkness, but their touch was tender, especially when he taped the tied-off cord to her tummy.

 

"She's small," he observed. "A couple weeks premature,

 

I'd guess. She seems okay, though. Breathing all right. But she should be in a hospital neonatal unit. It's important that we keep her warm. Try and keep her head covered."

 

"All right."

 

He was leaning close to Tiel. Close enough for her to distinguish each tiny line that radiated from the outer corners of his eyes. The irises of his eyes were grayish green, the lashes very black, several shades darker than his medium brown hair. His chin and jaw were showing stubble, which was attractive. Through the tear in his shirtsleeve, she noticed that blood had soaked through the makeshift bandage.

 

"Does your shoulder hurt?"

 

When he raised his head, they almost bumped noses.

 

Their eyes were engaged for several seconds before he turned his head to check his shoulder wound. He looked

 

at it as though he'd forgotten it was there. "No. It's fine."

 

Hastily he added, "Better put one of those diapers on her, then wrap her up again."

 

Tiel ineptly diapered the baby while Doc checked on the new mother.

 

"Is all that blood…" Tiel purposefully left the question incomplete, afraid that Ronnie would overhear. Since Tiel had never witnessed a birth, she didn't know if the amount that Sabra had bled was normal or cause for alarm. To her, it appeared an inordinate amount, and if she was reading Doc right, he was concerned.

 

"Much more than there should be." He kept his voice low for the same reason she had. Draping the sheet over

 

Sabra's thighs, he began massaging her abdomen. "Sometimes this helps curb the bleeding," he said in reply to

 

Tiel's unspoken question.

 

"If it doesn't?"

 

"It can't go on for long before we've got real problems.

 

I wish I could've done an episiotomy, saved her this."

 

"Don't blame yourself. Under the circumstances and given the conditions, you did amazingly well, Dr. Stanwick."

 

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