24
Neva
When I arrived for my shift at the birthing center, I was already tense. Patrick had been strangely unavailable for a few days. He’d said he was exhausted from his week on night shift, and that was probably all it was, but … I missed him.
It might have been everything that was going on with my family that was putting me on edge. After overhearing what Marie Ableman from the Board of Nursing had to say, Dad was furious with Grace. Gran and I had tried not to listen, but they were yelling pretty loud. At one point, I got up to go and set Dad straight. He was laying it on too thick—what she did was stupid, but ultimately a kind act. But Gran stopped me. People a lot weaker than Mom handled worse every day, she told me—it made them stronger.
Something was up with her too, but I had no idea what.
In any case, all I wanted to do on this shift was kick back with Susan and bring a life into the world. It was probably what I needed to restore my equilibrium. But I’d forgotten Susan was on vacation. And I was rostered on with Iris.
Iris was my least favorite birth assistant. While she was patient and undeniably good with the clients, she had an irritating habit of talking to everyone like they were preschoolers, and today she’d taken to talking to me only indirectly, using the mother in labor as a medium.
“Just breathe through the contraction,” she was saying to Brianna. “Good girl. When this one’s over Neva might suggest a nice bath to ease the pain. She’s in charge.”
Brianna was on her hands and knees on the floor, clearly approaching transition. Her husband, George, was beside her, rubbing her back and generally looking out of his depth. I scanned the birth notes and saw that she was six centimeters dilated at the last examination and her water hadn’t broken. A bath wasn’t a bad idea.
“How about a nice bath?” I said brightly when the contraction finished. If Iris heard the humor in my voice, she didn’t respond to it.
“Wonderful idea,” she said, not meeting my eye. “I’ll go get it started.”
Iris disappeared into the bathroom and I frowned after her. She seemed preoccupied herself. Had I done something to upset her?
“Neva,” Brianna said, stealing my attention. “It hurts.”
“This is the hardest part,” I said, squatting beside her. “Just a little bit longer and we are going to meet your little one. In the meantime, the water will help ease some of the pain. Did you bring your iPod with the playlist you talked about? A lot of women find music helpful at this point.”
George was already searching in Brianna’s bag for the iPod, clearly grateful for something to do. I decided he could be useful. “How about I show George some of the pressure points in your feet? Some of them are known to reduce pain significantly.”
“Bath’s ready,” Iris said, returning. “George, you come and sit at the end of the tub if you’re going to rub Briann’s feet.”
“Brianna,” I whispered to Iris with a conspiratorial wink that she ignored. Weird. Something was definitely up with her. She was normally patronizing, but it wasn’t like her to be rude.
“Uh … okay, let’s get this show on the road,” I said. “George, why don’t you help Brianna get undressed? I’m just going to get a few things ready out here.”
Once Brianna was undressed, Iris wordlessly scooted her out of the room and into the tub. In the delivery room, I turned on the baby warmer and went about preparing my instruments.
“Brianna wants to put her iPod on surround sound,” Iris said, alerting me to her presence behind me. “Do you know where the speakers are?”
“They’re in the cupboard with the towels. Wait,” I said. “Is everything okay?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I don’t know. You just seem upset with me.”
“Not upset.” She frowned, clearly contemplating whether to say more. “Just surprised. I’ll admit, I thought better of you.”
“Iris, will you please just come out with it?”
“Fine,” she said. “I heard about you and Sean. Having an affair behind Patrick’s back.”
My mouth fell open but it took me a moment to formulate words. “What?”
Iris folded her arms. “So it’s not true?”
“Of course it’s not true! Who told you that?”
“My sources are pretty credible.”
“Iris, are we in the playground? What are people saying about me and Sean?”
She pinched her lips together. “That your baby is his. That you two had an affair, and now you are pretending the baby is Patrick’s.”
I was trying to grasp the magnitude of what she’d said when George appeared in the doorway and cleared his throat.
“Um, excuse me, ladies. Brianna wants to start pushing.”