Chương 4
Victoria stepped forward again.
“He should follow in the car.”
Ethan turned on her.
“Mom.”
“I’m only saying it may be more practical.”
“Stop talking.”
Victoria stared at him.
It was the first time Claire had ever heard Ethan speak to his mother that way.
Richard looked down at the floor.
Madison’s eyes widened.
Victoria’s face went very still.
Ethan pointed toward the kitchen without looking away from her.
“My wife was on the floor asking me to take her to the hospital, and you told me to take you shopping.”
“You agreed.”
The room seemed to contract around those two words.
Ethan’s hand dropped.
Victoria did not raise her voice.
“You agreed,” she repeated.
Claire looked at him.
He closed his eyes briefly.
“Yes.”
Victoria’s expression flickered with something like satisfaction, though there was no warmth in it.
“So don’t stand there pretending I dragged you out by the throat.”
“Not now,” Richard said.
“No, actually, now is a very good time.”
Lena straightened.
“Family discussion later.”
The authority in her voice ended it.
Joel unfolded the stretcher.
Mark began placing adhesive monitors against Claire’s chest.
Ethan moved back to make room.
Claire watched his shoes retreat across the hardwood.
She had polished those shoes for him once, years ago, before a job interview, because he had been running late and shaking too badly to do it neatly.
The memory arrived without invitation.
He had kissed the top of her head and told her he would spend the rest of his life making sure she never had to work that hard for him again.
She almost smiled at the stupidity of the sentence.
People promised forever over ridiculous things.
Shoes.
Airport goodbyes.
Hospital waiting rooms.
Claire’s contraction returned harder than the others.
She grabbed Lena’s forearm.
“Pressure.”
“Where?”
“Low.”
“Like you need to push?”
Claire stared at her.
“I don’t know.”
Lena’s voice softened.
“Don’t try to stand.”
Mark exchanged a look with her.
“Contractions are under three minutes.”
“How long?”
“Based on what she’s telling us, at least the last twenty.”
Ethan rubbed both hands over his face.
Claire heard him whisper something.
She could not make it out.
Lena helped guide Claire onto her side before they transferred her.
The movement hurt.
Claire cried out despite trying not to.
Ethan stepped forward.
Joel blocked him gently with one arm.
“Give us space.”
“I’m her husband.”
“I know.”
“Then let me help.”
“The best help right now is space.”
Ethan backed away.
His face had gone red.
Claire could not tell whether he was angry or terrified.
Maybe both.
Once she was secured on the stretcher, Lena tucked the blue hospital folder beside Claire’s hip.
Claire kept one hand on it.
Joel lifted her cracked phone from the floor.
“This yours?”
“Yes.”
He handed it to her.
There were three missed calls displayed across the screen.
All from Dr. Patel’s office.
Claire’s stomach tightened for a reason that had nothing to do with labor.
“I missed these.”
Lena looked down.
“When?”
“First one was twenty-six minutes ago.”
“Call them back while we move.”
Claire pressed the number.
A nurse answered almost immediately.
“Claire?”
“Yes.”
“Thank God.”
The words made everyone near her go silent.
The nurse spoke quickly.
“Dr. Patel has been trying to reach you because your labs from this morning came back abnormal.”
Claire gripped the phone.
“What does that mean?”
“Are you at home?”
“Paramedics are here.”
“Good.”
The nurse exhaled audibly.
“Do not delay coming in.”
Claire looked at Ethan.
He had heard.
Everyone had heard.
“What labs?”
“Your platelet count dropped, and your liver enzymes are elevated.”
Lena was already reaching for the phone.
Claire handed it over.
The nurse continued speaking while Lena listened.
Ethan stood motionless near the doorway.
Victoria’s face had lost all color.
Richard sat heavily on the bottom stair.
Madison put her phone into her handbag for the first time since arriving.
Lena ended the call and looked at Mark.
“We need to notify receiving.”
Mark nodded.
Claire swallowed.
“Is it bad?”
Lena met her eyes.
“It means we’re not wasting time.”
They began rolling the stretcher toward the door.
Ethan followed.
Claire caught his wrist.
He stopped.
For an instant hope flashed across his face.
Claire loosened her fingers and held out the car keys he had dropped beside her when the paramedics arrived.
“You’ll need these if they don’t let you ride.”
He looked at the keys in her palm.
Then he looked at her.
“I’m coming with you.”
Claire let the keys fall into his hand.
“You almost didn’t.”
Ethan’s fingers closed around the keys, but he did not defend himself.
The paramedics rolled Claire through the open front door into the hard afternoon light.
The change in temperature made her shiver.
A neighbor across the street had stopped beside a mailbox with a leash in one hand and a small white dog circling his ankles.
Claire turned her face away.
She did not want witnesses to this.
Not because of the ambulance.
Because of the family standing behind it.
Joel guided the stretcher toward the rear doors while Mark spoke into his radio.
Lena stayed beside Claire.
“Any change in the pressure?”
“Worse when I move.”
“Any urge to push?”
“Not exactly.”
“That answer is fine.”
Claire nodded.
Her hands had begun trembling again.
Ethan came down the front walk behind them.
He had left his suit jacket somewhere inside.
His pale shirt was wrinkled at the waist now, and for the first time all day he looked as if something had happened to him.
“I’m riding with her.”
Joel glanced at Lena.
Lena looked at Ethan.
“You can ride up front if there’s space, but once we’re moving, you follow instructions and stay out of the treatment area.”
“Yes.”
“If we tell you to move, you move.”
“Yes.”
“If we tell you to stop talking, you stop.”
“Yes.”
Claire almost laughed again.
May you like
She had never heard Ethan agree to terms so quickly.
Behind him, Victoria stepped onto the porch.
