Moonlight Road (Virgin River #11)(103)

She went to the door that was opened only a crack. She kicked it violently and sprayed as she rushed in. And sprayed and sprayed.

The gun went off before it dropped from Annalee’s hands so she could cover her eyes, but Erin didn’t feel shot. Annalee backed into the bedroom and Erin followed. As the mist from the pepper spray stung her eyes, she moved on toward a screaming, blinded Annalee. When she was close, she grabbed the canister by the neck and swung it as hard as she could, whacking Annalee in the head.

She heard a loud crack and Annalee went down like rock. Out cold.

Erin looked down at her. Totally unconscious if not dead, a trickle of blood running out of her nose, her mouth parted and her eyes open a sliver. “Ew,” she said.

“Erin! Erin, are you all right?” her sister called desperately from the other room.

She ran back to Marcie. “I have to get you to the hospital.”

Marcie shook her head and tears wet her cheeks. “Gimme the phone to call 911 and while I do that, make sure that woman’s down for the count.”

“I might’ve killed her,” Erin said, fetching the phone. “She looks totally dead. Listen, I’ll carry you to the car and we’ll call ahead for help to meet us.”

Marcie shook her head and got a terrified look on her face. It accompanied an expression of both pain and remorse. “I don’t think we can make it. I feel like…I feel like there are boulders in my pelvis. I feel like…” She stopped talking to blink at the phone. And then she dropped the phone as pain gripped her and she howled.

Erin fell to her knees beside the couch. “Marcie! Baby! Tell me what to do!”

“I don’t know,” she groaned breathlessly. “I don’t know….”

Erin heard an engine and ran to the door, not sure who she wanted to see there most. When Aiden leaped out of his car, she yelled, “Aiden, hurry! It’s Marcie!”

He backtracked briefly to get a bag out of the back that Erin had never even realized he kept there. She breathed a sigh of relief to recognize what was probably a doctor’s emergency medical bag. “Why didn’t you call me?” he asked as he jogged toward the door.

“Annalee,” she said. “With a gun.”

He stopped short. “Where is she now? Gone?”

“In a manner of speaking. I knocked her out,” Erin said. “Or killed her. I hit her in the head with the bear repellent bottle. After I squirted her in the eyes. She’s in the bedroom.”

Aiden grinned suddenly, but proceeded quickly. He went immediately to Marcie, going down on one knee at the side of the couch. “Hey,” he said. “Easy does it, I’m here. What’s going on?”

Wide-eyed and terrified, Marcie breathlessly said, “He’s not supposed to be born like this, Aiden. But I think he wants to be.”

“Sometimes we have to work with what we’ve got, kiddo. How long ago did your water break?”

“Half hour? Forty minutes?” She groaned deep and low as another contraction gripped her. “The doctor said he’ll die! Aiden, he’s going to die! Take him out the right way! I can handle it—just don’t let him—”

“Easy, easy, he’s not going to die. We’re going to do everything right—just take some deep breaths and try to calm down. How many weeks here?”

“Thirty-five,” she said.

“Good job.” Aiden stood up and motioned Erin to stay with Marcie. “Time those contractions and absolutely no pushing. No matter what.”

Aiden knew he had a lot to deal with even before he had a chance to take a closer look at the patient. For starters, he knew this was supposed to be a breech baby scheduled for a C-section; usually the breech baby didn’t provide enough pressure to rupture membranes…unless that baby had dropped and was on its way out. The bloody fluids staining her pants and the sheer force of the contractions spelled out an emergency delivery was imminent. He opened his bag and withdrew a pair of latex gloves, then put them on. It was not, however, so he could examine his patient.

Gloves donned, he ran into the bedroom and pressed two fingers to Annalee’s carotid artery. Steady pulse. He grabbed her by the ankles and dragged her unceremoniously through the small cabin and out onto the deck. He wasn’t about to get any of her blood or body fluids on his hands; Annalee was high risk and he knew his hands would soon be plunging into Marcie’s birth canal. He left Annalee on the deck, closed and locked the doors. He stripped off and tossed the latex gloves. He then locked the other cabin door and went again to Marcie’s side.

“They’re coming fast, Aiden,” Erin said. “She’s had two since you left.”

“Thanks, honey. Marcie, I’m going to carry you to the bedroom, to the bed. Don’t strain. Let me do the work. Erin—get two or three large trash bags and towels. Bring them to me along with my bag.” Then he bent to lift Marcie. He smiled down into her eyes. “Trust me—we’re going to get through this.”

“Sure,” she said in a weak breath. “Sure.” Then she started to sob.

“It’s going to be okay.” He laid her gently on the bed. “We need to get your britches off, kiddo. Have to take a look.” He was already tugging them down when Erin quickly reappeared. “Towels,” he said to Erin. “Lots of towels. And get the phone, please.”