Shelter Mountain (Virgin River #2)(88)

“Will you go in there and try? Please?”

“Your ears are a lot better than mine.”

“Use the Doptone and try anyway. Please,” she asked. “I’m going to call John. He’s been seeing her.”

He put his old hand on her shoulder. “You couldn’t have done anything.”

“I know, but please try, Doc,” she asked. But she knew he wasn’t going to find anything. The fetus had expired in utero. They could try to transport her to Valley Hospital, but as advanced as her labor was, it wouldn’t do any good—wouldn’t help the baby—and she would be too far advanced in her labor by the time they got there for an epidural, so they couldn’t relieve her from the pain. What Mel was focused on was getting Liz through the labor, get the baby out as quickly as possible. But first she had to call John. Thankfully, he answered the call immediately, and she explained the situation.

“I saw her about two weeks ago,” John said. “We were fine then. Is she preeclamptic?”

“No. Her blood pressure is okay, and it won’t do any good to check her urine with blood present and I don’t want to use a catheter now, with so much going on. But I’m saying no—I don’t see any edema. She’s had a bellyache, can’t remember the last fetal movement and her contractions are coming on like gangbusters—her uterus is working hard. She was seven a few minutes ago.”

“All you can do is get the baby out,” John said. “Want me to come up?”

“What can you do?” Mel asked.

“I can deliver for you, Mel. I hate for you to go through this, being pregnant yourself. It’s traumatic.”

“I can get her through it,” she said. “But damn!”

“Yeah, damn,” John said quietly.

“At least this seems to be moving very quickly,” she said before she hung up. Then she immediately called Jack. “I need some help over here,” she said. “Liz is in advanced labor and I can’t get her upstairs.”

“On my way,” he said.

Doc came out of the exam room just as Mel was headed there. He was shaking his head sadly. All Mel could think was, Oh, God, could things get any harder for these kids? If having a baby too young wasn’t difficult enough, having a baby that wasn’t alive was horrific.

Hold it together, she told herself. There’s going to be a lot of crying—hold it together. Someone has to be strong. Someone has to get them through this.

“Jack’s on his way over,” she said to Doc. “He can carry her upstairs for us. Send him right in, okay?” Then she went back into the exam room. “Liz, I have to be straight with you—this is going really fast. There isn’t going to be time to get you to the hospital. We’re going to take you upstairs to the bed. I’ll get you through this.”

“What about that pain shot?” she asked, already sweating profusely.

“I don’t want to slow you down or zone you out, honey. I can give you something when we get situated upstairs…But let’s get on with it. I’ll help you with the breathing. And Rick will be here soon.”

Jack stepped into the room. He was too perceptive for his own good. His expression said he knew that things were not okay, even if he didn’t know precisely what was wrong. Mel stepped away from the exam table and Jack leaned over Liz. “Come on, sweetheart,” he said tenderly. “I’m going to take you upstairs.” As he lifted her up into his arms, the sheet that covered her slipped away, her bare bottom hanging out, but that was the least of Jack’s worries. “Here we go. Nice and easy.”

He carried her up the stairs to the room in which Mel had attended her very first birth in this town. Liz was writhing and crying as he gently placed her on the clean white sheets. As he pulled his arms out from under her, one of his sleeves was wet with bloody fluid. “Rick?” she asked.

“On his way, Liz. He’ll be here any second.”

“I need him with me,” she cried.

“On his way, honey,” Jack said.

Mel was applying the Doptone again, praying for a miracle as she did so, but there was nothing. Nothing but fierce contractions and no life inside.

“Doc, stay with Liz for a minute, will you?”

“Sure thing,” Doc said. He went to her and lifted her hand into his and started to coach her. “Let’s try some of those panting breaths, Lizzie,” he said.

Mel stepped into the hallway with Jack and Connie. Jack was rolling up his soiled sleeve as the front door to Doc’s opened and Rick yelled. “Liz? Mel?”

Mel put a hand on Jack’s arm, gesturing for him to stay. “Up here, Rick,” she called. He came bounding up the stairs, anxious lines etched into his young face. He was all wound up and obviously scared.

“Is it too soon?” he asked.

Mel took one of Connie’s hands, one of Rick’s and said, “Rick, I have something to tell you, and I need you to be stronger than you’ve ever been. For Liz. You’re going to help us get through this.” Jack stepped up behind Rick and put strong hands on his shoulders. “The baby, Rick. There’s no heartbeat.” She didn’t bother with medical terminology. To this seventeen-year-old boy she said, “He died, Rick.”

“What?” he asked, confusion wrinkling his brow. “What did you say?”