Until Trevor (Until, #2)(66)

“Why?”

“Your brother gave me what I wanted in exchange for my help.”

“Not again.”

“No, Mrs. Mayson, you’re safe. Now, if you’re done, I would like to help Kara off the floor. That can’t be good for her or the baby.”

“How do you know Kara?”

“I make it my business to know everyone, but in this case, Tim told me. Now, if you would please move.” I swallowed; my gut is telling me that he is being honest, but his energy is so scary that I don’t know what to do.

“Liz!” Kara cries. I turn around to find her on her hands and knees.

“Oh God, what’s wrong?” I run over to her and kneel down.

“I don’t think these are Braxton Hicks; I think I’m going into labor.” Her breathing is choppy; she cries out again, holding her belly.

“Do you think your water broke?” I ask, rubbing her back.

“I don’t think so.” I look at Kai, who has knelt down next to us.

“I’m going to pick you up and carry you out of here.” Kai gently picks her up, and once we’re outside, I take a deep breath, filling my lungs with fresh air. I look around and see a large, black SUV, and a guy who looks like a sumo wrestler standing next to the open driver’s side door.

“Any word?” Kai asks the guy, who shakes his head.

“Where is Tim?” I ask, following Kara into the backseat, her face sweaty and pale.

“Don’t concern yourself with that right now.”

“He will want to be here for Kara.” I say softly, watching the sumo guy squash himself behind the wheel.

“We need to get to the hospital.”

“I thought you—”

“Remember what I told you, Mrs. Mayson; I’m not a good guy.” His voice is so low and gravelly that it sends a chill down my spine.

“Liz,” Kara whispers.

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. I think my water just broke.”

“Are you sure?”

“That, or I peed on myself.”

“Okay.” I look around, trying to see how far away we are from the hospital, but there is nothing around, just forest and fields. “Do you know how far from town we are?” I ask anyone who is listening.

“About an hour.”

“Oh God,” Kara moans, falling across the seat. “I think you should start timing my contractions.”

“Why?”

“They’re close—too close,” she says, breathing deeply.

“What does that mean?”

“IT MEANS I’M HAVING A BABY!” she screams, her face contorting. I wouldn’t have been surprised if it did a one-eighty like something from The Exorcist.

“Okay, breathe.” I do that crazy breathing thing that I have seen in a few movies. Kara looks ready to kill, but I have no idea how to help her.

“What time is it?” Kara growls. I look at the dash.

“Seven-oh-two,” I tell her, grabbing her hand.

“I feel like I need to push.”

“Don’t push,” I say, panicked. Pushing means the baby is coming.

“I have to.”

“If you need to push, then you push,” Kai says from the front seat. I think it’s awfully generous of him, seeing how he’s all the way in the front seat, while I’m back here with her. I know that I need to man–up, but I have no idea what to do; and the thought of a baby popping out is making me freak.

“Oh God! Here comes another one!” Kara screams, her head laying against the back door, one foot in the seat, and the other on the floor. “I need to take off my pants.”

“What?” I pinch myself to make sure this isn’t a very strange bad dream.

“I need to take off my pants. I feel like the baby is coming, so I need to take off my pants,” she repeats over and over, every time her voice rises a little bit.

“Okay, I’ll help you.” I swallow all my personal fears and help her to remove her pants. Kai is in the front seat on the phone. I have no idea who he is talking to, but hopefully it’s an ambulance. Mr. Sumo is speeding, but his facial expression hasn’t changed since we came out of the tornado shelter.

“Liz, I am really scared.”

“Hey, it’s going to be okay.” I run my hand over her forehead, trying to comfort her.

“It’s not going to be ok. I’m going to have a baby in the backseat of a car. I think that might be the definition of not okay.”

“Just concentrate on breathing.”

“Here comes another one.” She shoves her foot into my stomach; my breath leaves me with the pressure. Her other foot is still on the floor. I have the perfect shot of her vag, and I don’t want to, but I look down. That’s when I see a round something coming out.

“Holy shit,” I whisper, looking up at Kara, whose face is bright red. “I can see the head.”

“What?” one of the guys from the front seat ask.

“I see the head!” I repeat.

Kara falls back against the door. I rub her knee; the interior lights come on, so I place her pants across her legs so no one else can see what I’m seeing.

“I don’t think you have much to go,” I say, trying to be encouraging. Kara looks ready to kill me. Her foot goes back in my stomach, this time a little harder than the last, making me grunt in pain. Then she screams so loud that I think my eardrums burst. I look down just in time to see a little face. I look around for something to wrap the baby in. There is nothing, so I rip my shirt off over my head, and hold it out, ready to catch him. Everything happens so quickly after she pushes that I’m not even sure I remember how the baby got into my arms, just that he is there and crying. Kara is laying back against the door breathing heavily. The cord is still attached, and I know that I need to find a way to tie it off and cut it. That’s when I hear the most beautiful sound I have ever heard in my whole life. I look through the windshield and can see the lights of an ambulance racing towards us.