"What do you think of Edward?" Eugene asked, eyes peeking over the top of a book. I cringed at the name. His dark eyes retreated back into the pages of his book.
I stared down at the list of names we had agreed upon already. Outside of the words Boy, Girl, and Roe, we had nothing. I never thought it was possible that naming a child would be so difficult.
I blinked at the paper. My mind was blank, much like the paper was. Susan had suggested that we use family names. She said it was easier to use them than coming up with our own, but Eugene and I both agreed that if we were to do that, we'd end up upsetting someone in the end for either using their name or not. We opted to avoid the confrontations later on.
Betty, however, had suggested that we wait until the baby is born. She believes that a baby gets their name by how they look. Her parents had taken one look at her and determined that she 'looked' like a Betty. I had laughed when she told me the story, but now, I was thinking she might be on to something.
I decided that the best thing to do was to get my mind off the name topic. Instead, I focused my energy on writing the thank you notes to the women who came to the shower and the gifts they had brought us. I didn't even know half of them, but Betty kindly wrote out the list of the guests, what they brought, and their mailing address for me.
Every once in a while as I scribbled out a thank you card, Eugene would interject a name. If I didn't make a face right away, I mulled it over in my head. Sometimes, even after saying the name out loud, Eugene would even take it back.
By the time I had finished writing the notes, sealing them in the envelopes, addressing them, and sticking a stamp on them, we hadn't made any progress to the list. If we had a list of names we hated, I'd have about ten pages. We had decided to wait until the baby was born, just like Betty had suggested. I think we were just too tired and frustrated to bother coming up with any more.
Every afternoon, I found myself standing in front of the nursery. The room was still my favorite room in the house. Eugene and I had poured a lot of sweat, blood, and tears into rebuilding this house, but Eugene had gone above and beyond in this room, and it was in my opinion, the best in the house. I knew that it was only a matter of days before we would be staring into the room and there would be a child inside of it.
I smiled at the thought. I couldn't wait to tuck a child into bed, read them stories, encourage them in ways that I never had growing up. I wanted to be a better parent - the kind of person that I needed when I was a kid for my child. If I could succeed in allowing my child to be themselves, make their own mistakes, learn to pick themselves up when they fell...if I could teach them how to survive in the world without me - then I would have succeeded in every way a parent could succeed.
That night, I felt severe pain in my abdomen. My eyes flew open, and before I was able to cry out in pain, my breath hitched in my throat. In the pitch black of night, I thought I saw the outline of a man straddling me, holding a knife above his head, ready to strike me.
When I blinked, the man was gone. I had a break from the pain. I furrowed my brow, reaching over to feel Eugene. He was still asleep. I gave him a gentle nudge. "Eugene?" I heard him moan a little in response. I nudged him again. "Eugene? Wake up."
He stirred, turning over to look at me. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "It might be the baby."
The light flipped on quickly and Eugene was sitting upright next to me in bed. He looked me over. I was fine, aside from the pain.
He asked, "How long has this been going on?"
I shook my head. "I don't know...it woke me up."
He climbed out of bed and began dressing. Once his shoes were on, he grabbed my shoes and housecoat. "We should get you to the hospital."
I nodded, sitting up with his help. He put my shoes on for me, helping me with my housecoat. He held onto my hand as we headed downstairs for the car.
The drive to the hospital didn't take long at all, especially since most of our town was still asleep in the wee morning hours. When we pulled up, Eugene helped me inside.
The clerk had gotten us situated and in a room. The pain I was experiencing was clearly contractions. They said the baby was most certainly on it's way. It was just a matter of waiting for it to decide when to come. When I asked when that would be, the nurse had shrugged and said that she had seen some babies come within minutes of the parents arriving to the hospital, while others came a day after.
I survived torture, I thought to myself. I can survive this birthing process.
After a few minutes, I looked at Eugene. "Where's the doctor? Shouldn't he be here already?"
He looked at his watch. "I'm not sure, Jane. I'll go see what's going on." It wasn't long before he came back into the room. "The nurse said that Dr. West isn't in town, but his partner is coming."
I tensed. Something didn't feel right about this. How could a doctor leave town knowing that his patient might be giving birth? I had never met his partner. Who's to say that I'd like this doctor?
Ten minutes had passed, but it felt like hours. There was a knock on the door and the nurse walked in. "As I'm sure your husband as already explained to you," she said, motioning to Eugene. "Your normal doctor is out of town, but his partner is here. He'd like to come and see you, if that's okay with you?"
I gritted my teeth. "It's not like I have a lot of options, do I?"
Eugene glanced between an angry me and a stunned nurse. He quickly chimed in, "Yes, please. Let him in."
She backed out of the room cautiously to find the doctor. When another knock landed on the door, and the door opened, my eyes widened.
Surprise! the voice that had been silent for months had screamed in my head.
Standing before us, wearing a white coat, and an impish grin, was Sauer in the flesh. When his eyes landed on me, his smiled vanished and the look on his face matched mine.
"You..." his voice muttered with a sharp tone.
Eugene looked between the two of us. "Do you two know each other?"
I never took my eyes off of him. I sat up. "This is Sauer."
Eugene stood up, placing himself between us. He asked, "What the hell do you think you're doing here?"
"I'm your doctor," Sauer stated. His voice brought back memories of dark rooms and broken bones and seared flesh.
"The hell you are," Eugene spat. I had never seen this side of Eugene before. I had only ever seen him in the role of the medic; caring, nurturing, calm. This was a Eugene that was ready to fight, ready to kill.
The nurse walked in but stopped when she saw the scene that lay before her. She exchanged glances with all of us. "Is everything okay here?"
"No," Eugene hissed. "We need a new doctor."
"There isn't one," she stated. "What's wrong with Dr. Wilson?"
"That's not his name," Eugene replied. "If you don't find a different doctor, we're leaving."
"You can't leave," she begged. "Your wife is about to give birth!"
Sauer smirked, sizing Eugene up. "What are you going to do? Where would you take her?"
Eugene didn't hesitate, nor did he back down. "I'll deliver the baby myself if I have to."
"Don't be stupid, boy," Sauer taunted. "You'd end up killing her."
"What, like you almost did?" Eugene shouted, fists balled up at his sides. "You damn near succeeded, I might add!"
The nurse was backing out of the room, clearly afraid and wondering what was going on. When she fled the room, I had a suspicion that she was calling the police.
"Eugene," I whispered through the pain. "We have to go. Now."
I didn't want the police to get involved and I certainly didn't want them forcing us to use Sauer. The longer we stayed in the hospital, the more likely he'd be the one in charge of our delivery, my life, and our baby's life. There was no way that I was going to allow that to happen.
Eugene stayed in his place. He asked, "Can you manage getting your things on your own?"
I understood why he was asking. He didn't trust Sauer not to intervene. He didn't trust Sauer not to reach out and grab me. Eugene wanted to keep his eyes on the enemy for as long as humanly possible. He was protecting me...protecting our child.
I forced myself to fight through the pain. "Yes. I can do it."
Even though I struggled to stand upright, I managed to gather our things and was by Eugene's side, holding onto his arm.
He glared at Sauer. "Step aside."
"You're making a big mistake," Sauer stated, slowly stepping aside. Eugene put a hand on the small of my back, guiding me towards the door. As I passed through the doorway, I turned back to see Eugene still watching Sauer as he joined me in the hallway.
Eugene side glanced at me. He motioned for me to head to the car. My heart was racing as I exited the hospital. I reached the car and leaned against the hood as the pain in my body increased.
Eugene was beside me instantly, helping me into the backseat of the car. He turned, eyeing the hospital staff who were standing in the entrance to the building, watching us leave. Sauer was front and center, arms crossed, and clearly amused.
Eugene climbed into the driver seat and sped away from the place. I asked, "Where are you going?"
He replied, "The next hospital is about thirty miles away." He glanced at me through the rearview mirror. "Do you think you can hold on that long?"
I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting the urge to scream with the amount of pain that I was going through. I nodded, trying to keep my strength up. I was willing myself to make it just a little longer.
I could feel the car moving quickly down the roads. Outside the outlines of trees zipping passed, there wasn't a single thing that I could focus on.
After a few minutes of driving in the pitch black, I couldn't hold back my gasps of pain. There was something almost familiar to this pain, yet so completely different than what I had experienced in Foy. Memories of the torture were trying to push forward but I was fighting them back. I refused to be reminded of those days when this was supposed to be an exciting moment for us. This was supposed to be a joyous occasion, not one of fear.
I let loose a shriek. Eugene glanced over his shoulder to look at me. I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks. It was becoming too much to handle.
I felt the car slowing down and suddenly come to a complete stop. I forced my eyes open to see Eugene getting out of the car and opening the back door. He took a look at me, held my hand. He sighed, saying, "We're not going to make it to the hospital. Not before the baby comes."
I shook my head. "I can't do this."
"I'm here," he cooed. "We will do this together."
I sobbed. "I'm scared, Eugene."
He nodded. "I know," he admitted. "I am, too." He reached forward and caressed my cheek, wiping the tears away. "Do you trust me?"
I swallowed, nodding. "Of course, I do."
"Then trust me now," he said softly. "We don't have a choice."
"I'm sorry," I confessed.
He narrowed his dark eyes at me. "Sorry for what?"
"I didn't know that he was there!" I cried. "I didn't know that he was here..."
"I know you didn't," he stated. "That's not your fault. We will deal with him later, but right now, Jane..." he started to roll his sleeves up his arms. "We need to deliver this baby. Are you ready?"
I shook my head, but I knew that I didn't have a choice. This baby was coming, and there was little that I could do about it. Eugene asked me to trust him, and I did...but now, I was forced to prove just how much I trusted him as we sat parked in the pitch black of the earliest morning hours on the side of a road.
I closed my eyes, trying to focus on the cicadas chirping.
A wave of pain washed over me. I heard Eugene ordering me to push. I listened to his command.
"Her vision is better than most of the men's, sir," Roe stated as he gave Sobel his findings.
Another wave of pain, another scream from my lips as I pushed.
I took a picture of Roe as we sat at his secret place. He leaned forward and kissed my lips.
More pain, more pushing.
I felt hands shaking me awake. I opened my eyes to see Roe smiling down at me as I rested my head on his shoulder. "Good morning. We're moving out," he said to me. I raised my head from his shoulder, smiling back at him. I felt his hand give mine a gentle squeeze as he helped me to my feet.
Another push, another scream.
"I know that you don't remember much about before," Roe stated sadly as he looked at his boots. "But I want to help you remember as much as you can. I know it's going to take time, but I want to try."
"What happens if I can't remember?" I asked.
"That's okay too," he admitted. "I just want to be with you, no matter what."
I could no longer hear the cicadas; just my screams of agony.
"I thought I had lost you!" Roe admitted as he embraced me tightly. "How'd you get here?"
"I had some help," I replied. "But that doesn't matter any more. What matters is that I finally found you!"
I was seeing stars from squeezing my eyes so tightly. My fingers dug into the seats of the car.
"There's something I've been meaning to ask you," Roe started. I looked at him as I began packing my things for our long trip back to England. He continued, "Now that the war's over, I was wondering if you'd like to get married."
"Some day, maybe. Sure," I admitted, clearly focused on packing.
He grabbed my hands, stopping me from my task. He locked eyes with me. Quietly, he asked, "Would you marry me?"
My breath hitched. "You...are you asking me to do it now?"
"Why not?" he laughed. "There's a place in England that we could get married. We would have our friends there before we were all shipped back home."
I heard the muffled orders from Eugene as he was trying to encourage me to keep pushing, but I was starting to fade. My body was getting tired.
Standing before Roe in the small chapel outside the base, seeing him in his dress uniform was something that I never thought I'd see. I smiled wide at him, wearing a kind woman's dress that she had worn on her wedding day, several years ago. The look in his eye when he saw me was something to never forget.
I slumped against the cushion. My body was drained. It wasn't long before I heard the unforgettable or unmistakable sound of a baby crying. I forced myself up to my elbows to see Eugene holding the small child in his arms. His smile was just as big as it was on our wedding day.
He looked over at me. "It's a boy," he said.
I smiled back, mustering all the energy that I could to sit up and readjust in the backseat. When I managed to sit up, Eugene handed me our son. I looked down at the little boy's face. He was perfect. My heart exploded with love.
Eugene said, "I'm going to get us to the hospital."
I nodded as he closed us in the backseat just before he climbed into the front seat to start the car. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the small face that slept soundly in my arms.
I studied his face, memorizing it over and over again. By the time we arrived to the hospital in the town over, I had realized what his name was.
Eugene opened the door and helped me out of the car. I whispered to him as we all slowly walked into the hospital, "His name is Eugene Jr."
Eugene looked over at me. It took him a moment to register what I had said, but the second he understood, a smile plastered over his face. He asked, "Are you sure?"
I nodded. "He looks just like you. And he'll grow up knowing what an amazing hero you are. He'll hold his name - your name - proud."
As we approached the doors, some hospital employees rushed out to help us.
