Chapter fifty-eight: This woman's work
6 months later,
"Kate?" Kate stirs as Thomas kneels down beside her to press as kiss to her cheek. "What are you doing down here on the stairs?"
She yawned. "I was…waiting for you. I dropped my book, sat down to pick it up and I guess, I fell asleep." She looks sleepily up at him. "What time of night do you call this?"
He chuckles. "Late. Come on," he grips her hands firmly to help her up. "I'll get you up to bed."
"Thank you." Kate yawns as she stands up. "I wasn't meant to fall asleep here." A warm splashing on her toes causes her to stiffen up. "Thomas?"
"What?"
"My water broke."
Thomas looks down at her feet and swears violently. "I've got to get you upstairs."
"Alright." she inhales deeply as she grips his hand tightly. "Now, I've got to get," Thomas swept her off her feet. "Ahh! Thomas Michael Shelby put me down this instance before you break your back!"
"Polly!" Thomas shouts as he hurries up the stairs. "Arthur!"
"Thomas, people are sleeping!" she covers his mouth. "You'll wake them up. It's not an emergency."
"Kate, you're in labor!"
"It's my first!" she declares. "Do you know how long I'm going to be in labor?"
"You're shrieking."
"What the Hell is going on out here?" Arthur stumbles out of the room, bleary eyed in only his pants.
"Kate's in labor!"
"Kate's in labor?" Noni hurries out of the room, pulling on her robe. "Wonderful!"
"Can either of you get my husband to put me down?"
"Tommy." Polly comes out of her room. "What's going on?"
"My water broke Polly, make him put me down."
"Put her down Thomas, it'll do her good." Thomas does what she asks. "Now, everyone, go back to bed. Thomas, at 8:00, phone Doctor Blake to come here."
"That's almost 8 hours from now!"
"The labor is probably going to last for 12 hours!" Kate states. "Go lie down and try to get some rest. I'll be fine!"
Twelve hours later, Thomas wasn't so sure that all was going to be well. Kate was in extreme pain and he knew that because she was screaming obscenities at the top of her lungs. The children had gone outside to play, but their playing looked more like pacing. He hadn't slept at all, like Kate had suggested. The doctor had arrived and was in the room with Kate, as the hours went by; the tension in the house seemed to build.
Suddenly, Kate let out a scream. This scream, caused Tommy to drop his drink. Kate was screaming in absolute pain. The door burst open and Polly shouted. "Noni, come in here now!"
"What's going on?" he demanded.
"Arthur, keep him out." she ordered.
"That's my wife!" He shouts as he lunges for their bedroom door. Arthur catches him before he can enter the room. He can hear their baby crying but it's the blood streaming down the sheets that causes him to stop in his tracks. Kate's skin is so pale and her body is limp.
"Kate?" doctor Blake snaps. "I need you to keep your eyes open. Do you hear me?"
"Get him out!" Polly shouts. "Noni, see to the baby!"
"I can't leave her!" He shouts. "Kate!"
Arthur pulls him out of the room. "Come on."
"No!" Polly slams the door in his face and locks it. Thomas hits the door. "Let me in!"
"Tommy!" Arthur shouts. "Let them work! Kate will be fine!"
"I need to be in there with her." Thomas knelt by the door, vexed to find that tears threatening to spill from his eyes. He hadn't cried in years; he'd never thought he'd be crying again. "I can't lose her."
"She'll make it Tom." Arthur says firmly. "She's not going anywhere."
It was another thirty minutes before the door opened. Polly, Noni and Doctor Blake came out. Thomas jumped up. "Where's my wife?"
"Thomas," Polly placed a hand on his chest. "she's alive for now."
He frowns. "For now, what's that mean?"
"Mr. Shelby," the doctor says firmly. "I need you to stay calm and listen to me. Kate suffered from postpartum hemorrhage." Thomas frowns. "The placenta hadn't come out completely, so, I had to remove the placenta that was still inside the uterus. Once that was done, I was able to stabilize the bleeding."
"I called her father, he's on his way, as is Ada." Polly inhales deeply before stating. "You should prepare for the worst. She's lost a lot of blood."
His world spun around and he almost collapsed against the wall, were he not bracing it. "Then do a transfusion." Thomas said, panic building up inside him as the doctor shook his head. "I've seen it done on the battlefields."
"I can't!" doctor Blake stated. "If I take her out on the road, she will die. I've got blood coming towards us, but it'll take several hours to get it here from the hospital."
"But Kate may not live long enough to get the blood." he said firmly. "I won't sit back and watch her die from lack of blood."
"I don't have the equipment. There's nothing I can do for now!"
Thomas groaned and ran his hands through his hair. "God!" then suddenly, a bolt of lightning hit him. "Kate had a medical room with supplies added, in case of an emergency."
Polly's eyes widened. "Oh, that's right! Thank God!"
"Where?"
Thomas ran towards the medical room and threw it open. The doctor hurriedly looked through the drawers. "You married a smart woman. Here's the equipment, but I don't know the blood type."
"Medical records are in the drawer." Thomas pulls the kept from the chain in his pocket and hands it to the doctor. "She was a nurse during the war. She even insisted that all of us have our blood tested and documented."
The doctor exhaled as he pulled out the medical documents. "Right, give me a minute." Thomas holds his breath as the doctor reads them quickly. "Ada Shelby, Arthur Shelby and you Mr. Shelby are a match."
"Me first." Thomas states as he rolls ups his sleeve. "Will there be enough blood for her?"
"If not, your blood will have bought us enough time for her to hold on until the bloods arrived."
Thomas inhaled, preparing himself for the long hours that were going to be ahead. He hadn't felt this terror since Grace was shot. With Grace, there was nothing to be done. Kate, she was going to pull through, she had to. They'd gone through too much together.
As he sat on the edge of the bed, watching his blood flow into her, his mind reflected on so many moments they'd shared together.
Her screaming at him not to shoot aspen, staying in the horse stall all night before walking away from him, never to be seen again for ten long years.
Her screaming before visualizing out of the fog to stop him from killing himself that day. God, that woman screamed a lot. She screamed when she was scared, startled or trapped under him.
Her anger that night at the club, leaving him unsure about how to proceed with his feelings towards her.
Their first kiss, under that oak tree that had shaken him to the core and left her trembling with the realization that they were meant to be together.
The first time they'd made love, she was scared, but he did remember feeling the moment the fear vanished and she surrendered to him.
They'd come too far to lose each other now. If he did lose her…he knew he couldn't cope. He needed to cry, but he couldn't let it show now, he needed to be strong for her. There were too many things they should have said, done and given to each other that they hadn't yet. He prayed that she'd be there tomorrow for him so he could give her each of those precious moments again.
Angel029: And you will. Apologies, Kate Bush has an actual song called 'Epilogue' which I felt was appropriate for the previous chapter.
Idcam: I could let them be happy, but, they have a few more mountains to climb.
Shariebery: Sorry, not done yet!
