1.1.1.1.1.1.1 Chapter 16
Authors Note: Thank you Cindy for writing this for me, as I have no experience with pregnancy.
Okay, so today is my due date, August 1. What am I still doing here? Why aren't things happening? I am starting to feel like a turtle that's rolled over on his back. Uuuuggghhh! Okay, here I go, right knee over the top, press against the bed with my arms, foot on the floor, uuupppp. There that wasn't so bad. Stretch the back a little, now if I can just make it to the bathroom. Down go the panties, feel around for the seat. There we go. THAT'S IT? All that pressure for a little tinkle?! Geeze it's even getting hard to wipe my own bottom. I'm going to need longer arms if these kids don't come out pretty soon. Now, where did I put those Tums? Seems like every night about this time I have to tinkle and then I have heartburn. Normally I put two Tums next to my night stand before I go to bed; however, Bob discovered them a few weeks ago and decided he needed extra calcium in is diet.
"Stephanie is that you? What cha doing up this time of the morning? You okay? Do you need help??"
"No, I'm fine Lula, just doing my nightly ritual of tinkling and Tums. You sleeping okay in there? Sure is nice of you guys to take turns staying with me this last week. Makes me feel better about being alone."
"We would do more for you if you'd let us, now, don't cha worry. Things will happen when you least expect it. Do you have plastic sheets on that bed in case your water breaks in the middle of the night?"
"Mary Lou already thought of that. But after sleeping on one of Lenny's blue tarps for one hour, I decided I could buy a new mattress if that happens. Good night Lula."
"Good night Steph."
Okay, let's try to get back to sleep. Pillow next to my spine, pillow between my knees, pillow under my head. There. Okay, sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Okay, let's try the other side. Move pillow out from between my knees, pillow out from under my back, roll over, pull blankets out of the way, roll some more, pillow behind my spine, pillow between my knees, blankets under my chin.
"Are you done in there already? I can hear you rolling over clear in here? Do you need some help?/"
"Lula, I am so uncomfortable, I can't get these pillows and blanket situated. I've got heartburn, I think I need to tinkle again, and I am so tired. Please come help me up."
"It's okay, let me help you." Lula came in, and helped heave me up to a sitting position, pulling my legs over the bed and leveraging herself against the wall to help pull me to standing. "It'll be okay, Steph, just a few more days. It'll all be over. Come on, let me help you to the bathroom."
"It's okay, Lula, I can make it to the bathroom okay. But can you do me one favour? Please?"
"Sure Steph, what is it? Are you hungry, you need some ice cream? Pickles? A cold beer?"
"No. This is going to sound strange at 2 in the morning, but can you tell if I still have hair on my crotch? I haven't been able to tell for about four months? If I have to go into the hospital in 24 hours I need to know if I should shave my bikini line."
"Um, Steph, I think you should talk that over with your doctor tomorrow, or today, when you go see her. They use to shave you like a billiard ball, but don't know if they do that any more or not. But I ain't the one to look, uh um, no way. Now, let's get you back to bed. Where you keep those Tums of yours?"
"Top drawer, under my red sweater, next to another box of something. I had to hide them from Bob."
"Um Steph, these are a box of condoms way past their expiration date. I think you need to throw these away before your six week checkup."
"Geeze, yes, I'm not going through this again any time soon. No more chances here, no sirreee. SIX weeks?? That's all the time they give you to heal before you can have sex again? More like that should be six months." Lula popped out two Tums and handed them to me. "Thanks Lula, for everything."
As I tried to get back to sleep, again, I began to think about the last nine months. What a roller coaster of events. First I was single, then I was engaged, then I was almost married, and then I had two fathers. Then, I had none. Ranger had moved to Australia - I guess blood tests could of said a lot and he didn't want to stick around to find out for sure. Joe poked his head in and out occasionally, like normal, until the day of my ultrasound. He showed up after I had called him, just in time to see our babies alive and kicking. That changed him. We eloped to Atlantic City within 48 hours. Another 24 and I was moved into his house. Both sets of parents were just happy we were married, I think. Since I was really pregnant by then, a Catholic wedding was out, which was a little disappointing to Mrs. Morelli. But, oh well. Within a week of the big move, Joe was back to his old self - work came first. I've tried to keep up a good front so everyone won't know how scared I actually am. What was I thinking? How on earth am I going to raise two children by myself? No, you are not by yourself. You have Joe. Yeah, right, who am I kidding, Joe cares more about his work than me. What am I going to do? Well, I guess the first year will be okay. We will stay here - this house is big enough for all of us. I can put up a good front and see if Joe comes around. If not, well, we will survive. I can get a job at the button factory, mom and Grandma can baby-sit. Things will be okay. One day at a time. One day at a time. Don't worry kids, we will survive. I just hope your daddy comes around so we don't have to do this on our own. My eyes started to tear up. No, no, no, you are not going to cry. Women have babies every day and they survive. I'll be okay, I'll be okay, I'll be okay. Joe, please come home. Joe, Joe, Joe . Finally sleep came.
Six am I woke up to my first real contraction. YEEOOOOWWWW. Breath, breath, in out in out. Shitt!! Oh my goodness. Okay, it's over. My goodness. Where is my watch. "Lula, Lula LULAA!!"
"What, what is it" Lula came in rubbing her eyes. "You okay, what's up."
"I think I just had my first real contraction. But, it's okay. We have to wait until they are, um, oh geeze, how far apart do they need to be. I can't remember! Okay, okay, calm down, it's okay. It's in my book. Help me get up and I'll just get my book." For the next hour or so things seems to calm down a bit. No more serious contractions, I was beginning to think it was a false alarm. My doctor's appointment was at 10am so between Lula and I we figured we could handle it until then. Lula called Connie, Mary Lou and my parents to give them a warning. Mary Lou said to keep drinking water and to walk. Connie said she would try to track Joe down. Mom said she would bake a cake. Grandma asked me to hold off until the 2pm viewing of Mr. Dillon. It was going to be a good one as he was in the VFW. I told her I would try. My sister, Valerie, called. She said to remember one word "epidural." No call from Joe.
Lula and Connie drove me to my 10am doctor appointment. Dr Wheeler was on time for a change. As I explained my contraction, she nodded and said a couple of uh umns. With Connie and Lula looking on she asked me to scoot down on the examining table so she would check to see how far I was dilated. All I could see was the top of three heads staring between my legs.
"Well Steph, you will be happy to know you still have pubic hair," said Lula.
"What?" asked Connie.
"Well, she asked me last night to check and I told her I wasn't going to go there. But since she is all propped up, thought I would check and let her know." They both looked at each other, shrugged a shoulder and bent back down to look.
"Well, Stephanie, looks like it could be a while. Your cervix is only dilated to a two. You need to be at a 10 before you can deliver. However, with twins you could come very fast. I think you should go home, grab your bag and meet me at the hospital in about an hour. That way we can hook you up to the monitors and keep an eye on your progress." As she was snapping off her rubber gloves, my head was starting to spin. "Your blood pressure is also up just a bit, so we really need to keep a close eye on you. Okay? So, I'll see you in about an hour in admitting. Any questions?"
I looked at her in a daze. Questions? Questions? Like how in the hell am I going to get two watermelons out of a button hole. "No, no questions right now. I'm fine. Come on guys help me up and get my clothes back on so we can go get my stuff. Connie, have you heard from Joe yet?"
"No, I've left messages all over. No one knows where he is. The jerk, how come he choses now to go off on assignments. Don't men know anything about sensitively?"
"It's okay Connie, it's his loss" yeah right, more like our loss at not having our father around. A tear started to swell in my eyes. No, no, don't cry in front of them.
I sat down on the chair so that Connie and Lula could tie my shoes. The top button on by pants popped open. "Well I guess it's about time, guys, you are getting so big my fat clothes aren't fitting anymore." I stood up and pulled my shirt down over the top of my pants.
"Aren't you going to refasten those," asked Lula.
"Why, they are just going to pop open again when I sit down."
We drove over to the house to retrieve my bag. It had been packed by the door for a week, right next to the two car seats. Joe was so cute when we picked them out a few weeks ago. I was starting to think he was coming around, but then he took off on assignment. Joe, where are you?? Why don't you call?
"Hey, Steph, there's a message on your machine. Can I listen to it?"
"Sure, go ahead, probably just my mom checking on me."
Lula hit the play button. "Hi, Steph. I just got the message that you were looking for me. I'm still tied up on this case. I want to be there, really I do. I'm sorry I'm letting you down. I will do my best to be there what, what do you want, can't you see I'm on the phone okay, okay I'll be right there I have to go Steph, something is going down. Hopefully we can wrap this up and I'll be there before A and B pop into this world. I do love you very much. Bye .. I'm coming, I'm coming ." Click
'See there, Stephanie, he loves you and he'll be there when you need him." I walked over to the phone and checked the caller ID read out. Since his was the last call to come in, his would be the last number on the read out. Humm interesting. I checked the phone number list on the wall. Yep, just as I thought. Terry Gilman. He was at Terry's house calling me. What a slime. What a fool. What a .. Geezee what the hell, oh my goodness. Breath, breath, breath ..
"Steph are you okay, it sounds like you are hyperventilating"
"It's a contraction Lula, hand me the phone. I'm going to give that asshole a piece of my mind!"
Lula gave me the phone with a startled look on her face. I punched *69 and waited a few minutes until Terry picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Terry, this is Stephanie. You tell that slime ball husband of mine that if he isn't at the hospital in 30 goddam minutes I'm going to personally cut his dick off and staple it to the bottom of his shoe! You got it? Good!" down went the phone. The contraction was over. I let out what they call a cleansing breath and headed for the kitchen.
"Stephanie where are you going? The doctor told you not to eat anything. What are you doing?" I had grabbed the Snapps bottle out of the cupboard and took a swig and then coughed. Hot going down, warm glow coming up. There, that's better. "Drinking? You are drinking before giving birth? Well, I never. Connie, Connie, Stephanie is drinking."
"You go girl!" Was all I heard from Connie. One more swig and I put the bottle on the counter. Okay, now lets go.
"Do either of you have a watch? I need to keep track of my contractions. Connie, Lula, either of you have a watch? Where are you two? Connie? Lula? Where the hell did they go?" I looked around the living room and then heard a muffled sound up stairs. "Connie, Lula, what are you doing up there?" I climbed the stairs and found them in the baby's bedroom. "What are you two doing up here? It's time to go."
"We were just looking at the baby's room. Just think in just a little while, this room will be filled with life. Things will be so different. We just wanted to look at this empty room before it was filled up. Are you ready to go now? Better brush your teeth, you smell like alcohol."
Um, Good idea. Don't want Dr. Wheeler to get the wrong idea.
Brushed my teeth, grabbed my bag and put the two car seats in the back of Lula's car. Didn't want to chance Joe not showing up. About half way to the hospital another contraction started. I was sitting between Connie and Lula and started huffing and puffing. Both of them let out a shriek causing drivers on both sides of us stop and look at our car. I grabbed them both by the top of the thigh, and in my pain, squeezed. I guess really, really hard. They were slapping my hands trying to get me to release.
"Stephanie let go of us, let go, let go, let go! Breath, breath, Breath. Geeze girl you gave me a welt that's gonna bruise something fierce. You okay, girl? Honey, are you okay?"
"It's, it's okay, I'm alright now, but you had better hurry, I think you had better hurry."
Lula stepped on the gas. Even with her cop radar up, we attracted a black & white who decided to pull us over. Thank goodness it was Carl. He was pulling out his book to write us a ticket when Lula jumped out of the car with her hands straight in the air. Carl pulled his gun out and took aim.
"DON"T shoot, I have a pregnant woman in the car who is about to have twins. If I have to sit next to her during one more contraction, you will have to deliver these babies by the side of the road. Now, can I put my hands down?"
"Stephanie, is that you?" Carl asked as he ran up beside the car. "Stephanie..? Oh my God." I must have looked a site. Another contraction had started and I had Connie in a full nelson. I was breathing hard and Connie was starting to gasp for breath. "Don't worry Steph, we'll see that you get to the hospital as quick as possible. But first, you have to let go of Connie. That's right, let go of her. Good. Now, looking up at Lula, "Follow me."
"Ccccaaarrrllll. Carl. CARL!"
"Yes, Steph?"
"I tried to find Joe before we left, but I don't know where he is. I don't want to have these babies without him there. Can you please, please, find him. Please??"
Lula pulled Carl over and walked/jogged him back to his car. "Listen, Carl, Joe called and left a message on their machine. Stephanie read the Caller ID and redialled the number. Joe was calling from Terry Gilman's phone. I don't know what's going on, but either you find him before she has those babies, or he can look at kissing his woman goodbye. She's almost at the point of leaving now, so you had better do something and do something quick."
Carl nodded in understanding and climbed into his cruiser. Lula ran back to her car and climbed in. I had laid my head back on the seat and was breathing. Connie looked white and was rubbing her neck. "Let's go, Lula, we've got to get her to the hospital before she has another contraction. Go, go, GO!!!
Following Carl, we made it to the hospital in record time. However, three more cruisers joined in the procession all the way to the emergency room. Connie got out and ran to get me a wheel chair even though I protested that I could walk on my own. Between Lula, Connie, Carl, Eddie, and the others, I reluctantly sat down in the wheel chair.
"Carl, have you found Joe yet?"
Authors Note: Thank you Cindy for writing this for me, as I have no experience with pregnancy.
Okay, so today is my due date, August 1. What am I still doing here? Why aren't things happening? I am starting to feel like a turtle that's rolled over on his back. Uuuuggghhh! Okay, here I go, right knee over the top, press against the bed with my arms, foot on the floor, uuupppp. There that wasn't so bad. Stretch the back a little, now if I can just make it to the bathroom. Down go the panties, feel around for the seat. There we go. THAT'S IT? All that pressure for a little tinkle?! Geeze it's even getting hard to wipe my own bottom. I'm going to need longer arms if these kids don't come out pretty soon. Now, where did I put those Tums? Seems like every night about this time I have to tinkle and then I have heartburn. Normally I put two Tums next to my night stand before I go to bed; however, Bob discovered them a few weeks ago and decided he needed extra calcium in is diet.
"Stephanie is that you? What cha doing up this time of the morning? You okay? Do you need help??"
"No, I'm fine Lula, just doing my nightly ritual of tinkling and Tums. You sleeping okay in there? Sure is nice of you guys to take turns staying with me this last week. Makes me feel better about being alone."
"We would do more for you if you'd let us, now, don't cha worry. Things will happen when you least expect it. Do you have plastic sheets on that bed in case your water breaks in the middle of the night?"
"Mary Lou already thought of that. But after sleeping on one of Lenny's blue tarps for one hour, I decided I could buy a new mattress if that happens. Good night Lula."
"Good night Steph."
Okay, let's try to get back to sleep. Pillow next to my spine, pillow between my knees, pillow under my head. There. Okay, sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Okay, let's try the other side. Move pillow out from between my knees, pillow out from under my back, roll over, pull blankets out of the way, roll some more, pillow behind my spine, pillow between my knees, blankets under my chin.
"Are you done in there already? I can hear you rolling over clear in here? Do you need some help?/"
"Lula, I am so uncomfortable, I can't get these pillows and blanket situated. I've got heartburn, I think I need to tinkle again, and I am so tired. Please come help me up."
"It's okay, let me help you." Lula came in, and helped heave me up to a sitting position, pulling my legs over the bed and leveraging herself against the wall to help pull me to standing. "It'll be okay, Steph, just a few more days. It'll all be over. Come on, let me help you to the bathroom."
"It's okay, Lula, I can make it to the bathroom okay. But can you do me one favour? Please?"
"Sure Steph, what is it? Are you hungry, you need some ice cream? Pickles? A cold beer?"
"No. This is going to sound strange at 2 in the morning, but can you tell if I still have hair on my crotch? I haven't been able to tell for about four months? If I have to go into the hospital in 24 hours I need to know if I should shave my bikini line."
"Um, Steph, I think you should talk that over with your doctor tomorrow, or today, when you go see her. They use to shave you like a billiard ball, but don't know if they do that any more or not. But I ain't the one to look, uh um, no way. Now, let's get you back to bed. Where you keep those Tums of yours?"
"Top drawer, under my red sweater, next to another box of something. I had to hide them from Bob."
"Um Steph, these are a box of condoms way past their expiration date. I think you need to throw these away before your six week checkup."
"Geeze, yes, I'm not going through this again any time soon. No more chances here, no sirreee. SIX weeks?? That's all the time they give you to heal before you can have sex again? More like that should be six months." Lula popped out two Tums and handed them to me. "Thanks Lula, for everything."
As I tried to get back to sleep, again, I began to think about the last nine months. What a roller coaster of events. First I was single, then I was engaged, then I was almost married, and then I had two fathers. Then, I had none. Ranger had moved to Australia - I guess blood tests could of said a lot and he didn't want to stick around to find out for sure. Joe poked his head in and out occasionally, like normal, until the day of my ultrasound. He showed up after I had called him, just in time to see our babies alive and kicking. That changed him. We eloped to Atlantic City within 48 hours. Another 24 and I was moved into his house. Both sets of parents were just happy we were married, I think. Since I was really pregnant by then, a Catholic wedding was out, which was a little disappointing to Mrs. Morelli. But, oh well. Within a week of the big move, Joe was back to his old self - work came first. I've tried to keep up a good front so everyone won't know how scared I actually am. What was I thinking? How on earth am I going to raise two children by myself? No, you are not by yourself. You have Joe. Yeah, right, who am I kidding, Joe cares more about his work than me. What am I going to do? Well, I guess the first year will be okay. We will stay here - this house is big enough for all of us. I can put up a good front and see if Joe comes around. If not, well, we will survive. I can get a job at the button factory, mom and Grandma can baby-sit. Things will be okay. One day at a time. One day at a time. Don't worry kids, we will survive. I just hope your daddy comes around so we don't have to do this on our own. My eyes started to tear up. No, no, no, you are not going to cry. Women have babies every day and they survive. I'll be okay, I'll be okay, I'll be okay. Joe, please come home. Joe, Joe, Joe . Finally sleep came.
Six am I woke up to my first real contraction. YEEOOOOWWWW. Breath, breath, in out in out. Shitt!! Oh my goodness. Okay, it's over. My goodness. Where is my watch. "Lula, Lula LULAA!!"
"What, what is it" Lula came in rubbing her eyes. "You okay, what's up."
"I think I just had my first real contraction. But, it's okay. We have to wait until they are, um, oh geeze, how far apart do they need to be. I can't remember! Okay, okay, calm down, it's okay. It's in my book. Help me get up and I'll just get my book." For the next hour or so things seems to calm down a bit. No more serious contractions, I was beginning to think it was a false alarm. My doctor's appointment was at 10am so between Lula and I we figured we could handle it until then. Lula called Connie, Mary Lou and my parents to give them a warning. Mary Lou said to keep drinking water and to walk. Connie said she would try to track Joe down. Mom said she would bake a cake. Grandma asked me to hold off until the 2pm viewing of Mr. Dillon. It was going to be a good one as he was in the VFW. I told her I would try. My sister, Valerie, called. She said to remember one word "epidural." No call from Joe.
Lula and Connie drove me to my 10am doctor appointment. Dr Wheeler was on time for a change. As I explained my contraction, she nodded and said a couple of uh umns. With Connie and Lula looking on she asked me to scoot down on the examining table so she would check to see how far I was dilated. All I could see was the top of three heads staring between my legs.
"Well Steph, you will be happy to know you still have pubic hair," said Lula.
"What?" asked Connie.
"Well, she asked me last night to check and I told her I wasn't going to go there. But since she is all propped up, thought I would check and let her know." They both looked at each other, shrugged a shoulder and bent back down to look.
"Well, Stephanie, looks like it could be a while. Your cervix is only dilated to a two. You need to be at a 10 before you can deliver. However, with twins you could come very fast. I think you should go home, grab your bag and meet me at the hospital in about an hour. That way we can hook you up to the monitors and keep an eye on your progress." As she was snapping off her rubber gloves, my head was starting to spin. "Your blood pressure is also up just a bit, so we really need to keep a close eye on you. Okay? So, I'll see you in about an hour in admitting. Any questions?"
I looked at her in a daze. Questions? Questions? Like how in the hell am I going to get two watermelons out of a button hole. "No, no questions right now. I'm fine. Come on guys help me up and get my clothes back on so we can go get my stuff. Connie, have you heard from Joe yet?"
"No, I've left messages all over. No one knows where he is. The jerk, how come he choses now to go off on assignments. Don't men know anything about sensitively?"
"It's okay Connie, it's his loss" yeah right, more like our loss at not having our father around. A tear started to swell in my eyes. No, no, don't cry in front of them.
I sat down on the chair so that Connie and Lula could tie my shoes. The top button on by pants popped open. "Well I guess it's about time, guys, you are getting so big my fat clothes aren't fitting anymore." I stood up and pulled my shirt down over the top of my pants.
"Aren't you going to refasten those," asked Lula.
"Why, they are just going to pop open again when I sit down."
We drove over to the house to retrieve my bag. It had been packed by the door for a week, right next to the two car seats. Joe was so cute when we picked them out a few weeks ago. I was starting to think he was coming around, but then he took off on assignment. Joe, where are you?? Why don't you call?
"Hey, Steph, there's a message on your machine. Can I listen to it?"
"Sure, go ahead, probably just my mom checking on me."
Lula hit the play button. "Hi, Steph. I just got the message that you were looking for me. I'm still tied up on this case. I want to be there, really I do. I'm sorry I'm letting you down. I will do my best to be there what, what do you want, can't you see I'm on the phone okay, okay I'll be right there I have to go Steph, something is going down. Hopefully we can wrap this up and I'll be there before A and B pop into this world. I do love you very much. Bye .. I'm coming, I'm coming ." Click
'See there, Stephanie, he loves you and he'll be there when you need him." I walked over to the phone and checked the caller ID read out. Since his was the last call to come in, his would be the last number on the read out. Humm interesting. I checked the phone number list on the wall. Yep, just as I thought. Terry Gilman. He was at Terry's house calling me. What a slime. What a fool. What a .. Geezee what the hell, oh my goodness. Breath, breath, breath ..
"Steph are you okay, it sounds like you are hyperventilating"
"It's a contraction Lula, hand me the phone. I'm going to give that asshole a piece of my mind!"
Lula gave me the phone with a startled look on her face. I punched *69 and waited a few minutes until Terry picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Terry, this is Stephanie. You tell that slime ball husband of mine that if he isn't at the hospital in 30 goddam minutes I'm going to personally cut his dick off and staple it to the bottom of his shoe! You got it? Good!" down went the phone. The contraction was over. I let out what they call a cleansing breath and headed for the kitchen.
"Stephanie where are you going? The doctor told you not to eat anything. What are you doing?" I had grabbed the Snapps bottle out of the cupboard and took a swig and then coughed. Hot going down, warm glow coming up. There, that's better. "Drinking? You are drinking before giving birth? Well, I never. Connie, Connie, Stephanie is drinking."
"You go girl!" Was all I heard from Connie. One more swig and I put the bottle on the counter. Okay, now lets go.
"Do either of you have a watch? I need to keep track of my contractions. Connie, Lula, either of you have a watch? Where are you two? Connie? Lula? Where the hell did they go?" I looked around the living room and then heard a muffled sound up stairs. "Connie, Lula, what are you doing up there?" I climbed the stairs and found them in the baby's bedroom. "What are you two doing up here? It's time to go."
"We were just looking at the baby's room. Just think in just a little while, this room will be filled with life. Things will be so different. We just wanted to look at this empty room before it was filled up. Are you ready to go now? Better brush your teeth, you smell like alcohol."
Um, Good idea. Don't want Dr. Wheeler to get the wrong idea.
Brushed my teeth, grabbed my bag and put the two car seats in the back of Lula's car. Didn't want to chance Joe not showing up. About half way to the hospital another contraction started. I was sitting between Connie and Lula and started huffing and puffing. Both of them let out a shriek causing drivers on both sides of us stop and look at our car. I grabbed them both by the top of the thigh, and in my pain, squeezed. I guess really, really hard. They were slapping my hands trying to get me to release.
"Stephanie let go of us, let go, let go, let go! Breath, breath, Breath. Geeze girl you gave me a welt that's gonna bruise something fierce. You okay, girl? Honey, are you okay?"
"It's, it's okay, I'm alright now, but you had better hurry, I think you had better hurry."
Lula stepped on the gas. Even with her cop radar up, we attracted a black & white who decided to pull us over. Thank goodness it was Carl. He was pulling out his book to write us a ticket when Lula jumped out of the car with her hands straight in the air. Carl pulled his gun out and took aim.
"DON"T shoot, I have a pregnant woman in the car who is about to have twins. If I have to sit next to her during one more contraction, you will have to deliver these babies by the side of the road. Now, can I put my hands down?"
"Stephanie, is that you?" Carl asked as he ran up beside the car. "Stephanie..? Oh my God." I must have looked a site. Another contraction had started and I had Connie in a full nelson. I was breathing hard and Connie was starting to gasp for breath. "Don't worry Steph, we'll see that you get to the hospital as quick as possible. But first, you have to let go of Connie. That's right, let go of her. Good. Now, looking up at Lula, "Follow me."
"Ccccaaarrrllll. Carl. CARL!"
"Yes, Steph?"
"I tried to find Joe before we left, but I don't know where he is. I don't want to have these babies without him there. Can you please, please, find him. Please??"
Lula pulled Carl over and walked/jogged him back to his car. "Listen, Carl, Joe called and left a message on their machine. Stephanie read the Caller ID and redialled the number. Joe was calling from Terry Gilman's phone. I don't know what's going on, but either you find him before she has those babies, or he can look at kissing his woman goodbye. She's almost at the point of leaving now, so you had better do something and do something quick."
Carl nodded in understanding and climbed into his cruiser. Lula ran back to her car and climbed in. I had laid my head back on the seat and was breathing. Connie looked white and was rubbing her neck. "Let's go, Lula, we've got to get her to the hospital before she has another contraction. Go, go, GO!!!
Following Carl, we made it to the hospital in record time. However, three more cruisers joined in the procession all the way to the emergency room. Connie got out and ran to get me a wheel chair even though I protested that I could walk on my own. Between Lula, Connie, Carl, Eddie, and the others, I reluctantly sat down in the wheel chair.
"Carl, have you found Joe yet?"
