CHAPTER 6
She was a week past her due date now; and she personally thought the baby had decided to set up permanent residence where it was. After pacing the apartment for the better part of the day, Sophie decided a walk would help ease the restlessness. Sophie ducked into a small coffee shop she sometimes stopped at. She needed to use the bathroom. Again. She wouldn't miss that part of pregnancy. At all.
She had just closed the door to the bathroom when her water broke. Great, she silently reprimanded herself. Now, I decide to go into labor. And she was still four blocks from her apartment. Of all the times to get the wild notion to leave her bag at home. Thus leaving her cell phone in the bag, on the floor next to the door.
Okay, you can do this, she encouraged herself, determined not to panic. Just call Bosco and he'll be here.
Shuffling her way back to the front of the coffee shop - and the pay phone - she made it halfway before she felt her body start to tighten. Sophie braced herself against an empty table, thankful the shop was mostly empty; she didn't need too large an audience. She was trying to stay calm but the pain seemed to be stronger than what her doctor had said it would be for the first stage of labor for a first child.
"Ma'am, are you alright?" the voice belonged to a young officer standing at her side.
Sophie waited for the contraction to begin to subside before answering, "I do believe that was a contraction."
The officer exchanged a silent message with his partner who stood next to him. It was that look that said 'We're supposed to know what to do but really don't have a clue'.
Sophie straightened. "Well, are you going to take me to the hospital or do I need to get a cab?"
This seemed to bring them to their senses and each stepped forward to assist her out of the coffee shop, while introducing themselves as Officers Sullivan and Davis.
"Is there someone we can call to meet you at the hospital?" Officer Sullivan asked as they made their way to the car. The other, Davis, called for an ambulance, which would be at their location in a matter of minutes. They were instructed to wait for it.
Sophie braced herself against the back of the squad car. "Yes. My coach. You may know him; he's a police officer. Maurice Bocorelli."
"Bosco!" they repeated in unison.
"You know him?" She shrugged not waiting for an answer. "Anyway, he's my coach so if you could just get word to him, I'd appreciate it."
Sully and Davis exchanged looks again. Surely she didn't mean THEIR Bosco. Although there had been a slight change in Bosco for the last month or so. Maybe this woman was the reason for it.
"55 David," Sully radioed while watching Sophie close her eyes against another contraction. They were coming fast. That was never good.
"55 David." Faith's voice came through immediately.
"55 David, I have a woman here who says she knows Bosco. Name's Sophie."
"Yeah, we know her." Faith watched Bosco as they listened to Sully.
"Bosco's her coach?" Sully questioned.
"Yeah, what's going on?" Bosco interrupted.
Faith knew what was going to be said by the delay in answering.
"Game time."
CHAPTER 7
Bosco met Faith's gaze. "Did Sully just say Sophie's in labor?"
She tried not to laugh at the panicked expression on Bosco's face. "55 Charlie, please repeat."
Again, loud and clear, Sully's voice came over the radio. "The game has started and Bosco's coaching services are being requested immediately."
"Find out where they are," Bosco ordered searching for a way to get the car through the stopped traffic where they had been stuck for the last ten minutes.
Faith gave their location, discovering they were a mere three blocks from Sully and Davis. They could hear an ambulance sounding in the distance and then Sully's voice again. "55 David, stay where you are; EMT just picked her up and will stop for Bosco on the way to Mercy."
"Sully, how's she doin'?" Bosco asked. He didn't much care who heard him.
"Game's moving fast, Bosco."
CHAPTER 8
"Damn." Bosco muttered. They weren't going anywhere. At least, not with the car.
"Bos, meet them at the corner. I'll meet you at Mercy." Faith calmly instructed her panicked partner. For someone who charged into every kind of dangerous situation he could find without a second thought, news of Sophie seemed to have sent him into hysterics.
Without a word, Bosco was out of the car and running to meet the ambulance he could hear rapidly approaching,
"Hurry up, Bosco!" Kim Zambrano ordered, hitting the brakes and barely giving him time to get in the bus before taking off once again.
Sophie, in the midst of another contraction, lay on the stretcher, taking gasping breaths. The other paramedic, Alex Taylor, was checking her progress.
Taking her hand and trying not to grimace at the pain shooting up his arm from the force of her grip, he instructed gently, "Soph, you need to breath, remember? Just like in class?"
Bosco soon discovered what wasn't taught in Lamaze classes: Happy, glowing mothers-to-be soon turned into hateful, demanding, forces-of-nature during labor.
At his gentle reminder to breathe, Sophie's eyes narrowed into thin slits as she told him in no uncertain terms what he could do with his breathing.
His brows raised in surprise. He didn't even think she knew the term she had just uttered, much less that she would use it toward him. He glanced at Taylor, who was on the cellular phone to the hospital, giving their estimated arrival time and advising that the patient most likely wouldn't make it up to the maternity floor to deliver; the contractions were so close.
Taking a deep breath, he tried again. "Sophie, -"
"What!" She didn't care how she sounded; she only knew she didn't think she could do this any more. Everything was moving too fast. This was not the way it was supposed to be!
"You need to breathe."
"I am!" She roared.
"Properly," he again reminded her as he braced himself as the ambulance turned and started to slow.
She looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "You're going to pick a fight with me now?"
"I was just - " Bosco started again.
"Shut-up!" Sophie whined. The sound of his voice made her want to rip out his vocal cords.
"Bosco!" Alex interrupted seeing he was about to protest again.
"I'm just trying to help," he explained. Why was everyone picking on him all of a sudden?
"Help her by staying quiet!" Alex instructed. "We're almost there."
The ambulance came to a screeching halt and the doors opened. Bosco was left to follow the paramedics and Sophie into the emergency room where they were met with doctors and nurses all shouting orders and directions as Alex gave them Sophie's status.
Bosco was stopped at the admittance desk as Sophie was taken into a room, doors swinging behind her.
"Sir, we need your wife's information and then you'll be taken up to maternity."
Bosco didn't bother to correct the new desk clerk's assumption. "Can't we do this -"
"Bosco!"
He turned to find Faith hurrying toward him. That pile up didn't take long to clear out.
"What's going on?"
He shrugged, throwing the clipboard he'd just been handed back on the counter. "I don't know. They took her in."
The clerk picked up the clipboard. "Sir -"
"Later!" He ordered, then turned to Faith. "Faith, somethin's wrong. That's not Sophie, she's swearin', cursin'. It's like she's possessed or somethin'."
Faith looked at her partner. Could he really be that stupid or had the whole situation rattled him a bit? No, she decided, he really could be that stupid. "Bosco, of course she's possessed! By pain! She's trying to get a human being out of her body. What did you think she was going to be like during labor?"
"I don't know but not that!" He saw the doors open and a nurse approached him.
"Are you Bosco?" She asked.
"Yeah? What's going on?" His palms began to sweat.
"It's time, c'mon. Your wife is asking for you," she turned without waiting to see if he followed.
Faith looked at the pale Bosco, eyebrow raised inquiringly.
"You got somethin' to tell me?" she asked, referring to the spousal reference the nurse had made.
Silence.
"Bosco!" That got his attention.
"Huh?"
"Go! Now! Sophie needs you in there." She physically turned him, giving him a slight push to get him started in the right direction.
How he got through the next minutes, he could never recall later. He remembered encouraging Sophie when she mindlessly begged him to finish the labor for her; she was too tired and it hurt too much. He remembered the doctor's announcement of a baby girl, the sound of the baby's first cry and seeing Sophie's tears upon seeing her daughter. And he become conscious of what he wanted.
TO BE OCNTINUED -
She was a week past her due date now; and she personally thought the baby had decided to set up permanent residence where it was. After pacing the apartment for the better part of the day, Sophie decided a walk would help ease the restlessness. Sophie ducked into a small coffee shop she sometimes stopped at. She needed to use the bathroom. Again. She wouldn't miss that part of pregnancy. At all.
She had just closed the door to the bathroom when her water broke. Great, she silently reprimanded herself. Now, I decide to go into labor. And she was still four blocks from her apartment. Of all the times to get the wild notion to leave her bag at home. Thus leaving her cell phone in the bag, on the floor next to the door.
Okay, you can do this, she encouraged herself, determined not to panic. Just call Bosco and he'll be here.
Shuffling her way back to the front of the coffee shop - and the pay phone - she made it halfway before she felt her body start to tighten. Sophie braced herself against an empty table, thankful the shop was mostly empty; she didn't need too large an audience. She was trying to stay calm but the pain seemed to be stronger than what her doctor had said it would be for the first stage of labor for a first child.
"Ma'am, are you alright?" the voice belonged to a young officer standing at her side.
Sophie waited for the contraction to begin to subside before answering, "I do believe that was a contraction."
The officer exchanged a silent message with his partner who stood next to him. It was that look that said 'We're supposed to know what to do but really don't have a clue'.
Sophie straightened. "Well, are you going to take me to the hospital or do I need to get a cab?"
This seemed to bring them to their senses and each stepped forward to assist her out of the coffee shop, while introducing themselves as Officers Sullivan and Davis.
"Is there someone we can call to meet you at the hospital?" Officer Sullivan asked as they made their way to the car. The other, Davis, called for an ambulance, which would be at their location in a matter of minutes. They were instructed to wait for it.
Sophie braced herself against the back of the squad car. "Yes. My coach. You may know him; he's a police officer. Maurice Bocorelli."
"Bosco!" they repeated in unison.
"You know him?" She shrugged not waiting for an answer. "Anyway, he's my coach so if you could just get word to him, I'd appreciate it."
Sully and Davis exchanged looks again. Surely she didn't mean THEIR Bosco. Although there had been a slight change in Bosco for the last month or so. Maybe this woman was the reason for it.
"55 David," Sully radioed while watching Sophie close her eyes against another contraction. They were coming fast. That was never good.
"55 David." Faith's voice came through immediately.
"55 David, I have a woman here who says she knows Bosco. Name's Sophie."
"Yeah, we know her." Faith watched Bosco as they listened to Sully.
"Bosco's her coach?" Sully questioned.
"Yeah, what's going on?" Bosco interrupted.
Faith knew what was going to be said by the delay in answering.
"Game time."
CHAPTER 7
Bosco met Faith's gaze. "Did Sully just say Sophie's in labor?"
She tried not to laugh at the panicked expression on Bosco's face. "55 Charlie, please repeat."
Again, loud and clear, Sully's voice came over the radio. "The game has started and Bosco's coaching services are being requested immediately."
"Find out where they are," Bosco ordered searching for a way to get the car through the stopped traffic where they had been stuck for the last ten minutes.
Faith gave their location, discovering they were a mere three blocks from Sully and Davis. They could hear an ambulance sounding in the distance and then Sully's voice again. "55 David, stay where you are; EMT just picked her up and will stop for Bosco on the way to Mercy."
"Sully, how's she doin'?" Bosco asked. He didn't much care who heard him.
"Game's moving fast, Bosco."
CHAPTER 8
"Damn." Bosco muttered. They weren't going anywhere. At least, not with the car.
"Bos, meet them at the corner. I'll meet you at Mercy." Faith calmly instructed her panicked partner. For someone who charged into every kind of dangerous situation he could find without a second thought, news of Sophie seemed to have sent him into hysterics.
Without a word, Bosco was out of the car and running to meet the ambulance he could hear rapidly approaching,
"Hurry up, Bosco!" Kim Zambrano ordered, hitting the brakes and barely giving him time to get in the bus before taking off once again.
Sophie, in the midst of another contraction, lay on the stretcher, taking gasping breaths. The other paramedic, Alex Taylor, was checking her progress.
Taking her hand and trying not to grimace at the pain shooting up his arm from the force of her grip, he instructed gently, "Soph, you need to breath, remember? Just like in class?"
Bosco soon discovered what wasn't taught in Lamaze classes: Happy, glowing mothers-to-be soon turned into hateful, demanding, forces-of-nature during labor.
At his gentle reminder to breathe, Sophie's eyes narrowed into thin slits as she told him in no uncertain terms what he could do with his breathing.
His brows raised in surprise. He didn't even think she knew the term she had just uttered, much less that she would use it toward him. He glanced at Taylor, who was on the cellular phone to the hospital, giving their estimated arrival time and advising that the patient most likely wouldn't make it up to the maternity floor to deliver; the contractions were so close.
Taking a deep breath, he tried again. "Sophie, -"
"What!" She didn't care how she sounded; she only knew she didn't think she could do this any more. Everything was moving too fast. This was not the way it was supposed to be!
"You need to breathe."
"I am!" She roared.
"Properly," he again reminded her as he braced himself as the ambulance turned and started to slow.
She looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "You're going to pick a fight with me now?"
"I was just - " Bosco started again.
"Shut-up!" Sophie whined. The sound of his voice made her want to rip out his vocal cords.
"Bosco!" Alex interrupted seeing he was about to protest again.
"I'm just trying to help," he explained. Why was everyone picking on him all of a sudden?
"Help her by staying quiet!" Alex instructed. "We're almost there."
The ambulance came to a screeching halt and the doors opened. Bosco was left to follow the paramedics and Sophie into the emergency room where they were met with doctors and nurses all shouting orders and directions as Alex gave them Sophie's status.
Bosco was stopped at the admittance desk as Sophie was taken into a room, doors swinging behind her.
"Sir, we need your wife's information and then you'll be taken up to maternity."
Bosco didn't bother to correct the new desk clerk's assumption. "Can't we do this -"
"Bosco!"
He turned to find Faith hurrying toward him. That pile up didn't take long to clear out.
"What's going on?"
He shrugged, throwing the clipboard he'd just been handed back on the counter. "I don't know. They took her in."
The clerk picked up the clipboard. "Sir -"
"Later!" He ordered, then turned to Faith. "Faith, somethin's wrong. That's not Sophie, she's swearin', cursin'. It's like she's possessed or somethin'."
Faith looked at her partner. Could he really be that stupid or had the whole situation rattled him a bit? No, she decided, he really could be that stupid. "Bosco, of course she's possessed! By pain! She's trying to get a human being out of her body. What did you think she was going to be like during labor?"
"I don't know but not that!" He saw the doors open and a nurse approached him.
"Are you Bosco?" She asked.
"Yeah? What's going on?" His palms began to sweat.
"It's time, c'mon. Your wife is asking for you," she turned without waiting to see if he followed.
Faith looked at the pale Bosco, eyebrow raised inquiringly.
"You got somethin' to tell me?" she asked, referring to the spousal reference the nurse had made.
Silence.
"Bosco!" That got his attention.
"Huh?"
"Go! Now! Sophie needs you in there." She physically turned him, giving him a slight push to get him started in the right direction.
How he got through the next minutes, he could never recall later. He remembered encouraging Sophie when she mindlessly begged him to finish the labor for her; she was too tired and it hurt too much. He remembered the doctor's announcement of a baby girl, the sound of the baby's first cry and seeing Sophie's tears upon seeing her daughter. And he become conscious of what he wanted.
TO BE OCNTINUED -