One Hell of a Storm Chapter Two

Gage was momentarily in shock when his wife told him her water had broke.

"Can you stand up?" Gage asked as he offered his support.

Sydney was unsure, so she wrapped one arm around his neck and attempted to stand, but did not succeed. "I can't," she told him, resting against Walker's desk. Her nails bit into Gage's shoulder, through his soaked shirt and into the skin, as another contraction came.

As the pain ebbed away, Sydney looked at her husband. "The contractions are too close to one another for me to move," she informed. For the first time in a long while, she admitted that she was scared. Gage wrapped his arms around her and held her, comforted her.

"Honey, I need to call an ambulance," Gage said as he stood up and reached for the phone on Walker's desk. Just his luck, no dial tone. "The phones are down. I hope cell phone services are still up."

He reached his desk and took out his cell phone, dialing 911. He got lucky as a dispatcher answered the call.

"This is Texas Ranger Gage," he began. "I'm at Company B headquarters and my wife's water broke. The contractions are a few minutes apart and she is unable to move."

"Okay, sir," the dispatcher responded. "I've sent for a bus to your location, but with the storm, it might take awhile longer. What is most important is to keep her calm and comfortable. Are there any blankets available?"

"We have a couple of fire blankets." Gage retrieved the blankets as he spoke.

"Put one under your wife and one over her," the dispatcher instructed. Gage relayed the message to Sydney, who moved as instructed and situated herself with the blankets.

"You said the contractions are only a few minutes apart," the dispatcher continued and Gage answered as Sydney screamed out in pain, panting to get her breath as another contraction hit her.

"Sir, are you prepared to deliver your child?" the dispatcher asked.

The storm was still going wild on the outskirts of Dallas as well. Walker looked out the window as the big oak tree in the front swayed with the strong winds. He hadn't spotted any clouds that looked like they would turn into funnel clouds. He let the drapes close and turned to his wife.

"I shouldn't have let them work late," Walker spoke as he sat down next to Alex.

Alex took her husband's hand and squeezed it. "I rather they are safe at headquarters than driving in this horrible storm."

"I wished they would call."

"The phones are down. I'm going to get the girls ready for bed." Alex kissed Walker lightly on the lips and then stood up. "Would you mind making sure everything is locked and secured?"

"I'll see you upstairs," he told as she headed up the stairs and Walker moved around the house, making sure the doors were locked and then headed upstairs to help Alex with the girls.

Gage was still on the phone to the dispatcher, going through the presents that were still at headquarters. He found some receiving blankets to wrap the baby in, if he had to deliver it.

"Sir," the dispatcher began. "The ambulance is still 15 minutes away. I need you to check how far along your wife is until it will be time for her to push."

Gage placed the receiving blankets next to him as he lifted the blanket slightly off his wife's knees and checked. "Oh. I think I see the head."

Sydney was gasping for air and squeezing her hands into fists as she felt the pain of her pelvic being split apart.

"Tell her to go ahead and push, count to ten and let her relax," the dispatcher instructed.

Gage relayed the directions to Sydney and held her hand as she began to push and cry out in more pain. Sweat was beading down her forehead and Gage wiped it away, pressing the cool compress that he retrieved earlier against her forehead.

"You are doing great, honey," Gage encouraged as she pushed again.

Gage took a look to see how far she had progressed, but the baby's head seemed to be in the same spot and looking paler.

"I think something is wrong," Gage spoke into the phone. "She pushed, but the baby seems to be in the same spot."

Sydney started to push again, but Gage stopped her.

"What color is the head?"

"I can't tell, but not red."

"The cord might have got tangled up," the dispatcher informed.

"What do I do?" Gage asked, knowing that ever second counted if the cord was strangling the baby. The look on Sydney's face mirrored his, fear.

The dispatcher began to tell him instructions on how to get the cord out of the way when the line went dead.

"No… this can't be happening," Gage whispered as he looked at his cell phone, getting no connection at all. He was ready to try anything he had to save his baby and wife, when the door opened to headquarters.

Two paramedics entered, closing on him quickly.

"I just lost the dispatcher," Gage informed as the paramedics took over.

Gage knelt by Sydney, who quickly took his hand in hers as he recited to the paramedics what has happened thus far. Quickly the two paramedics got to work.

Within a minute, the paramedics instructed Sydney to begin to push again. They were able to get the cord out of the baby's path and deliver the baby.

"Congratulations, it's a boy," the one paramedic announced as the other cut the cord.

Gage curled himself around Sydney as she leaned into him, hugging herself to him, tears of joy trailing down their cheeks. "I love you," Gage whispered softly in her ear, kissing the top of her head.

The paramedics worked quickly to remove all the stuff out of his mouth and nose, wiping him clean. He began to scream wildly, kicking his tiny legs and fisting his tiny hands. They checked his heart and lungs and they seemed fine. The paramedic wrapped him tightly in a blanket and handed him to his mother.

"We need to get you two of you to the hospital," the other paramedic instructed as he packed up the equipment.

They loaded mother and child onto the stretcher and headed to the bus. Gage was by her side at all times. They arrived 15 minutes later at St. Matthew's hospital and were put up in a room in labor and delivery. It was nearly midnight when Sydney had finally been able to get some sleep.

Gage rested on the small couch, adrenaline still rushing through him at the evening events. He recalled looking at his son in Sydney's arms. Weighing in at 7 lbs and 3 oz., his son was born almost by his own hands. He was glad that the paramedics showed up when they had, or he might have lost his son and wife. Before too long, he drifted asleep.

It was almost 6 the following morning when Gage opened his eyes slowly, stretching out all the stiffness in his body. He looked around the almost strange surroundings and recalled last night's event. He looked at the hospital bed. Sydney was propped up, holding their son to her breast.

"Syd," he spoke softly as he stood and walked towards her.

Sydney had only meant to close her eyes for a few seconds, but it had been a few minutes. If Gage had not spoken her name, she might have fallen asleep.

"Hey," she greeted, her tone of voice tired.

He brushed back some of her hair with his hand and kissed her forehead. He heard a sharp sucking noise and realized that not only was their son against her breast, he was feeding.

"When did you learn this?" Gage asked, pulling up a chair to sit next to her, running his other hand along his son's head.

"The nurse showed me about ten minutes ago," Sydney informed.

"I didn't hear anything," Gage responded, looking at his wife.

"You were fast asleep, and we were quiet," she informed.

A few moments of silence passed between them, except for random suckling noises coming from their son. His skin was soft and still a light tone of red. He had very fine colored hair, almost hard to see. He had Gage's features.

"Are we going to stick with the name we chose for a boy?" Gage asked, looking at his wife.

"I thought about it, but I'm not sure he looks like a Stephen," Sydney responded. They planned to name the boy Stephen Alexander, after Sydney's older brother. "Do you like Casey Alexander?"

Gage thought about it for a few seconds, looked at his son and then nodded. "Casey it is," he agreed. He reached for the phone.

"What are you doing?" she asked as Casey quit feeding and slept against the softness. She carefully covered up and laid him against the cloth of the gown.

"Calling Walker. After all, we were supposed to pick up the girls."

Sydney hadn't forgotten about the girls, but wasn't thinking about that.

"Hello?" Walker's voice greeted, yawning.

"It's Gage," Gage spoke into the phone.

Once he heard his voice, Walker sat up in bed. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything is fine," Gage responded, noting the worried tone of the senior ranger's voice. "Sydney went into labor last night."

"Really?" Walker was silent for a moment as he woke his sleeping wife, repeating to her what Gage had just told him. Gage could hear Alex waking up and asking questions.

"Gage, how is Sydney?" Walker asked, hushing his wife enough to ask the question.

Gage looked over at the bed and smiled. "She is tired," he spoke quieter. Sydney had fallen asleep and he didn't want to wake her.

"Alex wants to come visit. Of course we all do," Walker corrected himself.

"Visiting hours is later. Feel free to come by after ten," Gage told him.

"Was it a boy or girl?" It wasn't Walker who asked the question, but Alex.

Gage chuckled lightly. "You'll find out when you see us," he teased.

"We'll see you at ten," Walker had taken the phone back. "I'll call Erica and Trivette and let them know. Why don't you get some shut eye until we come knocking?"

"Thanks." Gage hung up and looked at the couch. He groaned.

A nurse come in and smiled at him. "Good morning, Mr. Gage," she greeted. She gently and professionally woke up Sydney. "Here, let me put him in bed." Sydney nodded tiredly as the nurse placed Casey in the bed they put newborns in. "We'll keep him in here for now," the nurse informed and looked back at Gage. "Would you like someone to bring you a cot to sleep on?"

"Please." He almost pleaded.

The nurse nodded and left the room. Gage walked back to Sydney and kissed her lightly on the lips. "You look beautiful," he spoke lovingly. "You have made me feel like the greatest man on earth."

Sydney barely cracked a smile for him. "I love you," she told him and pulled his head down to her lips once again.

He pulled away, and repeated the words to her. "Now sleep. Our friends will be stopping by to visit at ten."

He didn't hear any complaints for her as she drifted back to sleep. The nurse brought in the cot with the help of another nurse and set up it. They even gave him a pillow and blanket.

"Thanks," he told them as they shut the door quietly.

The cot was longer than the couch, but not by much. It was better for his tall frame, though. He laid down, placed the blanket from his waist down and drifted off to sleep.

TBC