Erin ran out the door of the cabin, sliding down the steps towards her car. The rain soaked her clothes and hail beat against her skin. She fished the keys out of her pants pocket, the sound of Dave's voice barely registered against the howling wind that whipped her hair in all directions.
"Erin!" Dave called from the porch, with her coat slung over his arm. She would be stupid to try to drive in this, even if she made it down the driveway the roads would be hell. Mud churned down the slope forcing long-buried rocks down the driveway. That was a BIG if.
"Have you lost your mind? It's Armageddon out here!" The rain hit his face with full force and he used his hand to shield his eyes.
"I'm not about to let you pick apart my life, Dave!" She called out, her hands shook from the cold. The key missed the lock, leaving a fine, thin scratch in the door. "Fuck!" The faster she could get out of there, the better she would be. Flinging the door open, the pressure in her back intensified. Her foot slid and Dave's heart skidded to a halt. He leapt off the porch to try to reach her before she hit the ground.
She stumbled and fell against the car, catching herself before too much damage could be done. She winced at the impact on her belly.
"Erin!" Dave came up behind her. "Come back inside. You're not driving in this-"
She pulled in a breath through chattering teeth, the sudden warmth between her legs confirmed what she suspected. "Apparently, I don't have a choice. My water broke."
Dave's stomach dropped to his feet, "Are you saying you're in labor? That the baby is coming NOW?"
She winced as a contraction hit, struggling to keep the fear out of her voice, she looked up at him and he could read the panic in her eyes against the flickering of the porch light, she bit out, "Inside. Now."
Dave shoved open the door of the cabin, he kept a firm grip around Erin's waist supporting most of her weight. The brutal cold had left her barely mobile. On instinct, he lifted her into his arms.
"Couch or floor or bed?" He asked, hurriedly looking around the room at the resources at hand. God help him, he was a profiler not a midwife. What if something went wrong? What if he did something to hurt them? A sick feeling entered his stomach, and desperation crept into his voice. "Answer me, Erin. Tell me what to do."
"I don't care!" She bit out between a contraction. This wasn't happening, there was no possible way she was giving birth in David Rossi's cabin.
Dave placed her gently on the rug in front of the fire and covered her with a blanket. She turned her eyes toward the bookcase, trying to focus on something-anything except her situation. If she could find a focal point to concentrate on, she could make it through the worst of it. Anything was better than knowing that David Rossi was going to be delivering her baby.
Looking at his watch, he started counting down the seconds.
"What are you doing?" Erin demanded. "Aren't you supposed to be boiling water, getting towels...making a phone call?"
"I'm timing your contractions, Erin," he replied more steadily than he actually felt. Criminals in life or death situations had nothing on Erin Strauss in labor. And if he screwed this up...no...he wouldn't screw this up.
"I'm fine. If you just get me to the car and drive me to the hospital, we won't have to worry about this.' Breathe, Erin, just breathe,' she coached herself, but her fingers were already starting to curl and her body was tensing as pain began to build. Though denial was written all over her face; judging by the way she winced, that baby was coming and it didn't matter if they were ready.
Dave knelt in front of her with his hands on her shoulders, his tone was calm and even. But inside he quaked. "Tell me what to do. Look at me and tell me how to help."
Erin's eyes snapped open and she attempted to stand, with one hand supporting her expanded belly. "There's still plenty of time for an ambulance to get here. If you weren't so determined to play hero and add another accolade to your personnel file."
Dave stood, and helped her up,"are you sure?"
"My water broke that doesn't mean-" Erin's speech was cut off. Feeling her body split in two, she doubled over. "Never mind," she huffed, straightening and breathing through the pain. "I was wrong."
"I'll get the water, you stay here," he ordered and hurried out of the room.
"Sure," Erin muttered sarcastically to the empty room. "I was only thinking about going out and heading to the salon to get my hair done, but yeah, I can stay here." She looked around at her surroundings. So, Dave had decided to redecorate, she observed. It was about time; the wood paneling on the walls was so outdated and made the room more of a man-cave than a living room. The modern but quaint furniture helped add to the ambiance. But those curtains needed to go – along with the worn out recliner in the corner by the bookcase.
"Great, Erin," she scolded, "now is not the time to redo the cabin. But the curtains are horrid." She drew in a sharp breath. "Just concentrate on something, anything, except the pain. Oh, God, what was it that they taught us in class?" She wracked her brain to remember the Natural Birth class from what felt like a lifetime ago. Some women chose to do this, if they could do it so could she.
"Focal point? Check. Relaxed body? Um mm...check. Deep breaths? Yeah...no...yes," she panted. "Breathe...breathe...breathe... Oh, God! It's not helping!" She doubled over, leaning against the ottoman. Her fingernails dug into the worn leather as an excruciating pain gripped her from the inside out.
"Ow! D-D-Dave," she gasped. Her body tensed tighter than a coil as the urge to push grabbed her. There was no time to wait, she realized. The baby was coming.
"DAVID!" His name tore from her throat in a desperate scream, the lights flickered as another crash of thunder shook the cabin.
Dave rushed towards her carrying a pile of towels and blankets in one hand and an emergency radio and a first aid kit in the other. He dropped down on his knees beside her, "How far apart are your contractions?"
"Don't try to play hero, call an ambulance and get me the hell out of here."
"Trust me. Sweetheart," he said, spreading blankets in the floor underneath her, "if I could, I would, but the storm knocked out the phone lines before I could get through." He was all business. "Now, tell me. How long do they last?"
"Maybe a minute. More..." she shook her head "...I don't know."
The windows rattled and lightning cracked through the stormy sky, sparks flashed against the glass submerging the cabin in darkness.
"All I can say, is this kid's got terrible timing."
"It must be genetic!" She cried, "I can't do this."
"You've done it twice before; I can't see how this is different."
"I had drugs and you weren't the doctor!"
She tried to sit up. She needed to take the pressure off her back.
"What are you doing?" Dave barked. "You're in labor! Lie down!"
"It's-it's easier this way. Turn on the radio, see what the chances are of getting out of here in the next ten minutes," Erin ordered. "I need to take my mind off the fact that the man I had an affair with, is about to deliver my child."
Dave flipped the switch and adjusted the antenna, but nothing more than a few strains of "All Alone on Christmas" cut through the static. "The storm is messing with the frequency."
Erin swore under her breath. "Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, Christmas carols are the only thing on the radio."
"Here," he offered his hand. "Let me help you sit up." Kneeling behind her, he waited for her to rest her head against his chest. His strong, knowing hands pressed against her back through her thin cotton shirt."You wanted me to help you," he murmured against her neck. The smell of rain clung to her skin. "Didn't you?"
"What-what are you doing?" She stammered, the pain quickly forgotten as he diverted her attention toward him.
"Just something I remembered from my first marriage. You find a pressure point and rub it. It's supposed to relax the tension in the woman and help her focus." His expert hands rubbed her back. Erin closed her eyes and let herself get lost in the moment.
"I don't know how long this is going to last," she whispered, focusing on Dave.
"I just want it long enough to let the water boil," he said. He prayed things would slow down, babies took hours. Sometimes days, but not this one. Not Erin's child, of course not. Damn! What was taking the water so long?
A sharp pain tore through Erin. There was no mistaking the sign: The baby was coming, and nothing could hold her off.
"Dave," she raised her head and looked at him. "She won't wait," she said, breathing deeply.
Dave looked at her. "It's time?" He asked stupidly. "But the -" At that second the kettle gave a sharp whistle.
Giving her a quick kiss, Dave straightened up. "Hold that thought, Sweetheart."
Standing up, he rolled his eyes at the pain in his knees. He would worry about that later.
"Lucky me," Erin groused. "Just hurry."
Special thanks to Flash Penguin!