Allegro 13

Rated R for language

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Lloyd, Moore, DC and others.

There was a cement ledge that jutted out from the where the bridge proper left the security of the cliff and ventured out over the rushing water. Birds had used it for nesting. Other than being filthy and dark, it was a safe place to put Evey for now. She held him tightly as he climbed onto the ledge and positioned her under the bridge out of the rain. The darkness is going to be a problem. He stood up and looked down to the river, toward the two cars on the banks of the river. One upside down, the other half into the water, ready to be swept away. "Eve. I have to go to the car and get a light. There's a torch under the front seat, and an emergency kit, maybe my mobile."

"No. No. Don't go!" She reached for him and caught him by the knees of his trousers.

"If anything happened to you…I'd be alone here, Dom. Please." Her voice frightened him even more, and the way she said, 'please' made him sit down close to her and take her hand. She was shaking.

He spoke gently to her, calm and professional, trying to give her the impression he was in control. It was not how he felt. "We will need light. I…can't imagine…do you think the baby will come…I mean…now? From what I remember," Dominic paused. There had been a training film way back in Academy days, in emergency first aid. He tried to remember the emergency childbirth part. Some things like tying off the cord, and breathing and pushing. I will need that kit. He felt his guts twist. "Can you tell? Are the contractions going away?"

"No! They are not going away! They can't go away once my water breaks, Dominic. No. You are in this for keeps. We both are." She squeezed his hand hard.

"How long?" The words slipped out before he could modulate his voice. He was aware his fear was audible. Damn it. He cleared his throat and tried again with more confidence. "What did the doctor tell you? Your books? How long?"

"I don't know. It's not supposed to happen like this," her voice was tight. She whispered, "My doctor told me to show up in the Surgery next month, Dominic."

He moved closer to her and put his arm across her shoulders. "Oh, Evey. I am so sorry this turned out badly." He adjusted the Mac over her, pulling it closed around her neck. He took a deep breath, then another one. He looked down the ravine, wanting the torch and the emergency kit so badly. And his mobile. Maybe the phone is down there. "And you say the baby isn't due until next month?"

"No. Three weeks…three weeks…" Dominic remained silent, reluctant to ask more questions and upset her further. But I need more information. How much time do I have?

Is she in danger? Or do they just want the baby? Perry and Drs. Marveaux and Sevier. They want her in an operating theatre so they can take the baby and the placenta while she is under anesthesia. This is not the time to discuss that with her. Are there alternatives? A car had not passed above them since the wreck. No mobile. They could not walk out. The road was not safe with Massey out there, perhaps patrolling it. Cross country was not possible for Evey. I could leave her here and go. Maybe a few miles and there will be a farmhouse. Yes. That's it. He decided to chance it. Evey's safety was paramount. Everything else could be negotiated. "Eve. I could go now. I could walk out. I might find a house with a phone. I could get a helicopter out here. You would be in the hands of professionals."

"No!"

"But…"

"No. Please, please." She grabbed at his arm and held tightly. He felt a stab in his heart at the sound of her voice. "Listen to me, I thought I could do it by myself. I can't…I thought it was all over. I thought I would die and the baby too. Then you came. Oh God. I saw your face. I thought I was going to die, then I saw you."

Dominic hugged her to his chest. She is in shock. Only time will help with that. He stroked her wet hair. She said, "Don't leave me alone. You might not come back. You might fall into a ravine, or get lost. Massey might find you, and…ugh…look at your watch." He heard her hold her breath as he turned his wrist and looked at the glowing dial of his watch: 2:25 AM.

"It's 2:25, Evey."

She didn't answer, but turned and reached for the lapels of his suit and twisted them in her fists, pressing her forehead to his chest between them. When the contraction was over she relaxed her grip and whispered, "Don't leave me."

"I won't. If this is what you want." Even if I called the helicopter, I may lose control of the situation; she will be taken to hospital and taken from me. I will certainly not be permitted in the operating theatre to protect her. The doctors will arrive and she will be theirs. "I won't leave you, but I have never delivered a baby, Eve. I've never even seen it done, and I've only read a first aid manual." She could die. They both could, she and the baby. I cannot make this decision alone. I have to tell her. Dominic silently kissed the top of her head, knowing she could not feel his lips. "I wish I could trade places with you. I do. I am so sorry."

She said, "Stop apologizing. This isn't your fault. It's my fault. I know it. I should have stayed in London." She sounded much calmer to him now that he had promised to stay.

"No. You don't know everything, Evey. It would have been disastrous for you to stay in London. You did the right thing to leave the country. But I wish I had found you sooner. Months ago. I should have found you in January. But…" He flexed his right hand. Those two days cost me two months.

"Because of the virus?"

"Yes."

"I am immune, "she said. "So is the baby. We would not have been in danger."

"Evey. I have something I need to tell you." He rested his cheek on the top of her head where he had kissed her. "You may have guessed that Massey has been pursuing you since December, but there is more."

"More?"

"You have been following the news about home?"

"Yes." Her voice was wary, suspicious.

Be careful. He continued slowly and deliberately. "Terence Perry is in charge of the government's search for a cure. I saw that he has sent you a package. He is in communication with your doctors, Evey. With Sevier and Marveaux. Finch suspects they want the baby for testing."

"Oh no…so…the planned caesarean…the hospital…" her voice faded away but she did not panic. She lay still against his chest.

Dominic closed his eyes in relief. He continued with a little more emphasis. "I wish I knew for sure. But I cannot make this decision for you and your baby. Evey, if we stay here under the bridge and risk it, I want you to know what I know. We can try to walk out, together then, so you will not be alone and while your labor is still early in the first stage. I can try to find a house and call for an ambulance or helicopter. I can have them take you to the nearest hospital, not in Marseilles, but I need you to help me decide what is best."

He gave her time to think; holding her, feeling her warm in his arms. He finally had a moment to rest, to relax, to tell himself that he had found her. But we are not safe. Not here, not out there. Not anywhere.

"I see," she said finally. "Yes. Now that I look back on my office visits, the doctor behaved rather strangely. I thought it had to do with the genetic issues and blood type anomaly. And Perry. He was almost too eager. He wanted details about when and where I would deliver. That should not have come up in our discussions about V. He was supposed to be helping Marveaux with the amniotic studies; he should not have been so interested in the details of the delivery itself. He said he wanted to actually be there in the theatre. That bothered me at the time."

Dominic didn't have an answer for that. Well then. Finch was right. He spoke softly into her wet hair, "What do you want me to do, Eve?"

She was silent for several minutes, then she said firmly, "I can't do it, Dom. I can't walk far. And I don't want you to leave me. Even for a moment; something could happen to you. We are going to do this. Now. Together." Then she squeezed his arms so hard he felt her nails bite him through his suit. "Oh…shit…" she breathed after a long moment. "Oh, hell."

"What?" He smoothed back her hair from her face.

A breathless reply, "Look at your watch. Shit."

Dominic turned his wrist, "2:35."

"I think I just had a real contraction."

"A real one? The others weren't real?"

"Oh, Dominic. Uh oh." She shifted her position, pulled away from him, adjusted something. He couldn't tell in the dark.

"Are you okay?" Stupid question. He winced as soon as he said it.

"The contraction sent a wave of fluid down my legs. Feels funny. Feels strange." She took his hand in hers again. "Feels scary, final. Like there is no turning back and I have no control over it. I know I'm not moving from this ledge until it is over."

"Am I supposed to be doing something?"

"You are doing it." She squeezed his hand.

He leaned back against the cement, taking her with him, tucking her under his arm and resting her head against his shoulder. "Are you comfortable enough on this concrete?"

She snorted. "Comfortable. I think I would like to tell you, now, that you are not allowed to ask me if I am comfortable for, say, two days. Do we have an agreement?"

Dominic smiled sadly. "Agreed. I will try, but I might forget."

"This could go on for hours. I'm supposed to be 'resting between contractions'." Eve shifted again, obviously uncomfortable even cradled between his legs instead of sitting on the concrete.

"How will we know the baby is coming? I mean…imminently?" Dominic asked, realizing that he might not get answers to any of his questions about childbirth if he waited too long to ask them.

"Contractions will come closer together. I guess a minute apart, if I remember. When that happens you are supposed to assume a catcher's position, Dom."

He did not smile at her attempt at levity. This could be a disaster. Women die sometimes. Not much anymore, but it happens now and then. There was a case five years ago. A homeless woman. Police thought it was a homicide at first and called him in. One look and he thought so too. The woman was lying behind a rubbish bin in a great bloody puddle. He remembered photographing her, remembered the blinding flashes from his camera, the crime scene tape. Then he had carefully lifted her dress, thinking to find evidence of rape and murder only to discover a tiny lifeless infant between her legs. The Coroner had closed that case within hours. She had bled to death. In a way, her murderer was the man who shagged her nine months before. Would you have done this to her, V? If you knew? This thought brought unpleasant images to his mind and he hugged Evey tighter to his chest as she sighed against his neck. Everything doesn't have to relate to a crime scene, does it? Is this what I have become? A detective and nothing else? She fidgeted. He opened his knees to give her some room to move about if she wanted to. She is tired. Of course she is. Look what the last 24 hours have been like for her.

She inhaled sharply. "Uh…this one is harder…what time is it? What time? What time? Oh bloody hell, Dom, what time? Hurry."

Dominic turned his wrist, "2:45"

He held her as she leaned back in his arms. Then she made a sound that frightened him. Not just a moan or a groan…something different. A sound he faintly remembered. Like an animal, a trapped animal, yes. It was when he was deerstalking in Scotland. He was fourteen, hunting with Da with a bow and quiver when he had come across a fox with its entire hind end in a poacher's trap. As he approached the dying animal, the fox had made this same sound. Pain, fear, rage. Desperation. I took out my knife and put it out of its misery. That is not an option here. Dominic moistened his lips, held tightly to the woman writhing on his lap. Am I ready for this?