Less than 5 minutes later Georgie, Elvis, Zahra and one of the nurses squeezed into the ancient jeep and set off to find the girl's mother. As it turned out the young girl's sense of time was a little off. They drove for 20 minutes, following her directions before they came to the flimsy tent that was providing shelter to the family.
Georgie, Elvis and Sarah, the nurse, had managed to find out along the way through gestures and shared words in Sarah's mother tongue that Zahra, her mother, her 3 younger brothers and younger sister had all walked 2 full days and nights to escape the fighting in their village. Georgie raised her eyes to Elvis conveying that this mercy trip may end up badly.
When they pulled up Georgie, Sarah and Zahra went into the tent while Elvis started to unload some of the gear. Not three minutes later Georgie yelled "Elvis!" There was an edge to her voice that made him drop everything and run. He should never have let her walk in there alone without checking it out first. He burst through the opening to find a whole host of children, a couple of adults and some farm animals inside.
"Elvis!" Georgie's voice drew his eyes to her "I need you to get my med kit in here ASAP." Elvis gave a quick nod and ran back to the jeep to get the kit. He returned mere seconds later.
"Right, here you go. What now?" he asked kneeling down beside her.
"Unzip it for me and open it right up. Lay it out." her eyes flicked up to him from her patient who seemed to be exhausted. "Thanks, now can you get the kids out of here and keep them amused for a while?"
"Sure." Elvis knew from the clipped tone of Georgie's voice that whatever was going on was serious. "C'mon on guys!" he clapped his hands "Let's go...food time." He managed to usher out all the children and a couple of the adults.
Elvis managed to feed the children and clean some of the cuts and scrapes. He applied salve and band aids where needed. But he still needed to keep them occupied so he blew up a couple of balloons that he kept in his pockets for just such a time. His Mum sent him a big bag of them just after he arrived at the camp.
And for the older ones a ball was found and the game of kick around was on. Elvis watched the children playing, a hint of a smile creeping across his face when he heard the children giggling. It reminded him of his Laura. He missed her while he was here but he needed to fix his relationship with Georgie.
The minutes ticked by, the children had continued their games and had disappeared amongst the sea of tents. Elvis sat in the jeep keeping the eye out for any sign of trouble that might be coming their way. He wasn't particularly worried about the length of time it was all taking. Deb had told him often enough that she was in labour for 27 hours with Laura.
The down time was giving him a chance to fine tune his surprise for Georgie. He was trying to work out how exactly he could pull it all off without tipping his hand too early. Just as Elvis was settling to give it some serious thought he heard "Elvis!" Georgie's voice cut through the surrounding noise. There was a small note of panic in her voice. Most people wouldn't have picked it up but this was Georgie, Elvis knew every nuance of her. He raced from the jeep into the tent.
Sarah, the nurse, was supporting the woman's shoulders while Georgie was kneeling between her legs trying to help the baby. "Elvis come here!" Georgie called to him and he was beside her before she knew it. "I need your help..she's been in labour as far as we can work out for a day or so...but now everything has slowed, if not stopped." She turned her face to him "I think something is wrong Elvis, very wrong." Her voice was very soft but he could see the look in her eyes "I need your help."
"You got it...what do you want me to do?" The mother started to moan and they turned their attention back to her. Elvis looked at Georgie from the corner of his eye waiting for her to tell him what she needed him to do.
"Talk to her Elvis."
"What the hell do I say to her?" he whispered through gritted teeth.
"It doesn't matter, she doesn't speak English. Just be calm and gentle...reassuring."
Elvis looked into the mother's face and gave her a small smile. She looked frightened and tired. "It's ok..It'll be fine. Georgie is the best." He patted the mother's hand "She's fixed me up a couple of times and I'm doing ok."
The mother bit her lower lip and groaned again. "Keep going Elvis...keep talking." Georgie instructed. So Elvis started speaking about Laura, how old she was, what she looked like, how she laughed and what she was doing.
The contractions appeared to have started up again with a greater intensity and were getting closer together. Georgie seemed to be suddenly very busy in her position. Sarah remained holding the mother up in a half sitting position and murmuring to her. Elvis just kept talking, he'd moved on from his Laura to Georgie, telling the mother about how they met and some of their adventures together. He didn't mention the almost wedding, not wanting to remind Georgie about that and stir her up when she obviously needed to concentrate.
Georgie's blue latex gloves were covered in blood. She kept checking on the mother. She and Sarah seemed to be in silent conversation at times. Elvis, she seemed to completely ignore. And then everything changed.
Georgie called to Elvis "Get some gloves on. Now! I need you to help me. Open the side pocket of the kit..there's a blue sheet in there." Elvis got some gloves on and found the sheet in sterile wrapping. The mother made a sound somewhere between a scream and a groan. "The head's out...finally" Georgie breathed "I'm hoping it's a bit easier now."
Easy was the last thing Elvis thought this whole process was but it wasn't to be that way. The baby's shoulders became stuck and Georgie had to manipulate them so they could come free and the baby could make an entrance into the world. Elvis stayed at Georgie's side, in complete awe of how she handled all the medical issues in a place where she was the medical expert.
The mother gave another grunt and with the final push the baby girl was born. Georgie had asked Elvis to grab the sterile sheet and catch the baby, which left her free to clamp the cord and then cut it. Once that was done she wrapped the baby and handed her to Elvis. "Go check her in the light while I finish up here."
Elvis took the child and leaned forward to press a soft kiss on Georgie's cheek. He hadn't been there when Laura was born and he now understood what an emotional time it could be. He looked over the child. "She looks ok to me." he said to no one in particular but he was very aware that he really had no idea what a newborn should look like anyway. He took her back to her mother's waiting arms. Georgie nodded to Elvis and he came back to her. "What is it?"
"I can't...I can't stop the bleeding. We need to get them back to the clinic ASAP." Georgie whispered to him. "Get the jeep as close as you can. Put any blankets we have in the back. Sarah and I will get them ready to move." Georgie looked toward the exhausted mother and her new daughter, saying a silent prayer for them both.
