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As a midwife, Gloria Garcia Rodriguez knew all too well how life could change in twenty-four hours, and today was no exception. By tomorrow, Hurricane Hope would be too close for comfort to Gloria’s island home.
On Monday, the Texas Gulf Coast looked in the clear.
On Tuesday, forecasters said the mass of clouds churning in the Gulf of Mexico had wobbled to the west.
And now, on Wednesday, the red line of the hurricane tracker drew a bull’s-eye for Port Provident, Texas. If everything stayed on track, it would be here soon. The swirl of violent weather was too close and moving too fast.
Gloria had tried by phone to reach Tanna DeLong, a midwifery client due to give birth any day now, but there’d been no answer.
With the hurricane bearing down on Provident Island, Gloria knew she wouldn’t be able to rest easy or evacuate herself until she’d ensured all her expectant moms were off the island and had a contingency plan in case they went into labor while evacuated.
Gloria easily reached the other two moms who were close to their due dates. Both planned to shelter with relatives in Houston, which was close enough for safety while traveling, but still far enough away to escape the brunt of the storm. There were plenty of hospitals nearby where either of those mothers-to-be could reasonably expect to be taken care of, should the need arise.
On the other hand, Tanna was younger—only nineteen—and didn’t have family to take care of her. She’d come to Port Provident six months ago after fleeing an abusive boyfriend in Georgia. Apartment L5 was technically leased to a friend who’d offered Tanna a couch to crash on. At her most recent checkup, though, Tanna shared with Gloria that her friend had been picked up by the Port Provident Police Department on a drug charge and hadn’t been home in two weeks.
Tanna was all alone, except for the baby in her belly. Gloria always felt responsible for the safety of the mothers in her care, but somehow she felt unusually protective of young Tanna.
Water was already lapping in the streets, so Gloria had decided to take her bike and stay up on the sidewalk as she made one final attempt, in person, to contact the last patient she had left in town.
Gloria locked her bike to the handrail of the narrow steps that led to the landing in front of apartment L5. As she walked up, she noticed the rust on the railing and the peeling green paint along the wall. The worn-out building depressed Gloria as much as the thought of the impending hurricane. How would a building that appeared to be on its last leg on a sunny day fare when a major storm pounded it? Gloria didn’t hold out much hope for the future of the small dilapidated apartment complex or the residents and possessions inside.
Gloria knocked at the door and waited for it to open, but it never did.
She knocked again, and the thin wood quivered a bit under the force of Gloria’s hand. The door opened slightly, the safety chain still connected at the top of the door. Tanna’s left eye was barely visible, but not much more.
“Gloria? What are you doing here?” The voice from behind the door sounded unsure.
“The hurricane is coming and I need to make sure you’re safe. All my other patients have evacuated. You’re the last pregnant mama on the island and we’ve got to get you out of here. Can you open the door?”
A warm breeze whipped up and slapped Gloria in the face, a small sign of what was to come.
“Get out of here? Where am I supposed to go? I don’t have anywhere to go.” She started to shut the door. Gloria quickly stuck her hand in and gripped the frame.
She reached up for the safety chain and poked it with a finger. “Undo this and let me in so we can talk, Tanna. We’ll figure out something, I promise.”
The crack in the door narrowed a bit. Gloria tried to figure out how she could wedge herself in the small space. She couldn’t let Tanna cut herself off like this, not with her first labor and a hurricane coming together on a collision course.
“Tanna, please. Don’t...” Gloria stuck her hand in the space and prayed Tanna wouldn’t slam the door shut on the now-vulnerable fingers.
A scraping noise came from just above Gloria’s head, and then the chain dropped free. The door opened just enough to allow Gloria a tight passage around her very pregnant patient.
“Oof. I’d really like to just go lay back down, Gloria. My back is killin’ me.”
“Your back? Upper or lower?” The door closed swiftly behind Gloria.
“Lower. Like right here.” Tanna pressed the top of her pelvis with her fingers. “I can’t get comfortable.”
Gloria had seen the start of labor more times than she could count. Normally, it didn’t faze her at all—it was just part of the whole process. But the average first-time mother in her care spent around fourteen hours in labor.
And according to the news reports, fourteen hours from now, Port Provident would be engulfed by Hurricane Hope.
Gloria took Tanna by the hand and led her to the couch. “Come on over here, Tanna. Let’s talk. Tell me more about how you’re feeling.”
The young mother-to-be moved a small cushion behind her back and sat down cautiously. Still holding her hand, Gloria sat next to her and asked a few questions about what Tanna was feeling and for how long.
Tanna’s water hadn’t broken yet, but after observing her and timing things, then doing a quick check of dilation, Gloria made a very certain diagnosis.
“Honey, those aren’t cramps. Those are contractions. You’re in labor. It’s still early and we have some time, but that’s a definite rhythmic and measurable pattern you’ve got going there. I’m getting you out of here.” Gloria reached in her purse for her cell phone.
“So we’re going to the clinic?” Tanna’s eyes darted, quick and catlike.
Gloria felt empathy for her. It was a lot to process.
Gloria did some processing of her own and furrowed her brow. “Well, no. The clinic is closed. It sits close to Gulfview Boulevard and Dr. Shipley was very concerned about flooding later.”
She’d come to Tanna’s on her bike, but clearly, Gloria would not be leaving on two wheels.
She thought about calling the paramedics, but this wasn’t an emergency. And it was far too early to take Tanna to the hospital. Women in this early of a stage of labor were sent home to wait and progress. Thanks to the imminent hurricane, she didn’t know what to do. But she knew she had to do something. Thankfully, she knew people who would know the best options. Maybe instead of going to Provident Medical Center, which would surely be understaffed tonight, someone could get them an escort off the island and she could get a hospital in Houston
