Rafael left her to monitor Cameron’s labor progress and take care of her, checking in only occasionally, which Gabby was glad about on more than one level. She couldn’t deny feeling pleased that he’d obviously come to trust she knew what she was doing, then inwardly scolded herself for that. He should have assumed she was competent at her job, not the other way around, especially knowing James Rothsberg and what he demanded of everyone who worked at the clinic he’d founded.
Rafael not hovering around the room, monitoring everything she did, was another good thing, though why she kept finding him so distracting she had no idea. The man was an expert at turning his charm on and off at will.
“How long is this going to take, for heaven’s sake? I thought she was coming soon.” Cameron’s voice had gotten steadily more frustrated as her contractions got closer together, and Gabby prayed for both their sakes she was close to being ready to push.
“Your baby has a mind of her own already, Cameron, doesn’t she?” she said, keeping her voice light. “First she’s in a hurry, then she takes her time.” A bit like her mother. “The good news is her heart rate looks perfect on the monitor. Let me check your dilation again. Looks like the epidural is keeping you comfortable, isn’t it?”
“I guess. If you can call starving to death comfortable.” Cameron sighed dramatically as she crunched another of the tiny round ice cubes Gabby had replaced in her cup three times now. “You’d think that with modern medicine, giving birth could be completely pain-free.”
“A few decades back, women were given morphine and scopolamine to put them into a twilight sleep. They’d hallucinate, then not remember the birth at all afterwards. I don’t know about you, but I’d want to remember forever the moment my baby arrived in this world.”
It wasn’t the kind of memory she’d wish on anyone, but it was still hers. To rail against, to shrink from, to cherish.
She could see him as clearly as if he were even now in her arms. Stillborn. One simple word that perfectly described a lifeless infant.
Motionless. Quiet. Angelic and beautiful.
Every detail of that day was burned into her very soul. And she prayed it wasn’t a memory Cameron would ever have to share.
“I suppose,” Cameron said grudgingly. “So, how many centimeters dilated am I?”
Grateful for the distraction, Gabby checked and was surprised and more than happy at what she found. “Guess what? You’re at ten centimeters and fully effaced. Time for baby to come into the world.”
“Oh, my gosh—really? Don’t you need to call Rafael? What if she comes out before he gets here?”
Gabby wanted to remind Cameron that she was a qualified midwife, fully capable of delivering a baby on her own, but managed to keep her mouth shut. Besides, she’d be lying if she didn’t admit she kind of wanted to see Rafael at work. “I’ll give him a call right now.”
“No need. I’m here,” a deep voice said, and Gabby glanced up to see Rafael looking relaxed yet wired, obviously ready to get to work. “I had a feeling your little bebé had finally made up her mind.”
“That’s because you and I are simpatico, don’t you think? How much longer?”
“Time to be the strong woman you are and get pushing with the next contraction, sí?”
Cameron nodded, and Gabby was surprised at how quickly her next contraction came. Rafael was calmly encouraging as long minutes passed, stretching into a half hour, with their patient becoming more frustrated and impatient with each push.
“My friend had her baby sucked out with something. Can’t you just do that?” she gasped.
“Ah, ‘sucked out.’ That’s a funny way to put it, though accurate, I suppose.” Across their patient, his amused eyes met Gabby’s and she felt her lips curving. “But it is not a good idea to use the vacuum on a premature infant, and you’re doing well. Isn’t she, Gabriella?”
“Wonderful. Just remember to breathe with the next push, okay?” She reached for Cameron’s hand, stroking it. “Puff, puff, puff. In and out. Tuck down your chin when you push to give it some extra oomph, okay?”
“Extra oomph.” Rafael’s laughing eyes met hers again. “You Americans use amusing words. I must take notes.”
“Well, do it some other time,” Cameron said tartly. “I’m more interested in getting this baby out than helping you write a thesaurus of American words.”
“Just trying to distract you from your hard work, Cameron. Another push now, please.”
He turned those green eyes back to their patient and Gabby realized she’d been briefly mesmerized—again—by that gaze. She glanced at the monitor wrapped around Cameron’s belly as she pushed again, and the reading jerked her mind back to work. “Fetal monitor is showing a decreased variability, Dr. Moreno.”
He glanced at it, too, and his expression turned serious. “Keep an eye on it during the next contractions.”
“What? What does that mean? Is something wrong?” Cameron nearly moaned the questions as she pushed again.
“Baby’s heartbeat is a little flat. But that may just mean she’s sleeping.”
“Sleeping? How could she possibly be sleeping when she’s about to be born?”
“She’s warm and cozy inside her mama, and also tiny because she is early. So sleeping is a possibility, though I agree it seems odd that babies sometimes are sleep before being born, doesn’t it?”
His eyes met Gabby’s, and she read the message in their serious depths. He wanted her to pay close attention to the monitor, and she gave him a small nod. She pressed the intercom around her neck as she watched the baby’s heartbeat. “I’ll give Neonatal a quick call to get them here and ready.”
As Gabby spoke soothingly and encouragingly, Rafael interrupted. “Baby’s head is crowning, Cameron! Not too much longer now. You are doing such a good job.”
“Yes, a few more good pushes and hopefully she’ll be here! Tuck that chin in again and give us another push, okay?” Gabby wiped Cameron’s forehead at the same time she glanced again at the monitor and froze for an instant. “Heart rate’s flat on the monitor, Dr. Moreno.”
“Stop pushing, Cameron,” he said in a sharp tone.
“Stop?” The woman looked at him, her tired eyes wide. “What do you mean? I thought you said her head was crowning!”
“The cord is around her neck. I need to get it off before she can arrive.”
CAMERON LET OUT a long cry full of dismay and fear, and Gabby held her hand tighter. “Hang in there, Cameron. Rafael’s getting his fingers under the cord.”
Gabby kept her voice calm and quiet but her chest squeezed hard when she saw the cord wasn’t just around the baby’s neck, it
