The Cowboy's Temptation Page 0,28
to leave the moment she emerged.
“That was fast,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman who could be ready in less than ten minutes,” he said as he put a hand on the small of her back to guide her out the door.
He lifted her into the truck, then came around to the driver’s side. The truck raced along the road but not in the direction of the main street. Jake was driving towards an old barn that she’d thought was abandoned. “Where are we going?” she asked, her eyes wide with anxiety for Veronica.
“The helicopter,” he said and braked right next to another Circle K ranch truck. Veronica was being helped out of the passenger side by Rick, who was practically carrying his wife towards a hulking black shadow.
“What helicopter?” Elissa asked, jumping out and running towards Veronica who was in the middle of a contraction.
Rick breathed a sigh of relief when Elissa ran up to them. “Thank goodness you made it. She’s been having contractions for the past two hours. They’re now about seven minutes apart.”
Elissa looked at her friend, noting the white lips that were trying to smile. “Ronny, just breathe. You can make it through this, don’t worry.”
Jake herded all of them into a black helicopter, then jumped into the pilot’s seat. They were airborne minutes later and Elissa was holding her breathe, gripping the seat with white-knuckled hands. She had never been in a helicopter before and she wasn’t sure she liked it.
She stared at Jake’s profile as he flew the helicopter through the dark sky. He spoke into a microphone several times, apparently with the hospital letting them know that they were on their way.
Fifteen minutes later, three of them were disembarking from the helicopter. Elissa was grateful to be back on solid ground but one look at Veronica and she knew something was wrong.
They were immediately hustled into the hospital where Veronica was put onto a bed and hooked up to monitors.
Rick took Elissa’s hand and held it tightly for a moment, his worried eyes looking into hers. “You take over, Elissa,” he said fervently. “I can’t watch. Make sure she’s okay,” he said nervously, watching his wife get rolled down the hallway to the labor and delivery room.
Elissa watched for only a moment before turning back to Rick. “Are you sure you don’t want to be there with her? She’ll probably feel safer with you in there rather than me.”
“No, Ronny would be better off with you. Please take care of her. She’s all I got,” he said, running both hands through his hair.
Elissa followed Veronica down the hallway, running to catch up with her. They put her onto a bed and re-hooked the monitors while the doctor examined her.
“Well, it looks like you’re having a couple of babies tonight,” she said sleepily.
Elissa was a little taken aback by the obstetrician’s casual manner, but reminded herself that she did this for a living and it probably wasn’t as life altering as what the new mom was going through.
Veronica was five centimeters dilated already, she announced. “But with a first baby, this could still take a while. The contractions will start to be a little more intense and will come sooner. If you’d like an epidural, just let me know. You can have it at any time now.”
“Now!” Veronica demanded, gritting her teeth as another contraction came upon her. Elissa held her friend’s hand, watching the monitor that showed the intensity of the contraction.
“This one’s over, Ronny, just hang on for another second,” Elissa said.
A moment later, Veronica leaned back on the pillows, her face already beaded with sweat. “Okay, I think that one’s done,” she said and relaxed for another minute.
About fifteen minutes later, the anesthesiologist came in and administered the epidural. Elissa almost passed out when the doctor stuck the long needle into her friend’s spinal cord but the relief on Veronica’s face when the pain killer reached her system helped Elissa deal with the light-headedness.
The sun was just peeking over the horizon when the contractions started coming faster. They were two minutes apart, then one minute, each coming on top of the next. The doctor shook her head at one point and announced she was only nine centimeters dilated.
Elissa wanted to hit the woman as she walked out of the room, telling Ronny that everything was okay and she only had a little while longer before it would be time to push.
“Lissy, I can’t do this much