Until Autumn - Sheridan Anne Page 0,3
arms, not needing my assistance in the least, and drops down to one knee before gently laying her down. He moves in behind her to keep her body propped up and then looks at me for guidance.
Crap.
I meet her panicked stare as I reach for the waistband of her sweatpants. “I’m going to take these off,” I warn her, though I’m sure that my intentions were already perfectly clear, but you know, consent and all that.
She nods viciously as my fingers curl around the sweatpants and I start drawing them down her legs, only to get my first real glimpse of her crowning baby. “I’m November,” she says with a pant, meeting my eyes. “I figured if you’re going to be feeling around my coochie, we better be on a first-name basis.”
I can’t help but grin as Asher adjusts himself with his phone so that I can see what I’m doing just a little bit better and as the light shines down brightly on her vagina, I see just how right she was. This baby is coming, and it’s coming now.
I look back up and give her a warm smile before tossing my handbag toward her husband. “Ahhh, a woman with my same low standards. I love it. Though for the record, maybe next time you could buy me dinner first before throwing second base on me like this.” She laughs, and it seems to relax her just a little bit, so I indicate to my bag by her husband’s side. “Can you go through that and find my phone? We’re going to need as much light as possible.”
He doesn’t hesitate, and I focus on November, only the more I take in everything before me, the more my nerves seem to fly. “Why do you look like you’re about to shit your pants?” November asks me.
I meet her eyes, swallowing past the lump in my throat and ignoring the way my palms seem to sweat. “I’m going to be real with you,” I start. “Today is my first day in the midwifery training program and my first day at this hospital. I’ve never done this before, but I promise you, I won’t let you down.”
Her eyes go wide, and she glances up at her husband before looking back at me. “You’ve never done this?”
“Nope.”
Asher practically tosses my phone at me, and I instantly open my flashlight app and lean the phone against the wall, shining it right at November’s coochie. “You’ve had some kind of training, right?” Asher asks, the tone in his voice filled with concern. “You’ve read the textbooks and watched the training videos on this shit?”
I nod, biting down on my lip as I help November get her legs into position. “Maybe you should call Thorne,” November suggests to her husband. “I don’t know … maybe he can at least talk her through it.”
My eyes bug out of my head. “Thorne?” I question. “As in Dr. Thorne Mayson?”
“Yeah,” November grunts. “He’s Asher’s cousin and was scheduled to deliver this baby next Thursday, but apparently, that’s not going to happen.”
“Oh, okay. Ummm … yeah. That’s not a bad idea.”
Asher instantly starts searching through his phone, and within seconds, it’s on speakerphone, and I hear the call ringing through the small elevator. I try to calm myself. Dr. Thorne Mayson is the biggest name in obstetrics; he’s a total badass. Patients come to him from all over the country just to have him deliver their babies, and I’m about to have him talk me through an elevator floor delivery. This is not only the most terrifying thing I’ll ever do, but it’s also a dream come true.
He’s a beast in this world. He dominates every surgery he does and his work is outstanding. I wasn’t surprised when I first learned that he has the personality of an asshole—uptight and full of shit. Though, I guess when you’re Dr. Thorne Mayson, it doesn’t matter. A guy like that could get away with murder. He’s already on top, and with his skills, that’s exactly where he’ll stay.
The call answers just as November’s grip on her husband’s hand tightens, sending her knuckles a bright white and telling me that her contraction is coming. “Asher,” Dr. Mayson’s voice comes lazily through the phone. “What’s going on? Are you guys still down in the ER? The hospital is having issues with the back-up generator. They’re saying it could be another few minutes before we have power up and running.”
“We don’t have another few minutes,”