“Good,” Dr. Mayson says as I pull on my gloves. “Now, come and stand in here. I need you to assist so I can show you how to do this properly.”
I bite down on my lip to keep myself from screaming in happiness, and as I move toward him, the other nurses and midwives make a path for me. I move in beside Dr. Mayson and get an upfront view of the crowning baby.
“Alright, how are you doing, Rebecca?” Dr. Mayson asks, looking up at the mom.
I follow his gaze and take in the exhausted woman and instantly feel like a bitch for having looked at her lady bits before even looking at her face, though around here, I guess that’s kind of normal.
The woman quickly glances at me before focusing back on the extraordinary man standing between her legs, though despite the pain she must be in, I can’t bring myself to feel sorry for her. Right now, she’s the luckiest woman on the planet to have a man like this between her legs.
“I just want these things out of me,” she says, her eyes filling with tears of pain.
Okay, maybe now I feel a little sorry for her, but she’s about to get two sweet, loving babies to call her own. What could be better than that?
“You’re nearly there,” he tells her. “Baby number one is crowning, and on your next contraction, you’ll be able to push.”
The nurses and midwives start moving in as a couple who were standing far out of the way move into Rebecca’s side to lend her their support. Feeling good about this, I look to Dr. Mayson and wait for his instructions.
As if feeling my stare on him, he looks my way and gives me a warm smile. “Are you ready for this?”
I nod. “I’ve never been so ready.”
Keeping it professional, Dr. Mayson looks back to the crowning baby and double-checks that everything is looking good. The monitor beeps and he looks up before finally nodding. “Alright, Rebecca. Let’s do this.”
Fear flashes across her face as the midwives on either side help raise her legs and then push them back toward her head as far as they’ll go. Rebecca takes a deep breath, and feeling the contraction bearing down on her, she pushes with everything that she has.
Dr. Mayson dives right in, using his hands to help encourage a healthy and safe delivery. The head comes closer but as Rebecca cries in pain and stops pushing, all movement ceases. “Come on, Rebecca,” Dr. Mayson says. “The hard part is nearly done. Don’t give up yet.”
Rebecca nods and tries again, screaming in pain as the baby moves through the birth canal. I watch closely, taking in every little movement, intent to stand and learn before Dr. Mayson takes a small step to the side. “Autumn, I want you to support the head.”
My eyes bug out of my head, but I don’t dare hesitate. My hand drops under his to where I can support the head as he shows me how to ensure that the baby comes out in a controlled way.
The head finally comes out and I resist jumping for joy. That was such a rush but we’re not done yet.
Rebecca’s contraction eases, and as she catches her breath, Dr. Mayson quickly moves his finger around the baby’s neck, checking for the umbilical cord. As he moves his hands on top of mine, I do everything I can to focus, his low murmurs washing over me. “Alright. Now, you need to help rotate the baby while pushing it down so the top shoulder can move past the pelvic bone on the next contraction.”
I nod, completely forgetting about his hands on mine, now solely focused on what I have to do. “Got it,” I tell him, starting to feel my nerves creeping up on me, knowing that while his hands are on mine, he’ll never let me fuck it up.
“Good. I’ll help and guide you on this one, but you’ll try it yourself with baby number two.”
Holy shit.
I nod, not brave enough to open my mouth as I fear a loud, terrifying squeal will come tearing out of me and scare the crap out of the mom.
Rebecca’s next contraction comes on, and Dr. Mayson quickly glances up at her. “Alright, a small push,” he instructs.
Rebecca does what’s asked of her as her face reddens, and as she does, Dr. Mayson helps me to guide the top shoulder through. Once that’s done, he releases his hold on me, and I easily guide the other shoulder out by myself.
The rest of the baby’s body comes out like some kind of slip-n-slide, and elation fills me. I know I had help, but I count that as a solo delivery. That was just as amazing as November’s baby, but delivering in this controlled environment without the stress of the powerless elevator just made it so much better. And to think that Dr. Mayson is about to let me do it again with baby number two. Wow, how did I ever get this lucky?
Just as I had with November’s baby, I reach through the legs of the exhausted mother and gently lay the baby on her chest. “Congratulations, Mom. One down, one to go.” Her arms instantly come around her baby and I watch with pride as the baby starts to cry.
Stillness fills the room with an awkward silence and I glance around, wondering why people aren’t rushing in to clean off the baby and prepare for the second one when I realize that all eyes are on me.
My face drops and I glance back at Dr. Mayson to find nothing but fury radiating from his stare.
I go over my actions. Everything was going great. I delivered the baby and then put it on its mom, just like we’re always taught to do. I don’t understand.
My stomach starts to sink as nothing but the baby’s cries echo through the room. “Autumn,” Dr. Mayson says, his tone making my stomach twist in agony. “Remove your gloves and your gown and leave my birthing suite now.”
I glance around, my eyes wide. “But …”
“Now.”
His tone leaves no room for questions or arguments so without a backward glance, I walk away, leaving the pregnant woman and her twins behind as big, fat tears begin to well in my eyes.
I push through the door and the second it closes behind me, I run and don’t stop until I’m crashing through the doors of an on-call room and crumbling into a mess on the floor, having absolutely no idea what I did wrong.
CHAPTER 11
THORNE
Guilt surges through me as I finish delivering the second baby and hand her over to her mother, her real mother, not the woman who lays on the bed before me.
“She’s beautiful,” the woman murmurs, holding her beautiful little girl with tears of joy in her eyes as her husband hovers over them protectively.
“She really is,” her husband says, quickly glancing across the room to where their other newborn baby busily gets cleaned and measured. “They both are.”
“You’re damn right,” I tell them, a proud grin stretching across my face. I’ve delivered all of their children, and to see their family continue to grow has been astonishing. “Their brothers and sisters are going to love them. You guys are certainly going to have your hands full.”
He shakes his head, unable to resist the urge to tease me. “Thanks, Doc. I knew we could count on you.”
I nod before looking back to watch over my intern as he stitches Rebecca with perfection, just as I taught him to. This kid is going to go far in his career, assuming he keeps his head screwed on correctly.