Judy Christenberry - A Randall Hero

“I don’t want you to go.”

“How else will we get help?” He laughed slightly. “Believe me, I’d rather stay here with you.”

“Can’t you wait a little while?”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll wait until seven.”

“Thank you. I know I’m being too clingy, but—but you’re so comforting.”

“You’re not clingy. I just want to take care of you, Lucy. It’s important to get you to the hospital before anything happens.”

“First babies are supposed to take a long time.”

“Okay. We’ll just stay where we are for a little bit longer.”

To John’s surprise, he went to sleep again, as did Lucy. He awoke at eight o’clock, long after his normal time. Lucy was still sleeping against him. He smiled down at her. He guessed her labor wasn’t as imminent as it had sounded at six.

He tried to open the glove box without disturbing her, knowing he had several packets of peanut butter crackers in there. He was hungry. Of course he would save a packet for Lucy. Unfortunately, she woke up.

Her eyes flew open and she looked around frantically for a moment. Then she settled down as she realized where she was.

“Are you hungry?” he asked her. “I think I have a couple of packets of peanut butter crackers.”

“Where?”

“In the glove box. Can you reach them?”

“Yes.” She opened the glove box and found the packets. She handed them both to John.

“Don’t you want one?”

“I’ve heard that you shouldn’t eat if you’re in labor.”

“I don’t think that would hurt anything. Take a packet.”

“All right.”

They unwrapped the crackers and ate them slowly.

Lucy had only eaten one when she tensed again. “It’s another pain.”

“All right.” He checked his watch. It was eight-twenty.

“I’ll wait until you feel another one. Then I’ll go up on the road and try to flag someone down.”

“Okay.”

“Eat the rest of your crackers. You’ll need them.”

She ate slowly, trying to make them last.

John brought out the Gatorade again for them each to have a drink.

When the next pain came so soon, it surprised them both. John checked his watch again. It wasn’t eight-thirty yet. The pains were coming faster.

“Don’t go, John. Please.”

“I have to. We’ve got to get you to a hospital.”

“But you said we’d be all right.”

“We will be, if we have to deliver your baby here, but I’d prefer a hospital. Now, be strong. I’m going to cover you back up and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“You aren’t going to leave, are you? I mean, walk somewhere?”

“No. That would take too long.”

“Okay.”

He tucked her in and got out of the truck. After climbing up to the road, he paced back and forth in front of her car, hoping someone would come by.

He almost gave up and decided to go back down to his truck to see how Lucy was doing, but at the last minute, he heard a vehicle approaching.

Stepping farther out into the road, he waved his arms as the pickup came into sight.

“You break down?” the man asked, after lowering his window.

“Yeah, and I’ve got a woman in labor down there.”

“All right. I’m going as far as Rawhide. Will that help?”

“That’s where we need to go. I’ll just go bring her up.”

“Need some help?”

“No, I’ve got her.”

John slid back down to the truck and opened the passenger door. “Lucy, we’ve got a ride.”

She looked up at him and he saw the pain on her face. “Thank God. This baby wants to be born.”

John scooped Lucy up in his arms, comforter and all.

“My coat!”

He grabbed it and laid it across her so she could keep it from falling. “Do you have suitcases?”

“Yes, in my trunk.”

“Get out your keys. I’ll stop and put them in his truck before we get in.”

“Wouldn’t it be better for me to get in and then put the suitcases in? He might drive off with them.”

“I’d rather he drive off with your suitcases than with you.”

“I hadn’t thought of that.”

He brought her out of the truck and struggled up to the road. Then he set her down for a minute to deal with her luggage. Next, he scooped Lucy up again and set her on the car seat, pushing her over so he could get in, too.

Before he shut the door, the driver took off, as if he were trying to leave John behind. Lucy shrieked and John used the door handle to hang on until he could get his footing inside the truck.

Then he sent the man a sharp look.

“Figured you was in a hurry, what with the baby comin’ and all.”

“Yeah.” Under his breath he added, “But not in that big of a hurry.”

After several minutes of seeing how the man drove, John wasn’t sure he’d improved their status any. The man was driving eighty miles an hour and taking up most of the road.

John hated to ask the question, but for Lucy’s sake, he needed to. “Do you happen to have a cell phone?”

“Sure do. Want to borrow it?”

“Yeah. I’ll be glad to pay you for your minutes.”

“Okay.”

John dialed the number for the clinic. “May I speak to Caro, please?”

“Dr. Randall is in with a patient.”

“Is Jon?”

“Yes, he is.”

“Look, go tell Caro I have a pregnant woman who thinks she’s going into labor and I need to talk to her.”

He didn’t have to wait long for Caroline to come to the phone. “Who is this?”

“It’s John. Sorry I forgot to tell the nurse that.”

“That’s all right. Your message sounded urgent.”

“Yeah. Lucy’s water broke about six. Her pains have been coming about ten minutes apart and she thinks she’s eight months pregnant.”

“Where are you?”

“A kind gentleman is giving us a ride. We should be there in about forty minutes.”

“Okay, you should arrive before she delivers, but you don’t have much time to spare. With the baby coming early we’ll need to get it oxygen right away.”

“Yes.”

“She can hear you?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell me how you came across this woman?”

“No.”

“Is she from around here?”

“No.”

“Well, John, you’ve got my curiosity up. We’ll be waiting for both of you, and we’ll have an incubator ready, too.”

“Thanks, Caro.”

“No problem. Do you want me to call your parents?”

“Yeah, just tell them I’m all right. I’ll talk to them later.”

“All right. I will.”

When John handed the phone back to the driver, he looked at John. “That’ll be twenty dollars.”

John didn’t question the amount. He dug in his pocket for his wallet and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill. He handed it over without argument.

“How are you doing?” he asked Lucy.

“I think my pains are coming faster.”

“Caro said we should have plenty of time to get you to the clinic. She’ll take care of everything.”

“Who is she?”

“She’s my cousin, one of the doctors in town.”

“Oh, so she knows about having babies.”

“Yep. She’s had a couple herself.”

“Who is her husband?”

“The sheriff.”

“You know the sheriff?” the old man asked, suddenly interested.

“Yes.”

“He’s the one I’m goin’ to see!”

“That’s good. I’ll show you where his office is.”

“Okay.”

Lucy gasped as another pain, more intense this time, seized her.

“Try to relax, Lucy. I know it’s hard, but we’ll be there soon.” He put his arm around her, still enveloped in the comforter. Her scent wafted to his nose and in his mind he was back in his truck spending the night with Lucy wrapped in his arms.