Coming to a Crossroads Read online

  Chapter Seventeen

  “You managed to do the impossible,” Ethan told her late that night when he swung by Liz’s apartment.

  He had called ahead to see if she would be home. The very sound of her voice invigorated him to the point that he suddenly had a second wind. He’d lost no time in getting to her apartment.

  “Which impossible is that?” Liz asked, curious as she led Ethan over to the table.

  The moment he had called her, Liz had quickly prepared a late-night dinner for both of them.

  He smiled as he sat down. “You impressed Edna.”

  “Ah, the stern keeper of your gates,” she recalled, visualizing the scowling woman. “She said that? That I impressed her?” The woman she had met hadn’t seemed like the type to give voice to any praise.

  “Not in so many words,” he admitted. “But the inference was definitely there. If I read between the lines.”

  Liz laughed, spooning out a serving of beef stew for him and a smaller portion for herself. “I think you might have been blinded by those very same lines.”

  Ethan shook his head as he waited for her to sit down opposite him. “No, you have to understand the way that Edna thinks—she definitely likes you. Edna even said something about my taste in women definitely improving.”

  Liz took her seat at the table. “If you say so. Now eat.” She gestured at his plate. “You need to keep up your strength. Nobody is going to have faith in a doctor who passes out at their feet.”

  He liked the way she looked out for him. This was definitely something new for him. “No danger of that happening, not with you bringing me lunches and feeding me dinner like this.”

  “Occasionally,” Liz specified. “You make it sound like I do that on an everyday basis. It’s only once in a while.”

  That wasn’t to say that she wouldn’t have been willing to do it every day, but she didn’t want him to feel as if she was coming on strong. Besides, she couldn’t really do it every day. The days when she had classes, she was far too busy to go out of her way all the way to the storefront clinic.

  About to tell her that he saw right through her protest, the first spoonful of stew burst through, all but vibrating along his tongue. His eyes widened to the point that they looked as if they were going to fall out.

  “Hey, this is really good,” he exclaimed in abject wonder.

  “You sound surprised,” she noted.

  He knew enough to backtrack if he didn’t want to wind up hurting her feelings. “Not surprised, just really pleased. Have you ever considered owning your own restaurant?”

  “My own restaurant?” she echoed. “Oh Lord, no!” Liz laughed, shaking her head as she dismissed the very idea. “My life is busy enough as it is.”

  Ethan paused as he allowed another spoonful of stew to wind its way through his system.

  “Still,” he told her, “it might be something to consider falling back on if you decide not to go into research.”

  She had had her heart set on going into medical research for a long time, but she smiled at how enthusiastic he sounded about her cooking.

  “As long as you enjoy my efforts, that’s good enough for me,” she told him.

  He considered her choice of words. “Oh, I think I’d use a stronger word than just enjoy,” Ethan said as he made short work of the rest of the serving before him. “Damn, but this is good.”

  The sound of her pleased laugh lodged itself in his system, warming him as he surrendered his plate to her for seconds.

  * * *

  Ethan was a realist. He kept waiting for the sunshine throbbing within his system to grow a little dimmer and for disappointment to begin wiggling its way in, pushing aside the feeling of euphoria that was currently residing in his chest.

  At the very least, he kept waiting for the perpetual smile on his face to fade away, or to fade just a touch. But even though he expected it, braced for it and mentally tried to prepare himself for what he felt was its inevitable advent, nothing changed. There was no dimness, no disappointment, and moreover, he couldn’t get himself to stop smiling, not even a little.

  He had initially thought that he felt the way he did about Liz because, very simply put, he was on the rebound after his years with Catherine had come to such an abrupt end. But gradually, he was starting to realize that he felt the way he did about Liz not because she was a placeholder and not because he was using her to fill the void in his life. He was beginning to realize that he felt the way he did about Liz because of Liz. Because he had strong feelings about her.

  That fact alone astonished him, because he had already made his peace with the fact that he just wasn’t going to have strong feelings about any woman ever again.

  And yet, here he was, looking forward to seeing Liz. Finding ways to see her despite each of them having schedules that would have easily exhausted any four other people. This was too perfect—which meant it was going to explode on him. Something always went wrong...and yet, he found himself wishing with all his heart, that this one time, it wouldn’t.

  Edna, of all people, noticed the difference in him and saw no reason not to mention it in her own winning way.

  “You light up like a Christmas tree when that girl comes in,” she told him, making the observation loud enough for Liz, who had just stopped by the clinic, to overhear her.

  Ethan flushed somewhat. “Edna is not known for her subtlety,” he told Liz.

  “Oh? Did she say something?” Liz asked innocently as she came around the reception desk, then followed Ethan back into the tiny back office. “I didn’t hear anything.”

  He laughed. They both knew she was lying, but he let it go. This wasn’t the time or place to go into Edna’s observation. That was best explored in the privacy of one of their bedrooms.

  “Is this one of your quick visits sandwiched in between two different fares?” he asked her.

  There was humor in her eyes as she asked, “How’d you guess?” She produced a paper bag out of the depths of her shoulder bag. “I brought you a chicken salad sandwich. It doesn’t have to be refrigerated if you eat it in the next hour.”

  “I’ll do my best,” he promised.

  He was about to tell Liz how much he really appreciated her stopping by like this and how he really did look forward to seeing her, but he didn’t get a chance. A gut-wrenching, guttural scream coming from the waiting room managed to slice through anything he had to say.

  Ethan was immediately hurrying out to discover the source of the scream, with Liz right on his heels, when they heard Edna cry out, “You’d better get in here, Doctor.”

  A second later, Ethan saw a young woman—little more than a girl, really, in Liz’s estimation—sitting in a heap on the floor. Edna was hovering over her. The former was extremely pregnant. Her pretty young face was distorted with pain, and she appeared to be sitting in what looked like a small pool of water.

  Edna looked at Ethan. “Her water broke,” she informed him needlessly.

  “I can see that,” Ethan replied. Taking the pregnant teenager’s hand in his, he squatted down to her level. “We need to get you to the hospital, Shirley.”

  “No, don’t move me!” the teenager shrieked, her eyes wide and terrified. “It’s coming! I can feel it coming! The baby’s coming!”

  “Shirley, this is your first baby,” Ethan told the girl calmly in a soothing voice. “First babies notoriously take their time.”

  Her eyes looking as if they were about to pop out of her head, Shirley yanked Ethan in closer to her and told him between clenched teeth, “I said the baby is coming!” Her assertion was immediately followed by another mind-blowing scream.

  “It’s her body. She should know,” Edna told Ethan in her typical flat, no-nonsense voice. And then the nurse looked around the waiting area. For once, it was only half-filled. “You people need to get out of here,” s
he announced.

  “Hey,” a large, burly man in a striped T-shirt protested. “I was next.”

  “You’ll be next when you come back,” Edna told him, leaving no room for argument. “Now go!” The nurse glared at the other patients. “That goes for the rest of you. Come back in a couple of hours,” she ordered, pointing toward the front door.

  “What if she’s not done in a couple of hours?” another patient asked.

  “Then you’ll come back in a couple more,” Edna told the patient. “Now go!”

  To reinforce her order, Edna crossed to the door and held it open. The dark expression on her dour face left no room for any argument. Everyone had to leave.

  Some grumbling, some compliant, all the other patients filed out of the clinic. The moment the last patient had left, Edna locked the door and then pulled down the blinds. It created a semblance of privacy against a background of cries and guttural screams.

  Edna turned toward Liz who had dropped down on her knees beside Shirley, doing her best to comfort the semi-hysterical mother-to-be while Ethan had gone to change into scrubs and wash up.

  The nurse crossed over to Liz. “You ever deliver a baby before?” Edna asked, although her tone seemed to indicate that she already knew the answer to her question.

  “No,” Liz answered honestly, “but you’re here,” she said, pointing out the obvious.

  “Yeah,” Edna agreed flatly. “Just one problem. My knees only bend far enough to let me sit down on a chair. Considering the position this mama-to-be is in, I won’t be any help assisting young Dr. Kildare,” she said, nodding her head toward Ethan just as he walked back into the waiting room.

  Confused, Liz asked, “Who?”

  “Somebody from a better era,” Edna answered. She raised her voice just as Ethan came over to join them. “Your lady friend here is going to have to assist you,” she informed him.

  The declaration surprised him. Ethan looked at Liz. “How long was I gone?” he quipped, then asked seriously, “Liz, you okay with this?”

  Liz certainly hadn’t planned on any of this when she’d stopped by. She had only intended to be here for five minutes at most. But then, she had a feeling that the pregnant, screaming teenager on the floor hadn’t planned on any of this, either.

  “Just tell me what you need me to do,” Liz told him gamely.

  Shirley answered her instead of the doctor. “Get...this...baby...out of me!” the teenager screamed in agony.

  “You heard the lady,” Ethan told the two women. “Edna, I need clean towels, a blanket to put under Shirley and a basin filled with warm water. And if you can find a bottle of alcohol, bring that, too. We need to sterilize as much as we can.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I’ll get them,” Edna answered, beginning to shuffle off to the back room.

  Liz rose to her feet. “I can get all that if you tell me where to find it,” she said, wanting to spare the nurse the hassle of going back and forth.

  “No, I need you right here,” Ethan told her. “You’re going to have to prop Shirley up when it comes time for her to push—which, all things considered, is going to be a lot sooner than I first thought.”

  He turned his attention to the moaning, twisting teenager. “Don’t worry, Shirley, you’re going to get through this.” He smiled comfortingly at her. “It’s the most natural process in the world.”

  Shirley shrieked again as another contraction seized her in its grip. When it finally passed, she all but collapsed back on the floor.

  “Then why...do I...feel...like I’m...being yanked...apart!” she demanded.

  “It might be natural, but nobody said it didn’t hurt,” Ethan told his patient. “Edna?”

  “I’m here,” Edna snapped as she shuffled back into the front room. “Hold your horses.” She produced the towels and the blanket, placing the small pile on a chair. “I couldn’t carry everything,” she complained before Ethan could ask her where the basin of water and alcohol were. “I’ll get the rest of it now.”

  Ethan merely nodded. “Help me with the blanket, Liz,” he requested. “When I lift Shirley up, slip as much of the blanket under her as you can.”

  Liz did as he asked, moving as quickly as possible to get as much of the material under the teenager as she could. Although he tried to be as gentle as he could with her, Shirley still shrieked, sounding as if she was being pulled in two directions.

  When he lay the screaming teen down again, Ethan focused on what needed to be done. He pushed her soggy, dripping maternity dress up.

  A quick exam told him it was time.

  “You were right,” he told the unhappy teenager. “You really are ready to deliver this baby. It looks like you’re fully dilated and ready to go.”

  His eyes shifted toward Liz. He really hoped she wouldn’t freak out on him at the last minute, but she didn’t seem like the type.

  “Okay. I need you to prop our mama up by her shoulders until she’s almost in a sitting position. Can you do that?” he asked Liz.

  “No problem.” She would have said that even if there was a problem. This was no time to think about herself, only the screaming teen who needed them.

  “Shirley—” Ethan raised his voice as the teen screamed. “Shirley! When I tell you to push, I want you to push as hard as you can, do you understand?”

  Shirley couldn’t answer. She just nodded her head.

  “Okay, now push!” Ethan ordered.

  Amid ear-piercing screams, Shirley did as she was told until Ethan finally ordered her to stop.

  The exhausted teenager looked at him as if he had betrayed her. “It’s...not...here!” she cried.

  “It will be,” he told her. “Okay, again. Push!” Ethan ordered.

  Liz could feel the pregnant teen’s whole body shaking against her hands as she propped the girl up.

  “Okay, stop!” Ethan ordered less than a minute later.

  Collapsing against the floor, Shirley alternated between screaming and crying. “It’s...not...working!” she accused.

  “It will,” Ethan promised. “It will. Okay, again!” he ordered.

  “I...can’t...” she cried, shaking her head from side to side.

  Liz leaned her face against the young woman’s ear as she propped Shirley up against her chest. “Yes, you can,” she coaxed. “You’re almost there, Shirley. Don’t give up now. You can do this. You know you can.”

  She raised her eyes to Ethan, who nodded. Liz pushed her hands up against Shirley’s back, propping her up higher again.

  “All right, push!” Ethan ordered. “Again!”

  This time, just as it appeared that absolutely everything had been wrenched out of the exhausted mother-to-be, she squeezed her eyes shut, bore down and pushed as hard as she could with her very last ounce of strength. She pushed so hard, she was gasping and shrieking at the exact same time.

  “It’s coming,” Ethan cried, encouraging the teenager. “Your baby’s coming...” He had his hands in position, waiting to make the monumental catch. When the baby finally emerged, Ethan immediately announced, “It’s a girl.” He looked up at the young mother. “You have a girl, Shirley. A lovely baby girl with...” He did a quick survey. “Ten fingers and ten toes.”

  Edna stepped in and took the baby from him. She quickly cleaned off the amniotic fluid from the little body as well as made sure the baby’s nose and mouth were cleared of anything that might block the intake of air.

  “I did it,” Shirley cried, tears rolling down her cheeks as her daughter was placed in her arms. “I gave birth to a baby,” she declared happily. Tears were shining in her eyes as she looked at Liz.

  “I told you you could do it,” Liz said, pleased beyond words that everything had turned out so well.

  But it was obvious that the new mother barely heard her. She was far too enthralled with the new life she was
holding in her arms.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Ethan slipped his arm around Liz’s shoulders as he watched the EMTs wheel mother and baby out on a gurney and then load them into the back of their ambulance. He had already called ahead to the hospital and made arrangements with one of the obstetricians he knew to look after the new family unit.

  He smiled now at Liz. “I’m glad you were here. You were a huge help calming Shirley down,” he told her, closing the door again.

  If anyone deserved any credit, it was Ethan, not her, Liz thought as she shrugged away his compliment. “Keeping people calm was just my Chariot driver training,” she quipped. “Speaking of which,” she continued, looking around for her purse. “I’ve got to clock back in. This was only supposed to be a five-minute break.” Liz picked up her things where she had dropped them on the floor the moment Ethan had told her that he needed her help.

  Ethan put his hand into his back pocket, ready to take out his wallet. “Let me make it up to you.”

  Liz immediately stopped him. She wasn’t about to accept any money from him for her part in this. It just seemed wrong.

  “No, that’s all right,” she told him. “I don’t have school tonight. I’ll just work later than I’d intended.”

  He knew that pride was important to her, and he wasn’t about to argue. “Okay, then why don’t I come by later and we can toast your first delivery?” he suggested.

  “That sounds good,” she responded. “But I’m not sure when I’ll get home tonight. Why don’t I swing by your place instead when I get done?”

  Ethan grinned. It didn’t matter who came to whom, as long as they came together. “You talked me into it. It’s a deal,” he told her.

  Edna cleared her throat rather loudly. “I hate breaking up this forgotten scene out of Romeo and Juliet,” she announced, “but the hordes are back.” The nurse nodded her head toward the door. She had pulled back the curtain just enough to give them a clear view of the returning patients gathering outside. “Looks like they took you at your word when you said to come back in two hours.”