Page 98 of Always Beth
My pulse races as I dial, watching her slide down the kitchen wall to the tiled floor below. I’m sure there are more comfortable places, but who am I to argue with a woman in labour. I drop to my knees next to her as the operator answers.
‘Yes, ambulance please.’
Her eyes are wild as she studies my face, biting down hard on her bottom lip.
‘Hi, yes my…friend, Beth, she’s in labour and we can’t get to the hospital ourselves.’
As I ramble off the address, I feel a sudden sense of dread, that on this Friday of all Fridays we may be waiting a while. ‘How long?’ My eyes widen.
‘Ahhhhhh, James. Do something.’ Her grip on my arm doubles as she wills me to help.
‘Contractions? I don’t know. Dilated? No, I definitely don’t know that. You want me to what?’
‘Look. She wants you to fucking look!’ Beth cries.
I swallow hard as I put the phone on speaker and place it next to us on the floor.
‘Hi, Beth. My name’s Carly, I’m going to stay on the line with you until the ambulance arrives and if necessary, I’m going to talk you and James through the delivery.’
‘What! No, I can’t, I can’t do it here. James, tell her I can’t.’ She grapples at my shirt, pulling me in close and in an instant I would take away her pain if I could. As I look around the kitchen, I feel like an impostor, about to witness the birth of someone else’s child.
I know that if this was my child, I wouldn’t want to miss this. Brushing her hair back from her face, I glance down at her and my insides twist. ‘Beth, is there anyone you want me to call?’
‘Like who?’ she cries, arching her back against the wall.
‘Well, I don’t know, the father perhaps?’
She calms her breath to a slow and steady pace and turns to look me straight in the eye and before she even says the words a lump forms in my throat.
‘He’s already here,’ she whispers.
ChapterTwenty-Seven
Beth
‘Say something. Please, I need you. I’ve needed you the whole pregnancy, but you haven’t been here, so pull yourself together.’
His face falls as deep-set frown lines form across his forehead.
‘Okay, come on, Dad, we need you,’ Carly says encouragingly. ‘I need you to see how far along we are.’
Of all the ways I imagined James and I would be reunited, this isn’t it. I close my eyes and try to pretend this isn’t happening as I breathe through another contraction. His hands gently rest at my knees and as I open my eyes, he drags his face back up to meet mine and I’ve never felt so mortified in all my life. ‘Oh god, don’t look at me like that, what is it?’ I wail.
‘It’s err, yeah, dilated. A lot. I think I can see the baby.’
‘What? No. I can’t have my baby on the kitchen floor like a dog. James!’
‘I can’t stop it, Beth. What do you want me to do?’ He pulls wildly at his hair, looking around in desperation.
‘Stop her.’
He pauses for breath and it’s as if time has stood still. ‘What?’
‘It’s a girl, we’re having a daughter.’
We stare at each other for the longest time before Carly’s voice echoes around the kitchen. ‘Beth, listen to me, don’t try and prevent the birth. I need you to lie as flat as possible for me. James, I need you to put something under Beth and find something to wrap the baby in when she arrives.’
His eyes glisten as his large warm hands clasp either side of my cheeks. ‘Right okay. We can do this.’
