Page 73 of Wild King
“You’re doing great.”
I look down at Salem and see worry written all over her face. I want to ask if something’s wrong, but I don’t want to frighten Ava. Jesus, if there’s a problem, we can’t handle this. None of us is a nurse or doctor, and whatever Salem knows about helping a woman give birth likely doesn’t include anything if the baby’s in distress.
Oh, God. I promised my brother I’d take care of Ava. What if something terrible happens to her or the baby?
Eleanor and Salem talk in low voices at the foot of the bed, but I can’t hear what they’re saying. Damnit! Maybe we do need an ambulance.
Unable to hold back my curiosity, I ask, “What’s going on? Does she need to push again?”
The two women shake their heads but don’t answer either of my questions. Fuck! This isn’t good.
Ava senses something’s wrong too and begins to cry. “What? Tell me! What’s wrong?”
Eleanor forces herself to smile, but it’s obvious she’s scared to death about what she has to tell her. “The good news is the head is out, so you’re halfway there. We just have an issue with the cord around the baby’s neck.”
Just as Ava begins to cry harder, Salem says, “I think I can get it off. Just don’t push anymore, okay?”
I want to ask if that’ll work, but I know the question will only make things worse, so I keep my mouth shut. Tightening her hold on my hand, Ava looks up at me as tears roll down her face.
“This hurts so much. I want to push.”
Salem looks up at me and shakes her head, so I say to Ava, “No pushing. Promise me you won’t push, okay?”
She nods, but I can tell it’s all she wants to do to stop the pain of the contraction. Desperate to do anything to keep her mind off that, I crouch down next to the bed and rack my brain for something that will help.
All I can think of is that time Theo fell out of the tree at the back of the property. “Remember when Theo thought he could jump from one branch to the other in that big oak tree back near the fence? We weren’t supposed to be out there to begin with, but we never listened anyway, did we?”
Suddenly, Ava smiles at me. “No, we never listened. He was so stupid that day and ended up falling out of that tree from like fifteen feet up.”
“Remember how he tried to get up, but couldn’t even stand on his left foot?”
She nods and then takes a deep breath. “Oh, God! Another contraction is coming.”
“Keep thinking about Theo on the ground insisting he was going to walk back to the house! We all told him he broke his ankle, but he wouldn’t listen, would he?”
Ava squeezes my fingers so tightly I think she might break a few of them off my hand. “I remember! When your mother came all the way out to find us, she got so angry. I thought she was going to ground us all.”
“That day was crazy, but he got through it. You’ll get through this too, Ava. Everything’s going to be fine. Just breathe and let Eleanor and Salem handle things. My niece or nephew is giving you a hard time now, but it’s going to be okay in a couple minutes.”
She nods like she believes what I say. I just wish I did.
I’m afraid to look at Salem in case it’s bad news, so I keep my focus on Ava. “We had a lot of great times together when we were kids, didn’t we?”
“We did. I loved those times, Kellen. I’m so glad you aren’t angry at me anymore.”
Leaning over, I kiss her cheek wet from tears. “I should have never been angry at you. I’m sorry. I was just being stupid. I never meant to hurt you or Matthias.”
At the end of the bed, Salem screams, “Got it! Okay, Ava, whenever you feel the need to push, let it rip!”
I watch as everything seems to happen on fast forward. Not a minute later, I hear a sound I don’t recognize, and then a baby’s cry fills the room.
Eleanor begins to sob, “It’s a boy! He’s perfect and pink! Let me count the fingers and toes.”
A few moments later, she looks up at us with a huge smile. “Ten of each!”
Salem hurries into the bathroom with the baby, followed by Eleanor. The two women handle everything Ava and the baby need, and when I can see them again, the baby’s clean and perfect and Ava looks like someone’s lifted the world off her shoulders.
“Congratulations, Mom,” I say and joke, “I guess all that ice wasn’t necessary after all.”