Contents ( 39)
- Titles by Karen Rose
- CONTENTS
- PROLOGUE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- EPILOGUE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- What’s next on your reading list?
Tom and Molina instantly stepped from the room, as did everyone else except for Rebecca. Liza turned to her with a polite smile. “Are you a trained nurse, ma’am?”
“No. But I have children.”
“She’s barren,” Hayley spat. “Her children were birthed by other women. She wants to take my baby as soon as she’s born, and I won’t let her.”
Liza continued to smile even though she wanted to beat Rebecca to a bloody pulp. “There are so many supplies. Perhaps you can aid with distributing them.”
The woman shook her head. “I’m staying.”
Hayley screamed again with another contraction. When it was over, Liza pushed aside the curtain. “Tara, can you come back, please?”
Molina promptly returned. “Yes?”
“This woman is a danger to my patient. Can you remove her?”
Molina took the woman’s arm and forcibly removed her from the room. But Rebecca’s irate shouts grew abruptly quiet as the two headed for the entrance. Liza briefly wondered what Molina had said to shut her up.
Liza grinned. “Let’s have a baby, Hayley.”
Hayley’s eyes filled with new tears. “Say it again, please. My name.”
“Hayley,” Liza said gently and brushed Hayley’s damp hair from her face. “Now I’m going to have a look at your baby. We don’t have any equipment so I’m gonna have to go old school.”
“Have you delivered a baby before?” Hayley asked as she nervously watched Liza pull on a pair of gloves and sanitize her hands.
“I have. In a war zone, no less. A little village in Afghanistan.”
“You’re in the army?”
“I was until recently.”
“And the baby was okay?”
“Yes. The baby was breech and the mom was scared. Her husband saw us distributing food to the village and asked me to help. We had no medicine and no special equipment. The mother and baby were fine.”
“Who are you now?” Hayley whispered.
“Just a nursing assistant,” Liza told her, then leaned in again. “The other two are FBI. They’ve been looking for Eden for a very long time.”
“Thank God,” Hayley breathed. “Is Cameron okay?”
“Cameron is fine. Just worried about you. How far apart are your—”
Hayley screamed again, her stomach rippling from the contraction.
“That answers that question. Three minutes. Let me see how dilated you are. Oh!” she said a minute later. “I see the head. You’re about to meet your baby. I understand she’s a little girl?”
“Yes. Jellybean.”
Liza grinned. “All right, then. On the next contraction, I want you to push.”
She moaned at the next contraction, but pushed like a champ. The contraction passed, and Hayley panted in silence, readying for the next.
The curtain parted and Tamar returned. “Everyone is getting food. They are so happy.”
“And Graham?” Hayley asked.
“The lady, Tara? She’s taking care of him. He’s dehydrated and hungry, but she said that Liza should stay here and that she would handle it.”
“Tamar, can you sit behind Hayley? Help her remember to breathe during the contractions.”