Lymber craft's Arc

Chapter 19 of 70

The nurse came back at half past twelve and said it was time. She asked who was staying. Lymber said her mother and Paul. The nurse looked at the chart and then at Polly and then at Paul. She said one support person was the rule. Polly stood up from the chair by the wall. She said, both of us. She said it flat, like a fact already settled. The nurse held the chart against her chest and stepped out. She came back two minutes later with scrubs folded on her arm and told them to put the covers over their clothes and tuck their hair. They wheeled her down the hall to the operating room. Paul walked on her left in blue scrubs. Polly walked on her right. The lights above the bed were bright and Lymber closed her eyes against them. In the room they moved her onto the table and put up a curtain at her chest. Paul sat by her head on a stool. Polly stood behind him with her hand on his shoulder. The doctor spoke behind the curtain and named each step before she took it. Lymber felt pressure and pulling but no pain. Paul kept his eyes on her face. He said, you're okay, you're okay. Polly did not speak. At one seventeen the doctor said, here she is. A thin cry came up from the other side of the curtain. It was small and angry and it did not stop. Lymber started to cry with her mouth closed. Paul stood up halfway from the stool and sat back down. The nurse carried the baby around the curtain wrapped in a white cloth. She had brown hair stuck flat to her head and blue eyes open and blinking at the lights. The nurse laid her against Lymber's shoulder. Lymber said her name once out loud. Violetta. Paul put his hand on the baby's back. He said, I'm sorry it took me so long. Polly reached across and touched the baby's foot through the cloth. The nurse asked if they wanted a picture. Polly said yes and took the clinic's camera herself. She waited until Paul leaned in and Lymber turned her face toward the baby. She took one photo. She looked at the screen and took one more. She said, that's the one. She slid the camera into her sweater pocket and said nothing about phones or posts. She did not need to. The doctor was still working behind the curtain. Violetta was breathing against Lymber's neck. For the length of the picture the room held only four people and no one outside it knew.