Lymber craft's Arc

Chapter 50 of 70

Sunday morning Lymber woke to a wet pull low in her belly. She sat up fast and put her hand between her legs. The sheet was soaked. She shook Paul's shoulder and said her water broke. He blinked once and then he was out of bed and pulling on jeans. She said thirty-one weeks. He said the clinic. She said now. He carried her bag down the stairs while she held the rail with both hands. Another pull hit her at the landing and she folded over it. Maggie came out of the guest room in her robe. Lymber said the babies were coming. Maggie said, Go. I have Violetta and Jett. Call your mother from the car. Lymber nodded and Paul opened the front door. In the car she called Polly. She said her water broke at thirty-one weeks and they were driving. Polly said, Which clinic. Lymber said the same one. Polly said, I'm leaving now. Lymber hung up and pressed her forehead against the cold window. Paul drove with one hand on the wheel and one hand on her knee. He said, Breathe. She breathed. The clinic staff met her at the door with a wheelchair. A nurse asked how far apart the contractions were and Lymber said she didn't know, four minutes maybe. They wheeled her back and hooked her to the monitor. The doctor came in and looked at the strip and said the babies were in distress and they were going to section her within the hour. Lymber said they were only thirty-one weeks. The doctor said the NICU team was on the way. Polly came through the curtain in the gown they gave her at the desk. She took Lymber's hand and said, You're doing it. Paul stood on the other side in his own gown, his face white. Lymber said, They're too early. Polly said, They're here. That's what matters now. The nurse started the drip and the room began to move. Max came out at 9:42 and cried once, small and thin. Missy came out at 9:44 and did not cry. The NICU team took them both to a warmer and Lymber heard the second cry come a moment later, softer than the first. Paul was crying. Polly was not. The doctor said the babies were breathing on their own for now but they would go straight to the NICU. Lymber asked if she could see them. A nurse held Max close to her face for three seconds and then Missy for three seconds. Then they were gone through the door. Polly stayed at the bedside while they closed her up. She said, Nine weeks early. Lymber said, I know. Polly said, They're alive. Now we wait. Lymber closed her eyes. The cribs at home were still empty and would stay empty for a long time.