Violetta Craft's Arc

Chapter 16 of 65

Thursday morning Violetta drove to the clinic for a routine check. She had the notebook in her bag and a plan to sketch on the drive home. One line, one idea, one dress. She was thirty-two weeks. She expected a blood pressure cuff and a heartbeat and a wave goodbye. The nurse frowned at the monitor. She left the room and came back with a doctor. The doctor looked at the strip and told Violetta her blood pressure was dangerous and the baby's growth had stalled. He said they were sending her upstairs to labor and delivery. He said the baby had to come out today. Violetta asked if they could wait. He said if they waited, Elowen would not survive the weekend. Thirty-four weeks would have been early. Thirty-two was worse. But inside was no longer safe. She called Jordie from the wheelchair. He said he was coming. She called her mother next. Lymber picked up on the first ring and Violetta only got out three words before her voice broke. Lymber said she was leaving work now and bringing Missy from school on the way. Violetta hung up and stared at the IV in her hand. Labor started slow and stayed slow. The nurses hung a bag of medicine to bring the contractions on. Jordie sat by the bed in his black jacket, hands in his pockets, then out of his pockets, then holding hers. Lymber came in the afternoon with Missy, who sat in the corner chair with a picture book and did not ask questions. Hours stacked on hours. Violetta watched the clock cross midnight, then dawn, then noon again. Thirty-two hours. Her mother wiped her forehead with a cloth. Jordie fed her ice chips. Missy fell asleep sideways in the chair. At last the doctor said she could push. An hour and a half later Elowen came out. She did not cry. She made a sound like a kitten. The team lifted her onto a warmer, worked over her for a long minute, then wrapped her and held her close to Violetta's face for three seconds. Four pounds, eight ounces. Then they wheeled her out the door toward the NICU and the door swung shut. Violetta lay back on the pillow. Jordie was crying without sound. Lymber squeezed her shoulder and said Elowen was in the best place she could be. Violetta nodded. Her belly was empty and her arms were empty and her daughter was down a hallway she could not walk yet. The notebook was still in the bag on the chair. The showcase was a year away. Right now there was only the next hour, and after that the next, and a small girl in a plastic box learning how to breathe.