by Molly Evans
“I’m pushing now!” Her statement ended in a scream, a gasp, then another push.
“He’s almost here,” Beau said from his position on the floor nearby. He placed a sterile cloth beneath the baby’s head and supported it. “Pant. I need to check the cord.”
Cathy cast tear-filled eyes at her husband, who looked like he’d been hit by a truck. “Honey? We’re having a baby today!”
“I... I can see that.” He looked down at his wife and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Wasn’t quite what I was expecting, though.”
“Me, either. Oh! Pushing again.”
“Go ahead. One more ought to do it.”
With a great groan, Cathy pushed the vernix-covered baby into Beau’s waiting hands.
“Ron? Can you help me sit her back?” Pain was slicing through Aurora’s back and she couldn’t do it alone.
“Yes.”
Together they eased Cathy into a reclining position, supported by her husband’s chest. Exhausted, Cathy drew in cleansing breaths and closed her eyes.
“We have to do a few things, then you can hold your baby.”
Beau’s voice, choked with emotion, drew her attention. He focused, he did the job, but she could see the pain in his face. Tears pricked Aurora’s eyes at the miracle of birth that had happened so unexpectedly right in front of her, but she shoved them back. Now wasn’t the time to think of the family that she’d wanted and never been able to have. Might never have. Beau was struggling with his own issues and had set them aside. So could she.
“You were right, Cathy. It’s a boy. He’s perfect.”
Beau provided the news, the tension in the room eased, and Aurora was able to take a deep breath, too.
“All parts are there, and exactly where they belong.”
He finished wiping the baby’s face, then Aurora used a suction bulb to clean out his mouth and nose and placed him in his mother’s arms.
“I can’t believe this! We delivered a baby today.” Beau gave a laugh and shook his head, some of the emotion leaving his face and his shoulders relaxing.
“I can’t either,” Cathy said, with tears flowing down her face as she looked at her baby, then leaned into her husband’s neck.
“How did this happen?” Ron asked. “I thought you weren’t due for two more weeks.”
“Well, your son had other plans.”
“I can certainly see that.” He let out a shaky breath and with one trembling finger touched his son’s hand. “I just can’t believe this.” He held out his hand. “I’m shaking. Nothing ever gets to me, but I’m shaking like a leaf.”
“Well, this circumstance is very different than anything else you’ve ever experienced, isn’t it?”
It wasn’t every day that a new dad had to come screeching into the parking lot of his wife’s place of work to see his baby being born.
“You’re right about that.” He blew out a breath and shook his head, letting out a tremulous laugh. “You are definitely right about that.”
The front door opened again, to admit the ambulance crew with their stretcher and equipment.
“Did we miss the party?” A leggy brunette paramedic stuck her head into the room, offering a cheery grin, but her observant dark eyes were looking for anything that was out of place.
“You sure did. It was a doozy, too.” Aurora shook her head, still in shock at the day’s events.
“Aurora...?” the paramedic said, and frowned as if she were trying to figure something out. “Is that really you? I haven’t seen you in years! It’s Missy!”
The woman who had gone to high school with Aurora held her arms out and embraced her.
“Missy—hi! Yeah. It’s me.” She gave a nervous laugh. This was turning into quite a day of friends from her past showing up unexpectedly. “It was a trip I hadn’t really planned. But here I am. It’s great to see you.”
“You, too. Everyone okay?” Missy asked. Those eyes of a trained observer looked around the room again, focusing on the mom and baby.
“I think so—but they’re going to need a trip to the hospital for a full exam.” Beau stripped his gloves off and tossed them on the growing pile of trash.
“You got it. Sirens or no sirens?” Missy gave a smile and a wink.
“No sirens today.” Beau shook his head and gave an amazed laugh. “Wow!”
Cathy reached out to Beau and he stepped forward and clasped her hand. “Beau. I hate to ask this right now, but can I have my maternity leave starting today?”
Everyone laughed at the absurd request.
“Of course you can. It’s not a problem. But I’ll miss you, and I just hope I don’t destroy the place while you’re gone.”
“You won’t. You’ll be fine.”
“Six weeks, right?”
“Yes. I’ll let you know if it needs to be longer.” She cast a loving eye on her husband and her baby as tears filled her eyes. “This has been such an amazing event, I’m not sure I’m going to want to come back.”
“Don’t talk like that.” Beau squeezed her fingers again and shook Ron’s hand. “Just keep me updated and let me know when you’re ready to come back.” He snorted. “If you are.”
“I will. I promise.”
“Ready now?” Missy asked.
“Ready.” Cathy sighed and clutched the baby securely in both arms.
After mother and baby had been packed onto the stretcher and were headed to the hospital Aurora and Beau faced each other, alone for the first time since the event had begun. For a few seconds they stared at each other, unblinking, then Aurora laughed.
The tension-reliever caught her by surprise, and she clasped her hands to her face. “Beau! We delivered a baby!”
“I know—I was here.” A grin split his face and he held his arms wide. “Now that all the excitement is over, let’s have a proper greeting. Come here.”
“I don’t think I can walk after that. My legs are shaking.”
But she had enough strength to close the gap, and Beau met her halfway.
“You held it together during a crisis—the sign of a true professional, right? That’s the most important part.” He closed his long arms around her and squeezed.
CHAPTER TWO
THE SURGE OF adrenaline and attraction that pulsed through her was completely unexpected in the embrace of an old friend she hadn’t seen in ten years.
Her heart did a little flip at the sight of his long, sun-bleached blond hair that had a tendency to fall into his eyes, and the strength in that jaw she hadn’t remembered being so masculine. Memories of the past, of her secret crush on him, surged forward, and she hesitated a second, trying to breathe through the onslaught of unanticipated emotions suddenly swirling within her.
Wow. She certainly hadn’t expected this reaction.
Though she’d sworn off men after her recent painful break-up, her hormones obviously hadn’t taken the same oath.
Clearing her throat, she reined in those wandering senses of hers that appreciated a fine-looking man. Now wasn’t the time to be ogling anyone—let alone a good friend—no matter how broad those shoulders were.
She returned the embrace, trying not to gasp in pain. The strength of his arms, the pressure of his hug closed in on her, lighting up the injuries in her back like an electrical grid. A groan of discomfort escaped her throat.
“Did I hurt you?” He pulled back, his green eyes assessing, concern evident, and ran his gaze over her face, trying to determine what had happened.
“I’m sorry. I’m in quite a lot of pain right now—which is why I’m here to see you in the first place.”
Back to her original goal: to be pain and medication-free, to get her life back in order. Starting now.
“Pain? You hid it well during this whole t
hing.” He released her and gave her one gentle pat on the shoulder.
“Probably an adrenaline surge got me through.”
He lifted one hand and indicated that she walk ahead of him into the nearby patient room. “You’re my last patient of the day, so we can take our time—have a look at you and do some catching up.” The dark brows over his green eyes lowered, pinning her with a direct look. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“I’ll give you the short version. Car wreck. Lots of back pain. I want to get off the pain medications.”
The last few months had been beyond brutal. A severe car crash had ripped her life and her relationship apart. Every time she told the story the pain surfaced—the emotional pain she’d gone through as well as the physical pain which was the reason for her visit today.
She handed him a folder with copies of her medical records. “The long version is in here. If you don’t mind, read it later. Right now I just want to see if you can help me with the pain.”
That was short, sweet and to the point. Rehashing her past wasn’t going to help her today. Telling him about the fight with her boyfriend—the reason for her car accident—was going to have to wait. The end of their relationship had come soon after the crash, due to her physical scars, and had destroyed her.
“That doesn’t sound very good.” He harrumphed and placed the manila folder aside and focused on her. “I’ll take a look at that later, for sure. Right now I want to look at you.”
“Thanks, Beau. I’m sorry, but I hate this pain. Every time I move something hurts, and then if I stay still too long I get stiff.”
The pain receded slightly as she walked along beside him, but the memory of it lingered.
“I can’t win.”
Tears pricked her eyes, but she pushed them back. Tears hadn’t been tolerated by her father, so she’d learned to suppress her emotions. Even now she had difficulty sharing them.
“You certainly can win—but winning may look a little different than you thought. You were in a serious crash. Getting through an experience like that takes time.” They entered the patient room. “Did you go through any physical therapy?”
“Yes. Two months of inpatient rehab. They said they did everything they could, but there’s got to be something else.”
Tears filled her eyes—tears she’d thought she’d finished shedding. Desperation circled her heart and squeezed hard. The pressure in her chest of the emotional pain focused there was like talons, digging in and not letting go.
“Though you did go through some rehabilitation, there’s still work to be done. Rehab facilities often focus on one modality, not on being open to other adjunctive aspects of care that can help people just as much as the traditional ways.”
“Really?” That statement perked her up. Somehow, deep in her gut, she knew there had to be alternative treatments, but she just didn’t know what.
“You came to the right place.”
The look in his eyes caused a surge of warmth through her. Hope pulsed in her chest. With the help of this man—her friend—she knew she was going to get through this tough time.
He peered at her with those intense green eyes that perfectly fit his streaked blond hair. He wouldn’t look out of place with a surfboard tucked under one arm and hanging out on the beach. Except there wasn’t a beach for three hundred miles.
“I’m so glad. You don’t know what a relief it is to hear that.”
Struggling with her emotions, she swallowed twice before she could speak again.
“It was awful. Having doctors telling me I’d never walk again, accept it. I think their sympathies ran out at the same time my insurance benefits did.”
She clutched her hands together to stop their trembling. The memory of the accident had faded somewhat, but she still felt the aftereffects.
“I’m trying not to think too much about that part of it. I’m moving forward, working on my physical abilities, but the pain is so intense at times I can hardly move.”
“You are one tough lady, Aurora—but you always have been.”
Beau pressed his hand against hers, this time offering comfort with a simple touch, and she appreciated the gesture.
“I can see you’re in pain. I’m a D.O.—Doctor of Osteopathy—and I perform manipulations of the body in addition to running the straight-up medical practice. That’s probably a little different than you’re used to.”
“Yes, it is, but I’ll consider anything that will get me where I want to be.”
“Where is that? What’s your goal?” The smile he gave lifted one side of his mouth, making him look like he had a secret.
“I want to be pain-free, off the medications, and back to my old self again. There has to be a way other than just taking more pills or different pills.”
What a relief, a joy, a gift it would be to have her old life back. Or at least to have her body back so she could take the rest of her life where she wanted it to go.
Right now she didn’t even know where that was. Working in a hospital again might not ever be possible due to her injury. Her job was on hold, her apartment had been packed up and put in storage... She looked at her friend, hoping he could really give her the help she needed when no one else had been able to.
“There’s always another way—no matter what the issue is.” Beau went on to describe several natural methods of pain control. “Massage would work. Yoga would be helpful, gentle, and it would provide the flexibility you need.”
“Yoga? I never thought of that.” She sighed as relief started to form in her mind. “I have to be back in action as soon as possible or my mother is going to drive me nuts.”
That was something Beau couldn’t do anything about. Her relationship and her problems with her mother were long term and would probably never change.
“How so?” He opened up a computer program, typing as they talked.
“I moved into her house with the intention of staying just a few days, until I can really figure out what I’m going to do. Unfortunately she’s determined to be my nurse, psychotherapist and nutritionist instead of my mother.”
Yeah, it was all or nothing with her. Always had been. Always would be. At her mother’s age, there would be no changing her.
Yet another reason she’d left home at such an early age. While growing up Aurora had felt like she’d been hatched or adopted. She hadn’t felt as if she belonged to her family. They’d had very distinct ideas on what she should be and what she should do with her life that hadn’t matched at all with what she’d wanted. Her needs, her wants, her dreams, had been squashed by her family.
The only solution she’d been able to come to had been to leave. To get away. Forge a life for herself elsewhere. So she’d broken out and left the state to fulfill her career goals at a large university hospital in Virginia.
At least she’d gotten that part right. A husband and family of her own had been more elusive.
Being in charge of her life was something that she would never change. But those ideas of building a life with someone, having a family, had begun to surface—then had crashed into oblivion after the breakup with her boyfriend and the car wreck. Eventually she’d figured out that he wasn’t a long-term kind of guy. Wasn’t in it for the long haul and didn’t have the fortitude to be the man she needed.
The first time he’d seen her scars he’d recoiled. That had been the end for both of them. All the plans she’d made for her future had come crashing down and she’d come home to Brush Valley to lick her wounds, heal, and recover from the accident and the breakup.
Here she was. Home again. Starting over. A new Aurora, reinventing her life.
Beau looked at her for a moment, contemplating. “I’m sure your mother was scared when you were hurt, right? She’s probably not over the shock of it, so you’ll have to cut her a break a whi
le longer.”
That thought had occurred to Aurora, and she dropped her eyes away from the intensity of him, the truth in his words. “I know, and I appreciate her efforts, but if I hang around the house all the time she’ll feel compelled to wait on me. It won’t be good for either of us.”
Beau lifted his hands and looked around, as if suddenly struck by a bold new idea. “Well, as you know, I’m suddenly without a nurse and I need one immediately. I would love to have you help out as much as you can. If you’d be interested in working with me, that is?”
“What? Really?”
She hadn’t thought of working while she was in Brush Valley, let alone working with Beau. She hadn’t let her mind wander in that direction, but now it seemed like a great idea.
Her heart thrummed in anticipation, her throat constricted for a few seconds, and then her eyes widened. “I couldn’t work full-time yet, but I can answer phones, make patient appointments and work the triage line for you.”
The stress would be way less than working in the hospital, so she might be able to swing it. Could this be the answer she needed?
“What triage line?” Beau gave a sideways smile, lifting one corner of his mouth. “I bought the building a year ago...right before Chloe was born. A lot has happened since then, and I haven’t gotten everything in place.” He shook his head, but there was a smile there. “Maybe you can help me get caught up.”
“That would be fantastic! I could start any time. Like tomorrow.”
The idea of working with Beau, helping to get his business going and refilling her bank account were both very appealing.
“This would solve so many of my problems—just like that.” She snapped her fingers.
“For me, too. Agency nurses are hard to find this far out in the country, and I hadn’t even thought of looking for one yet because Cathy still had a couple weeks before she was due.” He snorted and shook his head, his eyes wide in self-deprecation. “Underestimated that one, big-time. But, if you’re serious, can you really start tomorrow?”
“Absolutely.” Joy lifted her mood immeasurably. “My temporary disability payments run out in a week, so working for you will be the perfect answer until I can figure out a more permanent solution.”
