Always Dakota - Debbie Macomber [118]
Sarah didn’t have time to comment. Her full concentration went into breathing. As much as possible, she tried to give her body over to the contraction. Despite her efforts, all she could think about was her husband’s inevitable panic when he got word of what was happening.
“Relax, Mom,” Calla urged, gripping her hand. She squeezed Sarah’s fingers.
“When did you get to be such an expert on labor and birth?” Sarah snapped.
“I’m not,” Calla returned, ignoring her sarcasm. “That’s just common sense.”
The drive took forever. Twice Calla pulled over to the side of the road when Sarah cried out with the intensity of the contractions. They were coming hard and fast now, and it was all she could do to endure them.
“What can I do to help you?” Calla cried frantically.
Doubled over in agony, Sarah shook her head. “Nothing…nothing.”
“Mom, let me do something!”
“Just drive,” Sarah wailed, convinced that if it took much longer, the baby would be born in the front seat of the old truck. “Get me to the hospital.”
Calla tore back onto the highway for the second time, spitting dirt and gravel as she did.
Sarah noticed that Calla’s knuckles were as white and tense as her own.
By the time they arrived in Grand Forks, Sarah was weeping softly. She pressed her hands over her abdomen, afraid that with all the complications she’d already suffered, plus a premature birth, her baby didn’t have a chance.
Tires squealing, Calla pulled the truck into a spot normally reserved for emergency vehicles. Slamming her hand on the horn to attract attention, she cut the engine, then leaped out of the truck and raced through the doors into the hospital emergency room.
Almost immediately an orderly hurried outside with Calla, wheeling a chair. He opened the door and helped Sarah down.
“Be careful!” her daughter yelled.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Sarah insisted, but she wasn’t.
“Did Dr. Leggatt’s office phone?” Calla demanded as the orderly rolled Sarah into the hospital.
“I wouldn’t know,” the man responded.
“Well, find out!”
“Please,” Sarah sobbed, and gripped the orderly’s sleeve. “Please…”
Calla reached for her hand. “Mom, it’s going to be all right.”
“Why does everyone keep telling me that?” Sarah shouted. “My baby’s six weeks early—”
“Mom…Mom.” Calla knelt at her side by the admissions desk. The attendant was studying her computer and assembling pieces of papers, giving Sarah and Calla a few precious moments together. “Listen to me—”
“No, no. You don’t know—”
“I know you love your baby and that the baby can feel your love.”
“It didn’t work with you, did it?” Sarah hated being so caustic, but she couldn’t help herself.
To Sarah’s shock, Calla’s eyes filled with tears. “Actually it did.” Her daughter’s fingers tightened around her hand. “Despite everything I did—running away, being a real jerk—I always knew you loved me. I always knew I could turn to you for help. I’ve been acting like a spoiled brat for so long, I didn’t know how to tell you I regret everything I’ve done.”
Sarah stared at her daughter, certain her state of mind had conjured up those words.
“I love you, Mom,” Calla whispered. “I love my little half brother or half sister, too.”
“How…what happened?”
Calla brushed the back of her hand along the arch of her cheek, wiping away tears. “Does it matter?”
“No.”
They hugged and Calla buried her face in her mother’s shoulder. “Gramps and I had an argument about…things.”
“You and my dad?” Joshua hadn’t said a word. How typical of him.
“I was thinking of moving out.”
“Where?”
Calla’s laugh was ironic. “I thought Hassie would take me in, especially if I came to work for her.”
“She wasn’t keen on the idea, I assume?”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Calla said. “She didn’t laugh in my face, but she might as well have.”
The orderly waved a paper. “I have to take your mother now.”
Calla nodded and stood. “I’ll walk you to the elevator.” Holding her mother’s hand, Calla escorted her as far