Girls in Pants - Ann Brashares [68]
“Another one, right?” Lauren said. “You’re getting into a pattern—every seven minutes or so. Let me check your cervix, okay? Lie back and open your legs.”
Tibby did not like the sound of this. She floated toward the door.
Lauren was one of those plain-faced, plainspoken people who liked to say and do embarrassing things as flatly and as often as possible. Like Tibby’s eighth grade health science teacher, who said the words breast and anus so often you’d think she’d never heard of pronouns.
Tibby loitered in the hallway until Lauren appeared at the door. “She’s at three centimeters,” Lauren announced.
“I don’t know what that means,” Tibby said.
“It means her cervix is opening. That’s what happens when you’re in labor. When her cervix is all the way open—that’s ten centimeters—she’ll be ready to push the baby out.”
Tibby had one more question and Lauren couldn’t very well answer it for her: How did I get here?
“How long will that take?” Tibby asked.
“Hard to say for sure, but it’s still early labor. It’ll probably be a few hours at least.”
Tibby hoped, really and truly hoped, that Carmen and David would be back by then.
Lauren was looking at Tibby seriously. She actually had very pretty brown eyes. Her no-nonsense look was countered by a streak of dark purple liner under her eyelashes.
“Tibby, you need to get in there with her. She’s a little freaked out. She could use some support.” Lauren turned to go.
“Um, excuse me,” Tibby said politely, “but I am, uh, Christina’s daughter’s friend, if you see what I mean?”
Lauren shrugged. “Yeah. But you’re who she’s got right now.”
Frantically Carmen called David’s cell phone again and got his voice mail again. She paced up and down the sidewalk at the entrance to the hospital. She called Irene, David’s secretary, and got her voice mail. Why did important things have to happen at lunchtime? She called the family number at Lena’s house and barked out a message that she couldn’t come for Valia today. Somewhat hopelessly, she called David’s cell phone again and hung up on his voice mail. She threw her bag on the sidewalk.
“Carmen?”
She turned around and saw Win. Of course it was him. He took in her general dishevelment and her teary eyes. “Are you okay?”
“My mom’s about to have a baby and I can’t find her husband,” Carmen burst forth. “Her water broke and the baby isn’t supposed to be born for a month. But now they want her to have the baby tonight so she doesn’t get some kind of an infection.”
Carmen couldn’t quite believe she was talking particulars about her mother’s amniotic fluid with a boy on whom she had a crush. But she was scared and she wanted to do the right thing and she didn’t even know how to do it. Win’s concern was so apparent it was heartrending. “I promised her I’d find David.”
“Her husband?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you have any idea where he is?” Win asked.
“He’s been traveling a lot for work,” Carmen explained balefully. She was walking in a tighter and tighter circle until she was basically spinning on the sidewalk. “We weren’t on high alert yet, because the baby wasn’t due yet. I have to find him right now!” Her voice was climbing, tinged with hysteria.
“Okay. Okay. Does he have a cell phone?”
“It’s not even ringing! He might be on a plane or something.” Or it might have run out of batteries, and someone who offered to lend him her recharger might not have done so, she added miserably to herself.
“You tried his office?” Carmen appreciated how much he wanted to help her. He was a good person.
“His secretary was at lunch. I’m going to drive over there,” Carmen muttered. “What else can I do?”
“Can I come?” Win looked intent.
“You want to?”
“Yeah.”
She was now running toward her car and he was following her, stride for stride. “Can you get out of work?”
“I’m on lunch break. I’m done with pediatrics for today and the old folks can do without my antics and my pocket change for one afternoon.”
“You’re sure?”
He looked at her as seriously as if she’d asked him to plunge to the bottom of the