Meet me in the Middle

Chapter 46

I smile as I press send on the text to Maya while walking down the corridors of the hospital. When we started texting each other a few weeks ago, it was mostly about people that I matched with on numerous dating apps and how the dates went that I decided to go on. It was a strange topic of conversation, but it was nice getting the opinion of someone who knew me better than I knew myself. I tried to push her to start dating again as well, but she excused her lack of trying on the new project she was working on. At first, I thought it truly was just a lame excuse, but then I started noticing how hard she was working and how tired she's been so I stopped nagging.

I was still a little scared that she was using this new project like she used running before. I was also terrified of something happening to her when she went out on calls with her lack of sleep, but after our little heart to heart a few nights ago where she talked about her therapy some more, I no longer feared her suicidal thoughts. But I couldn't get through the guilt she was carrying around like a piece of armor about the end of our marriage, so I took it upon myself to steer the conversations in a less depressing path. The last couple of days we've been texting back and forth over silly things like the newest shows on TV, which was what the latest bickering was about. A cooking show of all things.

Maya
How dare you? Want to place a wager on your Boy Wonder? Who's going to make the finals? Your choice or my Pasta Queen?

Carina
Non fare il salame! You're Italian won't even make it to the top 5! So, the bet is on.

I still can't believe that Maya chose to back the only Italian in the competition, and I was obsessed with the young guy from Wisconsin of all places. I was not going to dwell on the fact that Amelia pointed out it was because I was immensely jealous that Maya took an immediate liking to the beautiful woman, and that jealousy clearly wasn't the reason I couldn't stand the contestant. Amelia didn't know what the hell she was talking about! I also choose to ignore the knowing looks and sideways glances every time I mention Maya's name, which has not been as much as they let on. Jo was the newest member of my friend squad to pipe in with her concern that I might be falling for the new Maya, and I needed to find a way to rebuke their claims.

"Buon pomeriggio, mama. I heard that your bambina decided she is not going to wait for your fiancé or family to arrive?" I look at Jo who had paged me a few minutes ago to inform me that the mom-to-be was a full 9cm dilated and the bambina was ready to crown any minute. I put on my gown and gloves and take a seat next to Jo to approve her approach of delivery, when the small patch of hair starts peeking through pink flesh. " Magnifico! I'm going to help you into a more comfortable position and then you can start pushing, Ms. Ciambriello." I step away from the foot of her bed and lightly kick my chair back to the wall. I lift the leg rests from her cot and gently place her feet on them. Next, I use the remote next to her bed to lift the bed so she can sit upright enough to make the natural birth as easy as possible.

I walk past the good-looking man that brought her in and decided to stay with her until her family arrived. He shuffles around on his feet while deciding if he should stay or not. Ms. Ciambriello takes the choice out of his hands when she grabs onto his sweater and pulls him closer to her. He looks up at me in desperation and I smile at how uncomfortable he seems. "Presto, presto, signore! Hold her hand and Ms. Ciambriello, you can start pushing on Dr. Wilsons command." While Jo talks her through everything she has to do as the bambina slowly starts to make her way into our world. I grin up to the handsome fellow who whimpers every time the mama pushes before shaking out his hand to get the blood flow back.

I keep my eyes on both my patients' vitals until we hear the gleeful squeal of the newborn as Jo hands her to her mama after clamping the umbilical cord. " Congratulazioni, papa. It's a beautiful baby girl." I say it into the phone before moving over to the bed to let the man meet his baby girl. Both the mama and her birth buddy look up at me in surprise that I thought to make him a part of the delivery, and their knight in shining armor gets a little misty eyed when the dad thanks him for taking care of his family. I tilt the phone in the direction of Jo as she cuts the umbilical cord and hand the phone to the mama when I take her bambina from her. I quickly make my way to the small table behind Jo and do the preliminary check to make sure that the bambina was as perfect as she looked, before handing her over to the nurses.