Untouchable

Chapter 34

Age 27

Ruth screamed as pain rippled through her body, her child trying to escape the host body it had been so carefully cared for within for eight months. Tears trickled down her face as Melissa drove her through the rush-hour traffic to the hospital. Alyssa clutched Ruth’s tense, squeezing hand.

                “I want Noah.” Ruth sobbed as they finally pulled into the car park. Melissa turned the ignition off, brought out the umbrella from the boot and held it over Ruth’s head as she waddled, in pain, from the car.

                “He’s coming now, sweetheart. He’s probably already here.”

                “It hurts.” Ruth sobbed, tears trickling from her exhausted, pain stricken, bloodshot eyes. Evie carried the umbrella while Alyssa and Melissa helped Ruth into the hospital and into the dry. She got into the room designated by the midwife and collapsed, face up, on the bed, pain all through her stomach and abdomen. Evie was left outside on Noah patrol; getting across, or into, Exeter at rush hour was a nightmare at the best of times, let alone when your wife was at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital about to have your first child.

                Noah’s hands tapped the steering wheel as he tried to get through the backlog of traffic. Tom had him covered back at school, but this traffic was a bigger palaver than trying to get his Year 7’s to settle down while he went on a hunt for a cover teacher. He only answered because Abbie had actually called him; she never did unless it was a dire emergency, and Ruth going into labour; that was dire. He finally got into the car park, parked up, and went to find his wife. He found Evie standing in the doorway to the ward.

                “Room 19; send Lyss out, would you? She’s gonna have a panic attack in there if Splodge starts coming out.”

                “Splodge is about to become either Poppy or Elliot.” Noah said as he dashed down to Room 19, hearing Ruth howl inside as the pain coursed through her veins. It shattered his heart, seeing her in such pain. He opened the door and took her hand, kissing her forehead gently,

                “I’m here, Ru, I’m here, it’s gonna be okay. I promise.” He whispered as she breathed in the gas and air. She glared at him, screaming ‘You did this to me!’. Noah felt nothing but guilt as he watched his young wife’s agony. The contraction ceased and Ruth relaxed her grip on her husband’s hand.

                “Thank you.” Ruth whispered as she got a hold back on her pain level, smiling at Noah. The midwife came in and looked at the couple and Melissa.

                “Ruth Hardy, right?” She asked, looking at Ruth as Melissa scraped back Ruth’s long drapes of hair into a messy bun.

                “The complicated Anthony-Hardy.” Ruth explained, “Yeah, I am Ruth Charis Hardy.”

                “I’m Cassidy Smith, your midwife for the next 12 hours, you’re lucky I’ve just come on shift. Hopefully we’ll have baby Hardy out by then.”

                “We call it Splodge.” Ruth said, looking into Noah’s eyes. The love between them was so visible it was almost a sixth person in the room.

“How often are you having contractions?” The midwife looked at the monitors.

                “Every ten minutes or so, I think, but they’re getting worse, I swear.” Ruth complained. Cassidy chuckled.

                “They do that, sweetie.” Ruth looked carefully at Cassidy. She was in her early 40’s, muddy brown eyes, dark hair, and olivy-brown skin. Ruth decided she was either Italian, or of Italian descent.

                “How much longer of this?” Ruth asked, really hoping it wouldn’t be long.

                “I need to examine you for that. Is that okay?” Cassidy asked cautiously. She’d read Ruth’s notes before she’d come in, knowing Ruth was awkward and untouchable unless she knew what was going on because of her autism.

                “Sure. I want to know whether Splodge is a Poppy or an Elliot naturally, and soon.” Ruth said, smiling a little cheekily. A few minutes later, after Noah had sufficiently distracted Ruth, she was told she was 9cm dilated, nearly ready to push, and that was why things were getting more and more painful. A few minutes later, Ruth had another contraction. She was back on gas and air, breathing deeply to try and numb her pain. She cried in pain, tears trickling down her unblemished, whitewashed face. Ruth had never been good with pain. She grabbed a sick bowl and was promptly sick, throwing up her triple-decker sandwich. It tasted abysmal coming back up compared to going down. She sobbed a little as the sick bowl was taken away and disposed off. The midwife came back after Ruth had a second contraction, re-examining.

                “10cm, you’re ready to push. On your next contraction, push down.” Cassidy requested. She’d been in an hour, and Ruth had been at home in pain so long that she was almost ready to go when she finally arrived. Cassidy was almost surprised that Ruth hadn’t given birth in the car at rush hour; if it had been her second or third, she probably would have.

                A few minutes later, Ruth was biting the gas and air, pushing into her butt, trying to get Splodge into the world. Noah’s hand was being crashed in Ruth’s grasp. He was gently stroking her forehead, kissing her, whispering words of encouragement to his wife as she struggled to give birth to their child. He could see a panic attack building in Ruth as she lost control of her body. He hoped that the baby would be born and soothe her before anything had the chance to kick off, however unlikely. Another contraction. Ruth pushed.

                “Baby’s crowning.” Cassidy said, “Ruth, keep pushing!” Half an hour later, without a panic attack, a tiny baby girl lay against Ruth’s bare chest, coated in blood, with huge dark eyes peering into the world, unable to focus.

                “She’s not a Poppy; she’s a Carrie.” Ruth whispered, panting. Cassidy took tiny Carrie away to clean her up and weigh her. Ruth cleaned herself up a little before Carrie was given back to her.

                “Our little girl Splodge.” Noah chuckled, kissing his tiny daughter cautiously. “Carrie, you reckon?”   

                “An abbreviation of Carolina?” Ruth suggested, hoping Noah would agree, pronouncing her daughter’s name Ca-ro-lee-na.  Noah smiled out of sheer bliss and nodded.

                “She’s definitely a Carrie.” He whispered, kissing his wife softly. He had never been more in love in that moment than any time before in his life.