Chapter 4 - The Blue Folder
Claire’s knees gave way minutes later.
She slid down the wall and sat on the cold floor, breathing in short, broken gasps.
Her phone was beside the sofa.
The hospital folder was on the kitchen counter.
Both were only a few feet away.
They might as well have been across the city.
Claire began crawling.
Each movement sent pressure through her back and abdomen. She kept one arm around her stomach, whispering to the babies.
“Stay with me.”
She reached the coffee table and lost her grip.
The blue folder fell.
Documents scattered across the hardwood.
Insurance forms.
Emergency numbers.
Hospital registration papers.
Her birth plan.
Then the page containing her doctor’s written instructions.
DO NOT DELAY TRANSPORT.
Claire stared at the circled sentence.
Blake had read it.
Diane had seen it taped to the pantry.
Frank had heard the doctor’s warning during a family dinner when Claire explained the plan.
Nobody could claim ignorance.
Another contraction came.
Claire cried out and reached for the sofa.
Her water broke before she could pull herself upright.
Fear spread through her more quickly than pain.
She thought of calling emergency services.
The phone remained beyond her fingertips.
She thought of the door Blake had closed.
Then darkness began creeping into her vision.
That was when Jenna knocked.
Later, Blake would call the timing lucky.
May you like
Claire would not.
Luck had nothing to do with the people who stayed alert enough to notice someone needed help.
