Читать книгу Mother Mother - Jessica O'Dwyer - Страница 7
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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
FEBRUARY 2002
Julie Cowan was halfway to her car on the second level of the museum parking garage when the third contraction hit. Bracing herself against a steel pillar, she squeezed her legs together. Sweat drenched the backs of her knees. If she stayed still, she could keep time from moving forward. If she stayed still, she could keep the baby inside.
She’d left work early, panic mounting at the first cramping twinge. Her boss told her, Go. Whatever you need. Her husband was on a flight to Florida. No one was around.
She reached into her purse for her cell phone. Her OB’s receptionist answered on the second ring.
“I need help,” Julie said. “I’ve miscarried twice.”
“On a scale of one to ten, how would you describe the pain?” the receptionist asked.
“Eleven?”
“Hang tight. Doc will meet you at Emergency.”
The doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her, why Julie couldn’t take a pregnancy to term. Just that she couldn’t.
They’d named this baby Rowan. She was at seventeen weeks, three days.
I can’t lose you, Julie thought. We won’t survive it. We love you. We need you. Stay with me.
Hanging up, she punched in 911. Rowan couldn’t come yet, she tried to tell the operator. It was too soon. Julie needed an ambulance.
“Can you count the seconds between contractions?” the operator asked.
“I’m sorry. I need to lie down. I’m in a garage.”
“A parking garage? What’s your exact location?”
“1202 Belmont. The Orrin Clay Museum.”
“Is there a floor or section number?” The operator’s voice sounded far away.
Julie pushed herself off from the steel pillar and lurched toward her car. She was so close.
Above and around her, a yellow light appeared, glimmering and radiant. It came from nowhere, turning the air golden. Julie reached for it, and her hand went straight through. She couldn’t catch it. Nothing was there.
Warm liquid flowed out between her legs, soaking her pants. She looked down, her vision a white blur.
She was empty. Rowan was gone.