"Yes, officer?" Jack asked politely, rolling down his window.
"This is not a parking area. What are you doing here?"
Jack thought fast, hoping that he wouldn’t get a ticket for being illegally parked. It was only a minor infraction, but traffic tickets were expensive, and traffic school was not something he wanted to deal with right now. He had enough to think about already.
"My wife was in labor," he explained. "I was driving her to the hospital, but as you can see, there’s a major traffic jam. The baby wasn’t going to wait, and I couldn’t drive and help deliver the baby at the same time, so I pulled off here. The baby was born about ten minutes ago. I was just getting ready to try to get back on the road so I could take them to the hospital."
"He’s telling the truth." Rose pulled herself up from where she was slouched against the seat, displaying the squirming, blanket-wrapped infant. "Our son is only a few minutes old. We had to deliver him by ourselves."
The officer looked more closely, seeing the obviously just-delivered infant and his exhausted mother. Then he recognized Rose.
"I might have known," he grumbled, looking at her. "Can’t you stay out of trouble?"
Rose gave him a tired look, recognizing the police officer who had arrested her at her first demonstration and who had been nearby at several others she had joined in. Not dignifying his remark with a reply, she commented, "We must stop meeting like this. Someone will get suspicious."
"Yeah, right," he mumbled, feeling a grudging admiration for her in spite of himself. She always stood up for what she believed in, no matter what kind of trouble it got her in, and now she was making an effort to lighten the situation in spite of her exhaustion following her child’s birth.
Jack turned to Rose, his brow furrowing with worry as she slumped back against the seat, cradling the baby in her arms. Rose was strong and healthy, but the birth had been swift and not under the best of circumstances. She needed a doctor to tend to her and the baby.
"No offense, officer, but I really need to get my wife to the hospital. It wasn’t an easy birth."
The officer looked at the still-heavy traffic, then back at Rose and her newborn. "Which hospital is it?"
"Riverside Community Hospital."
"There’s no telling how long the drive will take in this traffic. Why don’t I transport them, and you can follow along when the traffic clears?"
"Rose?" Jack asked. "What do you think?" He was more than willing to follow the cop’s suggestion for Rose’s sake, but it was up to her.
Rose pushed her seat back up, sighing tiredly. "All right. I’ll go with him." Looking at the officer, she added, "As long as it actually is to the hospital, and not to jail. I didn’t do anything."
She climbed out of the car, rocking little Paul gently when he whimpered. Almost as an afterthought, she picked up the blanket-wrapped afterbirth and took it with her. She walked slowly to the police car, uncaring of the blood that stained her maternity dress from the birth. She’d feel better after a doctor examined her and the baby, and after she had a chance to rest.
Jack stepped out of the car, helping her into the back of the police car. She grinned weakly at him, looking at her source of transportation.
"I hoped I’d never see the back seat of one of these again," she whispered.
"It’ll get you where you’re going," Jack told her, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "People will move out of the way of a cop car. I’ll be along as soon as I can, okay?"
"I know you will. Jack...what a mess. If I’d known how quickly the birth would happen, I would have gone to the hospital on my own, or gone to the campus health clinic and let them call an ambulance for me. You did good, though, delivering our baby. We’ll be fine." She put Paul on her shoulder and patted his back, soothing the fretful infant.
"I hope so." Jack leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss before stepping back and closing the door. He walked back to his car, watching the police car merge with traffic and move forward, out of sight.
*****
About twenty minutes later, they arrived at the hospital. Rose looked out the window as the police car pulled up near the entrance, grateful for the ride. In spite of the heavy traffic on the 60 freeway, the police car had been able to move comparatively quickly, as people moved aside and waited for it to disappear before resuming anything possibly illegal.
The cop who had given her a ride, Officer Bridges, turned around to look at her. "I’ll get someone to bring you a wheelchair," he told her. "Just sit tight."
Rose did as he asked, watching as a few people looked at her curiously, wondering what she was doing in the back seat of a police car at the hospital. Finally, Officer Bridges returned, a man with a wheelchair accompanying him. He let Rose out of the car, helping her into the wheelchair.
Rose sat down gratefully, looking around to see if Jack had arrived yet. There was no sign of him, so she turned to Officer Bridges for a moment, deciding that he wasn’t quite as bad as she had first thought.
"Thank you for the ride," she told him, settling uncomfortably into the wheelchair.
"No problem. Just do me a favor, will you?"
"What’s that?"
"Stay out of trouble. Every time I see you, you’re in the middle of something."
"I haven’t done anything illegal. So long as you don’t arrest me without cause, you have nothing to worry about concerning me. I’m not out to ruin your career. In fact, I’ve got a bit of advice for you—follow your conscience instead of being a yes-man. In the end, you’ll come out ahead."
That said, she nodded to the orderly, letting him wheel her into the emergency room.
*****
Jack arrived about fifteen minutes later. After fighting the traffic on the freeway for two miles, he had taken an off-ramp and driven through the city streets to the hospital. Even with the large number of stop lights, it was still faster than the clogged freeway.
He walked into the information area, wondering if Rose had been admitted yet, or if she had even been able to see a doctor.
"Excuse me," he said to the woman at the information desk. "I’m wondering where I can find Rose Dawson. She was brought here a short time ago." At least, that was what he hoped. After hearing Rose’s descriptions of Officer Bridges, he wasn’t any too willing to trust him. The man might have decided she was doing something illegal and taken her to jail, but even there, she would have medical care of some sort. On the other hand, jail was no place for a newborn baby, and he had promised to take Rose to the hospital.
The clerk tapped some computer keys, looking for the information he had requested. "She’s in the maternity ward, Room 264. Her newborn was admitted along with her."
"Thank you. Can I see them? I’m her husband, and the baby’s father."
"Let me find out." She picked up the phone, dialing an extension. After a few minutes of talking to someone on the other end, she nodded at Jack. "I’ll give you a visitor’s pass and you can go on up."
"What about the baby? How is he doing?" Jack asked anxiously.
"As far as I know, he’s fine. Infants in serious distress are taken to intensive care. Since he’s near his mother, I’m assuming he’s okay. You’ll have to ask the doctor to be sure, though."
*****
Jack arrived at Rose’s room just as the doctor was leaving. Before the physician could walk away, Jack caught up to him, anxious about Rose and the baby.
"How are they doing?" he asked, then realized that the doctor probably didn’t know exactly who he was referring to. "Rose Dawson and Paul, I mean."
"They’re doing fine. Are you Jack Dawson?"
Jack nodded, wondering if Rose had described him.
"The newborn resembles you strongly," the doctor explained, seeing Jack’s mystified look. "Yes, they’re both doing fine. Your wife says you were the one who delivered the baby."
"Yes, I was," Jack acknowledged. "He wasn’t waiting until we got here."
"You did a good job. Both your wife and your son are fine. There are no injuries to either. The baby is in the room with his mother—he can stay until she gets a roommate."
Jack was surprised. Rose hadn’t been able to keep Lizzy with her after she was born, but he supposed that Riverside Community Hospital had different rules from Memorial Hospital.
"Can I see them?" he asked, gesturing to the room.
"Go ahead. She was just getting settled in when I left."
Jack hurried in, his eyes lighting at the sight of Rose lying in a hospital bed, Paul in her arms.
"Jack!" she called, seeing him.
She was lying back against the raised bed, nursing her newborn son. He whimpered at the sound of her voice calling to Jack, then quieted, latching on and continuing his first meal.
He hurried over. "How are you doing?" he asked quietly, looking at her tired but content face.
"I’m fine." She took his hand, pulling him closer. "You’re a good mid-husband, or whatever you call a man who delivers babies."
"Well, since I’m not a doctor or a nurse, I guess mid-husband will do." He found a chair, pulling it up to sit beside her. Taking her hand again, he stroked the infant’s head with his free hand, then touched a tiny hand. Paul immediately curled his fingers around his father’s thumb, closing his eyes sleepily and letting go of his mother.
Rose pulled her hospital gown closed, then put the baby on her shoulder, patting his back to burp him. That done, she turned to Jack.
"Would you like to hold him?"
"Sure." Jack took the sleepy baby, cuddling him as the infant relaxed in his arms, quickly dozing off. He just held him for a moment, looking in awe at his newborn son, as fascinated by him as he had been by Lizzy.
"He’s wonderful, Rose. It’s something else, seeing a baby born—and even more special when you deliver the baby yourself. It was scary—I didn’t know if things would be all right for the two of you—but I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything."
"Neither would I," Rose told him, squeezing his hand. "You’re right, it was scary—I think that was why it hurt more than when Lizzy was born, because I was worried and that made me tense up, and also because he’s bigger and I tore a bit—I have four stitches. But everything turned out okay. We have a healthy baby boy, and I’m fine, too. It could have been a really bad situation—but it wasn’t. Still, I’m glad I got a ride to the hospital with Officer Bridges, because Paul and I needed a doctor to be sure we were okay."
"And you are."
"Yes. We are. Barring any unforeseen complications, I should be released on the morning of graduation day."
"That’s going to be hard. We have several guests arriving that morning, and then the ceremonies—mine in the afternoon, and yours in the evening. Do you think you’ll be up to walking?"
"I’m sure going to try, and I’m supposed to sing the national anthem at my ceremony, too. I’m feeling better already after a little care and some rest. I think I can do it."
"I hope so. Lizzy will be so excited about her little brother. I’ll bring her tomorrow to see you two. And on graduation day, I’ll get the apartment ready and take care of the guests so you can rest. We’ve got reservations for dinner after that, but if you’re not up to it, we’ll change that to another night."
"I think I’ll be okay. We’ll just see what happens."
Jack put a hand to her face. "I know. And whatever happens, we’ve got a new baby now, a new family member. Something this important supersedes everything else. We can always rearrange things if need be."
"Thank you, Jack." Rose sat up, putting her arms around him.
"I wish I could stay longer, Rose," Jack told her, "but I need to get home and see to Lizzy. She and Mari are probably both ready to burst with excitement. I’ll see you tomorrow." He carefully laid the infant back in her arms, the tiny boy fussing for a moment before calming.
"All right. I love you, Jack."
He smiled. "I love you, too, Rose. I’ll give you a call when I get home."