SECRET AGENT DAWSON
Chapter Thirty-One
A Delivery and an Apology
Jack headed to Tobey’s office
instead of Paola's office. After his conversations with Rose and Kevin, he
didn't really want to be next to anyone, but he knew he could count on his best
friend to help him make a decision. When he was halfway there, Tobey came
running out with Lisa.
Jack saw Tobey holding Lisa.
"Tobey, what’s wrong?"
"Lisa--her water broke. The
baby is coming." He felt nervous.
"Need help?" Jack
offered.
"Nah. I got it." Tobey
walked Lisa to the elevator.
He waited for the elevator to
come. When it finally did, he stepped inside, holding her hand. "It’s all
right, honey. Everything is gonna be okay."
As the elevator went up, suddenly
everything turned black. "Oh, fucking shit! What next? Lisa, I think the
power went off."
"What? It can’t be. I need
to go to the hospital." Lisa’s pains were increasing, little by little.
"I am sorry, honey, but we
are not leaving anytime soon. How are you doing?" He helped her sit down,
fearing that they would be in there for some time.
"Fine. I swear, Tobey, when
this is over with, you are having the next one." She screamed and held his
hand.
He could barely see her in the
dim light. Then he remembered. His watch had a nightlight on it. He turned it
on and saw her face. "Is that better?"
"Yes. Now I can choke
you." She attempted to grab his neck, but instead grabbed his hand.
"Honey, I will do everything
I can. If I have to deliver this child myself, I will." He wiped her
forehead. "Since we are stuck in here, mind if I check on you?"
"No. Go right ahead."
She had no idea what he meant by that, but she didn't care. She trusted her
husband.
He looked with his light and saw
a clear liquid. He figured it was from her water breaking. He stuck his fingers
and tried to measure her inside.
"What the hell are you
doing?" Lisa felt his hand inside her.
"Measuring you. I’m premed.
It was my alternate choice of work." Tobey had never told anyone about his
medical career.
"You were going to be a
doctor?" Lisa was surprised.
"Yeah." He held her
against him, trying to ease her pain.
"Why didn’t you ever tell
me?" She touched his face, and he kissed her hand.
"I haven’t done this in a
long time. Life-saving is not really my goal in life, not anymore." He had
flashbacks of the past.
"What happened?" She
squeezed his hand for relaxation.
"I tried to save someone and
it backfired on me. I only had partial knowledge of cutting open someone; turns
out I did it wrong. The person died." That was his last and final surgery.
He had never attempted to do it again.
"Tobey, you gotta help me.
It hurts." She looked into his eyes.
"I know, honey. I will see
what I can do." He took off his jacket, used it for a pillow, and put it
under her head.
He knew a little bit about delivering
babies, but he felt worried about Lisa. He was afraid he was going to do
something wrong. He didn't want to think that she could die. He would try
everything he knew to save her and his child.
He bent down, positioning himself
between her legs. "Lisa, when you’re ready to push, go ahead."
"All right." She began
to push. Tobey could see the baby's head.
"Good work, honey. Keep
going. With each contraction, push. All right?" He held her legs open.
"Okay." She felt another
contraction hit her, and she pushed full force this time.
Tobey saw the baby's head come
out, and he caught it and pulled it out of Lisa and put it in his arms. That
was when the lights came back on and the elevator descended, taking them back
down.
"We did it! Honey, it's a
girl." He laughed, full of excitement. He had a daughter.
"A girl? She's
beautiful." Lisa had only seen her partially in Tobey's arms.
"She kinda looks like you.
Wanna hold her?" Tobey asked, laying the baby next to her. Tobey removed
his shirt and put it around the infant.
"Yes." Lisa had cried
after all the times the doctors had told her that she couldn't have children.
Tobey was the one who had made it happen. He had given her everything she had
ever wanted--love and a family.
The elevator opened at the
bottom. Tobey helped Lisa up. She walked with him and sat down in a chair. He
let Lisa hold the baby while he called an ambulance.
When he saw Amanda, he was
covered with blood.
"Did someone get
murdered?" Amanda saw the blood on Tobey's t-shirt.
"No. Lisa had the baby. Can
I use your phone to call an ambulance?" He was happy. Everything had
turned out all right.
"Sure. I am gonna go
see." Amanda got up from her desk and went to find Lisa.
"All right." Tobey
said, dialing the number.
Amanda saw Lisa holding the baby
in her arms. She had covered her with Tobey's shirt and jacket to keep her
warm. Lisa looked exhausted.
"Hey, Lisa.
Congratulations." Amanda walked up to her.
"Thanks," Lisa said.
"Aw…it's a girl,
right?" She saw the infant cuddled in Lisa's arms.
"Yeah." Lisa smiled.
"She's so pretty." The
infant gurgled.
"Thank you." Lisa
pulled the baby closer so Amanda could see her.
"You had her here?"
Amanda asked.
"In the elevator. Tobey was
magnificent. He delivered the baby. Did you know he was supposed to be a
doctor?" Lisa wondered if Amanda knew.
"No, I hadn't any idea. Jack
probably knows," Amanda assumed.
Tobey came back. "Okay. All
done. They’re on their way."
"Great. So, what shall we
name her?" She looked up at him.
"How about Holly
Maguire?" He looked at Lisa for approval.
"Sure, but Holly with an i,
not a y," Lisa said.
"All right. Hello, Holli
Maguire." Tobey shook the baby's hand.
Just then, the paramedics came in,
and they put Lisa on a gurney and the baby in a incubator. Tobey followed Lisa
and held her hand as the baby went with the paramedics. Amanda walked with them
to the elevator and saw the blood. She went to her desk and called the janitor.
"Hello? Yes. We need a
clean-up in the main elevator. One of the employees just had a baby and the
elevator needs to be cleaned." Amanda spoke with authority.
"Right away, ma'am," a
man said.
*****
Jack walked aimlessly in the
dark, but when the lights came on, he walked into Paola's office. He saw her
sitting in her chair. She looked up when he entered.
"Paola, we need to
talk."
"I know. Sit, please."
She looked at him.
He sat down. "Paola, I
apologize for my actions. I behaved badly."
"Jack, what we did can never
happen again. It was a mistake." Paola didn't look him in the eye.
"I know. I agree, I just
think we needed that release." He sat there, not feeling the need to touch
her anymore.
"We did, and now it's over
with." Paola got her jacket and covered herself. She was freezing, now
that the air conditioning had come back on.
"I'm truly sorry. My head
injury is messing up my mind. Rose believes that I am behaving this way because
of Alex Smith." He didn't know why he had mentioned Alex. Was he beginning
to remember?
"Your other identity?"
Paola looked at him.
"Yeah. I think Rose is
right. I need to see her." He got up off the chair.
"Good luck," Paola
said.
"Thanks. I am gonna need
it," he said, getting up and closing the door behind him.
Jack had to find his true self,
not this Alex Smith character, and he believed that the only one who could help
him was Rose. His one and only beloved Rose. He had been so bad and messed up
everything, from his friendship with Paola to his marriage with Rose. He knew
something was happening. Something was wrong, because it wasn't like him to act
so strangely. There had been something in that bullet. It had been way more
than just a gunshot wound. It had something to do with the case. He just knew
it.