"When did these symptoms start?" Doc asked.
"About three o'clock this afternoon."
"Jesus, Sabra," Ronnie groaned. "Eight hours? Why didn't you tell me?"
Her eyes began to tear again. "Because it would have ruined our plans. I wanted to be with you no matter what."
"Shh." Tiel patted her hand. "Crying will only make you feel worse. Think about the baby coming. It can't be much longer now." She looked across at Doc. "Can it?"
"Hard to say with first babies."
"Your best guess."
"Two, three hours." He stood up and faced off with Ronnie. "She's going to deliver tonight. How easy or difficult the labor and birth will be rests with you. She needs a hospital, a well-equipped delivery room, and medical personnel.
The baby will also need attention immediately after it's born. That's the situation. What are you going to do about it?"
Sabra cried out with another pain. Doc dropped down beside her and monitored the contraction by placing his hands on her abdomen. The steep frown between his eyebrows alerted Tiel to trouble. "What?" she asked.
"Not good."
"What?"
He shook his head, indicating that he didn't want to discuss it in front of the girl. But Sabra Dendy was no dummy. She picked up on his concern. "Something's wrong, isn't it?"
To his credit, Doc didn't talk down to her. "Not wrong, Sabra. Just more complicated."
"What?"
"Do you know what breech means?"
Tiel's breath caught. She heard Gladys make a tsking sound of regret.
"That's when the baby…" Sabra paused to swallow hard. "When the baby is upside down."
He nodded solemnly. "I think your baby is in the wrong position. Its head isn't down."
She began to whimper. "What can you do?"
"Sometimes it isn't necessary to do anything. The baby will turn on its own."
"What's the worst that can happen?"
Doc looked up at Ronnie, who'd asked the question. "A cesarean section is done, sparing the mother and child a grueling delivery. A vaginal delivery is dangerous, and can be life-threatening. Knowing that, will you let someone call nine-one-one and get Sabra some help?"
"No!" the girl cried. "I won't go to a hospital. I won't!"
Doc took her hand. "Your baby could die, Sabra."
"You can help me."
"I'm not equipped."
"You can anyway. I know you can."
"Sabra, please listen to him," Tiel urged. "He knows what he's talking about. A breech birth would be extremely painful. It could also endanger your baby's life or cause serious defects. Please urge Ronnie to take Doc's advice.
Let us call nine-one-one."