Cowboy studied his charts and weather patterns hoping to give the best route to the surgeon. He mulled over the calculations in his head before coming to a decision. ‘I hope she knows what she’s doing. Helicopters don’t make good delivery rooms.’ The pilot straightened up and went back to where his team was standing and waiting.


"Any progress yet?" He stood next to Garrett and leaned in toward her.


The surgeon shook her head. "No! How about you?"


"Yeah, I got the answers that you were looking for." He handed her his scribbling on a piece of paper. "But that’s only if we are able to lift off in the next thirty minutes. There’s a change coming in the weather pattern."


Garrett looked at the paper and started planning her method of care. "Thanks, Cowboy."


Suddenly the sound of elated human voices crying out into the night overpowered the deafening drone of the engines and hydraulic tools. The members of the Flight Surgeon Team looked over to see the mass of metal being peeled back away from the entrapped victim, while sidelined firefighters and ambulance personnel whooped and hollered in a victory cry. They had been challenged, and won, the battle to free the woman and her unborn child. The wreckage and carnage would not take them without a fight.


"Cowboy, get the ‘copter ready for lift off." The surgeon directed, then pushed off, heading at a brisk run toward the released hostage.


Danni was helping to stabilize the patient as she was placed onto the long backboard to immobilize her spine. The removal of the wreckage from her body allowed the nurse to finally visualize and assess the woman. The odd angle that her arm was positioned meant only one thing to Danni, a fracture. With swift movements, the nurse quickly directed the splinting of the deformed right lower arm, as Garrett was already examining the woman with her hands on her abdomen, checking for the baby’s positioning. It wouldn’t really matter if she had to take it but it, was always good to know.


The nurse slipped in next to Garrett and handed her the stethoscope from out of her jacket where it had been kept nice and warm with the heat of her body. Danni noticed the pained look on the woman’s face and the rushed short exchanges of air from her mouth.


"Contraction?" The nurse picked up the patient’s left hand and held it. "Go ahead and squeeze my hand if you have to." The nurse’s eyes moved along the exposed areas of the pained woman’s body, searching for any obvious injuries or indications of potential blood loss. Seeing none, Danni looked to see what progress her team member was making.


The patient looked to her and the message was given in grunts, "Ye…ye...yeah."


Danni looked down at the woman’s abdomen to see the stethoscope being moved from area to area as the tall surgeon listened intently. Within a few seconds the spasm lessened and the woman began to relax. The nurse looked into her eyes and began to introduce herself and Garrett but the only concern of the woman was that of her unborn child.


"My baby, don’t let anything happen to my baby." She was sobbing now for the life of her child. Her hand clutched at Garrett’s, drawing her attention. "Take the child if you have to save only one of us." Her eyes pleading what her words could not.


"I’m going to do everything that I can to keep you both safe and alive. Just trust me." Garrett broke her gaze at the woman and demanded of those around her, "I need a flashlight and another blanket. NOW!"


Within seconds, the items were produced and the surgeon undertook the task of assessing the promptness of her impending delivery. Danni quickly draped the lower half of the woman with the blanket as Garrett positioned her legs. Under the privacy of the blanket, the surgeon used the flashlight to illuminate the opening to the birth canal. ‘There’s no crowning yet. We’ve got a little time to go.’


Danni’s hand was clamped down on by the woman’s with such strength that the nurse feared for broken bones. "Gar, it’s another contraction."


"I got to PUSH!!! It’s coming. I can’t hold it." The voice was ragged and loud. "Help me, please." She started to whimper.


It was too late; the baby was now in the birth canal, its buttocks presenting for delivery. Garrett quickly made her decision, based on Cowboys calculations. She emerged from under the blanket and locked eyes for a second with her nurse. "She’s delivering. Let’s get her into that ambulance and out of the cold."


It was all that Danni needed to know. Right away she knew that they were going to need an expedient flight, once the baby was born. Spouting off orders as she handed the flashlight to the person next to her, they hustled the group to the waiting rig. Danni and the rescue workers loaded the patient into the ambulance as Garrett prepared for the birth.


"Danni, change places with Ed. I need you down here with me." The surgeon was pulling on her gloves as she kneeled at the foot of the stretcher.


"Turn the heat up to high and get us some blankets to warm up."


The nurse knelt down on the side of the stretcher. Grabbing gloves, she quickly pulled them on as the surgeon gently positioned the woman’s legs for the impending birth. It was then that Danni noticed the small bottom protruding from the woman’s perineal area. ‘I guess nothing is going to be easy.’


Garrett slid her gloved fingers gently along the small body as she tried to gain access through the birth canal and up into the dilated cervix itself. She had to find out whether or not the cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck. Her long sinewy fingers finally felt the cord. The surgeon worked to loosen it with little effort. Now with her hand still in place, she could feel the beginnings of the next round of contractions starting.


"Okay, when the contraction comes, I want you to push and push hard." Garrett looked over to Danni. "You ready?"


The nurse nodded her head.


"Here it comes!"


"GRRRRRaugh!!!!" The scream was frightening to the boy clenched in the death grip of the delivering mother. His face turned white and his knees buckled underneath him. He plopped down onto the bench seat.


"Ed…Ed! Lean forward and put your head between you knees. You’ll feel better in a minute or two." Danni shot glances in his direction as she waited to receive the baby from Garrett.


"Okay, just one more push and you’re done." Garrett was encouraging her. "Just let the contraction wave roll around once more and it’s all over."


The tears were streaming down her face as the injured woman could feel the wave rushing like a wild ocean tide from the sea. Within seconds it was here and she could feel her body releasing the form that it had nourished for the last nine months. "AAAAAAUUUUUURRRRGGGGGGGGHHHH!"


Garrett had emerged with the baby in her hands. Hastily, Danni worked to wipe the face with gauze, trying to clean out its airway in preparation of that first gasp for air. A small soft rubber bulb was used to suction out any additional fluids that may have blocked the airway.


The piercing screech of a baby’s first cry broke through the air. Garrett and Danni both saw the small newborn as it sucked in its first taste of fresh air. Anything that they could do to withstand the finality of death in another human being, they knew it had been worth it at that moment.


Working quickly, they clamped off the cord and cut it. The baby was wrapped in a towel and then bundled into a warm blanket. The nurse held on to the baby as she moved up closer to the head of the stretcher.


"He’s beautiful. You have a baby boy." The nurse’s eyes shone lovingly as she positioned the infant so that the mother could see.


Tears of joy began streaming from the woman’s eyes. "Thank you," she mouthed as she reached out to touch the soft skin of her son with her left hand.


Danni moved in closer. "Careful of the I.V.," she cautioned. The nurse watched the tender scene as mother met son for the first time, their touch bonding them in a way that only mothers know.


Within a few minutes, they were ready to go. Danni cradled the baby in her arms as Garrett oversaw the movement of the woman up to the waiting helicopter. They were headed for home, the trauma hospital that would give both mother and child the best chance that they could have.



* * *

The quick response of the helicopter was welcomed and the skilled hand of the seasoned pilot was evident. The ride had been smooth and uneventful from that standpoint. The swiftness with which they had transversed the countryside was recorded in the shorter than estimated arrival time. Garrett chose to save as much time as possible by utilizing the dangerous hot unload procedure where the blades are still spinning at full revolution. The team carried out the maneuver as if it had been done thousands of times before.


Within minutes they were wheeling their patient down the short hallway and into the room where the combined team of trauma and obstetrics personnel waited. The exchange was made and Danni and Garrett left the crowded room knowing that they had made the right decision.


"Feels a little funny, huh?" The petite nurse slumped up against a wall where her tall friend was standing.


Garrett’s eyes never left the action in the Trauma Room. "Yeah, it does."