Strawberry Red

Chapter 28 Ruby

The D-Day landing on the 6th of June had worked, and the Allies were now finally on Western Europe ground. But they were still in France working their way through German defence. From the Eastern side the Russians were slowly pushing through too. By now many Germans realized they'd never win the war. The only open question was: when would it end?

Ruby hoped it would end soon. With every passing day her mood dropped more and more. She hadn't seen her husband in nine months. She wanted him to be there for the birth of their baby. But the war had a different schedule.

On the 18th of July Ruby was standing in the operating theatre assisting Dr. Richter. They were amputating a soldier's leg which got caught in a landmine. The operation was going smooth until Ruby felt something wet drip down her leg. She slowly lowered her head and saw a puddle of water beneath her. Her water broke and she was going into labour.

"Margarete?" asked Dr. Richter. He had stopped his movements and look at his assisting nurse.

"The baby is coming," whispered Ruby nervously.

"What now?" exclaimed Dr. Richter. "We are in the middle of an operation."

"It's not like I can help it," mumbled Ruby stressed. She didn't feel any contractions. There was a chance that she could finish assisting the operation and then go over to the maternity ward. "I'm fine. Let's carry on and get it over with."

"Are you sure? I can send for someone else and after I'm done, I could join you," offered Dr. Richter.

"We both know there is no other available nurse. It's fine, I promise. The contractions haven't even started," stated Ruby and handed Dr. Richter a scalpel. He took it and they carried on working on their patient. The operation came slowly to an end when the first contraction hit. Ruby clutched her stomach and breathed in deeply.

"You should go," urged Dr. Richter.

"No, no. We're almost done. Besides you promised me that I wouldn't have to go through labour alone. I'm not going until we're done, and we both can leave the operating theatre," said Ruby. She grabbed the needle and pulled a thread through it.

"Alright, then. Let's close the wound," decided Dr. Richter. Two hours after her water broke, they were done with the operation. They transferred the patient out of the operating theatre to be observed by a nurse for the next couple of hours. They were about to leave and head to the maternity ward when the sirens began to sound. Another daylight raid.

"Oh, no. This isn't happening." Ruby started to panic. They had to stay in the shelter now until the raid was over which could take hours. Both her and Otto knew the theoretical basics of giving birth but neither of them had experience one in real life.

"The raid probably won't last long. Plus you've only started your labour, chances are high that you won't give birth down here," tried Otto to sooth her. He was holding her hand and rubbing her back. "How about you lay down and rest for a while?"

Ruby nodded and with Otto's guidance, they found an empty bed where Ruby could try and sleep until the labour progressed more.

Sadly, Ruby didn't find sleep. Bombs continued to fall over the next twelve hours. It was already after midnight which meant she had been labouring for over twelve hours. And it didn't seem as if she was to give birth soon. She knew they were somewhat safe in the shelter but still, it seemed like the world quite literally exploded around them. Ruby just wanted this whole nightmare to be over. She was in a lot of pain and mumbling nonsense.

"Where's Buck?" asked Ruby at one point during labour. The contractions were getting closer and closer to each other. And her brain decided to pull mind tricks on her. One minute she thought she was on base, the next she was in the middle of bombs falling and then she was pulled back to reality.