Trapped in the Past

Chapter 6: Support Beams and Miracles

August 15th, 2011

Area 51: Secret Medical Facility

"She's been in the bathroom for a really long time, I should check on her."

Beverly followed me to the bathroom door and I knocked.

"Deanna it's me, you alright in there?"

The door to the bathroom opened up and Deanna's face was devoid of any color. Her right hand gripped the porcelain countertop while the left rested under her enormous baby belly. I could tell she'd been crying. Beverly jumped into the conversation.

"Ok, everybody relax. How far apart are your contractions Deanna?"

Deanna shook her head and grabbed for my hand as I helped her towards the bed.

"I don't know, that was my first one."

Her dark eyes locked onto my blue ones and I tucked the blankets around her. A smile spread across my face.

"We are each other's support beams. Laura is a miracle."

It was true, Laura was our miracle. We'd had trouble conceiving the last couple of years, and after two miscarriages, we'd lost almost all hope, until we found out about Laura.

Kissing her forehead, I wiped away her stray tears.

"All I want for her is to be healthy. My mind keeps going over and over what happened to the other two..."

I pulled her into my arms and into a hug.

"Shh. Enough talk about that. That's all past us now. We have Laura to think about. She needs every ounce of strength her mother can give to bring her into this world."

Deanna nodded her head and gripped my hand. Beverly sat on the other side of the bed and timed the contraction.

"Coming down now, remember to breathe Deanna. That's a girl. Contractions almost up to a full minute. We'll have to wait until the contractions are at least 20 minutes apart before we can give you something for the pain."

I shook my head and looked Beverly in the eye.

"This would be so much easier if we were on the Enterprise. A hypospray would do wonders."

Beverly nodded in agreement and wiped the sweat away from Deanna's forehead.

"If only I had my tricorder with me. It would be easy for me to tell how many centimeters dilated you are. But everything in this century is done the hard and uncomfortable way. I'll be discreet I promise."

I distracted myself with looking at Deanna straight in the eye.

"You are doing a wonderful job Imzadi. Just think, when this is all over, however long it takes, we'll have Laura here with us."

A smile graced her face, and then we both looked at Beverly expectantly.

"4 centimeters. Only 6 more to go before delivery and 2 to go before the beginning stages of hard labor. When you get to 6 we'll get you some local and an Epidural."

I sat in the chair on the right side of the bed and kept my hand in Deanna's.

"I have a feeling Laura will either be fashionably late, some women are, or she'll come quickly. I guess we'll have to wait and let nature take its course."

Deanna nodded her head and winced. She moved in the bed to get comfortable again.

"I think the pressure in my hips just increased ten-fold. I wish it were gone already."