Adult Responsibilities

Chapter 6

"I just can't do it, Dr. Forrester, I just can't, it hurts so bad," the pregnant woman cried, obviously in anguish as she entered into her second hour of pushing. She'd been in labor for 16 hours, and she was exhausted and spent. She glanced to her hapless husband standing off to the side and pointed at him in an accusatory fashion as he tried to encourage her. "You're the one who put me in this situation in the first place!" she yelled, and he cowered as Kate tried to smile.

"Mrs. Akin, I promise, you can do this, OK? I know its hard, believe me. This is the hardest thing you'll ever have to do, but at the end, you'll get the sweetest reward ever, alright?" Kate paused, standing up for a second and making eye contact with the woman, gesturing for her husband to come and grab her hand. She smiled, and her hazel eyes sparkled, calming the woman even through her surgical mask. "Dr. Forrester, I see the head!" one of the nurses called out, and Kate sat down on her stool, yelling out words of encouragement as she monitored Mrs. Akin's pushing, and after about ten more minutes, the baby emerged, healthy lungs shown off by loud cries, and Kate held the tiny infant up for the mother to see, gesturing for the dad to cut the chord, and then she carefully wrapped the infant in a blanket and presented him to his mom.

"Great job, momma, you're a Rockstar," Kate said softly as Mrs. Akin cradled the baby, tears flowing freely as her husband cried too, looking at the baby in awe. "Thank you, Doc," the man said softly, and Kate's patient looked up at her with a smile. "Thanks Dr. Forrester, I can't believe I did it," and Kate smiled at the woman. "I can totally believe it," she said with a kind smile, turning the lights down low in the room and walking out softly, leaving the new family alone. She rushed down the hall, pulling her mask and gloves off, stopping to wash her hands in one of the side sinks, and profusely thanking the Labor & Delivery nurses for their hard work. She glanced at her watch and saw that her shift was about to end, and her heart started pounding out of her chest. This was the day she was supposed to meet Andrew for coffee.

As she walked into the resident's break room, grabbing a Diet Coke and collapsing on the couch, in walked her best friend at the hospital Lauren. The brunette OB was the same age as Kate and they'd started together at UCLA. Lauren was from New Jersey, and she was as passionate as Kate about their work. The two had bonded immediately, talking at resident's orientation and then being thrown into their first delivery together, an emergency C-section with more blood loss, drama and general anxiety than anything either had ever seen in medical school, and they'd been inseparable ever since.

"Hey, Kate! Woo, rough night huh?" Lauren said with a smile, sitting down next to her friend and propping her feet up on the coffee table. "Thanks again for working for me today," she said kindly, and Kate smiled at her. Lauren's boyfriend Mark had graduated from law school and was being sworn into the California Bar that day. Lauren had been scheduled to do a double shift, a common occurrence for OB residents, as there were often as many night deliveries as daytime ones. She really wanted to go to Mark's swearing in ceremony and Kate had generously offered to cover the second shift. "Are you sure its OK? What are you doing with Lila?" Lauren asked, and Kate shook her head. "It's totally fine, don't worry about it. Mr. and Mrs. Hendricks have her this weekend anyway, so she's staying overnight at their house," she explained, and Lauren nodded.

"What are you going to do for the break? Sleep?" Lauren asked, motioning for the "bunk" room in the resident's space where the Labor & Delivery residents often slept between shifts when they were too exhausted from work to go home, but Kate shook her head a little. "Um, no, I'm actually, uh... well, I supposed to meet a friend for coffee," she explained, and Lauren raised her eyebrows. "Wow, this must be a close friend for you to sacrifice your precious two hours of sleep," Lauren said, and Kate bit her lip. "What?" Lauren asked, immediately noticing Kate's hesitation.