Sweet Baby

“OH MY GOD!” Eurdell screamed.

“What’s wrong?” Her best friend Viola asked looking at Eurdell holding on to her stomach.

“My water just broke!”  Viola screamed out so loud that Viola thought her ears would fall right off of her head.

“What do you mean your water broke? The baby isn’t due for another 2 weeks. That’s what you said.” 

“Viola if you don’t stop talking and get me to the freakin hospital  I am going to hurt you as much as these contractions are starting to hurt me.”

“Okay, Okay. Don’t panic, Eurdell. I will go and get the elevator. Hold on. Please hold on. The hospital is only ten minutes away.” 

Viola ran out of the door to her building and frantically pushed the down button on the elevator. She pushed that button at least 5 times although she knew that multiple pushing wouldn’t get the elevator to her floor any faster. 

“Why did I have to move on the tenth floor?” She said aloud to the air surrounding her. 

“Excuse me dear?” A voice from behind her said. 

Viola had not noticed the older woman in the purple dress with a matching hat behind her holding on to a walker. She was Mrs. Green and she lived in apartment 10 C two doors down from Viola’s apartment. She was a nice lady and when her daughter visited she always brought over a bag of apples her daughter gave to her. Mrs. Green didn’t have the heart to tell her daughter she didn’t like apples so she passed them onto Viola  who made pies with them and gave the pies to her mom and her mom’s best friend who lived together. 

“Hey, Mrs. Green. I was talking to myself. I hope this elevator hurry up and comes because I have to get my friend to the hospital. She’s having a baby. And it looks like she is having it very soon.” 

“Oh my goodness. Can I help?” Mrs. Green offered.

“Actually, you can. When the elevator comes, hold the door please. I have to go and check on my friend.” 

“Be happy to.” Mrs. Green said, pushing the button again.

“Where have you been?”  Eudell asked, still standing in the same place holding her stomach.

“I went to get the elevator. Are you doing okay?” 

“NO! I am not doing okay. I am in labor and it hurts. Why didn’t you tell me that labor kills you?” Eurdell said grabbing on to the arm of the couch and still clutching her stomach.

“Labor is not going to kill you. You are just being a drama queen. You’ll survive.” Viola said  looking out of the front door to see if the elevator had come yet. 

“OMG!!! Is that stupid elevator here yet. I’m dying over here!”  Eurdell shouted at Viola.

“Hey ladies, the elevator is here!” Mrs. Green yelled into Viola’s apartment. 

“Hold the door!” Viola shouted to Mrs. Green who was already inside the elevator pushing the open door button. 

“Come on Eurdell. We have to get you to the hospital cause you know I don’t know anything about birthin' no baby.” Viola laughed.

“If we don’t hurry up you will.” 

“Mind if I ride with y’all down. I have to meet my daughter down at the front door. I told her no use in coming all the way up today because I was on my way down anyway.” Mrs. Green asked as she moved over to one corner of the elevator making room for Viola and Eurdell.

“Sure. No problem.” Viola answered as she helped Eurdell on the elevator. 

“OH NO!” Eurdell screamed as she got on the elevator.

“Now what’s going on?” Viola asked with a look of horror on her face.

“My contractions are coming faster and faster.” 

“You ladies might want to time them.” Mrs. Green chimed in. 

“With my first baby as soon as my water broke my son was out like a speeding bullet.” Mrs. Green continued.

“Mrs. Green do you have a watch on?”  Viola asked. She knew that Mrs. Green always wore the watch her daughter gave her as a Christmas gift two years ago. 

“Yes, be happy to time them.”

“Start timing. Here’s one now. YIKES!” Eurdell screamed again.

“We should be on the ground floor soon.” Viola said, trying to comfort Eurdell.

“OH NO! Here comes another one.”  Eurdell screamed.

“What floor are we on?” Viola asked Mrs. Green who was looking at the numbers lit up on the side of the wall on the elevator. 

“Floor 7. Just a few more to go.” 

“Thanks. Mrs. Green.”

“By the way it looks like the contractions are very close together. She needs to get to the hospital quickly.” Mrs. Green continued.

The elevator stopped on floor 6 but this wasn’t an ordinary stop. It was a big bump and the ladies almost fell to the floor. 

“What was that?” Eurdell screamed to the top of her lungs now sitting on the floor of the elevator.

“I don’t know it just stopped.” Viola said, trying to calm her friend down.

A few seconds later a voice coming from the speaker on the elevator said there was a power outage and that they were working on it as fast as they could . Viola picked up the red telephone in the elevator that was marked “Help” and a voice came on. A cheerful voice of a woman. She sounded like she didn’t have a care in the world. Viola held the phone close to her ear and she screamed into the receiver. 

“HELP! I have a woman on this elevator in labor! I need HELP NOW!!!” 

“Help is on the way.” The cheerful voice said.

“We can’t wait for help on the way to speech. We need someone to open these doors now. Not later, not tomorrow, but now. Call the fire department. I saw on TV how they rescue people on elevators. Do SOMETHING NOW!” Viola screamed.

“Miss calm down we understand and will get you out very soon but the power is out city wide so it will be some time.”

“I DON’T have time! My friend is having her baby now!” 

Mrs. Green took the phone from Viola and told the voice to get someone on the phone who could help them because from the looks of things this baby is coming and neither one of them can birth a baby.

“OUCH! This baby is coming!” Eurdell screamed, squeezing Viola’s hand as hard as she could. 

“Don’t push!” Viola said. That was the only thing she could think to say.

“Shut up!! Like I have a choice. What the hell is wrong with the elevator. I can’t have this baby in an elevator! I need a hospital. I need drugs! “ Eurdell shouted at Viola who by now felt like her hand was going to fall off.

“Hey, the woman has the paramedics on the phone. They are going to walk us through this.” Mrs. Green said.

“Okay, tell us what to do.” Viola said to Mrs. Green.

“I can’t have this baby in an elevator. No way!” 

“Eurdell, you don’t have a choice. You are going to be okay. Remember your great grandmother had all her babies at home with no drugs.” Viola said in an effort to try to calm her friend down a little.

“She was a fool! I need a hospital and I need drugs!” Eurdell said, trying to deal with the pain.

“Eurdell, you are strong. You can do this and look at the story you will have to tell him or her. By the way is the baby a boy or girl?”

“Right now the baby is a pain!” Eurdell screamed to the top of her lungs. 

Viola did what she could to make Eurdell as comfortable as possible. Who would have thought that she would be on an elevator delivering her friend’s baby in the middle of a power outage on the hottest day of the year.  But, yet here they were. 

She followed all the directions the paramedics gave her and she changed places with Mrs. Green. Now Eurdell was holding her hand and Mrs. Green was telling her to breathe and when to push. 

Eurdell screamed that she couldn’t push anymore and that the baby would just have to stay inside until he was 10 years old. She was done. 

“Girl, if you don’t push this baby out I am going to tell you know who you know what.” Viola said hoping that would motivate her to push one last time.

“Ok, but this is the last push. If this baby doesn’t come out I am done.” Eurdell screamed as she pushed one last time. 

“She’s here!” Viola screamed. 

“She’s a girl?” Eurdell said trying to sit up but she was too tired to move.

“Yes, you have a daughter.” Viola placed the little baby in Eurdells  arms.

Just as the baby started crying the elevator started moving again. Everyone was startled but glad they were moving.  A few seconds later the doors opened to the first floor and standing there were the paramedics and a small group of tenants who cheered when the doors were open. 

“Love you  girl.” Viola whispered to her friend and kissed her forehead before the paramedics took her to the hospital.

“Love you too, Doctor Viola.”  Eurdell said as she waved from the ambulance.

“Oh boy! That was something.” Mrs. Green said to her daughter as she walked towards her. 

“Who would have thought that my 78 year old mama would have helped birth a baby girl in an elevator?”  Her daughter laughed as she gently kissed her mom on the cheek.

“Not me that’s for sure. But, the real person who did the most was Viola. She was a rock star!” Mrs. Green said, winking at Viola.

“Wanna ride with us to the hospital to visit our girl?” Mrs. Green asked as they walked out of the building. 

“Of course!” Viola answered.

Viola looked back at the elevator and she thought if those walls could talk.  She laughed and walked to the car to say hello again to her friend's sweet baby girl.