Free Roll the Dice by Mimi Barbour

screwing up? Screwing up, that’s funny.” Her laughter sounded
close to hysteria and Aurora knew she had to calm her.
    “Hey, that’s not what I meant and you know it. It wasn’t your fault.”
    “You’re right. It was Cory’s fault. He had to try and make me feel
better. Sure—take away the bad memories and replace them with good ones. How
the hell could I have fallen for his bullshit?”
    “Because it wasn’t! You know he was sincere, that he’d loved you for
years. And you loved him.”
    “If he loved me so much, why didn’t he use a condom? The bastard!” She
screamed the last two words, her face contorting almost beyond recognition.
    The older nurse, who’d been in and out of the delivery room, returned
and set a bowl of cool water and a clean cloth down next to where Aurora leaned
over the bed. On the same tray lay a dish of ice chips. “Listen darling, Let
the contraction happen. Stop fighting. Go with it.”   Her voice rang with authority from being in hundreds of
deliveries.
    “You go—” Debbie’s muffled words couldn’t be heard from behind Aurora’s
hand.
    “She’s not herself, nurse. Truly, she’s normally a levelheaded
sweetheart but having a baby doesn’t seem to agree with her much.
    The nurse chuckled and said. “You wouldn’t believe what I’ve been told
to do to myself since I began working the maternity ward. I don’t take it
personally. You can let her go.”
    Aurora had eased the pressure almost immediately, and with her eyebrow
raised, she spoke to the sweating, flushed woman on the bed. “You gonna settle
down?”
    “Bite me!” Debbie’s tone had lessened and her eyes had shifted from
hysterical to merely pain filled.
    Another contraction began that took all of her concentration and most of
the fight out of her. This time she let Aurora wipe the sweat from her face and
neck. She even turned her cheek into the gentle hand as if seeking reassurance.
Without any hesitation, Aurora smoothed her hair back from her forehead and
caressed her. You’re doing great, Deb.”
    “Never thought I’d be a mom. This should be happening to you, not me.
You’re the one who’s always going ga-ga over the kids at the centre. Hell you
go nuts when there’s a family dispute involving children. Not me. I’m the career
woman.”
    “Yeah, yeah! A real professional.”
    “I mean it! I never cared if I had kids, never exactly wanted them.”
    “So why’d you keep this one? You had good reason not to go through with
the pregnancy.”
    “Hell if I know. On the chance it’s Cory’s baby and I couldn’t hurt
anything that belongs to him, I guess….arrgg shut up and help me…”
    The contraction lasted longer than the others and Aurora could see her
friend losing strength with each episode. She seemed to slip into a dazed
semi-conscious state that worried Aurora.
    Whispering in a harsh voice, she questioned the nurse who’d stayed in
the background, fiddling around with her charts.
    “Why isn’t the kid coming out? She’s really tired, Nurse.”
    “Last time I checked, she still had a way to go. She’s doing just fine,
my dear. It’s not an easy process for lots of young women, but they make it
through, trust me.”
    Aurora kept wiping Debbie’s forehead, trying to cool her down and make
her more comfortable. She held her hand and fed her ice chips from time to time
when her eyes opened, foggy and disoriented.
    Half an hour passed before she panicked. “Why isn’t she having more
contractions? They’ve stopped.” Stomach tensed and with a headache clamouring,
she turned to the nurse. “What’s wrong?”
     
    Just then Debbie thrust into a half-sitting position as if whatever in
her tummy had pulled on chords like a puppet. “I have to push. Help me, the
baby’s coming. This is it.”
    Within moments, the nurse had rung for Dr. Montgomery and set up a
delivery kit. Aurora stayed near Debbie’s head to help support her when she
bore down, and the others nonchalantly