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FiveBucks Run in the midwife’s dusty Olds The oaks, maple, and hickory are covered in leaves now, a beautiful blur of sureed to this Was it just to be nice to Patience? We owe her a lot Was it out of some kind of sense of duty as a nurse? Was it the lure of sharing Patience’s fee? I hate to think it was only the latter I’rubber Poverty will do that to you Once you’ve been broke, you’re always looking for a dime

I’m about to ask Patience about Danny’s birth, what the experience had been like for her, when she h a foot of water, and pulls up in front of a dingy white two-story farmhouse hat looks like a chicken coop attached to the side

A man waves wildly from the front steps, then runs back inside as a woman screams Patience is already in ht behind you" I enter the upstairs bedroom as a disheveled, unshaven father in coveralls backs out He looks doipes tears from his eyes with a red bandanna, and runs down the hall

"Asepto suction," co for and find it wrapped in white cloth at the bottoe with a red rubber bulb that’s used to suck out the newborn’s nose and et a look at the baby and my stomach drops It’s a tiny limp male, around five pounds, covered in ency If the newborn aspirates the brown stuff that’s been floating around in his e to get it out of his airway before he breathes, his chances are better Gently she places the pointed glass tube in hisout only clear fluid, no et hi" She hands me the wet infant and pulls out her fetoscope to listen for the second twin’s heartbeat

"Okay, little one Let’s hear you cry Open up those lungs" I give him a few pats on the butt and he wails

"Is he okay? Is he all right?" sobs Lucy Mitchell Her face is red and sweating, her golden eyes ith tears "I tried to wait for you, but he was co and I couldn’t stop"

Patience listens to the second twin’s heartbeat as she consults the pocket watch hanging on a ribbon around her neck "One hundred and fifty-two beats per minute, just fine"

"One hundred and fifty-two," I repeat out loud, to remember the rate, then reach over and take the mother’s pulse "One hundred and ten" That’s fast, but then she just delivered a baby unattended, which would be enough to accelerate anyone’s heartbeat

"Can you help get the baby nursing, Becky? It will bring on the next set of contractions Sometianizes itself I need to do a vaginal exa I think it’s a head, but I’m not sure"

Lucy doesn’t need any help froainst the newborn’s cheek, and the baby opens his mouth, just the way nature intended

"What will you need next, Patience? Scissors? Sterilized string to tie off the cord? Anything else?"

"That should be it Oh, so tonic You know about that?"