Carson
“Looks like we can get a technician out . . . tomorrow. Probably,” the guy on the other end of the phone said.
“That’s not gonna work.”
“Well, unless there’s a life-threatening situation—”
I cut him off. “Like I told the lady who transferred me to you, there’s a woman in labor inside that elevator. This is a hospital. We pay for premium-level emergency service, and I need to be connected to someone who can help me troubleshoot this issue now.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. Then, “Hold, please.”
“Are you kidding me? I’ve been on hold three times already.”
He was already gone. I ran a hand through my hair in frustration and leaned my back against the wall next to the elevator doors.
Joss was so close—just ten feet or so away, but I couldn’t get to her. And even though I knew she was safe, the tension in her voice had rattled me. I could understand her worry. Even though she could deliver Amanda’s baby in there if she had to, something could go wrong. And she didn’t have any of the things that she needed for a delivery. Not that I knew what any of that was, but . . . towels, probably. They always needed towels and hot water in the movies.
My other cell phone vibrated with a call, and I picked it up. “Carson Stephens.”
“Hi, this is Lisa McGill down in ER. I think the main elevator is broken; we can’t get it to open.”
“Yeah, it’s out of service. I’m working on it.”
“Okay, we’ll put a sign on it and use another one.”
“Thanks.” I was about to sign off when I remembered one of the ER’s nurses was inside the elevator. “And hey, your nurse Amanda is stuck in there.”
“Stuck?” Lisa practically shrieked. “But she’s thirty-eight weeks pregnant!”
“I know that. But Joss Drake is in there with her. And I’m working on it.”
“Okay. Anything we can do to help?”
A voice came over the line on my other cell phone. “Hi Mr. Stephens, this is Michael Carrington.”
“Hang on,” I said to him.
Into my other phone, I said, “No, but thanks. I’ll let you guys know when I get it going.”
I ended the call and went back to Michael. “Yeah, are you a technician?”
“I’m a technician supervisor.”
I groaned. “Can you help me troubleshoot this issue? It’s not letting me do a manual override.”
“That’s a fail-safe.”
I waited for him to say more, and when he didn’t, I barked, “How can I fix it?”
“We’re working on remotely accessing the system to see if we can diagnose the issue. Is anyone on the elevator?”
“For the third time,” I ground out, “there is a pregnant woman in labor on that elevator.”
“Oh shit,” he mumbled.
“Yeah. So step it up, would you?”
A voice next to me drew away my attention. “She’s definitely in labor, then?”
I looked over and saw fucking Dean standing there, looking concerned. As if he had any right. I silently scowled at him.
“I’m expediting this,” Michael said to me.
“I need troubleshooting help. Now.”
“I know. I’m sorry. We’re working on it, I promise you. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll be back in touch.”
“Okay.”
I ended the call. Dean was giving me an expectant look.
“Is Amanda in labor? She texted me a couple hours ago that she thought she was having contractions.”
“Joss said she might be. I don’t know anything more than that.”
Dean took out his cell phone and pressed a button. He paced as he waited for an answer, then ended the call and shook his head.
“She’s not answering. Isn’t it your job to fix this?”
I didn’t want to lose my shit, but he was making it damned hard. “Yeah, it’s my job. I’m working on it.”
“Work harder. That’s my kid she’s in labor with. Did you say Joss is in there with her?”
I nodded.
“Thank God for that. Still, Amanda needs to be in a delivery room.”
“Nice of you to show up when she goes into labor. Where the hell were you when she was pregnant?”
His expression darkened. “That’s none of your business.”
“You were chasing after Joss, you piece of shit. Even though she’s with me now.”
He stepped closer to me. “Watch it, garbage man. I’m an attending physician here.”
“Makes no difference to me. If you cared about the rules around here, you probably wouldn’t have fucked a nurse while you were supposed to be working.”
He put both hands on my shoulders and shoved me. It caught me by surprise, and I fell back a step. I went at him with a harder shove, and he stumbled backward.
“You smug asshole,” he muttered.
He was headed for me again when one of my phones buzzed in my pocket.
“Hold on,” I said, grabbing it.
Joss’s smiling face came up on the screen, and I slid my finger across it to answer.
“Hey, how are you?”
She sighed. “We’re okay. Any idea when—”
A scream of pain in the background interrupted her. I heard it through the phone and through the wall.
“She’s definitely in labor, then,” I said.
“Yeah. Hang on.”
I heard her encouraging Amanda, and Dean reached for my phone. I stepped away from him.
“Give me the fucking phone!”
“Suck my cock, dipshit.”
His eyes went wide with alarm and anger, and then he charged me. I barely kept hold of the phone as we both landed on the ground and he threw random punches at me.
“You hit like a girl,” I said as I used my free arm to shove him up and off me.
“Son of a bitch,” he huffed out as he landed, the wind knocked out of him.
“Joss?” I said into the phone.
“What’s going on? Are you fighting with someone?”
Not wanting to alarm her, I said, “Not really. Everything’s fine, babe.”
Dean dove on top of me like an 80s pro wrestler, arms and legs outstretched and face contorted in anger as he fell toward me.
“Shit,” I muttered, trying to roll out of the way.
I was too late, though, and Dean and I both groaned in pain as he belly flopped onto me.
“Carson?” Joss cried. “What the hell is going on out there?”
I finally managed to inhale a breath, and then I said, “Dean.”
“Dean’s here?”
“He’s here?” Amanda cried in the background. “Put him on the phone, Joss. Please . . . put him on the phone.”
“Can you put Dean on your phone?” Joss asked me. “Amanda wants to—”
“He can use his own fucking phone.”
“Babe,” she said in a weary tone. “Just put him on the phone.”
I met Dean’s pissed-off gaze. “Hey, the woman you fucked over wants to talk to you. Just to clarify: it’s not the first one you fucked over; it’s the second one.”
He scowled at me and swiped the phone when I held it out to him.
“Hey,” he said, turning his back to me. “Yeah, I wouldn’t miss this . . . it’s gonna be okay. I get that it’s scary, but Joss is a good doctor . . . I know. . . . she’s delivered lots of babies, though. Yeah, we can talk, but first just get through this, okay? I’ll be here when you get out, and I’ll stay with you through the delivery.” He moved the phone away from his ear. Amanda was screaming so loud I could hear it through the wall again.
“You have to get them the fuck out of there,” he said to me in a low tone, covering the mouthpiece of the phone with his hand.
I approached him and leaned toward the phone, hearing Joss in the background.
“Baby’s crowning, Amanda. You’re doing so great. Forget about the phone.”
Dean gave me a pleading look. “If the baby’s crowning, it could be a matter of minutes. Come on, man.”
I couldn’t stand being helpless out here any longer, either. We were on the ambulatory surgery floor, the closest one to where the women were trapped, and even though it was a quiet floor at this time of day, people were starting to look at us through the glass windows on a set of closed doors. Word must have gotten out about Amanda being in labor in the elevator.
“Okay, get a paramedic team up to the seventh floor,” I told Dean. “Brief them. I’m going into the elevator shaft through the access door on the seventh floor. I’ll take off the panel on top of the elevator. We’ll either get them out or get more people and supplies in.”
Dean took off running in one direction, and I went the other. If Joss had to deliver this baby inside the elevator, I could at least make sure she wasn’t alone doing it.