Chapter 5

The pager woke a very groggy me. I had taken a long time to get to sleep because I had been upset with Karen. I dressed quickly and went to the garage. The garage door was open, and Leon was loading a cooler into the van when I came into the garage. Clean sheets were on the stretcher.

Leon said, "She's at home; her water's broken."

I climbed in the passenger's side, and Leon drove to Dorothy's. He drove carefully. A minute wouldn't make much difference.

Leon took the portable ECG monitor and his medical bag as he walked to the door. Fred opened the door before Leon got to it and greeted him, "Glad you are here."

I pulled the stretcher from the van and rolled it to the door. Leon had the ECG five leads attached to Dorothy and read the monitor. "You heart and the baby's look good. Are you bleeding?"

"I don't think so."

I raised the stretcher to a height she could sit on easily. I said, "Let me help you onto the stretcher." I squeezed her arm. "You okay?"

"As well as can be expected. I'm ready."

Leon said, "You're doing fine. We'll have you there in no time."

Fred asked, "Should I get Sally or bring Freddy to the hospital now?"

Leon said, "You should have time to get Sally. It'll probably still be a while."

I took the front of the stretcher and pulled her to the van. Leon helped hold the stretcher as the wheels near Dorothy's head slid in and the legs collapsed. We locked the stretcher in place.

Leon said, "I'll drive. You stay with Dorothy."

Fred said, "Be careful. I'll be there soon."

I said to Leon, "Drive carefully. There's no need to hurry. " A neighbor came over and offered to keep Freddy, while Fred went for Sally.

Leon shut the van's rear doors, walked to the front and got behind the steering wheel. I sat in the jump seat beside Dorothy.

Leon said, "We're going to take it slow and easy. We have plenty of time."

I held her hand.

She said, "Thank you for coming and taking me. I feel better because you are here."

I gave her a quick kiss and squeezed her hand.

At the hospital, we pulled beside the emergency room door. Leon went to the back of the van and pulled the doors open. He climbed into the van and moved to the top of the stretcher.

He asked Dorothy, "How are you doing?"

She nodded. I could tell she was anxious.

I released the locking clamp that held the stretcher in place then went outside the van's back doors. I held the stretcher level as I pulled the stretcher out. Leon held the front. The legs dropped and caught as the stretcher came out. I held the foot of the stretcher and Leon held the head as we wheeled Dorothy into the emergency room. We stopped at the triage desk inside the door.

Leon greeted the nurse. Leon had done his clinical RN training at the hospital and knew a number of the nurses. He gave her Dorothy's vitals, and the nurse told us what area to take Dorothy."

The ER nurse asked Leon, "Are you staying with her?"

Leon said, "Yes; I'll try to stay out of the way."

Leon and I moved Dorothy from the stretcher to the gurney. A nurse attached a new monitor to Dorothy and called for a room assignment. I took the stretcher with the monitor on it to the van, put the stretcher in the back of the van, and moved the van to the parking area.

The ER nurse said, "They are expecting you in the maternity ward."

I said to Dorothy, "We are almost there."

We rolled the gurney to the maternity ward. The maternity ward head nurse knew Leon. She gave a room number for Dorothy.

We rolled Dorothy into the room, helped her change into a hospital gown, and helped her into the bed. The nurse came in to exam her, and I left.

The nurse had finished Dorothy's exam and prepped her. I stayed in the waiting room. I was nervous; a lot could go wrong. Fred came in soon after I sat down. I acted more certain that I really was.

He asked, "How's she doing?"

"No complications, the nurse is prepping her now."

A few minutes after Fred arrived, Leon came and got us. Fred went to Dorothy; I hung back and watched. Leon sat and looked like he was attempting to blend into the wall.

Fred said, "Sally's at home with Freddy. Sally's sister will come as soon as you leave here."

At nine, Dorothy's doctor examined her. He said to her, "Around noon, I expect I'll see you in the delivery room." He left.

Dorothy said, "You could go home and come back when I go into labor. It's going to be too long a day for you to stay. I'd rather have you here later."

I asked Leon, "Do you know a nurse who could stay with her tonight?"

He said, "I was in class with a couple of people who might be interested. Cash, off the books; probably one-sixty would do it for the eleven to seven shift."

I said, "Offer two hundred in cash."

The first person Leon called agreed to come in. Leon said, "She'll be here at ten-thirty and will stay until seven. Why don't you go back until Dorothy goes into labor? I'll page you then."

Dorothy said, "Go, I'll be alright. I don't want Karen mad at you."

I nodded and said, "I'll take a nap and come back." I drove the van back to the house.

Karen was in the family room. She asked, "How's Dorothy?"

"Leon and Fred are with her. The doctor said he expected her to go into labor around noon. I'm going to take a nap and go back later. Leon found someone to stay with her from eleven to seven."

I slept until ten-thirty, ate breakfast and got ready to go.

I said, "I'll take my car, and we can visit her for a second."

Not long after Karen and I got to the hospital, Dorothy went into labor.

I said to Leon, "I'll stay; you go back to the house and get some rest."

He said, "I can sleep in the recliner in here, until she gets back."

Karen went back to the house, and I walked beside Dorothy as they took her to the delivery room. Fred changed into scrubs.

She said, "We have names picked out. Howard and Mildred; Mildred's my mother's name."

He went into the delivery room. I went to the waiting room. About two-thirty Fred came to the waiting room. He said, "Dorothy and Howard are doing fine. Leon is with her in recovery. She should be back in her room in an hour. I'm exhausted. I don't know how she did it."

I said, "Leon said there was a recliner in her room. You could nap in it."

He said, "They don't allow visitors in the recovery room. I'll try to get a little nap."

"Maybe you could call Freddy and tell him his mother and new brother are alright."

"I'll call him from the room."

I called Karen from the payphone in the waiting room and went to the cafeteria. Karen came with flowers. She got them in the room before Dorothy returned. We took Polaroid pictures of Howard and Dorothy, with different combinations of a third person. Karen and I left right after the pictures were taken.

Karen asked, "Wasn't Howard your grandfather's name?"

"Yes it was. I hope he is as fine a man as Grandfather was."

When we got home I called Ania, "Dorothy had a boy. Both are doing well." I gave the same message to Lib. I called Eunice and Thornton. Eunice answered. I said, "Dorothy had a boy. Mother and son are doing well. We need to talk about something else, too. Karen wants to be an entertainment critic and do a segment twice a week on the WAPI evening news."

"Pat Neal does an entertainment review on her morning show. I'm not sure Karen's idea will work. Do you want me to tell API to do it anyway? I imagine there will be objections."

"Think about it. I'm getting some pressure, so to speak."

"Good news about Dorothy. Do they have a name?"

"She said they had decided on Howard."

Eunice said, "Better Howard than Robert ... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"I understand."

"I'll get right on the Karen thing."

"Thanks."

As soon as I got off the phone with Eunice, I asked Karen, "Where do you want to eat?"

She said, "Let's try the Prime Rib."

I called and got reservations. I said, "Six-thirty at the Prime Rib."

Lib called, and I asked Karen, "Lib wants us to come over Wednesday for a welcome home party for Beau and Libby; you up for it?"

She said, "I have to do it sometime. It'll be hard, but I can do it for you."

I said to Lib, "We'll be there."

On the way to dinner, I said, "I asked Eunice to think about your idea. She may want to talk more about it with you."

The prime rib was good; I thought the rest was ordinary. Still, not bad for Tuscaloosa, and Karen really liked it. I had gotten more like Hub; I preferred fresh vegetables, lots of tomatoes, cornbread, and a little pot roast or roasted chicken rather than fancy food. Occasionally, I liked a hunk of meat and fancy sauces, but only occasionally.

Monday was the first day of class. All first year law students (1Ls) were required to take the same courses during the fall: Civil Procedure, Contracts, Property, Torts, and Legal Research and Writing. Except for Legal Research and Writing, all my classes met in large lecture halls. Randy, the DKE brother who was the Air Force veteran, and I were in the same small section. All the people in a small section had the same class schedule. Everyone said that it was the group you most identified with in law school, much like the pledge class bonding in a fraternity.

After class, I went to the hospital to see Dorothy. She was feeding Howard when I came in. She said, "He's just like his daddy, he loves my breasts."

No one was around, so I bent over, gave her a kiss and licked a drop of milk off her tit. "He's not stupid."

She smiled and when Howard finished, she handed him to me. It was against some hospital rule for me to hold him, so I didn't hold him long.

I said, "He is precious." I gave him back to her.

A nurse came in and took Howard back to the nursery.

I said, "Just in case, I want you to know there are trusts set up for Freddy and Howard. Thornton is the trustee. If something happens to me, talk to Thornton first, then if you need to, ask Leon. They have gift giving powers and can help you if you ever need it. I set up a family trust for you and the children when Freddy was born."

She teared, "You didn't have to do that." She blinked her eyes. "I'm glad you came, but I'm tired now. I'm having difficulty staying awake."

I leaned over and kissed her. "Never forget, I love you."

Leon came in as I left. He stayed in the afternoon and early evening. His nurse friend stayed all night.

I left before Dorothy recovered enough to say anything. I went home, typed my class transcripts, and read the next day's assignments. I had rigged a tape recorder, which was hidden in a brief case, so I could tape all my lectures. I shared the tapes and class transcripts with Randy, who had agreed to tape classes if I missed them. Shinkle had made the sophisticated unit for me, so it could tape a full day of classes without changing tape, and it wouldn't cause microphone feedback problems. The Army Signal Support Group at Rucker and Hurlburt had very advanced electronic equipment, and Shinkle had access to their equipment. We didn't discuss the projects he worked on for them. He had learned to pilot helicopters after he and Henley moved to Summerdale and Barin. Shinkle kept one of the quiet ASA electronic monitoring helicopters in a secure hanger at Barin. Colonel Mac, Buterworth, Leon, Henley, and I were the only people Shinkle allowed in the helicopter with him. I felt honored. I was especially honored when he wanted me to get rated so I could pilot it. Shinkle's helicopter was faster than my Aero Commander.