“Odd,” Ham said, his attention turned from Rita for a mere moment.
“Excuse me, sir,” Hargreaves said, leaving the room to get the telephone.
“Are you cold?” Ham asked his wife.
“No, I—” Rita shook her head. A moment later, Rita gasped, this horrifying breath of pain.
“A doctor!” Jack declared.
“I’ll get one,” Victor said, rushing out of the dining room followed by Kate.
“I’ll get Nanny,” Denny called. He was already at the door and racing ahead.
Vi leapt to her feet, crossing to Rita as Ham lifted her. The moment he did, she groaned. The pain was as evident as the storm growling outside. Jack threw the door open, holding it for Ham to carry Rita through.
“I did what they said,” Rita was nearly babbling. “I stayed calmed, I rested, I—” She pressed her face into Ham’s neck and Vi could hear a constant mumbling of self-recriminations and protestations that she’d followed everyone’s counsel.
Ham’s murmuring in return was low and comforting, but it didn’t seem to break through Rita’s terror. Vi followed, crying along with Rita until she gasped again. It was pain-filled and ended when Rita held her breath, her face screwed up in pain.
A moment later thunder cracked and an almost immediate sound of lightning striking nearby made them all pause and then the lights turned off again.
They were halfway up the stairs and Ham’s curse was dark and fierce.
“I’ll get a candle,” Vi called. She reached out for the banister and carefully felt her way down the stairs. Lila had already left the dining room with the candle, and they hurried back to the stairs together.
The moment there was enough light to see by, Ham continued to carry Rita up, and they followed at top speed. Victor, Vi was sure, had either contacted the doctor or gone for one. There was one who was close enough to hurry towards on foot even if it was raining too hard to motor over.
Jack had thrown open the door to Rita and Ham’s usual room, but Ham didn’t lay her down. He’d taken a seat on the side of the bed and was holding Rita as she gasped. Vi found herself staring from the doorway. Vi knew she was crying along with Ham and Rita, but it wasn’t enough to stop what was happening.
Vi found herself moved to the side and realized that Denny had physically lifted her out of the way for Nanny to step in. The woman took in the scene and Vi just heard the low murmur. “I was afraid of this.”
Vi rubbed her chest as Nanny shooed out Jack and Vi and shut the door. Nanny tried to get rid of Ham too, but the look he gave her had her holding her hands up in surrender.
“Jack—” Vi said, turning to him and wrapping her arms around his neck. She didn’t know what to do or how to act. She didn’t know how to deal with Rita suffering or the fact that something had gone wrong, again, with the baby. She pressed her face into his chest and wept until Victor appeared with a candle, shedding light in the hallways.
“The doctor is on his way.” Victor sounded sick. Vi nodded against his chest, not looking up from Jack’s chest. “He is attending another birth and will be here as soon as he can. Kate has gone upstairs to help with the little ones.”
Vi shuddered, so grateful that Rita and Ham hadn’t been alone, so grateful they were together, and so, so terrified that they were going to lose Rita. Would the baby make it? Vi was very afraid that he wouldn’t.
Would Rita die? Vi thought, given how the pregnancy wasn’t that far along, that Rita might be all right—at least physically. The calculations that Vi was making were nauseating. Everything about this was nauseating. She pressed harder into Jack.
As the evening progressed, they kept vigil outside of Rita’s room. Vi sat on the floor next to Jack, her head on his shoulder. Victor was on her other side, watching the door when he wasn’t checking on Kate. Lila and Denny sat a little farther down. Eventually Beatrice and Smith appeared to join the vigil. Long after there was any hope for the baby surviving, the doctor arrived. In the end, he could only try and reassure them that Rita’s prognosis was good.
Chapter 11
Somewhere around dawn, Vi asked, “Who telephoned earlier?”
It was the idlest of questions and Vi didn’t really care. What she wanted was to see Rita, but Rita didn’t want to see anyone. She was curled into her bed, with Ham refusing to let her go, holding her while she cried. The rest of them sat outside in the hallway and stared helplessly at the closed bedroom door.
“Ah,” Victor cleared his throat. “Oh—the woman you’re working for, Jack. She was a little hysterical when I arrived, but I fear I ended the call.”
Jack didn’t shift and he didn’t answer follow-up questions, but Vi snorted. Jack would need to go to his next appointment with the woman on his own. She curled more deeply into Jack’s side, but he stood and pulled Vi up with him.
“It’s morning. We should sleep while they rest so we can help when they’re ready to move.”
Vi didn’t argue and didn’t even realize she was still just staring at the closed door until Victor pressed a kiss to her temple. “I’ll go check on Kate and the babies and head to bed.”
Violet thought to follow her brother, but instead, she watched as Jack hauled Denny to his feet, who in turn lifted the half-sleeping Lila and headed a few doors down to their bedroom. It was Beatrice who rose first, nudging Smith until he followed her away from Rita and Ham’s door.
“Jack—” Vi shook her head. She didn’t know what to say or do, but she didn’t think she could sleep.
“I know, Vi,” he said gently and then sort of
