It Had To Be You (26 page)

He thought of Lela standing so close to
Singer that their arms touched and her lovely auburn hair brushed
his shoulder. He thought of Josh clinging to the doctor. And he
thought of the anniversary party for Sophia and Tony. So he grabbed
Lexie Wellington’s hand. “You know what, I agree. I’m all in.”

“
Then let’s see where this
goes.”

Because Alexis was staying overnight in the
spare room at Rachel’s condo, she walked Beck to the door.

“
So, you think a good night kiss is in
order?” he asked, staring down at the lovely woman before
him.

“
I do.”

She went up on her tiptoes, and he lowered
his head.

A scream, loud and curdling, came from within
the house. Alexis jerked back. “Oh, my God, that’s Rachel.”

o0o

Beck followed Alexis down the hall to the
master bedroom. She whipped open the door and found Rachel stiff
and sweaty, sitting up, pillows behind her. Gabe bolted off the
bed.

“
She’s in labor.” Hoarse emotion
claimed his voice. “She said she’s had pains all night but didn’t
want to ruin the party. She fell asleep and woke up like
this.”

Calm and cool, Alexis strode to the two of
them. “Are you in labor, sweetie?”

“
No,” Rachel huffed out. “The baby’s
going to come. I need to push, Lexie. I know what that means.”
Rachel was an EMT, trained to deliver babies. “Oh, God, will she be
all right?”

As he rushed out of the room, Beck heard
Lexie say, “Of course. I’ve delivered plenty of infants. And we’ve
got two of America’s Bravest to help us.”

He strode to the linen closet in the hall and
grabbed several towels and a blanket off the shelf. “Oh, man, God
is watching over us.” He took a box of plastic gloves off a lower
shelf.

When he returned, Gabe was coaching his wife.
“Breathe, honey. That’s it. In and out.” They’d turned Rachel on
her side.

Beck handed Lexie towels, one of which she
slid under Rachel. Then she donned gloves. When Alexis began to
pull Rachel’s pajamas bottoms off, he asked, “Do you want me to
leave?” He worried about his friend’s modesty.

“
Absolutely not. Put on some gloves.
You’re going to help me. Gabe, keep massaging her back.”

“
It’s okay, love,” Gabe said
soothingly, rubbing the lower part of her back. “It’s
okay.”

“
I know.” Another contraction hit and
Rachel rode it. “She’s coming.”

“
Let’s get her on her back, sitting up
against the pillows.” They complied and Rachel bent both
legs.

Calmly, Alexis said, “I can see the head.
Lots of dark hair, sis.”

“
Lexie…”

“
Everything’s fine. Now push. Don’t
yell, use your energy to get her… Oh, her head’s out.”

Beck gasped at the sight of this wonderful
event. He’d never delivered a baby.

Rachel strained and her face got red.

“
Now stop for a sec. Okay, I’ve got her
shoulders. All right. One more push, honey.”

“
Arrgh…” Rachel pushed and out slid a
beautiful, red, wrinkled bundle.

Beck was awestruck.

“
I want to see her.” This from
Mom.

“
Stay still for a minute,
honey.”

Beck noted that the umbilical cord had
wrapped around the child’s neck and his pulse quickened. Alexis
didn’t miss a beat. Slowly, she loosened the cord enough to form a
loop and slipped the baby through. Alexis put her fingers in the
baby’s mouth and cleaned out mucus. Then she massaged the baby’s
back and a lusty cry filled the air. Had he ever heard a more
beautiful sound?

“
Beck, take the baby in a towel. Dry
her off, but don’t pull on the cord. You’ll have to stay bent
over.”

He took the tiny bundle, who’d stopped
screaming and was staring up at him. After she was cleaned up a
bit, Lexie said, “Put her back on Rachel’s stomach. Careful of the
cord.”

Gently Beck placed the little miracle on
Rachel’s tummy. “Now cover them with a blanket. Keep your knees up,
Rach. I have to deliver the placenta. Beck, get a pan for
this.”

Still reeling, Beck hightailed it to the
kitchen, grabbed a round bowl from a cupboard and rushed back just
in time to see the sac come out. Meanwhile, Rachel held the child
with tears in her eyes and Gabe looked poleaxed. “Oh, Gabe. Our
little angel is here.”

Alexis placed the placenta in the bowl,
keeping it near Rachel.

“
Now, get scissors. Where,
Gabe?”

“
In the kitchen. Drawer on the right of
the sink.”

“
Boil some water and sterilize
them.”

Again, he raced to the kitchen, did what she
ordered and went hurrying back to the bedroom.

By now, Rachel was nursing the child. “That’s
right, honey. This’ll offer her comfort and make your uterus
contract.”

Beck handed the scissors to Alexis, and she
expertly cut the cord and put gauze over it. “They’ll fix this up
if they need to at the hospital, but it looks pretty clean to
me.”

“
Oh, hell,” Gabe said, running a hand
through his hair. “I didn’t call 911.”

“
I’ll do it.” Beck whipped out his
phone and walked out.

When that task was completed, he reentered
the room. The tableau was something he’d never forget as long as he
lived. Gabe had his arm around Rachel as she nursed, brushing her
hand over the baby’s dark hair. Alexis sat back and watched, her
face glowing, too.

Rachel looked up at him, then at her sister.
“I’ve decided on a name.”

Gabe said, “Yeah, honey, we picked
Maria.”

“
Nope. Maria is now Alexis Sloan
Wellington Malvaso. We’ll call her Ali to keep things
straight.”

It was then that Alexis burst into tears.

And Beck grinned hugely.

“
House fire on Ambrose Street.
Single-family dwelling. Rescue 7 and Quint/Midi 7 go into
service.”

In the dark of night, twelve firefighters
bounded out of bed. No one grumbled at the interruption of sleep,
something Beck had appreciated from day one. He hated whiners. They
donned their uniforms and hustled downstairs to the bay, where they
jumped into their turnout pants and boots.

On the way to the fire, Sydney drove as
Felicia, who was in charge of the group while Gabe took two weeks
off to be with Rachel and the baby, rode shotgun. Felicia glanced
back at them. “Simple house fire, but stay on your toes. You never
know what the Red Devil’s gonna do.”

“
With any luck, we’ll be able to catch
a few more zees.” This from O’Malley, who was the grumpiest when
deprived of sleep, but at least he kept his mouth shut about
it.

“
Aw, whatsamatter, Brody?” Sydney
teased. “Afraid you won’t get your beauty rest.”

“
Stop picking on me.” He elbowed Beck.
“They been doing this since Ramirez left. Can’t help it if I’m the
best-looking guy on the squad now.”

The banter continued as the rig roared to the
fire. Once there, the rescue truck screeched to a halt in front of
a narrow three-story building. Flames licked the roof and shot out
of the upper windows. Plumes of gray smoke rose from the structure.
The smell of gas fumes and burning wood greeted them when they left
the truck.

Erikson had already arrived at the scene.
Looking up from his computer, which perched on the hood of his
Jeep, he called out to the officers, “Holmes, get water on the
fire. The roof looks spongy, so nobody goes up there. White, three
people made it out. They say the house is empty inside, but we
gotta search the place. The blaze is rolling pretty hard, so be
prepared to evacuate fast.”

White barked orders for her group to follow
her inside.

Buttoned up to his chin, Beck began to sweat
in the hot July night. He was second last and had just reached the
porch when somebody ran up to him and Sands, who followed him. “My
dogs are in there. My dogs… Can you get them out?”

Beck nodded and said to the young Hispanic
woman, “We’ll try our best to get them out. Where are they?”

“
They sleep in a cubby under the
stairs. I…I got scared and forgot about them.”

White spoke into the radio. “Sloan and
O’Connor, take the downstairs. The rest of us, up.”

Visibility was poor, but Beck could see the
outlines of a living room as he followed O’Connor, who was subbing
for Gabe. They wouldn’t split up, because firefighters always
worked in pairs. The living room was empty, so they searched the
small dining area, then the kitchen. From upstairs he heard through
the mic, “Bedroom on right, clear,” and “Second bedroom, empty.”
Then White, “Let’s go. O’Connor, you done?”

“
Yeah. We’re on our way
out.”

“
What about the dogs?” Beck
asked.

“
What dogs?” he asked, as he hadn’t
heard the conversation outside.

The house shook and rattled loudly.
Immediately, the evacuation horn blew. “Never mind. We’re outta
here.” Grady’s mandate was stern. “We leave now, Sloan.”

Beck never disobeyed orders. He’d spent his
whole life following them and then giving them. But when O’Connor
made a beeline for the door, Beck detoured to the staircase, where
he heard a soft mewling beneath them. Yanking open the small door,
he found the two dogs curled up into each other, barely able to
make the sounds. Quickly Beck scooped them up and rushed
outside.

No one seemed to notice him, so maybe
O’Connor hadn’t caught his little detour and delay. Unobtrusively,
he crossed the sidewalk to a safe distance away from the fire—which
was fully involved—and stopped under a big oak tree. Gently, he set
the dogs on the ground.

The owner, who’d spoken to him earlier rushed
over. “Oh, no, oh no. My dogs.” She dropped to her knees and picked
up the larger of the two Yorkies. “Hattie, come on girl,” she said
as she gently patted the dog’s face.

Beck took off his mask and dropped to the
ground.

“
They’re not breathing.” The woman
looked up at him with frightened, brown eyes.

Carefully, Beck took the pet from her,
cradled it in his lap and placed his mask over its mouth. Not too
long after, the small furry chest began to heave up and down.
Setting her aside, Beck turned to the second animal. “Jesus.” This
one was a three-pounder at the most.

The woman grasped on to Hattie and hugged her
close. “That’s Huxley. He’s so little, he might not—” She cut off
abruptly, her voice raw.

Beck looked down. The mask was almost as big
as the dog.

Still, he held the tiny mutt in one hand and
set the mechanism the over him. It totally enveloped him. Soon,
this one began to breathe, too. A strong sense of relief flowed
through Beck; he must be getting soft to be so moved by saving
animals when he hadn’t been able to save some people during his
career.

The owner deflated. “Thank you so much. So
much. I…” She hugged Hattie while Beck cuddled Huxley to his chest.
The thing literally fit in one hand.

After a few minutes, he sensed people around
them. Glancing up, he saw his crew, all of them, even the chief.
Sands bent down with a bowl of water. Hattie went right for it and
lapped up the drink. When he set Huxley down, the tiny dog limped
over, too.

“
What ya got there, Beck?” O’Malley
asked.

Ryan O’Malley, his cop brother, peeked over
Brody’s shoulder. “It’s a rat? Ow…ee, Beck saved a rat.”

Running a couple of fingers over Huxley’s
soft head, Beck shook his head. “He’s a three-pound Yorkie,
jerk.”

“
Big rescue, Sloan.” This from
O’Connor.

Felicia added, “Worth breaking ranks
for?”

Beck endured the teasing until someone from
outside the circle yelled out. “Could you all move so I can finish
filming?”

When his group parted to make an opening,
Beck saw the TV crew. A female reporter. And a guy holding a video
camera.

“
Tell me you didn’t,” Beck
muttered.

The reporter asked, “Didn’t what?”

“
Tape all this.”

“
Of course we did. It’ll be all over
the news tomorrow. Now, Firefighter Sloan, is this your first doggy
rescue?”

Oh, hell, Beck thought as Huxley nipped at
his hand.
I’ll never live this down.

o0o

Dr. Christian Singer bit his lip and averted
his gaze from Lela’s to ask the man who was face down on the gurney
and moaning loudly, “Mr. Lipinsky, I have a few questions.”

“
Just get it the fuck out of
there.”

“
I, um, need to know, was this a solo
adventure or was someone with you?”

“
What does it matter?” the guy shouted,
all dignity and sense of decorum lost after he’d apparently shoved
a vibrator up his rectum.

“
Angle, strength of…er…insertion
matter. What’s with the tongs?”

“
I tried to get the damn thing out with
them.”

And they’d gotten stuck, too.

Suddenly the guy stiffened and howled in
acute pain.

“
Intermittent pain, Nurse Allen. What
do you think?” Christian’s eyes, made bluer by his scrub cap,
twinkled at her.

“
Maybe the thing turns on and off with
a delay timer.”

Christian choked on a laugh and tried to
cover it with a cough. “All right, let’s get them out of here.
Forceps.”

An hour later, Lela sat with Christian,
outside on a bench, drinking cups of strong coffee. They were still
chuckling like kids instead of an experienced doctor and nurse. “I
don’t know why this tickles me,” Christian said, “We’ve seen things
shoved up people’s asses before.”