Birth

Chapter One



“The birthing room is ready for you.”  Jill nodded at the maternity nurse who had been assisting with the birth.  She had been waiting to go in there to see if the aftermath of the birth of a crack baby was different than a normal birth.  More blood.  Maybe vomit.  She slowed when passing the crack mother’s room with her cleaning cart.  She wanted a glimpse of the baby.  She saw the girl she remembered from high school.  She was pale, sleeping.  Her hair had been a light, true blonde in school but Jill thought it looked white now. She didn’t look peaceful.  She looked old.  She looked passed out.  She would stay that way for fourteen hours. 



Jill walked in the doorway to the birthing room and noticed first that they had left the lights low the way they often had them during births.  Low lights were supposed to be calming.  She turned on the overhead fluorescents to get a better view of what needed to be done.  It was then that she saw the baby was still in the birthing room.  It was in the corner lying in an incubator.  Surprised, she turned the lights off again and stepped back.  Normally the baby would be sleeping beside the mother’s bed.  But this baby was already set for adoption.  It occurred to Jill that the mother had probably not even held it.  She stepped closer.  The baby was a girl.  She wore only a pink hat and a diaper. Jill noticed the wire adhered to the baby’s chest. Her heart was being monitored. 



This baby girl’s skin looked delicate.  In the quiet half-light of the room, Jill studied her.  She had been cleaned up and had Vaseline on her eyelids.  Newborns were normally wrapped but this baby in the incubator was not.  Her legs were drawn up in the front and on her right side.  Her arms lay bent on each side of her.  She was completely still aside from the steady rise and fall of her chest.  As Jill stood looking, it seemed the light from the room focused on the baby.  And then the light further transferred and it was as if the baby was the source of the light in the room.  Light crept from her skin.  Her eyelids reflected light but seemed to have light coming from behind them as well.  Her head almost down to her eyebrows was covered in light blonde fuzz catching, emitting light. 



Jill’s breath caught and she felt something like the tilt of a keel inside her.  Her life was changing direction.  Looking at this baby, she was coming about.