Hold My Hand

Clean up always seemed to take forever, but finally, they arrived back at the firehouse and Taylor sat down to have her first coffee of the day. She was in the middle of preparing lunch, when squad returned and Kelly entered the rec room.

“What happened to you?” Taylor inquired as she noticed the butterfly stitches above his eye.

“Got hit by a piece of debris,” Kelly replied, pouring himself some water and leaning against the counter, “What’s for lunch?”

“Tacos.”

Once everything was ready, she put it up on the counter and told everyone to help themselves. The next couple of hours were quiet, but eventually, another call came in and Taylor jumped into action. The manager of the hotel was already waiting when they arrived, leading them to the broken-down elevator and explaining what was going on.

“Taylor, harness up,” Matt instructed, earning a nod from Taylor and sorting out his own harness to back her up if need be.

“Harness and line secure,” Herrmann announced a few minutes later.

Moving over to the doors that had already been pried open, she turned her back to them and waited for the all-clear to descend. It wasn’t long before Mills’ voice crackled over the radio and she carefully made her way down the shaft, until she was standing on top of the cart.

“How’s everyone doing?” Taylor asked as she lifted the hatch.

“My girlfriend is having contractions,” one of the men answered in a panic.

“How’s it looking down there, Taylor?” Matt inquired.

“I have four trapped, one is a heavily pregnant female experiencing contractions...” Taylor reported back, turning her attention to the woman, “What’s your name?”

“Hannah.”

“I’m Taylor, how far along are you?”

“I’m three days overdue.”

“There’s no way of getting her out, Case, she’s three days overdue and about to give birth any minute.”

Crouched down in front of the hysterical mom-to-be, Taylor motioned to her legs and lifted her dress when she nodded in agreement. As soon as she saw the top of the baby’s head, she quietly cursed under her breath and took a minute to center herself.

“Taylor?” came Matt’s concerned voice from above her.

“This baby is coming right now.”

‘Lift maintenance has just arrived’ Otis informed them.

“I need to push,” Hannah exclaimed through gritted teeth, causing Taylor to nod and remove her jacket as she helped her lay back as much as possible, “Have you ever delivered a baby?”

“Once... the baby’s head is already crowning,” Taylor told Hannah as she moved into position, “When you feel the urge to, I need you to push as hard as you can.”

Within two pushes the baby’s head was out and Taylor checked to make sure that the umbilical cord wasn’t wrapped around its neck, before instructing Hannah to push again. It took three hard pushes from Hannah, before the baby was fully out and its screams filled the small space. Not wanting her to get cold, Taylor wrapped the beautiful little girl in her dad’s jumper and smiled down at the baby in her arms.

“Is she okay?” Hannah asked through her tears as the lift lurched and started moving.

“She’s just fine,” Taylor replied, handing the baby over and relaxing back against the wall in relief.

“Here Tay,” Shay stated as soon as the doors opened, handing Taylor a clamp and a pair of scissors.

With the umbilical cord clamped in place, she handed the scissors over to the dad and showed him where to cut. Leaving the family in the capable hands of ambulance 61, Taylor headed outside to the rig and used the bottled water they carried to clean herself up a little.

They soon arrived back at the firehouse and Taylor went straight to the showers, resting her head against the cool tiles as the water washed over her. It took her longer than usual to rein in her emotions, but she was soon dressed in fresh clothes and making her way to the rec room to join the others.