The woman screamed in pain, gripping her husband’s hand so tight he feared she might break it. He gently mopped the sweat off her brow with his free hand and tried to speak words of encouragement, even praying to try and calm her down and make the pain go away, trying to be helpful through this process that was so foreign to him.

                “Dear Lord,” he began, but faltered as he noticed her scowling at him. “Father God, protect your children, born and not yet born-“

                “Shut up!” she screamed as another contraction hit. Her body tensed up and she gripped his hand again. “God’s not listening to our prayers!”

                “Shhh…” he said softly, “don’t say that, God’s always listening to his children.” He knew his wife was in pain, but didn’t want her to go to hell for her blasphemy from her pain. “What do you want me to do?” he asked, starting to get frustrated.

                “Get someone who will listen,” she growled, relaxing against the bed as best she could, given the difficult labor she was experiencing.

                Without another word, he left her side, finding a phone book. It was too late to call any doctors office, and he knew that would piss her off more since she had tried to plan an “all natural birth.” God, how those words pissed him off. If he had known a natural birth meant watching his wife endure all this pain, he never would have allowed it.

                He began thumbing through the phone book in the medical section when an ad for a metaphysical healer caught his eye. In desperation, he called the number, not knowing what to expect, but figured they would still be what his wife insisted on as “natural.” He nearly dropped the phone when he heard a voice on the other end.

                “Isis, house of healing,” the bored voice droned.

                “My wife’s in labor…” Hoke whispered, sounding defeated.

                “We don’t-“

                “Please, you have to… She won’t let me call a doctor and she says God isn’t listening. Please, I’m afraid I’m going to lose her,” he said, finally admitting his worst fear to himself.

                “I honestly don’t know what to do, we usually refer people-“ the salesperson started.

                “”Who do you refer?” Hoke asked, sounding desperate.

                The sales guy put Hoke on hold while he looked up the phone number, “Her name is Ynes, and she is the local olorisha” he said then gave the guy the number to reach her at. He was about to say something else when he heard a click on the other end of the line.

                Hoke didn’t hesitate, dialing the number right away.

                “I’ve been waiting for your call,” a woman said as she picked up the phone.

                “I think you’re expecting someone else…” he trailed off.

                “Hoke?” the woman asked kindly.

                “How- how did you know?” he stammered.

                “I told you, I was waiting for your call. Has the time come? Is she in labor?” the woman asked.

                “How-“ he started to stammer the same question again, his mind swimming with questions.

                “There are a lot of things you have yet to understand. Where are you right now?” she asked.

                He muttered the address and could hear the woman’s smile on the other end. “I will be there shortly.”

                With that, the woman hung up and he returned to his wife. “Help is on the way,” he said softly, kneeling next to her.

                Paula was too weak to respond, her lips starting to turn blue and her skin looked paler than a sheet of blank white paper.

                Hoke began to panic, trying to figure out what to do, starting to wipe the perspiration off her cold brow, then trying to slap her cheeks to wake her up, finally feeling for a pulse. God, why hadn’t he insisted she see a doctor and have a normal delivery in a safe hospital, where nurses would make sure she and the baby were safe?

                It felt like an eternity later when he heard the doorbell sound. He ran to answer it, not wanting to leave Paula’s side for long, but hoping the woman could actually help.

                Hoke opened the door and the woman stepped inside without an invitation. A large tote bag was slung over her shoulder and she looked around quickly, “Well? Where is she?” Ynes asked curtly.

                He pointed down the hall towards their bedroom and watched as the woman began walking towards it. She looked over her shoulder at him and raised an eyebrow, “Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to help save your wife’s life?”