Lost and Found [antikvár]

December 24, 1930 Tulsa, Oklahoma Someone told her to squat for as long as she could and let her legs absorb the pain. But a searing agony cut down from her breasts across her abdomen and exploded in her groin, and she couldn't sustain the position. The baby was shifting inside her. A comforting hand reached out to stroke her shoulder. 'What can I do? Is this your first?' She tried to answer, but the upheaval pushed her onto her knees in a curious attitude of prayer and left her fiercely whispering, 'God,' over and over again, not praying, but more like a persistent child in need of attention. 'Go on, make all the noise you want. No one can hear you down here.' Someone was in the room with her. Who? She didn't know and couldn't take the time to look. The pain was coming at her again, causing her to roll onto her side, both hands clutching at her swollen belly. In the comer of the shadowy room she saw dim distortions, a stack of boxes on the verge of collapsing, a strange line of mops and brooms like pencil-thin soldiers waiting for battle. Her shoulders contracted in an attempt to accommodate new agony, the shifting weight in her stomach struggling as she was struggling, both longing to be free of each other. She ground her head backward on the floor and bit her lip in an effort to keep from screaming. 'How can I help? Please, tell - ' Someone was hovering over her, a useless someone who could do nothing but watdi, and she was sorry for the sounds she was making, sorry for the hot water now gushing between her legs, the circle spreading beneath her hips, her knees raised in a futile attempt to ease the pain. Somewhere 11