"Please, Sabra. Let Doc explain."
The girl's eyes moved back to Doc but they regarded him warily. "I'm thinking not only of you and the baby," he said, "but of Ronnie too. The sooner he brings this to an end, the better it's going to be for him."
"My daddy will kill him."
"No he won't. Not if you and Katherine are safe."
Her eyes filled with tears. "You don't understand. He's only pretending to want us safe. Last night when we told him about the baby, he threatened to kill it. He said if he could, he would cut it out of me right then and strangle it with his bare hands. That's how much he hates Ronnie, how much he hates our being together."
Tiel gasped. She'd never heard a flattering word about Russell Dendy, but this testimony of his cruelty was shocking.
How could anyone be so heartless? Doc's lips compressed into a thin line.
"That's the kind of person my daddy is," Sabra continued.
"He hates to be crossed. He'll never forgive us for defying him. He'll have Ronnie sent to prison forever, and he'll make certain that I never see my baby again. I don't care what he does to me. If I can't be with them, it doesn't matter what happens to me."
She tilted her head down and rested her cheek against her newborn. The peach fuzz on the baby's small head blotted Sabra's tears from her cheeks. "You've both been great to me. Truly. I hate to disappoint you. But you won't change my mind about this. Until they let Ronnie and me walk out of here with Daddy's promise to leave us alone, I'm staying. Besides, Doc, I trust you more than I would any doctor at a hospital my daddy sent me to."
Doc swiped his sweating forehead with the back of his hand and sighed. He looked across at Tiel, who raised her shoulders in a defeatist's shrug.
"Okay," he said reluctantly. "I'll do my best."
"I don't doubt that." Sabra winced. "Is it really bad?"
"There's nothing I can do about the bleeding from the tear. But the vaginal bleeding… Remember earlier when I told you to rest because I might have to ask you to do something for me later?"
"Um-huh."
"Well, I'd like for you to nurse Katherine."
The girl shot Tiel a stunned glance. "The nursing will cause your uterus to contract and reduce the bleeding," she explained.
Doc smiled down at Sabra. "Ready to give it a try?"
"I guess so," she replied, although she seemed unsure and embarrassed.
"I'll help you." Tiel reached for the scissors, which had been wiped clean. "Why don't I use these to clip the shoulder seams of your dress? We can pin them back afterward, but that'll keep you from having to get undressed."
"That'd be good." She seemed relieved to give over some of the decision-making to Tiel.
"I'll let you ladies have some privacy. Uh, Ms., uh, Tiel?"
Doc motioned her to stand, and they held a brief, private consultation. "Do you know anything about this?"
"Nothing. My mother stopped breast-feeding me when I was three months old. I don't remember it."
He smiled wanly. "I meant other than being on the receiving end."
"I knew what you meant. That was a joke. But the answer is still no."
"Well then, of the three of you, Katherine will be the most knowledgeable. Position her correctly and she'll act on instinct. At least I hope she will. A few minutes on each breast."
"Right," Tiel said with a brisk nod.
She knelt down beside Sabra and applied the scissors to the shoulder seams of her sundress. "From now on, I suggest you start wearing tops that button up the front. Or something loose that you can lift up and drape over Katherine. One time, on a long flight to Los Angeles, I sat next to a mother with an infant. She breast-fed the baby all the way, and no one except me knew it, and I did only because she was in the seat beside me. She was completely covered the whole time."
The chatter was intentional, meant to distract Sabra and relieve her bashfulness. When she was finished ripping out the seams, Tiel peeled down one side of her bodice. "Now lower your bra strap and pull down the cup.
Here, let me hold Katherine." Sabra looked around self-consciously "No one can see," Tiel assured her.
"I know. But it feels weird."
"I'm sure it does."
When Sabra was ready, Tiel handed Katherine back to her. The newborn had been making soft, mewling noises, but the moment she felt the fullness of Sabra's breast against her cheek, her mouth began rooting for the nipple.
She found it, tried to latch on, couldn't. After several attempts, the baby began to wail. She flailed tiny fists, and her face turned red.
"Everything okay?" Doc called.
"Fine," Tiel lied.
Sabra sobbed in frustration. "I'm not doing it right.
What am I doing wrong?"
"Nothing, sweetheart, nothing," Tiel said soothingly.
"Katherine doesn't know how to be a baby any more than you know how to be a mom. You learn your roles together.
That's what makes it so wonderful. But I've heard that a baby can sense the mother's frustration. The more relaxed you are, the easier it will be. Take a few deep breaths, then try again."
A second attempt was no more successful that the first.
"Know what? I think it's your position," Tiel observed. "It's awkward for you and for her. Maybe if you could sit up."
"I can't. My bottom hurts too bad."
"What if Doc supported your back? It would relieve the pressure down there and enable you to cradle Katherine more comfortably."
"He'll see me," she protested in a tearful whisper.
"I'll fix it so he won't. Wait here. I'll be right back."
Earlier she had noticed a rack stocked with souvenir T-shirts.
Before Ronnie could even ask what she was doing, she dashed to it and snatched one from the display. It was dusty, she noticed, but there was no help for that. Just as she was about to turn away, she yanked a second shirt from the rack.
By the time she returned with the T-shirts, Katherine was well into a wailing fit. Everyone else in the store was maintaining a respectful silence. Tiel spread one of the extra-large T-shirts over mother and baby. "There. He won't be able to see a thing. All right?"
"All right."
"Doc?"
He was there in a blink. "Yeah?"
"Could you please get behind Sabra and support her back, like I did during the birth?"
"Sure."
He knelt down behind the girl and helped ease her into a semi-sitting position. "Now, just lean back against my chest. Come on, relax, Sabra. There. Comfortable?"
"Yes, I'm okay. Thanks."
Tiel raised a corner of the T-shirt just enough to peer beneath it. Katherine had stopped crying and was once again on her instinctive search. "Help her, Sabra," Tiel instructed softly. Sabra acted on instinct too. With only a little maneuvering and finessing, a tight suction was formed between breast and baby, and she began to suck vigorously.
Sabra laughed with delight. As did Tiel. She dropped the corner of the shirt and smiled at Doc.
"I assume everything is okay."
"They're pros." Tiel's bragging brought a wide smile to Sabra's chalky lips. Tiel asked, "Had you decided ahead of time to breast-feed?"
"Truthfully, I hadn't really thought about it. I was so preoccupied with worry that somebody was going to find out about the pregnancy, I didn't have much time to think about anything else."
"You can try it, then if it doesn't work out, you can switch to bottles. There's no shame in bottle-feeding."
"But I hear that nursing is better for the baby."
"That's what I hear too."
"You don't have kids?"
"No."
"Are you married?"
It seemed that Sabra had forgotten Doc was there. Her back was to him, so to her he was like a piece of furniture.
Tiel, however, was facing him and keenly aware that he was listening to every word. "No. Single."