After a long
tiring day at work, my muscles ached badly. Even though it was an office job
where it was mostly sedimentary, my hands were numb from typing on the keyboard
for hours and my legs were numb from not stretching. I breathed a sigh of
relief when I was finally a few feet away from my house. As I was waiting
patiently for the lift to come down, I smiled at my neighbour who was also
waiting. She was several months pregnant and was expecting a baby soon.
Finally, the lift arrived and we went in. Being the considerate person that I
was, I let her enter first. Halfway up, there was a strange buzzing sound and
the lights started to flicker. Wide-eyed, we both stared each other nervously.
We both had a hunch what was wrong but were not confident to voice it out.
Suddenly, the lift came to a jerking halt. Our greatest worry came true. I
jabbed a random button repeatedly- the frantic action reflecting the turbulent
feeling in my stomach.
"We're
trapped..." I heard a faint voice. I looked at my neighbour. Her face
glistened with sweat and it was more apparent in the darkness. But what was
worse was that she was hyperventilating! That's definitely not going to be good
for the baby!
"Relax!
It's going to be fine!" I hurriedly tried to calm her down. "People
are going to help us get of here!"
Seeing as my
words did not seem to convince her at all (and me as well), I frantically took
out my phone in an attempt to call the local policemen, firefighter, my mother
- anyone! Unfortunately, there was no reception in my phone, considering the
airtight box I was trapped in.
"Help!
Help!" I screamed as I banged the lift doors so hard that my knuckles were
probably bruised. "One of us here is pregnant! Please help us!"
I then heard a
strangled cry and quickly turned my head. To my horror, my neighbour had slid
to the floor, clutching her stomach. She looked like she was in great pain.
"My-my
water broke..." My mouth gaped in shock. Instantly, I took out a folder
from my bag and furiously fanned her with it.
"It's
going to be alright...calm down...everything's going to be fine..." I
gently said, comforting her.
"Take deep
breaths.." I advised her and she obediently heeded my advice, following my
lead.
We were
stranded there for a few more minutes when suddenly the lift doors were
forcefully opened. It turned out that one of the neighbours heard my pleas and
notified the repairmen who promptly got us out of our predicament.
Noting of my
neighbour's situation, I quickly called for an ambulance. I had to accompany
her all the way to the hospital as she pleaded me to and she had an iron grip
on my hand so I complied. After she delivered her baby smoothly, she thanked me
and said that her new baby owed his life to me. I shook my head and said that I
had nothing to do with it and that it was all the mother's strength that the
baby was alive.
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