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Right, Doc?"
    "I'll make it as easy as I can."
    Tiel gave the girl's hand a quick squeeze. "I'll be right over there if you—"
    "No, stay here with me. Please." She motioned Tiel down for a private consultation.
    "He's nice," she said, speaking in a low voice directly into Tiel's ear. "He acts like a doctor, and talks like a doctor, but he doesn't look like one, know what I mean?"
    "Yes, I know what you mean."
    "So I feel sorta weird, having him… you know? Could you, like, help me take off my underpants?"
    Tiel straightened and looked at Doc. "Could you give us a moment, please?"
    "Sure."
    "What's happening?" Ronnie wanted to know when
    Doc stood up.
    "The lady needs some privacy. From me. And you."
    "But I'm her boyfriend."
    "Which is exactly why you're the last person she wants observing."
    "He's right, Ronnie," Sabra said. "Please."
    The boy moved away with Doc. Tiel lifted Sabra's skirt and helped as she awkwardly raised her hips and worked her underwear down her thighs.
    "There we go," Tiel said gently, taking away the damp garment, which Sabra had balled up to the size of a Ping-Pong ball.
    "I'm sorry it's all icky."
    "Sabra, starting right now, you're to stop apologizing.
    I've never been in labor, but I'm sure I wouldn't approach it with near the dignity that you have. Are you more comfortable now?" Obviously not. She could tell by Sabra's grimace that she was in the throes of another pain. "Doc?"
    He was there in an instant, pressing his hands on the mound of her stomach. "Sure wish he'd turn on his own."
    "I'm hoping for a girl," Sabra told him on gasping breaths.
    Doc smiled. "Really?"
    "Ronnie would like a girl too."
    "Daughters are great, all right."
    Tiel stole a glance at him. Did he have daughters? she wondered. She'd taken him for a bachelor, a loner. Maybe because he looked like the Marlboro man. You never saw the Marlboro man with a wife and family in tow.
    Perhaps… ? Tiel couldn't shake the feeling that she'd seen Doc somewhere before. His resemblance to the rugged models in the cigarette ads must be why he looked vaguely familiar.
    When the pain passed, Doc placed his hands on the girl's raised knees. "Try and relax as much as possible.
    And let me know if I'm hurting you, okay?"
    "Oh, wait." Tiel reached for a box of hair coloring and opened it. Reading Doc's inquisitive expression, she explained.
    "It comes with disposable gloves. They won't be great; they probably won't even fit," she added, glancing down at his manly hands, "but they might be better than nothing."
    "Good thinking."
    He peeled the plastic gloves off the sheet of waxed paper to which they were stuck and worked his hands into them. It was an O. J. Simpson fit and they looked clumsy, but he thanked Tiel, then once again assured Sabra that he would try his best not to make it too unpleasant.
    "This might help." For modesty's sake, Tiel spread the second sheet over the girl's knees.
    Doc gave her an approving glance. 'Just relax, Sabra.
    It'll be over before you know it."
    She took a deep breath and pinched her eyes shut.
    "First I'm going to wash the area with one of these wipes. Then bathe it with some vinegar. It might be a little cold."
    As he poured the vinegar over her, blotting at it with several of the gauze pads, he asked her how she was doing.
    "Okay," she replied timorously.
    Tiel found herself holding her own breath. "Breathe deeply, Sabra. It'll help you relax. Let's do it together. Big inhale. Now out." Upon penetration, Sabra flinched. Tiel said, "Again. Another deep breath in. Out. That's it. Not much longer now. You're doing great."
    But she wasn't. Doc's expression told her as much. He withdrew his hand from between the girl's thighs and, hiding his concern, bragged on how well she'd done. He peeled off the gloves and reached for the bottle of hand wash, rubbing it vigorously onto his hands and forearms.
    "Is everything all right?"
    Ronnie was back. It was he who had asked the question, but Doc addressed his answer to