chase 's voice , counting slowly and rhythmically , pausing between ten and one to tell me he loved her , tell me i was doing great , she was almost there , telling me he saw samantha , saw her head and some of one shoulder , i was almost done ... another wave of soul-searing pain and screaming and breathless agony and dizziness from pushing , stars dancing in my vision , dots of white against wavering black as oxygen rushed into my starved lungs .