Kitabı oku: «Christmas Brides And Babies Collection», sayfa 9

CHAPTER SEVEN

ELLA SLEPT BADLY that night. She kept waking up, shivering, after horrible dreams of Oliver delivering the baby and then his mother snatching the child before he could give it to Ella and slamming the door behind her.

When her alarm clanged, Ella was feeling out of sorts and upset. A shower and washing her hair didn’t make her feel much better, and she could barely face a single slice of dry toast for breakfast.

She drove in to work and was relieved to discover that Oliver was in a meeting, so she wouldn’t have to face him. Even though part of her wanted to tell him about what his mother had said—and to get a bit of reassurance about her nightmare—she knew that wouldn’t be fair to him. It’d be like asking him to choose between her and his family. Annabelle was off duty, so Ella couldn’t discuss it with her, either. Annabelle had texted her that morning.

How did it go?

Ella had texted back with a total fib, saying it was all fine. She didn’t want to burden her best friend, especially as she knew how hard things had been for Annabelle and Max. She was glad it had worked out for them, but at the same time she felt slightly wistful, as she couldn’t see how things could ever work out between herself and Oliver. Prue and Ned had been kind, but his parents would never accept her, and Ella didn’t want to be responsible for the final rift between Oliver and his parents.

‘Hey, sweetie. Are you doing OK?’

Ella looked up to see their heavily pregnant neonatal cardiothoracic surgeon, standing before her. ‘Morning, Sienna. Of course I’m OK. Why wouldn’t I…?’ Her voice tailed off as she realised what Sienna meant. ‘Oh. You know.’

‘’Fraid so.’ Sienna patted her arm. ‘You’ve replaced me as the hottest topic of gossip at the Royal Cheltenham, right now.’

Ella bit her lip. ‘Hopefully everyone will find something else to think about soon.’

‘Of course they will. How did the scan go?’

‘Good, thanks. Everything’s positive.’

‘That’s great.’ Sienna smiled at her. ‘I’m glad that Oliver supported you, too.’

Oh, help. They’d used the cover story that her family was far away so Oliver was supporting her, but had everyone guessed the truth—that Oliver had been there as the baby’s father? ‘He’s the Assistant Head of Obstetrics, so I guess he feels responsible for his staff,’ Ella said hesitantly.

‘He’s a good man. He offered to go with me for my scans, too.’

So Sienna didn’t know that Oliver was the father of Ella’s baby. Which meant that nobody else did either—because Ella knew that Annabelle would’ve kept her confidence. ‘Thanks for not asking.’

‘About who the dad is?’ Sienna laughed. ‘Given my situation, I could hardly be that hypocritical. Sometimes this is just how things happen—and it’s much better for a baby to have one parent who really loves them, than two who fight all the time.’

That sounded personal, but Ella wasn’t going to intrude by asking. ‘Yes, you’re right.’

‘I just wanted to say, if you need a confidential ear at any time, you know where I am—I know I’m going on leave soon, but I’ll still be around.’

‘Thanks, Sienna.’ It was kind of her to offer, even though Ella thought that the doctor was going to be way too busy with her newborn baby. ‘And I’m still on your babysitter list—the bump won’t change that.’

‘Glad to hear it.’ Sienna patted her arm again. ‘It’ll be good practice for you. We’re both used to newborns, but we’re also used to handing the babies over and I think it’s going to be a bit of a shock to our systems.’

‘Ah, but I get to teach new mums how to change nappies and put on a sleep suit,’ Ella pointed out.

‘Then you have the advantage over me. I know who to call when I get stuck, then.’ Sienna smiled. ‘Right, I’m due in Theatre. I just wanted to catch you first and see how you were getting on.’

Tears pricked Ella’s eyelids. ‘That’s so kind.’

‘And invest in tissues,’ Sienna advised. ‘You wouldn’t believe the stupid things that are going to make you cry. Or how often.’

‘I believe you—especially now, because you were right about tins smelling, too,’ Ella admitted wryly.

‘It’ll be fine,’ Sienna reassured her. ‘See you later.’

‘Ella, could we have a wo—?’ Oliver began.

She lifted her hands as if shoving him away. ‘Sorry—I’ve been called down to Ultrasound.’

He couldn’t argue with that.

But the next time he saw her in a corridor, Ella couldn’t stop to have a quick word because she was in a rush on the way to help Jennie, their trainee midwife.

Was he being paranoid, or was she avoiding him?

And she’d been so quiet on the way back to Cheltenham last night.

He’d shared a part of his life with her that he’d always kept private; but, instead of bringing her closer to him, it seemed to have driven her further away.

The third time Oliver tried to talk to Ella, she was backing away as soon as he started speaking. ‘Sorry, Oliver. I can’t talk right now. I’ve been called to the Emergency Department.’

‘If that was to see the mum with the suspected placental abruption,’ he said grimly, ‘then you’re working with me.’

She bit her lip. ‘Oh. I thought I’d be working with Charlie.’

So yet again she’d been hoping to avoid him. ‘No. He’s in the middle of a complicated delivery.’ Hurt made him snap at her. ‘So you’ll just have to put up with it being me, won’t you?’

She gave him a speaking look, but said nothing.

Oliver sighed inwardly. He hated to think that their working relationship was as bad as their personal relationship right now. He knew he should apologise for being abrupt with her, but her coolness had really got to him.

‘Ella,’ he said when they got into the lift. ‘Are you going to be OK with this?’

‘An abruption? I’ve come across them before,’ she said coolly.

Oh, great. She’d misunderstood and was about to go prickly on him. ‘I don’t mean clinically. I know you know your stuff,’ he said. ‘I meant emotionally. You’re pregnant and this might not have a good outcome. If you’d rather someone else took this case, I’ll organise that for you.’

‘No, it’s fine.’ She took his hand and squeezed it briefly. ‘But thank you for thinking about that.’

Her touch flustered him so much that he didn’t say a word until they were in the Emergency Department with Mike Wetherby.

‘Courtney Saunders, age thirty-six, and she’s currently thirty-four weeks,’ Mike explained. ‘This is her second baby; her last pregnancy and birth were straightforward, and this pregnancy’s been straightforward so far but today she slipped on the ice while she was getting off the bus and had quite a bad fall. She tried to protect the baby by throwing herself sideways; she banged her hip and her head. I’ve sorted that side of it out for her, and obviously there’s still a bit of tachycardia but I think that’s probably stress.’

Though it could also be a precursor to other complications, Oliver knew. ‘How’s the baby doing?’

‘That’s why I called you,’ Mike said. ‘She says she hasn’t felt the baby move much since the fall, her back hurts, and she thinks she’s having Braxton Hicks.’

‘But you don’t think it’s Braxton Hicks?’ Oliver asked.

‘I have a bad feeling about this,’ Mike said. ‘She doesn’t have any signs of bleeding but, given the fall and the length of her pregnancy, I think it might be a concealed abruption. That’s why I called you guys rather than doing a manual exam myself.’

‘Good call,’ Oliver said. If it was an abruption, a manual exam would make things much worse. ‘Have you managed to contact her partner or a friend to be with her?’

‘We tried her partner, but he’s in a meeting, so we’ve left a message for him either to call us or to come straight in,’ Mike said. ‘I’ll introduce you to Courtney.’

Once Mike had introduced Oliver and Ella and headed off to treat his next patient, Oliver said, ‘Mrs Saunders—may I call you Courtney?’ At her nod, he continued, ‘I’d like to examine you, if I may.’

Courtney gave her consent, and Oliver examined her gently. ‘Tell me if there’s any pain or tenderness,’ he said.

‘I’m fine. I can put up with being a bit sore and the Braxton Hicks. But I’m scared about the baby,’ she said.

Ella took her hand to reassure her. ‘That’s why we’re here. Oliver’s the Assistant Head of Obstetrics, so he’s really good at his job.’

‘Assistant Head of Obstetrics?’ Courtney looked panicky. ‘Does that mean it’s really serious?’

‘It simply means,’ Oliver said gently, ‘that all my other obstetricians are in Theatre or in clinics right now and I happened to be the doctor who was free. It’s nothing sinister, I promise. But what I’m going to do first is reassure you by checking the baby, OK? Once I’ve listened to the heartbeat, Ella’s going to put some wires on you so we can monitor how the baby’s doing and keep an eye on—do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?’

Courtney shook her head. ‘We didn’t want to know. But Alex—he’s my oldest—he tells everyone he’s going to have a little sister.’

‘Baby Saunders, then,’ Oliver said with a smile. ‘And we’ll also measure how your contractions are doing.’ He took the Pinard stethoscope and listened to the baby’s heartbeat, then smiled at Courtney. ‘That’s a nice strong heartbeat, so that’s good news.’ It was a little slow for his liking, but he wasn’t going to worry Courtney about that just now. Not until he’d checked the ultrasound. ‘Before Ella puts the wires on, I’d also like to give you an ultrasound scan—it’s just like the ones you’ve had before, when you came in at twenty weeks.’

And the scan showed him the one thing he’d hoped it wouldn’t. He glanced across at Ella who mouthed, ‘Abruption?’ At his tiny nod, she mouthed, ‘Line in and cross-match?’

He was glad she was so quick to pick things up—and he was even more glad that she was professional enough not to let the difficulties between them affect their patient.

He turned the screen so that Courtney could see it. ‘When you fell, Courtney, it caused part of the placenta to start to come away from the wall of your womb—this dark area here shows bleeding behind the womb, which is why you’re not seeing any spotting,’ he said. ‘It’s what we call a placental abruption.’

Courtney turned pale. ‘Can you stitch it back or something?’

‘Unfortunately we can’t reattach the placenta,’ he said. ‘If a mum has a small tear in the placenta and the baby’s doing OK, we can send her home to wait it out, or we can admit her to Teddy’s and see how things go—but this is quite a big tear. It means that right now your baby isn’t getting enough oxygen and nutrients from the placenta, and the baby’s heartbeat is getting slower.’

‘Is my baby going to die?’ Courtney asked, her eyes wide with panic.

‘We’re going to do our best to keep your baby safe,’ Ella said.

‘And the safest thing for me to do is to deliver the baby now through an emergency Caesarean section,’ Oliver finished.

‘But it’s too early for me to have the baby!’ Courtney said. ‘I’m only thirty-four weeks—there’s another six weeks to go yet.’

‘The baby’s going to be small,’ Oliver said, ‘but I promise you at thirty-four weeks Baby Saunders will manage just fine. I’m going to give you steroids to help mature the baby’s lungs.’

‘Like bodybuilders use?’ Courtney asked.

‘No, they’re corticosteroids, like the ones the body produces naturally or people with asthma take to help with their airways,’ Ella explained. ‘Babies born before thirty-seven weeks sometimes have trouble breathing because their lungs aren’t developed fully. The steroids help the lungs develop so the baby doesn’t have breathing problems.’

Oliver didn’t chip in; he was enjoying watching Ella in action. She was so good with patients, explaining things simply in terms they could understand.

She’d be a good mum, too, he thought wistfully. But would she give him the chance to be a good dad?

He shook himself. Now wasn’t the time. Their patient had to come first. But he’d try to find a good time for him and Ella to talk. They really, really needed to talk about the baby—and about them.

‘What happens is we give you an injection,’ Ella continued, ‘and the steroids go through your bloodstream and through the placenta into the baby’s body and lungs. And as well as being able to breathe better, the baby can suck better and take in more milk.’

‘So the baby won’t have side-effects?’ Courtney asked.

‘No, and neither will you,’ Ella reassured her.

‘But Ryan isn’t here yet. He can’t miss our baby being born,’ Courtney said, a tear running down her cheek.

‘I’ll try him again,’ Ella said, and squeezed her hand. ‘I’m just going to put a butterfly in the back of your hand so we can give you any drugs we need, and then I’ll call him myself—Mike said he was in a meeting so they left a message, but I’ll make sure I actually speak to him.’ She smiled at Courtney. ‘I know this is really scary, but you’re in the best place.’

Once Ella had put the line in, cross-matched Courtney’s blood and set up continuous foetal monitoring for the baby’s heartbeat and Courtney’s contractions, she went off to call Courtney’s partner.

‘I can’t believe this is happening. I wish I’d stopped work last week instead of trying to keep going a bit longer,’ Courtney said.

‘Hey, it could’ve happened anyway,’ Oliver said. ‘You might have slipped on your front doorstep, or when you were taking Alex out to the park.’ He sat next to her and held her hand. ‘There is something else I need to talk to you about, Courtney. With an abruption like this, it’s possible that you might lose a lot of blood—we can’t tell from the scan how much blood you’ve already lost. That’s why Ella cross-matched you, so we can make sure we can sort that out and give you more blood if you need it. But if I can’t stop the bleeding once I’ve delivered the baby, I might have to give you a hysterectomy.’

Courtney looked dismayed. ‘You mean—like someone who’s near the menopause?’

‘Sort of,’ Oliver said. ‘I know you’re very young and you might want to have more children, so I’m hoping it’ll all be straightforward. But I do need to prepare you for the worst-case scenario too—because if that happens then a hysterectomy might be the only way I can save your life.’

‘So this abruption thing could kill me as well as the baby?’

‘That’s the very worst-case scenario,’ Oliver stressed. ‘In most cases it’s fine. But I do need you to sign a consent form just in case the very worst happens.’

‘I…’ Courtney shook her head, looking dazed. ‘It’s a lot to take in. This morning I was planning to work for another month, and now I’ve fallen when I got off the bus I might die and so might the baby.’

‘Very, very worst-case,’ Oliver said. ‘But that’s why I want to deliver the baby now, to give him or her the best possible chance.’

‘There isn’t really a choice, is there?’ she asked miserably. ‘All right. I’ll sign your form.’

By the time she’d signed the form and Oliver had administered the steroids, Ella came back into the room, smiling. ‘I’ve spoken to Ryan. He’s on his way now and he says to tell you he loves you and everything’s going to be all right.’

A tear trickled down Courtney’s face. ‘Even though I nearly killed our baby?’

‘You did nothing of the sort. It was an accident,’ Ella reassured her. ‘And your man will be here really soon. He says to tell you he’s going to make the world speed record for getting across town.’

Courtney’s lower lip wobbled, but she tried her best to smile.

‘So what happens now is the anaesthetist is on her way. She’s going to give you an anaesthetic, and then Oliver will make an incision here—’ she sketched the shape on Courtney’s tummy ‘—so he can deliver the baby.’

‘Can Ryan be there?’ Courtney asked.

‘If he does that world speed record,’ Ella said with a smile, ‘then he can be there and he can cut the cord. I’ll be there, too, to look after Baby Saunders. Once I’ve checked the baby over, you can both get to see him or her and have a cuddle.’

‘What if—if it’s the worst-case scenario?’ Courtney asked, a catch in her voice.

‘Then I’ll take Ryan off to one side with the baby so Oliver can sort everything out. But he’s the best surgeon I know. You’re in good hands.’

If only she had as much confidence in him personally as she had in him professionally, Oliver thought. Though part of it was his own fault. He’d held back from her. If he told her about Justine, then maybe she’d understand why he was having a hard time getting his head round the fact that he was going to be a dad—and why he needed to feel that he was in control of everything. But then again, letting her close enough to meet his family had backfired.

This whole thing was a mess.

But doing the job he did, seeing how important family was to the women he helped to give birth and their partners… It was beginning to make him realise that he wanted this, too. He didn’t want to be just a dad. He wanted to be a partner, too. He wanted to be loved for who he was.

But what did Ella want? Could they make a go of things together? Could they become a family, the kind of family that he hadn’t grown up in but suspected that she had?

By the time the anaesthetist had administered the spinal block, Ryan had arrived for a tearful reunion with his wife. Oliver glanced at Ella and saw the wistfulness on her face. So was this affecting her, too?

Their talk would have to wait until after this operation. But Oliver was determined to sit down and talk to Ella properly and find out what she wanted—and, with any luck, it would be the same thing that he wanted. And then they could move forward properly. Together.

Thankfully, delivering the baby and the placenta stopped the bleeding, so he didn’t have to give Courtney a hysterectomy. And their little girl, although tiny and in need of a day or two in the neonatal unit, looked as if she was going to do very well indeed.

Once he’d finished the operation and Courtney had gone through to the recovery room, he was on his own with Ella.

‘Can we take ten minutes?’ he asked. ‘I’ll buy you a cup of tea, if you like.’

‘Thanks, but I need to be elsewhere,’ she said. ‘I promised to help Jennie with her studies.’

Again? His heart sank. This sounded like another evasion tactic. Maybe he was wrong about this after all, and she didn’t want the same thing that he did. ‘Ella, I think we need to talk.’

‘No need,’ she said with a brisk smile. ‘Everything’s fine.’

He didn’t think so; and, from the expression in her eyes, neither did she.

‘How about dinner tonight?’

‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘I really do have to go.’

Which left Oliver to walk back to his office alone.

He sat at his desk, trying to concentrate on his pile of admin, and wondering how everything between him and Ella had gone so wrong. Was it his imagination, or was she finding excuses to be anywhere but near him?

And how was he ever going to persuade her to give him a chance?

He was beginning to think that he needed a Christmas miracle. Except they were in very short supply, and in any case he ought to be able to sort this out on his own.