Kate Hardy - The Midwife's Christmas Baby

She cupped her hands protectively around her abdomen. ‘Right at this moment, I have no idea how this is going to work out, baby,’ she said softly. ‘But one thing I do know: I definitely want you. I never dreamed I’d be lucky enough to have you, and I’m so glad I am. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me—and I’m going to try my hardest to be the best mum to you I can.’

She splashed water on her face, wrapped the test kit in a plastic bag and stored it in her pocket, then returned to the ward.

‘Are you all right, Ella?’ Annabelle, her best friend and the head neonatal nurse on the ward, asked.

‘I’m fine,’ Ella fibbed. ‘You haven’t seen Oliver anywhere, have you?’

‘I think he’s in a meeting. Is it urgent, or can one of the other doctors fill in for him?’

It wasn’t urgent exactly—her pregnancy wouldn’t show for a few weeks yet—but absolutely nobody else could fill in for him on this. Not that she could tell Annabelle without telling her the rest of it. And, given the reasons why Annabelle’s marriage to Max had collapsed, Ella wanted to choose her words carefully so she didn’t rip open her best friend’s old scars. Particularly as Max was now working at Teddy’s, easing in to a role as Sienna’s maternity cover. Annabelle had opened her heart to Ella about the situation, the previous day, and Ella just couldn’t say anything that might hurt her best friend.

‘It’ll wait,’ Ella said, trying to keep her voice light.

And it was probably for the best that Oliver wasn’t available right now. It would give her some space and time to think about how she was going to tell him the news.

The afternoon was also filled with antenatal appointments; one mum in particular was really worried.

‘So this baby’s in the same position that her brother was in?’ Sara Reynolds asked.

‘Back to back—yes,’ Ella confirmed.

‘So that means another long labour followed by an emergency section?’ Sara grimaced. ‘I know I agreed to a trial of labour, but I’m so scared my scar might come open halfway through and I’ll have to be rushed into the operating theatre. And the idea of being in labour for two days again and then being stuck in bed for a week, feeling as bad as I did last time, when Jack’s so lively...’ She shook her head. ‘I can’t do it. I can’t, Ella.’

‘It’s not going to be like that,’ Ella reassured her. ‘We’ll keep a really close eye on you, and we’re not going to let you struggle. Though you’re right about a back-to-back labour taking longer, and this little one’s been very happily settled in that position for the last three appointments.’

‘You don’t think she’ll move round?’

‘At this stage, no. I’ll go and have a word with your consultant,’ Ella said, ‘but I’m pretty sure he’ll agree with me in the circumstances that we should be able to offer you an elective section.’

‘But if I have a section, doesn’t that mean I’ll be stuck in bed for a week and I won’t be able to drive for a month?’ Sara looked worried. ‘And I need the car to get Jack to nursery. It’s four miles away and there isn’t a bus.’

‘Last time,’ Ella said gently, ‘you’d had a two-day labour before the section. It’s not surprising that it took it out of you. This time round, you won’t have to go through that first, so it’ll be easier and you’ll be a lot more mobile. Nowadays we say you can drive when you feel ready, though if you can give it three weeks to let yourself heal that would be good. Maybe one of your family or friends nearby can help with the nursery run?’

Sara bit her lip. ‘My cousin said she’d come and help.’

‘Well, that’s great.’ Ella smiled at her and squeezed her hand. ‘Give me five minutes and I’ll have a chat with your consultant.’

Who would have to be Oliver, she saw with dismay as she looked at Sara’s notes on the computer screen.

Provided she didn’t let herself think about the situation she hadn’t had a chance to discuss with him, she should be able to deal with this. Her patient had to come first.

Thankfully, Oliver was out of his meeting. Ella could see him sitting at his computer, typing away and looking slightly grim. Working on notes following his meeting, maybe? Hopefully he wouldn’t mind the interruption. She rapped on his open door. ‘You look busy, but please can I interrupt you for three minutes on behalf of one of my mums, given that you’re her consultant and you need to be the one to sign off on the decisions?’

‘Sure.’

He didn’t smile at her, but that was OK. This was work. She ran through the brief. ‘The mum is Sara Reynolds, thirty-six weeks, second baby. Last time round, the baby was back-to-back and she had a two-day labour followed by an emergency section. This baby’s been in the same position for the last three appointments, and I don’t think she’s going to move now. Sara originally agreed to a trial of labour, but she’s really worried that she’ll end up with another long labour, and she’ll have to have another emergency section that’ll leave her unable to function for weeks. Given the baby’s position and that Sara’s got a really lively toddler to cope with as well, I really think she’d be better off having a planned section.’

‘Let me look at her notes so I can bring myself up to speed with exactly what happened last time,’ Oliver said.

‘OK.’ And please don’t let him be long, Ella thought. She was starting to pick up the smell from his coffee cup and it was making her stomach roil.

But clearly his computer system was on a go-slow when it came to retrieving the patient’s notes, and it got to the point where she couldn’t bear the smell of coffee any more.

‘Excuse me a moment,’ she said, and fled to the toilet. Thankfully it was queasiness again rather than actually being sick, and she splashed water onto her face until she felt able to cope again.

When she got back to Oliver’s office, he’d clearly had time to review Sara’s notes.

‘Are you all right?’ he asked.

‘Yes. I just felt a bit...’ No, now really wasn’t the time for her to tell him that it was morning sickness. She stopped. ‘I’m fine.’

‘If you’re going down with that sickness bug, I want you off the ward right now before you pass it on to anyone else,’ he said. ‘Go home, Ella.’

‘It’s not that.’ She didn’t want to tell him the real reason right now. It wasn’t the time or the place, and she still didn’t have the right words to explain the situation to him. ‘So do you have an answer for Sara?’

‘Yes. I agree with you, so I’ve marked on her notes that I’m happy for her to have an elective section. I’ll get it booked in with Theatre. Do you want me to come and have a word with her?’

‘No, it’s fine.’ Especially as that coffee was making her feel queasy again and she didn’t want to have to dash off to the toilets again and risk him working out what was really going on. ‘Thanks. I’d better get back to my patient. Catch you later.’

Ella was acting really oddly, Oliver thought. Rushing out of his office like that. Yet she’d been adamant that she wasn’t going down with the sickness bug that was sweeping through the hospital.

So what was the problem?

Things had been awkward between them ever since the night of the masked ball. The night when he’d taken her virginity. He still felt guilty about it; and as a result he’d probably been even more cool with her than she was being with him.

He really ought to have a chat with her and try to get things back on an even keel between them. Especially as he was the Assistant Head of Obstetrics now. There was absolutely no way they could get involved with each other; although he wasn’t directly her boss, he was her senior. Though it would be nice to salvage some kind of working relationship, so they were at least on semi-friendly terms in the department. He liked Ella. He missed the easiness between them.