Anne Fraser - The Playboy Doctor's Surprise Proposal

STUNNED, Caitlin could only stare open-mouthed at Andrew.

‘Well, now that we understand each other,’ she said stiffly, ‘shall we continue?’ She marched off in what she hoped was the general direction of Paediatrics, not caring whether Andrew was following or not. Of all the insufferable, conceited, big-headed…She was fuming to herself when Andrew caught her arm and stopped her in her tracks.

She glared at him, before seeing the look of apology in his deep brown eyes.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘that was unforgivable of me.’

‘Yes, it was,’ Caitlin said. Then she softened at his look of genuine remorse. ‘Do you really have doubts about my clinical judgement?’ she asked, puzzled. ‘I know you had me checked out thoroughly before you arranged the job for me.’

‘I did,’ Andrew said. ‘And I don’t have doubts. It’s just…’ He hesitated. ‘Let’s just say that I have my reasons.’

‘Shouldn’t you tell me what they are?’ Caitlin said.

‘There’s no need. I agree we should wait for the scan results before we decide what to do. Okay?’

Caitlin was tempted to press further, but she could tell from the set of his chin that she was unlikely to get anything more from Andrew. But she was a patient woman. Whatever it was, she would find out soon enough.

‘Okay,’ Caitlin said. ‘Now, let’s go and see this paediatric ward of yours.’

After a quick tour of the children’s ward, Caitlin left Andrew checking his patients and made her way to the scanning room where Mrs Oliphant was waiting for her.

‘Hey, how are you doing?’ Caitlin said. Mary just smiled weakly.

Caitlin passed the catheter then turned the monitor towards her patient and pointed to the screen.

‘Look,’ she told the anxious woman. ‘You can see both the ovaries. That’s the left one and there’s the right. And see that little blob there? That’s a follicle with an egg developing inside. So far so good. Everything is normal.’ She withdrew the catheter. ‘You can get dressed now.’

Once Mrs Oliphant was dressed and sitting down, Caitlin turned to her. ‘I’ve also had the blood results back. And they’re consistent with the scan we’ve just done. Your ovaries are looking good. And the embryologists have told me that Richard’s results are also normal. So I’m going to suggest that you go home and keep trying for another six months. If you’re still not pregnant by then, we’ll talk about IVF. But I’ve got a feeling that you won’t need it.’

Mary relaxed and smiled broadly. ‘It’s such a relief to know,’ she said. ‘I can’t tell you how worried I’ve been.’

‘Sometimes,’ Caitlin said gently, ‘I find that once couples relax, nature just takes it course. And if it doesn’t, well, you can come and see me again. But for now I want you and Richard to go home and have plenty of sex.’

She saw a happy and relieved Mary out, and then asked whether the scanner could be taken to the antenatal ward for Mrs Levy’s scan.

Once back on the antenatal ward, Caitlin prepped Patricia’s abdomen with gel, apologising for the cold sensation. Then she placed the wand over her abdomen and turned the screen towards the patient so that she was able to see what Caitlin was seeing.

‘See that over there.’ She pointed to the heart. ‘That’s the baby’s heart. As you can see, it’s beating strongly.’ Patricia looked entranced as Caitlin proceeded to point out arms and legs. The image was so good that she was even able to show Mrs Levy her baby sucking her thumb. ‘And as you’ve been told already, she is a healthy little girl. I put her at about twenty-eight weeks and three days.’

Mrs Levy lay back on the bed, looking thoughtful. ‘It makes it seem more real, seeing her there on the screen.’ She closed her eyes and Caitlin watched as tears slid out from underneath her eyelids. ‘I just don’t know what to do for the best. If only my Jack was here to help me decide.’ Caitlin knew from the notes that Mrs Levy’s husband had been killed in a traffic accident early on in the pregnancy. Her heart went out to the distraught woman. ‘My other two, my boys, they are my first husband’s,’ she went on. ‘We divorced when my youngest was two. I thought that was me. That it would just be me and the boys. And then Jack came along, and that was that. We fell in love and married a few months later.’ She opened her eyes and Caitlin could see the memories brighten her eyes.

Caitlin perched beside her patient on the bed. ‘Go on,’ she said softly.

‘As I say, we got married, once the children had got to know him, and then started trying for a baby. It took a couple of years for me to get pregnant, you know. I was getting close to forty by this time.’ She paused, her eyes misting over. ‘He was so excited, he didn’t have children of his own, never having married before. He was just like a little kid himself. He even went out and bought a crib the day after I took the pregnancy test.’

Caitlin was aware of somebody coming to stand behind her. She glanced over her shoulder to see Andrew. Patricia went on.

‘Then just a couple of months later he was dead.’ She started to cry in earnest. Wordlessly, Andrew passed her some tissues and they waited in silence while she fought for control. Eventually, she blew her nose.

‘So, you see,’ she said once her sobs had subsided, ‘I can’t risk losing this baby. It’s all I have left of Jack.’ She looked from Andrew to Caitlin, her eyes begging them to understand. ‘Dr Bedi knows all this,’ she said quietly. ‘That’s why he said we might be able to risk waiting a day or two.’

‘But,’ Caitlin said gently, ‘you do realise if we wait too long there’s a risk you could develop full-blown eclampsia and might die. What about your other children? They’d be left without a mother.’

‘I don’t want to die,’ Patricia said fiercely. ‘I don’t want to leave my kids, but Dr Bedi says you’ll watch me carefully.’

‘Okay,’ Caitlin agreed reluctantly. ‘We’ll watch and wait. But I’m warning you, if there is the slightest sign of your condition worsening, I’m getting you delivered. Agreed?’ She looked at Andrew for confirmation and was relieved when he nodded.

‘I’ll ask them to call me at home if there’s any change,’ he said.

‘As will I,’ Caitlin added. ‘I’ll do the section myself.’

‘I’d feel so much better if you’ll both be there,’ Mrs Levy said, hope brightening her eyes.

‘But they might have to go ahead and deliver you if I can’t get here in time,’ Caitlin warned.

‘I understand,’ Patricia said. ‘Thank you both for taking care of me and listening.’

Andrew and Caitlin left Patricia to get some rest. A glance at her watch told Caitlin that she was due in Theatre.

‘Did you know all that?’ she asked. ‘Is that the reason you wanted to wait?’

‘Partly,’ Andrew said. ‘At the end of the day I want the same thing you do. A healthy baby and a mother who survives to look after it. But,’ he said, ‘I don’t think we should ever look at patients as if they were simply their medical problems. We need to see them as people, all with different needs requiring different solutions.’ Caitlin bristled. Was he suggesting that she didn’t see her patients as individuals? He had no right to make that assessment of her. But, she admitted to herself, was there just the tiniest bit of truth in it? Was that why she was so drawn to the academic side of her chosen speciality? Because it was easier than dealing with real people and real emotions? He grinned down at her, and Caitlin’s heart gave a curious flip. ‘You and I are on the same side after all.’