‘You’re anaemic,’ Anton said.
‘I’m on iron and folic acid …’
‘You’re seeing someone?’
‘Yes, but I …’ Louise had started to let a few close friends know what was going on in her personal life but she wasn’t quite ready to tell the world just yet. She ached to discuss it with Anton, not on a personal level but a professional one, yet was a little shy to. ‘I’ve spoken to my GP.’ His pager went off and though he read it he still sat there, but the moment had gone and Louise decided not to tell him her plans and what was going on.
‘He’s told you that you don’t have to struggle like this. There is the Pill and there is also an IUD that can give you a break from menstr—’
‘Anton,’ Louise interrupted. ‘My GP is a she, and I am a midwife, which means, oh, about ten times a day I give contraceptive advice, so I do know these things.’
‘Then you should know that you don’t have to put up with this.’
‘I do. Thanks for your help,’ Louise said, and then, aware of her snappy tone, she halted. After all, he was just trying to help. He simply didn’t know what was going on in her world. ‘I owe you one.’ She gave him a smile. ‘I’ll buy you a drink tonight.’
‘Tonight?’ Anton frowned.
‘It’s the theatre Christmas do,’ Louise said, and Anton inwardly groaned, because another non-work version of Louise seared into his brain he truly did not need! Anton had seen Louise dressed to the nines a few times since he had started here and it was a very appealing sight. He had braced himself for the maternity do in a couple of weeks—in fact, he had a date lined up for that night—but it had never entered his head that Louise would be at the theatre do tonight.
‘So you will be going tonight?’ Anton checked. ‘Even though you’re not feeling well?’
‘Of course I’m going,’ Louise said. ‘I worked there for five years.’ She opened her eyes and gave him a very nice smile, though their interlude was over. Concerned Anton had gone and he was back to bah, humbug as he stood. ‘I’ll see you tonight, Anton.’
Stop the drip! Anton wanted to say as he went in to check on Hannah, for he would dearly love a reason to be stuck at the hospital tonight.
Of course, he didn’t stop the drip and instead Hannah progressed beautifully.
‘Louise, would you be able to go and work in Delivery after lunch?’ Brenda came over as Louise added the finishing touches to her nativity scene during her lunch break. She’d taken her chicken and avocado salad out with her and was eating it as she arranged all the pieces. ‘Angie called in sick and we’re trying to get an agency nurse.’
Louise had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. While she loved being in Delivery for an entire shift, she loathed being sent in for a couple of hours. Louise liked to be there for her patient for the entire shift.
‘Sure,’ Louise said instead.
‘They’re a bit short now,’ Brenda pushed, and Louise decided not to point out that she’d only had fifteen minutes’ break, given the half-hour she’d taken earlier that morning. So, instead, she popped the cutest Baby Jesus ever into the crib, covered him in a little rug and headed off to Delivery.
She took the handover, read through Hannah’s birth plan then went in and said hello to Hannah and Luke. Hannah had been a patient on the ward for a couple of weeks now so introductions had long since been done.
Hannah was lying on her side and clearly felt uncomfortable.
‘It really hurts.’
‘I know that it does,’ Louise said, showing Luke a nice spot to rub on the bottom of Hannah’s back, but Hannah kept pushing his hand away.
‘Do you want to have a little walk?’ Louise offered, and at first Hannah shook her head but then agreed. Louise sorted out the drip and got her up off the delivery bed and they shuffled up and down the corridor, sometimes silent between contractions, when Hannah leant against the wall, other times talking.
‘I still can’t believe we’ll have a baby for Christmas,’ Hannah said.
‘How exciting.’ Louise smiled. ‘Have you shopped for the baby?”
‘Not yet!’ Hannah shook her head. ‘Didn’t want the bad luck.’ She leant against the wall and gave a very low moan and then another one.
‘Let’s get you back,’ Louise said, guiding the drip as Luke helped his wife.
Hannah didn’t like the idea of sitting on a birthing ball—in fact, she climbed back onto the delivery bed and went back to lying on her side as Louise checked the baby’s heart, which was fine.
‘You’re doing wonderfully, Hannah,’ Louise said.
‘I can’t believe we’re going to get our baby,’ Hannah said. ‘We tried for ages.’
‘I know that you did,’ Louise said.
‘I’m so lucky to have Anton,’ Hannah said. ‘He got me pregnant!’
Louise looked over at Luke and they shared a smile because at this stage of labour women said the strangest things at times, only Louise’s smile turned into a slight frown as Luke explained what she’d meant. ‘Anton was the one who put back the embryo …’
‘Oh!’ Louise said, more than a little surprised, because that was something she hadn’t known—yes, of course he would deal with infertility to a point, but it was a very specific specialty and for Anton to have performed the embryo transfer confused Louise.
‘He was a reproductive specialist in Milan, one of the top ones,’ Luke explained further, when he saw Louise’s frown. ‘We thought we were getting a fill-in doctor when Richard, the specialist overseeing Hannah’s treatment, got sick, but it turned out we were getting one of the best.’ He looked up as Anton came in. ‘I was just telling Louise that you were the one who got Hannah pregnant.’
Anton gave a small smile of acknowledgement of the conversation then he turned to Louise. ‘How is she?’
‘Very well.’
Anton gave another brief nod and went to examine Hannah.
Hannah was doing very well because things soon started to get busy and by four o’clock, just when Louise should be heading home to get ready for tonight, she was cheering Hannah on.
‘Are you okay, Louise?’ Brenda popped her head in to see if Louise wanted one of the late staff to come in and take over but instead Louise smiled and nodded. ‘I’m fine, Brenda,’ Louise said. ‘We’re nearly there.’
She would never leave so close to the end of a birth, Anton knew that, and she was enthusiastic at every birth, even if the mother was in Theatre, unconscious.
‘How much longer?’ Hannah begged.
‘Not long,’ Louise said. ‘Don’t push, just hold it now.’ Louise was holding Hannah’s leg and watched as the head came out and Anton carefully looped a rather thin and straggly umbilical cord from around the baby’s neck.
She and Anton actually worked well in this part. Anton liked how Louise got into it and encouraged the woman no end, urging her on when required, helping him to slow things down too, if that was the course of action needed. This was the case here, because the baby was only thirty-five weeks and also rather small for dates.
‘Oh, Hannah!’ Louise was ecstatic as the shoulders were delivered and Anton placed the slippery bundle on Hannah’s stomach and Louise rubbed the baby’s back. They all watched as he took his first breath and finally Hannah and Luke had their wish come true.
‘He’s beautiful,’ Hannah