Сестра Лэни (спектакль). Федор Федорович Кнорре

those blankets on her and she’ll be fine. She’s had a feed so that should help. I’ll drive as carefully as I can but this might be a rough ride,’ he warned them as he climbed into the driver’s seat and started the engine.

      The midwife waved them off and they made it back down the farm track with no problem and turned onto the lane that ran near Lindsay’s farm.

      Ellie saw Ben’s fingers tighten on the steering-wheel and knew from the tension in his shoulders that the roads were bad, the snow making the driving conditions slushy and dangerous.

      ‘The quickest way to the hospital is back through the ford,’ she said quietly, and she saw him nod briefly.

      How long had they been at Lindsay’s?

      How much rain had fallen in that time?

      As he approached the water Ellie closed her eyes and held onto Lindsay’s hands, but she needn’t have worried. The four-wheel-drive barely hesitated as it plunged happily through the water and up the other side.

      Lindsay looked out of the back window and gasped. ‘There’s your little car.’ Suddenly understanding dawned and she stared at Ellie, horrified. ‘Oh, my God! You broke down because you drove through the ford, didn’t you? That’s why you got to me so quickly! Oh, Ellie! Whatever made you take such a risk?’

      ‘I love you,’ Ellie mumbled, ‘and no one else seemed prepared to try it. Don’t worry about the car. I’ll sort it out tomorrow.’

      ‘I’m not worried about your car, I’m worried about you!’

      ‘Don’t be.’ Ellie gave her a cheerful smile. ‘I’m not the one who’s just had an upside-down baby.’

      ‘She was the right way up,’ Lindsay pointed out, and Ellie shook her head.

      ‘No. Medically speaking she was upside down.’ She chatted away, distracting Lindsay as Ben negotiated the lethal road conditions. Once they hit the main road things improved slightly and Ben handed her his phone without taking his eyes off the road. The snow was falling silently onto the windscreen, obscuring his vision.

      ‘Call A and E. Ask for Sean Nicholson. Tell him our estimated time of arrival is five minutes. Ask him if we go to A and E or the labour ward. I spoke to him earlier and he should have fixed something up by now.’

      Ellie stared at him, puzzled. Sean was the consultant in charge of the A and E department. How did Ben know him?

      She shook herself and punched the number into the phone. Now wasn’t the time to worry about things like that or to tell him that she worked in that department and knew Sean very well herself.

      She spoke to the receptionist and got through to Sean easily.

      It was clear that Ben had already briefed him fully. ‘They’re expecting her on the labour ward,’ he said immediately. ‘Get MacAllister to use Entrance 6 and pull the car right up to the door. There’s a midwife waiting for her.’

      ‘We’ll be five minutes.’

      Ellie handed the phone back to Ben, relayed Sean’s instructions and gave Lindsay’s hand a squeeze.

      Lindsay looked at her, her eyes overly bright in the darkness. ‘Well, this wasn’t exactly what you’d call a textbook delivery.’

      ‘And since when has life gone according to the books? Mine never does,’ Ellie pointed out, and Lindsay grinned.

      ‘That’s because you read romance novels. Life is never like that.’

      Briefly Ellie caught Ben’s glance in the rear-view mirror and then he was pulling up outside the entrance of the hospital.

      ‘OK, we’re here. Let’s get you checked out.’

      Without further conversation he undid Lindsay’s seat belt, scooped her up in his arms as if she weighed nothing and walked briskly the short distance to the medical team who were waiting with a wheelchair.

      Then he returned to collect the baby.

      Ellie followed, surprised to see Sean Nicholson hovering. ‘Hello, handsome. What’s an A and E consultant doing in a place like this?’ she quipped, and he gave a lopsided smile.

      ‘Interfering. Checking that the obstetrics team is doing its job.’

      ‘Well, thanks a lot, Nicholson.’ Jed Matthews, the obstetric consultant, glared at him and then smiled at his patient. ‘Hello, Lindsay. I hear you’ve been giving everyone heart failure.’

      Lindsay stared at all the doctors in amazement. ‘Why am I getting all this attention? The baby’s been born!’

      ‘Well, you’re our VIP this week.’ Jed laughed. ‘That and the fact that, for some unknown reason, Obstetrics isn’t busy at the moment. Give me the low-down, Ben.’

      ‘It was a breech delivery but everything seemed fairly straightforward...’ Ben raked his dark hair out of his eyes as he ran Jed through the details of the delivery and then turned to Lindsay and gave her a brief smile. ‘You were brave. You did well.’

      He turned on his heel but Lindsay reached out a hand to stop him leaving.

      ‘Wait!’ Her tone was urgent. ‘You can’t go! Not just like that. I haven’t thanked you for everything you’ve done. Paul is going to want to talk to you. If it hadn’t been for you...’ She bit her lip, visibly flustered. ‘Where can I get hold of you?’