Midwives On Call: From Babies To Bride

The cardboard handle of the beer pack was cutting into Aiden’s hand. He had been an idiot. He’d made Sophia feel bad only to find he wasn’t welcome here.

Something was going wrong in his life right now. The wheels were still turning but it felt like they weren’t quite on the tracks and he couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out why. He looked away from Nate.

‘I thought this was more important.’ He cleared his throat. ‘And … I wanted to … I dunno … put things right, I guess. Wouldn’t want you to think I don’t support you in whatever you want to do.’

Nate gave an audible snort this time. ‘It’s only selection. Miss my first game next week and you’ll definitely be in trouble.’

The lightness in his tone didn’t match the expression on his face when Aiden turned back. Nate understood what he’d been too clumsy to articulate well and held up his hand, the fingers curled into a fist. ‘There’s nothing to put right, man. We’re brothers. Family.’

Aiden bumped the fist with his own. Nate shook his head but he was grinning as he swivelled the chair on the polished floor. ‘Seeing as you’re here, you might as well come in for a beer. Hey, what do you call a quadriplegic in a pile of leaves?’

There was relief to be found as he followed Nate towards the lounge. Enough to stop the automatic protest at a joke that would seem so distasteful to people outside this community.

‘I dunno. What?’

‘Russell.’

There was even more relief in the shared laughter but it still wasn’t quite enough to put the wheels completely back on track. Nate had said there was nothing to put right but that wasn’t entirely true, was it?

Things had gone unexpectedly wrong with someone else as well. A woman he’d had no desire at all to hurt. Quite the opposite, in fact.

How on earth was he going to put that right?

CHAPTER SIX

‘YOU OKAY?’

‘A bit nervous, I think. I watched a Caesarean before but I’ve never been actually involved.’

‘I won’t ask you to do anything you’re not ready to cope with, don’t worry.’

Flick nodded, pulling her theatre cap over her dark blonde hair. She looked a bit pale, Sophia thought, which was probably nerves on top of the weariness of a long day.

She was feeling weary herself. It didn’t help that she’d been feeling as flat as a pancake ever since that date with Aiden had ended on such an unsatisfactory note.

She hadn’t heard from him since and the mix of disappointment and—it had to be admitted—frustration had made her wonder if the downside of dating outweighed any of the potential benefits.

She’d brushed off Flick’s friendly query about how the date had gone and she’d tried really hard to focus on her work and let the satisfaction her job always gave her chase the blues away, but that hadn’t worked very well today either. Not when they were now in a situation none of them had expected—or wanted—to be in.

They should be heading home by now, after the home birth of their patient Kim’s second baby, but things hadn’t gone according to plan and, after transferring Kim to the MMU hours ago, a Caesarean section had been deemed the best option for an exhausted mother and a now distressed baby.

Kim and her husband, Peter, were in the theatre’s anteroom under the care of an anaesthetist as she received an epidural.

‘Put some theatre booties on over your shoes.’ Sophia pulled the disposable covers from the dispenser on the wall of the changing room. ‘And here’s a mask.’

‘Do we have to scrub in as well?’

‘No. We don’t go anywhere near the operating site. Our role is to support Kim in getting the best birth experience she can under the circumstances.’

‘Like making sure she gets the skin-to-skin contact?’

‘Exactly. But only if the baby’s well enough, of course. We have to be prepared, though. What’s the most important thing to make sure we’ve sorted?’

‘That her gown can be moved without disturbing the theatre drapes?’

‘Good.’ Sophia smiled at her student. ‘Now, let’s get moving. We’ve got a few things to organise. I’m going to liaise with the ward and check that a midwife is available to take transfer of care in the recovery room and I want you to ring the lab and order a bucket of iced water.’

‘For the cord blood gas samples?’

‘You’re onto it. We’ve also got to check that both the transport cot and the resuscitation cot are turned on and I want to make sure you know where all the equipment is. Follow me.’

There was a hum of activity in Theatre as the staff prepared for the surgery.

‘We’ll move the resuscitation cot over to here,’ Sophia decided.

‘Why?’

‘Hopefully, it’s not going to be needed, but if it is, we want a line of direct vision for both the parents so they can maintain visual contact with their baby at all times.’

Kim was wheeled in moments later. Lights were shifted and positioned and monitoring equipment attached. An ECG trace blipped into action on an overhead screen and numbers flashed and changed as they displayed heart rate, blood pressure and blood oxygen levels. Sophia showed Peter where he was allowed to stand, checked the function of the foetal monitor and then smiled at Kim.

‘All good?’

‘I’m scared.’

‘I know.’ Sophia squeezed her patient’s hand, careful not to dislodge the IV line. ‘You’ve got a fantastic team who are here to look after you and you’ll be amazed how fast it goes.’

‘I’m not sure any more … about … you know …’

‘Watching baby come out?’ Sophia glanced at the drape screen the theatre nurses were putting up at chest level. The plan had been to lower the screen after the incision to the uterus had been made but another glance showed how pale Peter was looking. A definite contender for fainting.

‘You don’t have to see that bit,’ she told Kim. ‘We can still put baby straight onto your chest.’ Her gaze caught Flick’s. ‘Let’s put a chair in for Peter. That way he can hold Kim’s hand and he doesn’t have to see anything he doesn’t want to either.’

The surgeon and her registrar came into Theatre and, for a while at least, Sophia could totally forget about her personal life as she got caught up in one of the more dramatic ways to bring a new life into the world.

She made sure Flick could stand close enough to see what was happening as the surgeon and her registrar stood on either side of Kim’s swollen abdomen. The only sounds were the beeping of the monitors and the calm requests for instruments as the initial incision was made and then the tissues quickly dissected with gloved fingers in use more often than a scalpel or scissors.

Sophia was sure that Flick was holding her breath—as she always did—when the careful incision into the uterus was made and they could see the dark whorls of wet hair on the baby’s head. Forceps were fitted to lift the head far enough for the surgeon to be able to hold it with her hands and then the baby was eased out, pausing long enough for the registrar to suction the infant’s airways.

The baby’s eyes were open and an arm waving slowly. Sophia breathed a sigh of relief. It started crying as its legs were lifted clear of the uterus and she heard a gasp that was more like a strangled sob of relief from both Peter and Kim. Flick was focused on the registrar clamping and cutting the cord but then her gaze caught Sophia’s and she gave a quick nod. She took the baby from the registrar as Flick helped a nurse to move the screen and she could place the newborn on her mother’s chest.

The longest part of the surgery came now, with the precise task of repairing all the layers of tissue, but, with the screen back in place, Kim was unaware of what was happening and time ceased to matter as she and Peter touched and marvelled at their new baby.

‘Did you note the time and sex of the baby?’

Flick nodded. ‘I’ve got the labels ready for the cord blood gas samples.’

‘Good. Now, double-check this with me. We have to make sure that the details on the maternal and neonatal wrist labels match.’

Thirty minutes later, Kim was ready to be transferred to a ward bed and taken into Recovery. The paediatrician had checked their daughter and she was wrapped and warm. Sophia put the small bundle into Peter’s arms to be carried into Recovery. The transfer of care to the ward midwife would happen there but Sophia wasn’t ready to leave yet. This was her favourite time after the tension of a Caesarean, to help with the first breastfeed and watch the bonding happening between the baby and her parents. Kim’s mother was waiting nearby, too, with their three-year-old son, who would be able to come and meet his new sister before they got transferred to the ward.

‘That was amazing,’ Flick said quietly, when they were finally heading home. ‘But I am so tired.’ She stepped into the lift and leaned against the wall.

‘Me too. This is when you really feel it, when the excitement’s all over.’ Sophia pushed the button to take them to the ground floor. It wasn’t just physical weariness either. With the prospect of heading home alone as soon as she stepped out of the Victoria’s front doors, she knew that she would end up feeling flatter than ever. ‘The café will still be open. Let’s go and get a coffee.’

Flick groaned. ‘Oh, no … not coffee. Even the thought of it makes me feel ill.’

‘Really?’ Sophia’s head swivelled to take a closer look at her student. ‘That’s not like you.’ She noted the pale skin and dark circles under Flick’s eyes. Something clicked into place. ‘Wait … you’re not pregnant, are you?’

‘I think it’s just something I ate.’

The lift stopped with a jerk as she spoke and then the doors slid open but was that enough to explain the way Flick was avoiding her gaze?

‘I’ve got to go. See you tomorrow, Soph.’

‘Hang on …’ She’d put her foot in it, even making the suggestion, hadn’t she? It certainly hadn’t been her intention to upset her student. ‘Hey … I’m sorry, Flick. I didn’t—’

Flick raised her hand, without turning. ‘It’s okay. I’m fine. Really.’

‘Sophia?’

The voice from behind made her spin round without thinking. It was so unexpected. So … welcome?

‘Aiden … What are you doing here?’

No. It wasn’t welcome. She didn’t want to talk to him right now. She needed to talk to Flick. Or maybe Flick needed to talk to her. Turning her head again, just as quickly, she could see Flick disappearing towards the front doors. She could hardly run away from Aiden.

She didn’t want to talk to him. He’d interrupted a conversation she’d been having with her student and she was on the brink of excusing herself and running away.

He didn’t want that to happen. Catching sight of her as she’d stepped out of the lift had been like a slap in the face. Enough to bring back the guilt he’d been wrestling with ever since he’d cut their date short to go and see Nathan.

He’d picked up the phone half a dozen times since then, with the intention of trying to contact Sophia, but something had always got in the way. A call to a job made it easy to hang up but it was never enough of an excuse. He’d been … scared? Well, nervous anyway. He hadn’t been able to come up with any plausible plan to put things right so he’d known he could well make things worse. And he hadn’t wanted to face the potential rejection.

But actually seeing her instead of a faceless phone call brought back all the reasons why he wanted to put things right.

She looked tired. The way she stared after her student had a worried edge to it. And he could sense that her mood was different. More serious. Sad, even? Oh, help … was he flattering himself or could that have something to do with him?

Despite all of that—or maybe because of it—she was still the most gorgeous woman he’d ever met. He wanted to put his arms around her and hold her close. Kiss whatever it was better. But he could only say something and hope that she might choose to stay in his company for just a little longer. Long enough for him to think of something. Some way to put things right.

‘I came in to check up on a patient from today,’ he heard himself saying. ‘Cyclist that got clipped by a tram. I was worried about her.’

‘Oh …’ A rush of mixed emotions washed through Sophia. The attraction that came from imagining him on the job, weaving through heavy traffic with the lights and siren going on that huge bike. Admiration that came from knowing how calmly he would have taken charge of the emergency. Warmth that came from knowing that he did care about his patients.

And there was more threaded through those feelings. She couldn’t pretend that the personal attraction had been quashed by the disappointment of that last date. Maybe the strongest memory right now was the sincerity she’d seen in his eyes when he’d left her on the footpath. She’d been too angry to believe that he wouldn’t have been abandoning her unless it had been for something too important to ignore, but that anger had faded into the flatness of the last few days.

She wanted to believe it now.

She wanted …

‘Would you like to grab a coffee or something?’ Aiden seemed to be watching her carefully, as though he was aware of the struggle she was having, trying to capture a thought that would determine her response to this unexpected meeting.

‘I … um …’ There was no point looking towards the main entrance but she turned her head again anyway, despite knowing that Flick was long gone.

‘Do you need to catch up with her?’

‘No.’ Sophia pushed her concern about her student to one side. She would see her soon enough and, if that startling suspicion had any grounds, it would only become more apparent with the passing of time. She sucked in a breath and looked back at Aiden.

‘I was planning to get a coffee,’ she admitted. ‘It’s been a long day. We had a case that got complicated and we had to bring her in for a Caesarean. And …’ Something she couldn’t identify was melting away deep inside her. ‘I believe I still owe you a coffee?’

Aiden’s smile lit up his face and she saw a flash of what looked like relief in his eyes.

‘I believe you do.’

The tension eased as they began walking towards the cafeteria together but now Sophia was aware of how she must look. Her hair had been squashed beneath a cap for too long and she had crumpled scrubs on under her jacket. Any make-up she’d started the day with must have worn off long ago and she was probably tired enough to look years older.

Except that—oddly—she didn’t feel that tired any more. And a sideways glance showed that Aiden’s uniform was pretty crumpled as well. His boots looked scuffed and he had a big scratch on one hand.

For both of them, their appearance was nothing more than evidence of what they did for a living. A badge of honour even?

Aiden held the door of the cafeteria open for Sophia. The relief he’d felt when she’d agreed to have a coffee with him should have been a warning but he was going to ignore it. So what if it felt like a major victory? That the wheels were back on exactly the right tracks? It shouldn’t feel this good, of course. Not when all he might be winning was the chance for a third—and final—date.

But he was feeling better than he had for days so why shouldn’t he make the most of it? Sophia looked happier too. She was smiling as they headed for the machine that provided coffee that was dreadful but free. She put a polystyrene cup under the dispenser.

‘What can I get you?’ she asked. ‘Cappuccino? A latte?’

‘I think a long black might be the safest choice.’

‘Done.’ With the button pushed the machine whirred into life. ‘And I think I might push the boat out and have a hot chocolate.’

There would be a rush before too long, when staff on an early dinner break came in, but, for now, the cafeteria was almost completely deserted. They found a table in the corner and sat down. Sophia was at right angles to Aiden. Their knees bumped under the table and the eye contact they made was instantaneous. And intense enough to make her heart skip a beat.

‘This doesn’t count as a date,’ she murmured.

‘Of course not.’ Aiden nodded, his face serious. ‘It wasn’t planned so how could it be?’

‘Mmm.’

‘And besides … we never got to finish date number two, did we?’

‘Ah.’ The tension was back again. They had to both be thinking of that moment. Not that any words had been spoken but Sophia could actually feel the impression of that half-smile she’d summoned. The dismissive way she’d shrugged and turned away. ‘No …’ She had to drop her gaze. ‘It didn’t feel finished.’

‘We should do something about that, then.’

It took courage to meet his gaze. ‘Yes. I think maybe we should.’

The intensity humming between them bore no relation to the casual words from Aiden.

‘I’ve got a thing I have to go to tomorrow night. Would you like to come with me?’

‘What sort of a thing?’

Not that it mattered. She would have agreed to go anywhere with him.

Or maybe it did matter. A flicker of something in Aiden’s face made Sophia realise that, whatever it was, it was important to him. That he was inviting her into a part of his life that might not be something he shared with just anyone. That he was taking a risk?

‘A surprise,’ he said, after that tiny hesitation. ‘If I tell you what it is, that would make it more like a new date and it’s not. It’s—’

‘A half-date?’ Sophia suggested.

‘Just a thing. Let’s not try and define it.’

‘Okay.’

‘So you’ll come?’

‘Sure. How could I resist? I’ve never been to a “thing” before. I’m intrigued.’

‘Don’t get too excited. It’s a bit … different.’

‘I’m even more intrigued now. Give me a clue?’

‘Uh-uh.’ Aiden shook his head but he was smiling. ‘I’ll pick you up at seven-thirty.’

‘Dress code?’

‘Definitely casual. And warm.’ Aiden took a sip of his coffee and made a face. ‘This is awful. I don’t even think it deserves to be called coffee.’

A bubble of happiness made Sophia giggle. ‘Guess I still owe you one, then.’

Aiden’s nod was thoughtful. ‘I’ll put this in the category of medication. Something to wake me up after a tough day.’

‘So what happened? How badly injured was your cyclist?’

‘Multi-trauma. She’s up in Intensive Care now but I wanted to see what had been found. The head injury made her combative so it was hard to assess her.’

Sophia nodded. She had plenty of questions and was genuinely interested in the responses as Aiden told her more about the case, but there was an undercurrent that made it all so much more enjoyable.

She was going to see him again tomorrow night.

They were going to a thing …

Parking outside a suburban gymnasium was a surprise. So the ‘thing’ was a sporting event of some kind? This was weird but Sophia was prepared to keep an open mind, especially when Aiden took her hand to lead her inside.

And there was another surprise. The seats were crowded and the atmosphere loud and vibrant but the last thing she’d expected to see were the teams on the basketball-style court. They were all young men and they were all in wheelchairs.

‘What is this?’

‘Murderball.’ Aiden waved to a girl with spiky black hair and facial piercings who was in the first row of seats. ‘Wheelchair rugby.’ He led her towards some empty seats in the third row. ‘It’s my brother’s first game.’

Wow. No wonder she’d got the impression that this was a private part of Aiden’s life.

‘Your brother is paraplegic?’

‘Tetraplegic. You have to have disability in all four limbs to qualify to play.’

‘But …’ Sophia stared at the activity below as she took her seat. The team members were rolling across the floor with some doing fast spins, looking like they were warming up. They were definitely using their hands and arms.

‘There’s a scale,’ Aiden told her. ‘The level of disability is graded from zero point five, which is the greatest restriction, to three point five. If you were able-bodied you’d score five and if you were totally paralysed you’d be a zero. There are four on the court at any one time and they have to have a total score between them of no more than eight points.’

The teams were lining up, face to face in the centre of the court, and then they peeled off, high-fiving each other.

‘Which one is your brother?’

‘Number three for the Melbourne Mobsters. The red and black team. He’s not going to be on in the first quarter. He may not get on at all but I hope he does. This is his first game.’

‘Oh …’ That made it even more of a big deal to be here. No wonder Aiden was looking tense, with his jaw knotted and his focus intently on the court. Sophia slipped her hand over his to give it a squeeze and found it caught and gripped hard.

‘What’s his name?’ Sophia grinned. ‘Just so I can yell when he scores a goal.’

‘Nathan. Nate.’

A whistle blew and the referee threw a ball high in the air and then it was all on. A player for the Canberra Cowboys put the ball on his lap and sped away from the others to cross the goal line between cones. A cheer erupted from the crowd but it was nothing on the noise level when one of the local boys scored less than a minute later.

The game was fast and furious and Sophia was hooked well before the first quarter ended. She gasped at the first collision she saw between three players going for the ball that made the chairs tip and her jaw dropped when one player fell backwards with a crash, but the game carried on with a supporter rushing onto the court to right the upturned chair, and within seconds the fall was forgotten.

A hooter sounded to signal the rolling rotation of the players but Nathan wasn’t one of the new team members. Sophia tried to figure out the rules but the game was so fast, she was having trouble. This was like a mix of basketball, rugby and bumper cars.

‘Why do they bounce the ball sometimes?’

‘You have to either bounce it or pass it to someone else within ten seconds.’

‘What happened there?’

‘Penalty awarded for a foul. That cowboy hit a mobster’s chair behind the main axle, which makes it spin out of control.’

Scores jumped quickly but stayed close. The noise level steadily increased until Sophia had to shout to be heard as the final quarter began.

‘That’s Nathan. He’s on.’

She’d barely known this game existed before coming here tonight, but suddenly it felt personal. Nathan looked a lot younger than Aiden and he looked a bit nervous. Sophia felt nervous herself. The chairs were clearly designed to cope with the impacts with their metal bumpers and spoke guards. And the players wore gloves and elbow protection but surely there was a huge potential for injury down there?

Aiden obviously thought so too, given the way he winced visibly the first time Nathan’s chair got hit. But, moments later, a wide overhead pass from the other side of the court saw Nathan catch the ball and dump it on his lap. He spun his chair on the spot and took off, his arms almost a blur as he powered towards the goal line. Three other chairs converged on his path but he saw them as he looked up to bounce the ball off to one side. With another lightning-fast spin, he changed direction and had a clear line to speed towards the cones.

The cheer was the loudest yet. Maybe because she and Aiden were both on their feet, yelling at the tops of their voices. She saw the girl in the front row, who’d waved at Aiden when they arrived, leaping about and waving two huge pompoms in the red and black team colours.

The Melbourne Mobsters lost by two points but it didn’t seem to matter. The crowd was happy to cheer any of the players who came close enough to the spectators to receive a high five or a kiss from a girlfriend. Still holding Sophia’s hand, Aiden pulled her towards the front row as a chair rolled directly towards them. Nathan got a kiss from the girl with the spiky black hair and then a fist bump and a one-armed hug from his brother.