The Prince And The Midwife

“Of course I trust you. In fact I’m— I— Oh, my God!” Cameron sat bolt upright in bed, her eyes suddenly wide and scared as she stared at Gabby.

Her heart picked up speed because the look on Cameron’s face didn’t seem like overdramatic acting this time. She reached for Cameron’s hand. “What? What is it?”

“I think...I think my waters just broke!”

Oh, no. Gabby immediately checked to be sure Cameron wasn’t experiencing some other sensation that made her think it was her membranes breaking, but there was no doubt about it.

Heart sinking, she prayed the steroids had gotten baby’s lungs developed enough for the premature infant to be all right. She perched on the side of the bed and reached for Cameron’s hands again. “You’re right. Your waters have broken, which means your amniotic sac is no longer intact. And that means baby has to be born, otherwise there’s risk of infection. I’ll call Dr. Moreno and get him here right away.”

“Oh, yes, you must!” Cameron’s manicured nails dug into Gabby’s skin. “Tell him it’s an emergency!”

“I’m sure he’ll get here as quickly as possible. Try not to worry, okay? With luck, you’ll have a smooth, uncomplicated delivery, and baby will be just fine. I’ll be right back.”

Gabby managed to extricate her hands from Cameron’s grip and made a quick note of the time her waters had broken and an estimation of the amount of fluid before she moved into the hallway to pull up Dr. Moreno’s number on her cell. Hopefully, he wasn’t at lunch with some bigwig, or with a woman after a date the night before and not answering the phone because of it. And why that thought would make her tummy tighten uncomfortably, she had no idea. Must just be concern for Cameron, because she knew the woman would worry about having a different doctor come to deliver the baby.

But he answered after only two rings, and Gabby let out a relieved breath. “Dr. Moreno, it’s Gabby Cain. Cameron’s waters broke a few minutes ago and—”

“I’ll be right there.”

She stared at the now dead phone. Now, there was a man of few words. And questions. Which was probably a good thing since the sooner he arrived, the sooner he’d wield his potent charm on Cameron to keep her calmer in a way Gabby wasn’t always able to accomplish.

Back in Cameron’s room, she plumped her pillows yet again and checked her vital signs once more. “Dr. Moreno’s on his way.”

“I knew he’d come right away. I’m just praying he gets here before my baby does!”

“It usually takes a while for contractions to get strong enough for baby to be born. Are you feeling any yet?”

“I...I can’t tell for sure. I feel very crampy, like there’s a fist inside my belly. It doesn’t feel good. And my back really aches. Is it going to get worse? I hate pain! I don’t do well with it at all!”

The famous blue eyes staring at her were so scared and anxious Gabby gave her hands another reassuring squeeze. “How contractions feel varies a lot from woman to woman. Some go from feeling cramps that become more intense as labor progresses, and others experience pretty intense contractions. But all that is helping your baby be born, so it’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“How long will it take?”

“That varies too.” Gabby wasn’t about to tell her it could be just a few hours or as long as twenty-four or more. If Cameron was stressing now, that would probably send her into a panic. “I’m going to check your cervix to see how much it’s thinning and dilating, which may give us a clue how far along you are.”

“Okay, but I want an epidural, because it already hurts a lot! So please call whoever does that right away. Unless Rafael will do that himself?”

“Epidurals are done by an anesthesiologist. We’ll let Dr. Moreno decide when that should happen.” Since he’d wanted to be in charge, Gabby was more than happy to pass the epidural discussion on to him.

It seemed Gabby had barely plumped Cameron’s pillows a third time and gotten ice for her to suck on when Rafael Moreno strode into the room as if he owned the place. All tall and powerful and regal, his mere presence seemed to electrify the air. His gaze trapped hers, and everything in the room seemed to fade away except for that intense connection. Suddenly she felt a little unsteady on her feet, but that was probably sheer exhaustion.

“Thank God you’re here, Rafael!”

Cameron’s voice snapped her back to reality. Focus on your job and patient, silly, not the handsome prince. Um, what had she been about to do just then? “Hello, Dr. Moreno. As I told you, Cameron’s had PPROM. I was about to check her cervical thinning and dilation.”

“What’s PPROM?” Cameron sounded alarmed, and Gabby gave her a pat.

“Sorry, I was talking to the doctor. It’s just an acronym for preterm premature rupture of membranes, which just means your waters broke before baby is full term.”

“Let’s check how far along you are, Cameron, okay?” he asked. Rafael donned gloves and began the internal exam, smiling at their patient and asking questions as he did. Somehow he managed to have her smiling back and laughing at a few of his remarks, and Gabby had to grudgingly admit he had a wonderful bedside manner, obviously used to dealing with even the most nervous and difficult kinds of patients.

When he finished the exam he snapped off his gloves and seemed to take a moment to think of how he wanted to present his findings. “Your special little one is, as we know, very anxious to arrive. You are already dilated to six centimeters, which is a bit surprising for a first baby, though of course your bebé has been impatient for some time, hasn’t she?”

Gabby stared at him in surprise and had to bite her tongue to keep from blurting out something like You’re kidding! Six centimeters was way further along than she’d expected, and she had to admit she was glad Rafael was already there, or she would have been concerned that he might not get to the clinic in time, which would have worried Cameron at a time she didn’t need more worries.

“Oh, my Lord, then I need to get an epidural right now, don’t I?” The blue eyes staring at Rafael quickly became panicky as she apparently experienced a contraction. Panting for a moment, she leaned forward to grab his hand. “I hate pain. You can make sure I don’t have any more pain, right? Fix that for me, please.”

So used to addressing laboring mother’s worries, Gabby opened her mouth before realizing Cameron had asked Rafael, not her. And much as it rankled a bit, since she was used to either delivering babies on her own or being part of a team with the obstetrician, she managed to let him answer instead.

“I have already spoken to the anesthesiologist, as I know you want to be as comfortable as possible,” he said in that soothing voice that was also, damn it, incredibly sexy. “Now that we know you’re dilated enough to receive the pain relief, we’ll get the anesthesiologist here pronto.”

He turned the power of his smile on Gabby, and she had to admit to a warmth filling her chest that he’d included her with the “we” word. Though why she should care if he did or didn’t give her that lip service, she had no clue.

“Gabriella, would you please ask Dr. Smith to come now?”

“Yes, Dr. Moreno.”

“Please, call me Rafael. You and Cameron and I are all friends trusting one another here to bring baby into the world, yes?”

“Um, yes.” No. Not friends. Colleagues. Co-workers. But that simple word—friends—made her chest feel warmer even as it contracted with pain as she went to phone the doctor. Her last relationship had taught her that counting on true friendship and closeness with a man was a mistake. That trust was a mirage. An elusive shimmer of light that could disintegrate and disappear in an instant when times got tough.

Briefly closing her eyes, she willed away the hurt, stuffing it down into the deep, dark corner where it usually resided, until unexpected moments like this dragged it to the surface. But this moment wasn’t about her past. This moment was about helping a mother who would soon hold a new life in her arms, a precious child she obviously wanted with all her heart.

Tears unexpectedly stung her eyes, and she angrily swiped them aside. She delivered babies for a living, and usually felt nothing but joy for the new parents, new families. So what was it about this moment, this delivery that was bringing memories to the surface that were better left behind?

The question made her wonder if, somehow, some way, for some bizarre reason, it was Rafael’s presence that was making her feel so strange. But, of course, that made no sense. She didn’t even know him. Didn’t want to.

She kept her life simple. Worked a lot of hours, taking on as many double shifts as possible. Went out with friends occasionally, but that was pretty much it. Could it be that after such a long time of keeping to herself, being around an exceptionally attractive man, annoying or not, had her neglected hormones all charged up or something?

Yes. That had to be it. And knowing that was all it was helped her get her equilibrium back. Time to quit thinking and remembering and start working. She quickly contacted the anesthesiologist, then headed back to Cameron’s room.

“You checked Cameron for her group B beta strep culture, yes?” Rafael asked from his position by Cameron’s bedside, holding her hand the way she would have, in a way she couldn’t remember ever seeing an OB interact with a patient.

“I did. Status was uncertain, so I gave her a second dose of antibiotics in case it’s an issue.”

“Good.” He nodded and stood, and Gabby found herself fixated on the way his broad shoulders and chest filled out his scrubs, how his tanned forearms looked more like they belonged to an athlete than a man who caught babies for a living. Thankfully, her inappropriate perusal was interrupted as Dr. Smith strode in. Face heating, she turned away, hoping to heck no one had noticed her staring.

The doctors shook hands before the anesthesiologist introduced himself to their patient. “Cameron, I promise I’m not going far, just giving Dr. Smith and Gabriella some room,” Rafael said. “I’m sure Dr. Smith will take good care of you, and of course you are in Gabriella’s excellent hands as well. See you shortly, okay?”

And Gabby sure as heck needed a little space and a breather from Rafael Moreno. She did her darnedest to focus on only Cameron, but as he walked by her she found it impossible to not be aware of the pull of his green eyes, the angular shape of his smooth, golden features, and the sheer masculine force of his presence.

To cover up her confusion over this odd discomfort, she nearly asked tartly if it was okay for her to do an internal exam now, but resisted the urge. She was pretty certain that antagonizing him would just ratchet up this peculiar sizzle between them, and whether it was animosity or something else, Gabby wasn’t sure anymore.

Rafael left her to monitor Cameron’s labor progress and take care of her, checking in only occasionally, which Gabby was glad about on more than one level. She couldn’t deny feeling pleased that he’d obviously come to trust she knew what she was doing, then inwardly scolded herself for that. He should have assumed she was competent at her job, not the other way around, especially knowing James Rothsberg and what he demanded of everyone who worked at the clinic he’d founded.

Rafael not hovering around the room, monitoring everything she did, was another good thing, though why she kept finding him so distracting she had no idea. The man was an expert at turning his charm on and off at will.

“How long is this going to take, for heaven’s sake? I thought she was coming soon.” Cameron’s voice had gotten steadily more frustrated as her contractions got closer together, and Gabby prayed for both their sakes she was close to being ready to push.

“Your baby has a mind of her own already, Cameron, doesn’t she?” she said, keeping her voice light. “First she’s in a hurry, then she takes her time.” A bit like her mother. “The good news is her heart rate looks perfect on the monitor. Let me check your dilation again. Looks like the epidural is keeping you comfortable, isn’t it?”

“I guess. If you can call starving to death comfortable.” Cameron sighed dramatically as she crunched another of the tiny round ice cubes Gabby had replaced in her cup three times now. “You’d think that with modern medicine, giving birth could be completely pain-free.”

“A few decades back, women were given morphine and scopolamine to put them into a twilight sleep. They’d hallucinate, then not remember the birth at all afterwards. I don’t know about you, but I’d want to remember forever the moment my baby arrived in this world.”

It wasn’t the kind of memory she’d wish on anyone, but it was still hers. To rail against, to shrink from, to cherish.

She could see him as clearly as if he were even now in her arms. Stillborn. One simple word that perfectly described a lifeless infant.

Motionless. Quiet. Angelic and beautiful.

Every detail of that day was burned into her very soul. And she prayed it wasn’t a memory Cameron would ever have to share.

“I suppose,” Cameron said grudgingly. “So, how many centimeters dilated am I?”

Grateful for the distraction, Gabby checked and was surprised and more than happy at what she found. “Guess what? You’re at ten centimeters and fully effaced. Time for baby to come into the world.”

“Oh, my gosh—really? Don’t you need to call Rafael? What if she comes out before he gets here?”

Gabby wanted to remind Cameron that she was a qualified midwife, fully capable of delivering a baby on her own, but managed to keep her mouth shut. Besides, she’d be lying if she didn’t admit she kind of wanted to see Rafael at work. “I’ll give him a call right now.”

“No need. I’m here,” a deep voice said, and Gabby glanced up to see Rafael looking relaxed yet wired, obviously ready to get to work. “I had a feeling your little bebé had finally made up her mind.”

“That’s because you and I are simpatico, don’t you think? How much longer?”

“Time to be the strong woman you are and get pushing with the next contraction, sí?”

Cameron nodded, and Gabby was surprised at how quickly her next contraction came. Rafael was calmly encouraging as long minutes passed, stretching into a half hour, with their patient becoming more frustrated and impatient with each push.

“My friend had her baby sucked out with something. Can’t you just do that?” she gasped.

“Ah, ‘sucked out.’ That’s a funny way to put it, though accurate, I suppose.” Across their patient, his amused eyes met Gabby’s and she felt her lips curving. “But it is not a good idea to use the vacuum on a premature infant, and you’re doing well. Isn’t she, Gabriella?”

“Wonderful. Just remember to breathe with the next push, okay?” She reached for Cameron’s hand, stroking it. “Puff, puff, puff. In and out. Tuck down your chin when you push to give it some extra oomph, okay?”

“Extra oomph.” Rafael’s laughing eyes met hers again. “You Americans use amusing words. I must take notes.”

“Well, do it some other time,” Cameron said tartly. “I’m more interested in getting this baby out than helping you write a thesaurus of American words.”

“Just trying to distract you from your hard work, Cameron. Another push now, please.”

He turned those green eyes back to their patient and Gabby realized she’d been briefly mesmerized—again—by that gaze. She glanced at the monitor wrapped around Cameron’s belly as she pushed again, and the reading jerked her mind back to work. “Fetal monitor is showing a decreased variability, Dr. Moreno.”

He glanced at it, too, and his expression turned serious. “Keep an eye on it during the next contractions.”

“What? What does that mean? Is something wrong?” Cameron nearly moaned the questions as she pushed again.

“Baby’s heartbeat is a little flat. But that may just mean she’s sleeping.”

“Sleeping? How could she possibly be sleeping when she’s about to be born?”

“She’s warm and cozy inside her mama, and also tiny because she is early. So sleeping is a possibility, though I agree it seems odd that babies sometimes are sleep before being born, doesn’t it?”

His eyes met Gabby’s, and she read the message in their serious depths. He wanted her to pay close attention to the monitor, and she gave him a small nod. She pressed the intercom around her neck as she watched the baby’s heartbeat. “I’ll give Neonatal a quick call to get them here and ready.”

As Gabby spoke soothingly and encouragingly, Rafael interrupted. “Baby’s head is crowning, Cameron! Not too much longer now. You are doing such a good job.”

“Yes, a few more good pushes and hopefully she’ll be here! Tuck that chin in again and give us another push, okay?” Gabby wiped Cameron’s forehead at the same time she glanced again at the monitor and froze for an instant. “Heart rate’s flat on the monitor, Dr. Moreno.”

“Stop pushing, Cameron,” he said in a sharp tone.

“Stop?” The woman looked at him, her tired eyes wide. “What do you mean? I thought you said her head was crowning!”

“The cord is around her neck. I need to get it off before she can arrive.”

CHAPTER THREE

CAMERON LET OUT a long cry full of dismay and fear, and Gabby held her hand tighter. “Hang in there, Cameron. Rafael’s getting his fingers under the cord.”

Gabby kept her voice calm and quiet but her chest squeezed hard when she saw the cord wasn’t just around the baby’s neck, it was wrapped round a full three times between her collarbone and her tiny chin. Dear God, this was the last thing a preterm newborn already bound to be in distress should go through.

Throat tight, she watched Rafael carefully wiggle his fingers between the cord and the baby’s neck. Gabby was pretty sure she didn’t breathe at all as the long, tense seconds passed while he worked gently to loosen it.

“What’s happening?” Cameron asked in a high-pitched voice. “Is...is she okay? Oh, God.”

“Working on it. Hold on.”

His fingers finally loosened the cord enough to slip it over the baby’s head, and air spilled from Gabby’s lungs in a relieved whoosh. “Cord’s clear now, Cameron. Get ready.”

“Looks like she’s been doing synchronized swimming in there to get so tangled up,” Rafael said as he flashed a quick grin.

How he managed to look so completely collected, Gabby wasn’t sure, and hoped she always exuded the same calm confidence whenever she had to deal with a tricky situation. “Rafael has her head and shoulders now. One more big push, okay?”

“Good. Perfect. And...here she is!” Rafael had the infant in his hands, his dazzling smile lighting up the room as he held her. “You were magnifico! Bravo!”

Gabby quickly laid a towel on Cameron’s chest so Rafael could briefly place the baby there for Cameron to see her for just a moment as the neonatal team swooped into the room. Cameron looked down at the tiny little face, not a good color yet, still too purple, but Gabby’s heart lifted when she saw the infant was already pinking up.

“My sweet precious,” Cameron whispered. Two wide eyes stared back at her, and the new mother promptly burst into noisy tears that pulled hard at Gabby’s heart. “I love you so much. Please be okay. Please be healthy and normal and not damaged because I didn’t eat enough and worked too much and squeezed my belts too tight when you were growing. Worrying about myself instead of you. Please, Skye. Please be the perfect angel I dreamed you would be.”

Skye. Cameron had airily claimed she had no idea what she’d name her baby, but Gabby had always suspected she just hadn’t been ready to share it. And as she looked at the tiny, scrawny baby’s blue eyes, she got choked up herself, knowing so well the guilt Cameron felt. Worries she hadn’t shared with Gabby. And she understood. Because she, too, didn’t share her guilt with anyone.

* * *

Skye was exactly the right choice for the new life in front of her. A pure and precious gift, like any baby was to its mother. Even those who never had their chance to grow up.

“Skye is a beautiful name.” Gabby gently wiped Cameron’s perspiring brow once more, thinking how the woman looked more beautiful at that moment than all the times her makeup was immaculate and her hair perfectly done by her professional stylists. Having worked so hard to bring her baby into the world, she looked vulnerable and scared and more like a real person than Gabby had ever seen her—not at all the ultra-confident screen persona and diva actress she projected to the world most of the time.

For a moment, she let herself watch a little longer. To see Skye whisked to the heat lamp by the neonatal team, a bulb suction quickly clearing her nose before the small oxygen mask was placed over her head. To marvel at the little body being cleaned up and swaddled tight as Gabby would have done if the baby hadn’t had the stress of the cord scare added to her being so premature.

Then she didn’t want to watch anymore. She turned to focus back on Cameron and caught Rafael’s eye. An eye that seemed to be searching right into her very soul, seeing far too much, and she quickly turned away from that unnerving green gaze.

“She is so beautiful, Cameron,” she said, wishing her voice wasn’t tight with unshed tears. “Hard work bringing her into the world, I know. But now she’s here, you can spoil her rotten.”

“Yes,” Cameron said in a wobbly voice as she watched the neonatal team take Skye from the room to the NICU. “Yes, I plan to do just that.”

* * *

“You did great,” Rafael said. “I’m not surprised that the real Cameron Fontaine is even more of a warrior than the parts you play.” The smile he gave the actress looked so sincere, Gabby wasn’t sure if he meant it or if he was as good an actor as their patient.

“Thank you,” Cameron said, but without the preening she usually responded with when given a compliment. “But what if she’s not all right?”

“No worries until we have to worry, right? What is it you Americans say? Don’t borrow trouble?” Another flash of white teeth. “I will get you fixed up, then we’ll see if we can sneak you in to see your bebé, and ask the doctors how she is doing. Okay?”

Cameron simply nodded, her lip trembling, and Gabby wanted to distract her from her worries. Maybe distract herself a little too. “You must be hungry after all that hard work. How about I get you a bite to eat? What sounds good?”

“Just crackers or something. And maybe juice. Do you have orange juice?”

“You want it, we’ve got it.” Which was pretty much true, as the clinic had more different kinds of food and drinks to offer patients than the biggest restaurant in L.A.

Trying to think about food instead of everything else occupying her mind, Gabby could hear Rafael’s deep voice chatting with Cameron as she left the room. She’d already seen he was good with patients, seeming to know when they needed to be firmly told what to do, and when they needed comfort or distraction instead. And, yes, she’d also seen he wasn’t all arrogant, full of himself princely fluff. That might be a part of him, but there was no denying he was an excellent medical doctor too.

Which, dang it, were all unfortunate realizations, because it had been much easier to ignore the man’s overwhelming mojo when she’d thought he was just a handsome, royal jerk.

She concentrated on figuring out what might appeal to Cameron, to focus on work, which was how she always coped when something happened to yank her back in time. But how could she deny that concentrating on Rafael Moreno for a moment instead was an awfully appealing distraction?

Promising herself she wouldn’t look at said distraction as she walked back to the room with a tray, she stopped dead in the doorway. For one heart-stopping moment she thought Rafael and Cameron were in an embrace, and she stared as a horrifying thought followed. Which was that the man was taking advantage of his beautiful patient at a vulnerable time.

Then her heart jerkily started up again when she realized that Cameron was sobbing, tears streaking down her cheeks as she rested her head against Rafael’s broad shoulder, her hands clutching his scrub shirt. That his large hand gently stroking her damp hair back from her face was meant to comfort and soothe. Soft and beautiful Spanish words were coming from his beautifully shaped lips, and though Gabby’s knowledge of the language wasn’t as good as it should have been, she recognized them as words of praise and reassurance.