His Blind Date Bride

by Scarlet Wilson

  She didn’t catch the other figure.

  The co-pilot held up his hand and signalled ten minutes.

  Ivy spoke into her microphone. ‘Let the carrier know we’ll be bringing back a premature baby and a new mother.’

  There was no way she’d be able to handle this on the vessel they were flying to. She couldn’t transfer a woman in heavy labour. But she could transfer a woman who’d delivered and a baby that would likely need medical support. She swallowed heavily and leaned back even further. At least that was what she hoped she would be bringing back to the carrier. Any other possibilities just weren’t allowed space in her head.

  * * *

  ‘She’s gone where?’

  Jane looked Travis in the eye. ‘She was called to an emergency. A woman...’ Jane glanced at the notes on top of the incubator she was wheeling across the room ‘...apparently thirty-three weeks gestation has gone into premature labour.’ Jane kept walking and glanced over her shoulder at him. ‘They tried to call you first but you didn’t answer. Where were you?’

  Her eyes looked up and down the length of his body. He was wearing a T-shirt and shorts and dripping perspiration all over the hospital floor. Travis was cursing inwardly. All the frustration he’d just taken out on a punchbag in the gym, while listening to very loud rock music through his earphones, had instantly reappeared.

  ‘Didn’t you call me over the com?’

  ‘It wasn’t me that wanted you. It was the chief petty officer.’

  ‘Darn it.’ Travis started striding up the stairs. It only took moments to reach the coms centre.

  ‘Patch me in to my doctor. I need to know what’s happening,’ he said briskly.

  The petty officer on duty handed him a set of headphones and gave him a signal.

  ‘Ivy, what’s going on?’

  She swore at him. She actually swore at him. Someone else cut in. It took Travis a few seconds to realise who it might be. The pilot. ‘Your doc is a bit busy right now. We’re just putting her down.’

  Travis’s heart skipped a beat just as Tony joined him in the coms room. His face was red. He’d obviously heard what was happening and had sprinted here, likely from the other side of the carrier.

  He put his hand over the mic. ‘I missed the call. Ivy is likely about to deliver a premature baby.’

  Tony rolled his eyes. ‘Thank goodness it wasn’t me. Been a long time since I’ve done a delivery.’

  Travis had a sickening feeling. ‘I’m not sure how long it’s been since Ivy did either, or if she’s ever done it.’

  He took a deep breath and sent up a silent prayer. This could all go horribly wrong. He’d missed the call. He did have some experience of this, and he should have been the one on the helicopter. If he could swap places with her right now, he would do it in a heartbeat. He only hoped that Ivy would be able to deal with whatever was out there.

  * * *

  She could hear them as she dangled from the cable, buffeted by the Pacific winds. Talking about her as if they’d forgotten she would be listening. She was concentrating hard. But even though she was concentrating on her controlled descent, she hoped the pilot was concentrating even harder. She didn’t want to end up in the blue water—no matter how calm and tranquil it looked right now.

  A man was waving frantically beneath her, and he caught her feet and guided her down. There was a moment of relief as her feet hit the deck, then she unclipped and gave the helicopter a thumbs up so it could back away.

  ‘I’m Ivy Ross. I’m a US Navy doctor. We heard your distress call. Tell me what’s happening?’ she asked the man quickly.

  ‘M-my wife,’ was all he stammered as he pointed at the cabin.

  She didn’t wait but ducked inside, unzipping the front of her flight suit. The heat was getting to her already. A woman lay on one of the side seats, panting heavily, her legs spread slightly apart.

  Ivy crouched near her head. ‘I’m Ivy. I’m a doctor,’ she said steadily. ‘Tell me your name and how many weeks you are.’

  ‘I’m Kalia,’ she breathed. ‘I’m thirty-three weeks. This came out of nowhere.’

  Ivy nodded, not saying all the comments that had already naturally swirled around in her head. ‘How far apart are your contractions?’

  Kalia gritted her teeth and grabbed for Ivy’s hand.

  ‘I need an update,’ came a cool voice in her ear.

  Ivy ignored it, focusing her full attention on Kalia. ‘Every few minutes,’ choked Kalia.

  Ivy nodded. ‘Okay, any history I need to know about? Problems during your pregnancy?’

  Kalia shook her head.

  ‘Is this your first pregnancy?’

  Kalia nodded. ‘It’s too early. Will my baby be okay?’

  ‘Update, Ivy.’ She pressed her finger to her ear where her headset still was.

  ‘Hold on.’

  She turned back to Kalia. ‘Your prenatal care—any problems? Did all your scans go okay?’

  Kalia frowned. ‘Everything has been fine. Right up until now.’ She gripped Ivy’s hand as another contraction hit. Ivy could sense the panic of Kalia’s husband behind her. She waved her hand at him. ‘Come around here and sit with your wife. Take her hand,’ she added, thinking she would need both of hers back. This delivery was probably imminent.

  ‘Okay, Kalia. Do you mind if I examine you to make sure everything is okay?’

  Kalia nodded. It only took a few minutes for Ivy to check her abdomen and determine the lie of the baby. She snapped on her gloves and did an internal examination, which showed Kalia was fully effaced and the head was already presenting.

  She gave Kalia a nod and a smile. ‘Everything looks good. We’re going to have a baby join us soon. Do you know what you’re having?’

  She was talking to Kalia and her husband but she also knew that Travis could hear every word.

  He started barking in her ear. ‘Any issues? What do you need? How soon can you get back?’

  She kept her cool and ignored him. He might be her commanding officer but this situation demanded her full attention and she was here herself. There was no backup. Everything was on her.

  ‘Okay,’ she said smoothly to Kalia. ‘On your next contraction, get ready to push. We’ll have this baby here soon.’

  Inside she was praying there would be no immediate issues when the baby came out. She didn’t have all the equipment they would normally have in a hospital, and it had been years since she’d supervised a delivery—not since back in her training days.

  In her headset she heard the helicopter was back on the ship. It couldn’t hang in the air above this vessel indefinitely. It would come back as soon as it was needed.

  So right now, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it was just her, Kalia and Kalia’s husband, along with an imminent arrival.

  Swirls of doubt circled her like the genie coming out of a lamp. Maybe she’d got too ambitious. Maybe she would never be an SMO. Maybe she wasn’t even a competent flight surgeon and was about to make a mess of all this. For the first time in forever she actually felt seasick—an unknown for her.

  There was a voice in her ear. ‘You can do this, Ivy.’ It was as if he’d heard her thoughts and had realised that right now she was having moments of doubt.

  It sent a shiver down her spine. As if he’d just read her mind—had realised she was as nervous as could be because this was all down to her.

  The tone of his voice was different too from his earlier yells. Calmer, reassuring. Totally in control. Just like she was.

  * * *

  In the end, the arrival went smoothly. Half an hour after she started pushing, Kalia delivered a baby girl. The baby was obviously small at thirty-three weeks. Ivy guessed between three and four pounds. There were a few moments of panic in her chest as she gave the little girl a sharp rub to try and encourage her to start
breathing. She had no proper suction or even an airway for a baby this size. Finally, there was a little yelp and Ivy let out the breath she’d been holding.

  She spoke into her com. ‘Okay, baby is here. Breathing, but might need a little extra support. Can we arrange a transfer, please?’

  Now she’d checked the baby, she clamped and cut the cord and laid the baby on Kalia’s chest, knowing how important skin-to-skin contact was for both mother and baby.

  She could hear Travis’s voice in the background, shouting instructions. The momentary encouragement was gone.

  ‘We’ll need to check your baby properly on the ship. Are you okay with that, Kalia?’

  ‘You want to take my baby?’

  Ivy shook her head. ‘No, of course not. We’ll take you both.’ She turned to Kalia’s husband. ‘But we’ll need to leave you here.’

  ‘Can I come alongside?’

  Ivy knew he didn’t want to be parted from his wife and new daughter, but she also knew their boat couldn’t be left drifting in the Pacific. ‘Let me check with the captain. I’m sure he’ll be able to work something out.’

  She put her hand on Kalia’s shoulder. ‘We’ll need to transfer you up to the helicopter once it comes back. Then I’ll come up with the baby. It’s a little tricky, but I’ll help you with the harness and talk you through it.’

  Ivy ignored how dry her mouth was currently feeling. There had been no time on the way here to think about how much she hated the whole process of being lowered from, then lifted back onto the helicopter. It definitely wasn’t her favourite part of the job. Dangling like a spider on a gossamer strand of web, which felt as if it could snap in an instant, was the kind of thing that kept her awake at night.

  A few minutes later she heard Travis’s voice in her ear again and the sound of the chopper in the distance. ‘We’ll be above you shortly. I’m going to come down and escort our mum up, then you can come up with the baby.’

  Ivy was stunned. ‘You’re coming?’

  ‘Of course I’m coming. I should have been there in the first place.’

  She didn’t quite know what to think. Was he checking up on her? Or was he just annoyed he’d missed the call?

  A few moments later there was a thud on the deck and Travis appeared at the doorway. He had a wide grin on his face and a harness in his hand, which he placed on the floor. He extended his hand to Kalia’s husband. ‘Congratulations, Daddy. You have a beautiful daughter. Have you thought about a name?’

  Ivy was stunned. He was acting as if it were normal to give birth in the middle of the ocean. No recriminations. No questions about how exactly they’d ended up in this position. Just immediate congratulations. It was actually kind of nice.

  He turned to her. ‘Have you delivered the placenta?’

  She nodded. ‘Completely intact.’

  He stepped closer to Kalia. ‘Do you mind if I get a look at your gorgeous daughter?’

  Kalia shook her head and held out slightly trembling arms. ‘Leila,’ she said as she glanced at her husband. ‘That’s what we’re going to call her.’

  Travis unwrapped the baby from the makeshift shawl that Ivy had wrapped her in and gave her a quick check. Leila looked tiny in his large hands, but what amazed Ivy most was the way he cooed and talked to the baby. She was pretty sure he hadn’t delivered a baby any time recently, but he acted as though this were an everyday occurrence. It was a whole side of him that she would never have imagined. She kind of liked it.

  He handed the baby back and spent a few moments talking to the father and giving him instructions about rendezvousing with the aircraft carrier. It seemed that another larger ship would be passing the following day and could take all three passengers back to Hawaii, with their boat towed behind.

  Ivy helped Kalia get herself back together, then helped her into the harness and gave her instructions for transporting up with Travis. She strapped Leila close to her chest, and waited for the harness to come back down for her.

  Within a few moments she was swinging in the air, caught momentarily in a sharp gust of wind, on her way back up to the helicopter. Her heart was in her mouth, as was part of her stomach. But she lowered her head and kept talking quietly to Leila throughout the whole process, ignoring the fact she hated every second of this. The baby was bundled up in a variety of blankets that Travis had brought with him and seemed entirely unperturbed by the whole situation.

  Strong arms pulled them both back into the helicopter and ten minutes later they were back on the aircraft carrier. Ivy didn’t want anyone to notice that her legs were still shaking.

  A whole team was waiting for them just off the flight deck. Tony gave her shoulder a squeeze. ‘Okay? Do you need something?’

  Travis’s head turned sharply, but before he got a chance to ask the obvious question Tony spoke again. ‘Ivy hates the harness. She usually ends up either wearing her lunch or with vertigo for the next few days.’

  Travis’s look was accusing. ‘You never said anything.’

  Ivy shrugged as she strode towards the door. ‘I had a job to do.’ Trouble was, now she was on solid ground again, it was as if all the responses she’d delayed in her body were acting at once. Thirty seconds later she was sick over the side.

  As Tony and Lynn sped away with the patients, Travis put his arm around her shoulder. ‘Come on, I’ll give you an injection.’

  She wanted to object. But she could literally feel the spinning inside her head. She already knew this was likely to trigger a migraine tonight.

  She lowered her head and walked down the corridor with Travis, not talking. He sat her down in one of the treatment rooms and she stepped out of the flight suit, swaying as she did so. He caught her again and sat her back down. ‘Wow, you get this bad. Why didn’t you say anything?’

  She kept her eyes closed. It kind of helped her head to stop spinning. ‘You weren’t around. I had a job to do.’

  She stood up quickly and headed to the sink, putting her hands on either side of it as her stomach heaved again. He pulled back her hair, which had become disentangled from her ponytail band, and waited patiently. This was truly her at her worst. But he was still there. By her side. Later, she’d probably wonder what it all meant, but right now she just wanted to lie down. The sickness sensation passed and a glass of water was pressed into her hand.

  ‘Let me give you something for the sickness,’ he said quickly.

  She opened her eyes and then shut them again. ‘I’ll need something for a migraine too.’ Then she let out a sigh of exasperation. ‘In fact, don’t. I’m on duty tonight.’

  ‘Oh, no, you’re not. The only duty you might have tonight is as a patient.’

  ‘No way,’ she said as one jab, then another, nipped the skin at the top of her arms. Boy, he didn’t mess around.

  ‘If you won’t stay in a hospital bed, you’ll have to agree to one of us checking on you.’

  Ivy sagged back down onto the hard stool. ‘As long as I drink a cup of hot tea and lie down for a few hours, I’ll be fine.’

  Tony appeared at the door. ‘She’ll also need either a large slice of chocolate cake or something similar in a few hours or she gets very cranky. Believe me, I know.’

  Travis looked at Tony in surprise. ‘You knew about this and didn’t tell me?’

  Tony shrugged. ‘What’s to tell? It hadn’t come up. Anyway, just letting you know we’ve had to put Leila on some supplementary oxygen. I’m sure it’ll only be for a few hours but we’ll keep her under observation.’ As he turned to leave he glanced over his shoulder at Travis. ‘I’ll watch the new patients if you take care of this one. Find her some cake for later.’

  Ivy grimaced. She hated being fussed over, but she was more annoyed about showing weakness in front of her new boss. A flight surgeon who hated helicopter descents was probably not on his list of prized staff skills. She ex
pected him to say something snide, but instead he gave a big sigh. ‘I’m sorry, Ivy.’

  Her eyes flew open and fixed on his. ‘What?’

  ‘They put out a staff call for me, and I never heard it. I was in the gym with a set of earphones in. I missed it,’ he admitted. ‘It should have been me on that flight, not you.’

  She gave the briefest shake of her head, knowing to keep her movements small. ‘No, it shouldn’t. You’re SMO. This was always a task you should have delegated to one of the other doctors.’

  He kept his gaze steady. ‘But if I’d known about your vertigo, I would never have sent you. And when was the last time you delivered a baby?’

  She swallowed, wishing she had that tea she wanted. ‘About nine years ago,’ she admitted.

  ‘So, even though it wasn’t your area of expertise, and it was a procedure that makes you unwell, you went anyway?’

  ‘It’s my job,’ she said steadily. ‘There was no time for delay.’

  His gaze hadn’t moved from hers. ‘You didn’t even try to put out a call for me or Tony? Are you sure we haven’t delivered a whole host of babies between us?’

  ‘I know Tony hasn’t. Have you?’

  Travis gave a small nod. ‘One or two. On my last tour of duty I think I had seven.’

  ‘Seven!’ Now she was wishing she had waited and tried to put another call out for either of them. Maybe then her stomach wouldn’t be swishing about as badly as her head. He shook his head.

  ‘But that was four years ago. Not recent at all.’

  She closed her eyes again. The bright lights in the room were starting to nip at her eyes.

  ‘Let me walk you back to your cabin.’

  He had moved right next to her and she jumped at his soft voice. ‘I should check on Leila,’ she said. But even she could hear how weary her voice sounded.

  His arm slipped around her shoulder. ‘I’m going to walk you back to your cabin, make you tea and find you cake.’

  She gave a quiet laugh and put her hand up to her head. ‘Wait, did I drop into the ocean? I feel as if I’m hallucinating.’