by Sarah Morgan
‘Breathe slowly. Deeply. That’s better.’ He jumped down from the vehicle and found himself in snow up to his knees. The cold immediately clamped his ankles and seeped through his clothing. ‘When did her contractions start?’
‘About ten minutes ago. I think it’s the stress. We never should have left. But I took our little boy to his grandmother’s a couple of days ago to give Sue a rest, and Sue was fretting, wanted us all to be together at her mother’s for Christmas. If we hadn’t left we would have been stranded, and—’
‘Hi Mike, it’s me.’ Meg struggled through the snow and slapped the man on the back. ‘Stop panicking. It’s all going to be fine, I promise. We just need to get our equipment and then we’ll sort her out. Go back and sit with Sue. And stop looking so worried or you’ll scare her. Looking at your face is enough to make me go into labour and I’m not even pregnant. Everything is going to be fine.’
The man sucked in two deep breaths and swore. ‘It isn’t fine, Meg.’ His voice was savage and he was clearly on the edge. ‘Not every woman is tough. Sue isn’t good in cold weather at the best of times. She’s delicate and feminine—nothing like you.’
Dino saw Meg’s face change.
‘Right,’ she said tonelessly, ‘then we’d better get her out of there, hadn’t we? It will be fine, Mike. Trust us.’
‘Don’t patronise me with all that false reassurance stuff. We’re stuck on a mountain pass in the snow and my wife is in labour,’ Mike snapped. ‘There’s nothing fine about it.’
‘All right. If I admit we’re in trouble, will you stop whining and let us do something about it?’ Meg grabbed her bag out of the mountain rescue vehicle and staggered under the weight. ‘We’re here, and we’re good at what we do. Dr Zinetti here has an Olympic gold medal.’
Mike rubbed snow from his face. ‘Olympic gold medal? Do they award one of those for delivering babies?’
‘Men’s downhill, you idiot. Go back to Sue. We’ll be with you in a minute.’ Meg gave him a push. ‘And smile. Tell her everything is going to be OK. We’re right behind you.’
As Mike struggled back to the car through the snow, Meg reached into the vehicle for a spare coat. ‘What a total idiot. That guy always did have a low burn threshold. Maturity doesn’t seem to have improved things.’
‘You know him. Is he an ex-boyfriend?’ Dino only realised how cold his tone was when she sent him an astonished glance.
‘Do you really think I’d hook up with a wimp like him? We went to school together. He was as spineless then as he clearly still is now. The sort who has to have a really, really fragile woman in order to feel big and manly.’ She paused, her hand on the strap of her bag. ‘What’s the matter with you? You look as though you’re about to thump someone. What is your problem? I know Mike can be beyond irritating, but you just have to take a breath. To be fair on him, you’d be tense, too, if your wife were about to give birth in a snowdrift.’
Dino fastened his jacket. ‘He was rude to you.’ And that had triggered a primitive response far beyond anything he’d experienced before. ‘I didn’t like it.’
‘I didn’t like it much either, but that’s life. Some people are rude.’ She didn’t say anything, but he knew that Mike’s nasty comment had hurt her feelings.
Knowing that this wasn’t the time or place to deal with it, Dino made a mental note to tackle the subject later.
‘So let’s check on your friend, Sue. What did the air ambulance say?’
‘Still grounded, but paramedics are going to be waiting for us at the head of the pass so we just have to deliver the baby and get them back up this hill.’ Surefooted, she picked her way through the deep snow to the car.
‘I’m not sure the relevance of telling them about the Olympic gold medal.’ Dino used a ski pole to measure the depth of the snow. ‘Being able to ski downhill at stupid speeds in tight Lycra isn’t much of a qualification for delivering a baby outdoors with a wind chill of minus fifteen.’
‘I was trying to impress him. He was one of those sporting jocks at school. Football captain—that sort of thing. Appreciates manly sporting endeavour.’ She stopped for a moment to take a breath. ‘Winning a gold medal shows grit and determination. A will to succeed and be the best. Not to mention a certain recklessness that might just come in useful given the situation we’re in.’
‘I’m never reckless with my patients.’
‘Today, you might not have a choice. Come on.’ Meg pulled open the car door and slid inside quickly. ‘Sue? Fancy bumping into you here—I’ve been dying to catch up with you for ages, although this wasn’t quite what I had in mind.’
Hearing Sue giggle, Dino gave a smile of admiration. No matter who the patient was, Meg always seemed to put them at ease. Even with Mike, she’d managed to control the situation.
Putting his head inside the car, he had his first glimpse of the woman. Short red hair framed a face that was as white as her husband’s, and Dino saw instantly that ‘delicate’ was a fair description. Any thinner and she would have risked being blown away by a gust of wind. Against her slender limbs, her swollen belly looked grossly disproportionate. ‘Sue, we need to get you to the ambulance. There’s more room and we have better equipment.’
‘I can’t move. Honestly, I can’t move. There’s too much pain and I’m scared of the snow. I might slip and that would hurt the baby.’
Dino bit back the comment that being born in a snowdrift wasn’t going to do wonders for the baby either, and tried to give her the reassurance she so clearly needed. ‘I won’t let you fall, I promise.’
‘I really don’t—’
‘Sue, I’ve been timing your contractions.’ Meg’s voice was firm. ‘They’re coming every two minutes, fast and furious. We really have to move you to the ambulance. We’re going to wait until the end of the next contraction and then we’re going to get you out of the car and on your feet.’
‘I won’t get across there before the next contraction starts.’ Sue’s voice was reed thin and shaky and Mike swore and punched his fist into the seat.
‘Can’t you see she can’t walk? Just get a helicopter or something!’
‘She can walk if she does it between contractions.’ Meg wrapped an extra coat around Sue’s thin shoulders. ‘All right. Get ready to swing your legs out of the car. I’m going to help.’
Sue shrank back. ‘These boots are new. They’re an early Christmas present from Mike. I’m going to ruin them if I walk in the snow.’
Hanging onto his patience with difficulty, Dino exchanged a fleeting glance with Meg. ‘I’ll carry you.’
Sue’s eyes widened and she looked at his shoulders. ‘You’ll put your back out.’
‘No, I won’t.’ Ignoring Mike’s blustering, Dino moved to the car door. ‘Slide forward. Put your arms around my neck—that’s it.’ He swung her into his arms. Checking his footing carefully, he trudged his way through the snow to the four-by-four in less than the two minutes it took for another contraction to start. Meg was already there, opening the doors at the back, and moments later Sue was safely inside what was a comparatively warm place, her new boots dry and untouched by the snow.
Dino tucked blankets around her. ‘Keep the doors closed. I’m just going to help Mike secure your car then we’re going.’
‘I don’t think there’ll be time.’ Groaning in pain, Sue doubled over and Dino slid out of the way and let Meg take his place. He saw her reach for the Doppler probe, ready to listen to the foetal heart.
He heard her say, ‘When exactly is this baby due?’ and then the only sound was the angry squeal of the wind as it buffeted his body.
He helped Mike clear their belongings out of the car. Piles of brightly wrapped Christmas presents, two suitcases and a hamper of food all needed to be transported to the mountain rescue vehicle and then finally they were ready to leave.
‘Baby’s heart is one-forty. We all feel better for having heard that. There’s a car park just down there on that bend.’ Meg leaned
forward to talk to him. ‘It means going further down the road, but you can turn safely there. There’s no way you can turn here, the road just isn’t wide enough. You’ll go over the edge.’
Sue gave a whimper of fear and Mike’s knuckles were white on the seat.
By contrast, Meg’s eyes sparkled with the challenge. She was in her element here and Dino suddenly wished they didn’t have company in the back of the vehicle.
‘You need to be careful when you turn,’ she told him, ‘otherwise your tyres will spin out and you don’t want to lose traction this high up on the pass.’
‘All right—tell me where the turning place is.’
It was the most difficult drive of his life and he was relieved Meg knew the road so well.
‘Breathe, Sue.’ She was in the back with the labouring woman, encouraging her and keeping her warm.
Dino was just cresting the hill and making the final descent down towards the end of the mountain pass when Sue gave a sharp scream.
‘Oh—that’s so painful…’ She started to sob and Dino pushed his speed as much as he dared.
‘I suspect you’re in transition, Sue.’ He spoke the words over his shoulder, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. ‘Meg, you can give her gas and air.’
‘One step ahead of you on that one, Dr Zinetti. You just concentrate on the driving. Can you go any faster?’
Not without killing them all. Dino shifted gear and coaxed the vehicle down the final two bends in the road. An ambulance and a police car were waiting.
‘Dino.’ Meg leaned forward to speak to him. ‘There is no way Sue is going to be able to change ambulances.’
‘We’ll drive her straight to the hospital. With a police escort we can make it in about five minutes.’ Dino rolled down his window, had a succinct conversation with the police officer and moments later they were roaring through town behind the police car, sirens blaring and lights flashing.
‘It’s coming, Meg.’ Sue was panting. ‘I can feel the head.’
‘You have to get her to hospital,’ Mike bellowed, his face scarlet as he flapped around in a total panic. ‘You have to get her there right now! Aren’t you listening to what she’s saying? It’s coming!’
‘I’m listening, Mike, and we don’t have to get her to hospital.’ Meg’s voice was calm. ‘If necessary I can deliver a baby here, in the back of our ambulance. No worries. Don’t push, Sue. I want you to pant like this…’ She demonstrated and Dino smiled to himself.
No worries? Who was she kidding?
Fortunately her confidence seemed to reassure Sue and she was able to relax slightly and control her breathing.
He could hear Meg tearing open a delivery pack and talking quietly to Sue, encouraging her all the time. Somehow she’d managed to block out Mike’s pointless ranting and focus on the problem in hand.
Dino pulled up outside the emergency department as close to the entrance as possible. Leaving the engine running for the warmth, he vaulted into the back of the ambulance to help Meg.
‘Sterile gloves to your left.’ She gestured with her head. ‘You’re doing so well, Sue. Everything is fine.’
By the time he’d snapped on the sterile gloves the head was crowning. Dino used his left hand to control the escape of the head, murmuring encouragement to the labouring mother.
As the head was delivered, Mike made a strangled noise in his throat and crumpled to the floor of the vehicle with a dull thud.
Sue made a distressed sound and Meg grinned.
‘We’ll never let him forget that one. He’ll be fine, Sue. He’s better off staying there until we’re done. If we sit him up, he’ll just faint again, and at the moment you are our priority. What a fantastic Christmas present—a new baby. You’re doing brilliantly. Nearly there. Dino, tell me when to give syntometrine.’ She had a syringe in her hand and Dino delivered the anterior shoulder and glanced at her briefly, surprised to see tears in her eyes.
‘What? What are you staring at? I like babies. What’s wrong with that?’ Meg blinked furiously and glared at him, clearly angry that he’d witnessed her emotional response to the situation. ‘Do I give this stuff now?’
‘Sì, now.’
She gave the injection and with a shocked cry Sue delivered the baby into Dino’s waiting arms. ‘You have a daughter, Sue. Congratulations.’ The baby gave a thin wail and he quickly lifted her into Sue’s arms. ‘Hold her against you. We’re going to transfer you to a wheelchair and get you inside because it’s too cold out here.’
‘A daughter?’ The tears started to fall. Tears of relief. Tears of gratitude. Tears of joy. ‘I’m going to call her Mary because she was born at Christmas.’
Opening the door of the ambulance, he found a crowd of staff from the obstetric unit waiting to help him and moments later Sue and the baby were inside in the warmth.
Having handed over to his colleagues, Dino returned to the ambulance to find Meg sitting with her arm around a white-faced Mike.
‘Actually, I’ve known several,’ she was saying, and she looked up and smiled as Dino approached. ‘Just telling Mike he isn’t the first father to fall over and bang his head when a baby is born. Everything all right with mother and daughter?’
‘The paediatricians are examining Mary, but everything seems fine. In a moment they’ll take her up to the postnatal ward.’ Dino cleared up the remains of the delivery pack and Mike rubbed a shaky hand over his forehead.
‘I can’t believe I missed it. It’s a little girl?’
‘That’s right.’ Meg jumped down from the vehicle and glanced at her watch. ‘I’ll take you up there now. Come on. What do you want us to do with all these Christmas presents?’
Mike looked at them blankly, clearly in shock. ‘I—I have no idea. Sue’s parents are on their way to the hospital now.’
‘In which case we can leave the lot just inside the doors with the girls on Reception and you can transfer it all to the car when you’re ready.’
Meg closed the door and Mike grabbed her arm. ‘Listen—’
‘It’s OK.’ Meg smiled. ‘You’re welcome.’
Mike looked at her intently. ‘You always did have more balls than most men.’
Meg’s smile faltered. ‘Right. Well—thanks. Have a good Christmas, Mike.’
Looking at her tense shoulders, Dino frowned and was about to ask her what was wrong when Ellie appeared in the entrance.
‘Meg? Can you come? I’ve just spoken to Ambulance Control and they’re bringing in a nasty RTA.’
‘Why are people still driving their cars in this weather?’ Meg slithered across the icy ground and into the warmth of the emergency department. ‘Everyone should just stay at home and watch Christmas TV instead of dicing with death on the roads.’
Ellie looked harassed. ‘We’re incredibly busy. Dino, can you go straight to Resus? At this rate we’re going to be lucky if any of us make it to the ball tonight.’
The rest of the shift was so hectic that Meg didn’t even have time to grab a drink. By eight o’clock the emergency department had calmed down a little and it was decided that the staff attending the ball could leave.
Dino glanced at his watch. ‘Good job we planned to change at the hospital because there’s no time to go home. You have twenty minutes to get ready before the cab arrives. It’s never going to be enough, is it?’
Twenty minutes? How long did he think it took a girl to pull on a dress? Meg opened her mouth to tell him that there was no way it would take her anywhere near that long, and then she realised that all the other women he dated probably took three times that length of time to get ready for an evening out with him. He was gorgeous, wasn’t he? Any woman spending an evening with a man like him would want to look their best. All the time in the world wasn’t going to turn her into the sort of woman he normally dated. Why on earth had she agreed to this? Why was she putting herself through this torture? ‘Twenty minutes will be fine,’ she said tonelessly, ‘I’ll do a rush job.’
He gave her a searching look. ‘Take as long as you need. I’ll drive us. That way it doesn’t matter if we’re late.’
Yes, it did, because the last thing she wanted to do was make a grand entrance. She wanted to arrive along with everyone else. She wanted to blend into the background. With a shaky laugh at her own expense, Meg hurried towards the staff room. When had she ever blended at that sort of thing? She was going to stand out like a single poppy in a cornfield.
Ellie was waiting for her in the staffroom. ‘Hurry up! I’ve already heated the tongs. I’m going to straighten your hair before I go and get changed myself.’
Meg flattened herself against the door. ‘I was planning to just wear it up like I always do. I prefer it that way.’
‘I think you should wear it loose. You have beautiful hair. It’s time you showed people how amazing it is.’
Meg allowed herself to waste five of her twenty minutes having her hair straightened. After that it took only a couple of minutes to change into the dress and push her feet into the shoes.
‘What are your plans, Ellie? Is Ben picking you up here?’
‘He’s gone to see someone in the imaging department. I’m meeting him there when I’ve finished with you. We’re going home first, because our house is on the way. Close your eyes while I do your make-up.’
‘Don’t make me look too made-up.’
‘Meg, you’re going to the ball. Made-up is good. But I haven’t overdone it. You look gorgeous. Just lipstick, then I’m done… There… You can look in the mirror.’
Meg looked. Normally she quite liked her face, but the make-up seemed to accentuate all the worst aspects of her features. The lipstick made her mouth look too big. The freckles on her nose, earned from so many hours spent outdoors, stood out. Resisting the urge to grab a tissue and rub it all off, she smiled because she didn’t want to offend Ellie, who looked genuinely delighted with what she’d achieved. ‘Thanks. Wow.’
