Wish Upon a Star

by Sarah Morgan

  Damn.

  And now he had to go into the hospital because he didn’t want to leave Lucy Knight to the tender mercies of Edgar Hilton and he didn’t like the sound of the woman who’d planned to deliver her fifth baby at home. It promised to be a long and tiring day.

  Cursing long and fluently, he showered quickly and then dressed and went to the kitchen to find his car keys.

  Her bicycle had gone and there was a note on his windscreen that just said, ‘Thank you.’

  Thank you for what? Rescuing her? Kissing her?

  No surname, no phone number, no address. Nothing to tell him where to find her again.

  Miranda.

  It was only the second time in his life that he’d felt instantly and powerfully drawn to a woman. The first had been Christy, and since then he’d virtually given up hope of finding anyone who interested him on anything other than a physical level.

  Until yesterday.

  Everything about Miranda had fascinated him. He’d always thought of himself as a man who understood women, but he’d found her complex and unpredictable. She’d shown strength and courage where other women would have panicked, but then she’d shown cynicism way beyond her years where other women would have been dreamily romantic. And what about her family? When he’d found her on the mountain, she’d said that she didn’t have any family, but most people had some family somewhere. Had she fallen out with them? He frowned as he read the note again and then crumpled it up and stuffed it into his pocket.

  He intended to find out. And he intended to find out why she’d left without leaving him her phone number or address. She’d felt as strongly as he did, he knew that for sure, so why the secrecy?

  What did she have to hide?

  What was she afraid of?

  Muttering about the complexities of women, Jake drove towards the hospital, mindful of the icy roads.

  He was going to track her down, he vowed as he drove through the gates of the hospital and pulled up in a space marked with his name.

  Complex she may be, but there’d been a powerful connection between them and he wasn’t about to let that go.

  He strode onto the labour ward minutes later to be greeted by Ruth, the midwife who had phoned him.

  He lifted a hand and tugged gently at the tinsel in her greying hair. ‘Is that a new look?’

  ‘It’s my Christmas look,’ she said primly, lifting a hand to protect the tinsel, ‘and I don’t welcome any of your usual sarcastic comments. You’re lucky I’m even trying to look festive, given what’s going on in this place at the moment.’

  ‘Me? Sarcastic?’ Jake went through to his office and frowned at the pile of papers on his desk. He’d only had one day off, for goodness’ sake. How could so much paperwork have accumulated so quickly? ‘So—how’s our Lucy?’

  ‘Scared,’ Ruth said frankly, handing him a fat set of notes. ‘You know what happened last time, although not here, of course, thank goodness. The baby was stillborn and she was utterly devastated. She’s afraid the same thing is going to happen.’

  Jake lifted his gaze to hers. ‘We’re not going to let that happen. I probably ought to warn you now that if her waters have broken then my threshold for inducing her is very low.’

  ‘Usually you do expectant management.’

  ‘Usually women don’t have Lucy’s history. She’ll probably go into labour on her own anyway, but we’ll keep a close eye on her. Just as a matter of interest, what’s the bed state on SCBU?’

  ‘They’ve got room,’ Ruth said immediately. ‘I checked earlier because I knew you’d ask me that question.’

  ‘I’m that predictable?’

  ‘You’re that thorough.’ Ruth’s gaze softened. ‘It’s why you’re such a brilliant obstetrician, Jake. You treat every woman as an individual case, regardless of protocol. And you don’t miss anything.’

  ‘Let’s hope not. How’s your staffing situation?’ He knew that the whole hospital had been affected by the flu bug that was going around, and Obstetrics was no exception.

  ‘It’s been better but I’ve got a lovely bank nurse working today. Sweet girl. Smiley and calm. She’s going to be with us for a while, hopefully. At least over the holiday period.’

  ‘Good. Jake nodded. ‘Lucy needs someone calm.’

  ‘You know that Lucy wants to have a vaginal delivery…’

  Jake sighed and dragged his fingers through his hair. ‘Yes, I know she does. Obviously it’s what we all want. It’s the way babies are supposed to be born.’

  Ruth grinned at him. ‘For an obstetrician, you’re a revelation, do you know that?’

  ‘I can’t understand why you think I gain any enjoyment from increasing my workload,’ Jake drawled, and she gave a little shrug.

  ‘All I’m saying is that it’s lovely to work with a senior doctor who is on the same wavelength. And Lucy feels it, too. Just knowing you were coming in calmed her down,’ Ruth told him. ‘She trusts you.’

  Jake gave a wry smile. ‘No pressure, then.’

  ‘Your job is one long pressure,’ Ruth replied as they walked down the corridor. ‘I’ve put her in Suite 1 because it’s more homely and I think she’ll find it less stressful than some of the other rooms. She’s not bleeding but she’s had some funny pains off and on. They’ve got a bed on the ward if you want to keep her in.’

  ‘Husband with her?’

  Ruth nodded. ‘Of course. And he’s more anxious than she is.’

  ‘Not surprisingly.’

  Ruth paused outside the door. ‘How was Christmas, by the way?’

  For a moment Jake had a vision of a beautiful, mysterious woman with clouds of dark hair and a soft, tempting mouth that tasted as sweet as it looked. ‘Christmas was interesting.’

  Ruth raised an eyebrow. ‘Meaning?’

  ‘Meaning that it was interesting.’ Not wanting to elaborate, Jake pushed open the door of the labour suite and stopped dead. Miranda was sitting on the bed, talking to Lucy.

  His Miranda.

  He blinked and checked that he wasn’t hallucinating. Same ebony hair, same pale skin and soft pink mouth.

  The mouth that he’d kissed and explored in sensual detail the night before.

  For a moment he just stared at her stupidly, trying to work out what she was doing there. To the best of his recollection, he hadn’t revealed where he worked or what his job was so she couldn’t possibly have followed him.

  ‘This is Miranda Harding.’ Ruth’s curious expression told him that something of his shock must have shown in his face. ‘She’s a midwife and she’s going to be doing bank work with us for a while.’

  Midwife? She was a midwife?

  ‘Hello, Miranda.’ Somehow Jake managed to keep any trace of irony out of his tone and he noted the faint tinge of colour in her cheeks with interest. It was quite obvious that she wasn’t pleased to see him.

  He gritted his teeth. Well, of course she wasn’t pleased to see him. If she’d wanted to see him, presumably she wouldn’t have stolen away in the middle of the night without leaving a number.

  What exactly was she afraid of?

  They were going to have a conversation, he promised himself, sooner rather than later.

  ‘Miranda, this is Mr Blackwell, one of our consultants,’ Ruth murmured, her eyes still on Jake’s face. Questioning. ‘He’s going to be looking after Lucy.’

  Miranda cleared her throat but it was Lucy who spoke, cutting through the mounting tension in the room.

  ‘Oh, Mr Blackwell, I feel so guilty, dragging you away from your Christmas. It’s Boxing Day. You should be at home with your family.’

  ‘Don’t feel guilty, Lucy.’ Jake was still looking at Miranda. ‘I’d finished all the food and that’s the important bit.’ With a huge effort he turned his attention to his patient, promising himself that he’d deal with Miranda later. ‘You were fine when I saw you in clinic last week so when did all this start?’

  ‘Christmas Eve. I did a bit of last-minute shoppin
g with my mum and I had a bit of pain but I didn’t really think anything of it. Then, this morning, my waters broke.’

  ‘Plenty of movements from the baby?’

  ‘Oh, yes.’ Lucy nodded. ‘I’ve been counting, just like you told me to.’

  Jake smiled. He’d been monitoring Lucy right the way through her pregnancy, and he liked her a lot. ‘But no pains?’

  ‘Nothing since Christmas Eve.’ Lucy frowned. ‘We had a quiet day yesterday, ate too much turkey, you know the sort of thing. Then I had an early night but when I woke up this morning my waters broke all over the bathroom floor. Gushed everywhere. Very embarrassing thing to happen.’ She chewed her lip, her eyes huge and anxious. ‘It’s bad news, isn’t it? Is the baby going to come early?’

  Jake’s gaze was steady. ‘Very probably, but we’ll try and keep him inside you for as long as possible. The first thing I’m going to do is arrange for you to have a steroid injection. That will help the baby’s lungs in the event that he’s delivered early.’

  ‘All right.’ Lucy’s hands were curled into fists in her lap. ‘What else?’

  ‘I’m going to run some tests and then I’ll decide. You’re going to need to stay in, I’m afraid, for now at least.’ He turned to Miranda, his expression cool. ‘Can you arrange for her to have 12 milligrams of betamethasone IM straight away? And contact the ward and arrange for a bed.’

  She avoided looking him in the eye. ‘Of course. Could you write the betamethasone on the chart for me?’

  Why wouldn’t she look at him? It wasn’t as if they’d done anything except kiss. Was it really so embarrassing and awkward? He wrote on the drug chart and handed it to her.

  ‘I’m going to keep an eye on you for a while, Lucy. See what happens. If there’s no sign of any activity, I might let you go home tomorrow.’

  ‘You’re not going to induce me?’

  ‘Not yet.’ Jake’s tone was both gentle and reassuring. ‘If we can hang on another week, it would be better for the baby. Better a week in your tummy than a week in an incubator.’

  Lucy gave a brave smile and a nod. ‘Yes.’

  He heard the catch in her voice and sat down on the edge of her bed. Her hands were still curled into fists and he took hold of them gently and uncurled them. ‘Relax, Lucy.’ His voice was sympathetic as he rubbed her hands between his and warmed them. ‘I know you’re worried but I’m not going to let you out of my sight until I’m satisfied that all is well.’ He waved a hand around the delivery suite, his gaze sardonic. ‘Enjoy the surroundings. Order room service.’ He turned to Miranda who had stood up while he’d been talking to Lucy and now had her back to him. ‘I want to do an ultrasound, please.’

  Ruth stepped forward with a smile. ‘I’ll show you where we keep the machine, Miranda.’

  Jake watched Miranda, wondering why she had her back to him. Then she slowly turned round and the reason became immediately clear. His eyes dropped to her waist and he inhaled sharply.

  ‘Stop looking so shocked,’ Ruth laughed, punching him on the arm in a teasing gesture. ‘Midwives are allowed to be pregnant too, you know. In fact, the mothers love it. Shows we’re capable of understanding what they’re going through. Miranda is six months now. More than capable of doing a good day’s work still.’

  Miranda didn’t look at him and Jake’s mouth tightened.

  She was pregnant.

  How could she be pregnant? And how the hell had he not noticed?

  He was an obstetrician, for goodness’ sake. He dealt with pregnant women on a daily basis. And he’d had a woman who was six months pregnant in his house and he hadn’t even noticed.

  Well done, Jake. Good going. He closed his eyes briefly. The signs had all been there. The fact that she ate so much, her extreme tiredness, the fact that she burst into tears for apparently no reason…

  But what had she been doing on her own in the mountains on Christmas Day? And what had she been doing kissing him when she was six months pregnant with another man’s baby?

  Angry with himself and even more angry with her, his jaw clenched and his eyes hardened.

  He’d thought she was interesting and beautiful and appealing. It turned out she was duplicitous and lacking in morals. No wonder she’d made cynical comments about families. Clearly she had no sense of responsibility.

  ‘Never known you speechless before, Jake,’ Ruth teased, walking Miranda to the door. ‘We’ll just go and get the ultrasound machine while you pull yourself together.’

  ‘Do you think the baby will be all right, Mr Blackwell?’

  Aware that Lucy was looking at him expectantly, Jake pulled himself together and stood up.

  ‘We’re going to check everything, Lucy,’ he assured her, managing a smile despite the turmoil inside him, ‘and we’re going to keep a very close eye on you. Leave the worrying to me if you can. It’s what they pay me for. But I’m afraid you’re spending the rest of Boxing Day in here with us.’

  ‘I’d be too scared to go home anyway,’ she confessed ruefully.

  Miranda came back with the ultrasound machine and Jake resisted the temptation to drag her back into the corridor and demand an immediate explanation for her behaviour. That was going to have to wait until they were alone. But they would be alone, he promised himself, and they were going to talk, whether she liked it or not.

  Where had the father of her baby been when she’d been spending Christmas Day at his house? Had they had a row? The guy must have been worrying himself sick. He knew he would have done if his wife or girlfriend had vanished without any warning.

  His eyes slid to her neat little bump and he asked himself again how he could possibly not have noticed that she was six months pregnant. She was so slight.

  But when he’d first seen her she’d been wearing a bulky waterproof jacket and then she’d changed straight into his jumper, which had been at least six sizes too large. Large enough to conceal a pregnancy.

  Why? Why would she want to hide something like that?

  Forcing himself to concentrate on his patient, Jake slid the transducer across Lucy’s rounded abdomen and studied the picture on the screen. Later, he vowed, he’d get her on her own and find out what was going on.

  ‘OK, everything looks fine with the baby, Lucy, but I want you to stay in for now, if that’s all right with you.’

  ‘Whatever you think.’

  ‘I think that if your waters have broken, I want you where I can see you for the rest of the day,’ Jake said calmly, reaching for some paper towels and wiping the jelly from her abdomen.

  ‘That’s fine by me. I don’t want you to go off duty.’ Lucy gave a worried smile. ‘I want you to sleep here in the room with me tonight!’

  Ruth smiled. ‘Oh, don’t worry about that—the work I’ve got for him, he’ll still be here at New Year, but he certainly won’t be sleeping.’

  Jake gently covered Lucy with a blanket and stood up. ‘Stop worrying,’ he said softly, and then turned to Miranda. ‘I want her kept on the monitor for the time being and let me know if there’s any changes. I’ll be back to check on her when I’ve seen the other lady.’

  Miranda nodded and he turned to Ruth. ‘Where is she?’

  ‘Room 2.’

  Jake could see from the look on Ruth’s face that she was expecting the consultation to be difficult, and the moment he walked into the room he knew that she was right. The couple didn’t appear to be speaking but the atmosphere crackled with tension.

  The husband was hovering helplessly in the background and the woman, Gail, was leaning over a beanbag and her face was pale and sweaty. The moment she saw Jake, her features tensed.

  ‘I need to tell you straight away that I don’t want to be here and I certainly don’t want any intervention.’

  ‘Of course you don’t.’ Jake’s voice was calm as he walked across to her and pulled up a chair. ‘I’m Jake Blackwell, one of the obstetric consultants. I gather you were hoping for a home birth so being in here must be rather a
shock for you.’

  ‘I’ve had three at home and one in hospital.’ She glared at him and then winced as another pain gripped her. ‘And I don’t want to repeat the experience. It’s all monitors and machines that beep at you. That isn’t what nature intended.’

  ‘I completely agree.’

  She stared at him. ‘You do?’

  ‘Absolutely. My belief is that nature should be allowed the upper hand, unless she appears to be getting things wrong which, I’m afraid, she sometimes does.’ He turned to look at Ruth, his gaze questioning. ‘Notes?’

  ‘I’ve requested them from her hospital,’ Ruth murmured. ‘I’m going to get someone else to take Lucy to the ward and ask Miranda to come in here. I think she’d be helpful.’ She slid out of the room, leaving Jake alone with the couple.

  He looked at the CTG trace that Ruth had handed him and studied the pattern. Then he put the trace down on the table and concentrated his attention on Gail, knowing that he was going to have to handle her carefully.

  ‘All right. I think honesty is the best way forward so I’m going to be straight with you.’

  She tensed and glared at him with blatant hostility. ‘You want to induce me so that you can have this room for the next poor woman—’

  ‘I’m not given to inducing women unless the health of the baby is threatened,’ Jake said smoothly, aware that Miranda had just entered the room. ‘I’ve certainly never induced a woman to satisfy a staffing or bed need and I don’t intend to start now.’

  ‘I had three babies at home with no problems.’ Her voice rose and her husband put a hand on her arm to calm her. ‘And then with number four my placenta was low-lying so they had to take me in and I had a Caesarean section. And they were all totally useless! I had an infection and was really ill—’

  ‘Oh, you poor thing.’ Miranda hurried across the room. ‘I can quite see why you wouldn’t want to be here. You must be terribly anxious about it all.’

  Jake looked at her and felt a flicker of admiration. She’d seen through the stroppy, angry exterior and seen the anxiety, just as he had.