‘No,’ she said at last, allowing her gaze to meet his but uncomfortably aware that the two of them could still be seen through the glass panel on the door. ‘No, of course you haven’t, Tom.’
‘Then why the brisk manner?’
‘I’m sorry if I appear that way, but I really do think that we should keep our private and our professional lives totally separate.’
‘Yes, I agree.’ He nodded. ‘To a point anyway, but not to the extent where I am reduced to a quivering wreck because I think I may have upset you.’
She laughed at that—the unlikely image of the cool, serious Tom Fielding reduced to a quivering wreck.
‘That’s better,’ he said at the sound of her laughter. ‘That’s more like the Kate I’ve come to know.’
‘I’m sorry, Tom,’ she said, her guard down now, ‘but I want to avoid gossip in the department because I don’t think it makes for a good professional working environment. Already I fear vibes are being picked up.’
‘Vibes?’ He raised his eyebrows.
‘Yes,’ she replied, growing serious again. ‘By Natalie. She is a friend of mine but she is also something of a matchmaker…’ She trailed off, suddenly uncomfortable that he should misinterpret what she was saying, worried that he might think that in her mind their few meetings and him asking her out constituted more than it did. But she needn’t have worried because his eyes crinkled at the corners and it was his turn to laugh.
‘You think she has us walking down the aisle?’ he asked, merriment dancing in his grey eyes.
‘Well, perhaps not that exactly,’ Kate replied, ‘but she will, no doubt, seize on the fact that you have asked me out.’
‘She doesn’t know that?’
‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘Neither does she know you came to lunch at the weekend, although heaven only knows how I’ve managed to avoid telling her. She knows about the bowling and our visit to your house—I’m afraid I had to tell her about those. She’s a good friend, you see,’ she added, compelled somehow to defend Natalie, ‘and she’s been a tremendous help to me since Liam died.’
‘Hey,’ he said softly, bending his head as he tried to look into her eyes, and for some extraordinary reason causing her heart to miss a beat. ‘You don’t have to explain anything to me. OK, so Natalie is your friend. OK, so she knows about our meetings. It really doesn’t matter to me. If I’m honest, gossip doesn’t worry me either, but if you feel it would undermine the efficient running of the department then I’m happy that we keep things quiet. Just as long as you aren’t having second thoughts about us seeing each other.’
‘No,’ she said, ‘no, of course not.’
‘In that case, I guess I’d better get back to the fray. I’ll go and see Nicole Browne first, then Sara Millington. Maybe, under the circumstances,’ he added with a wry grin, ‘I’d better wear a hard hat.’ As he spoke there came the sound of a knock and Mary put her head round the door.
‘Sorry, Kate,’ she said, ‘but I thought I’d better tell you that Philip Browne has just arrived. I’ve asked him to wait in the relatives’ room.’
‘All right, Mary, thank you.’ Kate nodded then gave a little sigh. ‘I think it might be me in need of that hat,’ she added ruefully. ‘Well, best get it over with. I wonder which one he’s come to see.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ said Tom.
‘You don’t have to,’ Kate replied quickly. ‘I’m sure I can cope.’
‘I don’t doubt that,’ Tom replied. ‘I just thought you might like me aboard for this.’
Kate hesitated then, taking a deep breath, she said, ‘Yes, all right, Tom, thanks—it probably would be better if we both saw him.’ Together they left Kate’s office and, with Kate deliberately avoiding Natalie’s speculative gaze, made their way past the nurses’ station to the relatives’ room.
Philip was standing with his back to the door, gazing out of the window, and it was almost impossible to guess what his thoughts might be as he stood there, waiting for both his wife and his girlfriend to give birth. Kate had already seen him previously when he had visited Sara and he had struck her as a perfectly ordinary young man in his thirties—by no means the womaniser he was now being presented as.
He turned to face them and Kate noticed he was dressed in the dark suit and white shirt that he no doubt wore for his office job. His dark hair was cut very short and there was a wary expression in his eyes as his gaze flickered from Kate to Tom then back to Kate again.
‘Mr Browne, I’m Sister Ryan,’ said Kate. ‘And this is Mr Fielding, who is our consultant obstetrician.’
‘There’s nothing wrong, is there?’ Philip blinked several times.
‘No, Mr Browne.’ It was Tom who answered. ‘There’s nothing wrong. I’m about to examine your wife.’
‘But she came in an ambulance…?’
‘It was a precautionary measure,’ Kate explained. ‘Her waters had broken and she had started labour. I gather she couldn’t contact you so she phoned for an ambulance. Since her arrival her contractions have eased somewhat, but we don’t have any reason to believe there is a problem.’ She paused and glanced at Tom then continued, ‘The only thing we fear we may have a bit of a problem with is the fact that Sara Millington is also soon to give birth.’
‘Does Nicole know that Sara is here?’ asked Philip. He looked embarrassed and uncomfortable, and Kate noticed a thin line of beads of sweat on his upper lip.
‘No, she doesn’t,’ said Kate, ‘but unfortunately Sara knows that Nicole is here.’
‘How does she know that?’ There was another emotion in Philip’s eyes now, whether shock or panic Kate wasn’t sure.
‘She saw her arrive,’ Kate replied simply. ‘As you know, the entire maternity department is very open-plan and although your wife was taken straight to the labour suite on her arrival, Sara saw her being wheeled past the antenatal bay.’
‘So how is Sara—what did she say?’ he asked. He was still wary, as if uncertain how much had been divulged.
‘She seemed surprised to see your wife in Maternity,’ said Kate bluntly, ‘but none of that is our concern, Mr Browne. Our concern is totally for the welfare of our patients, in this case both your wife and Sara, and for the safe delivery of their babies.’
‘Sara is already suffering from high blood pressure,’ said Tom suddenly. Both Kate and Philip turned to him. ‘We have planned to induce labour this morning so I wouldn’t want any undue strain put on her. Maybe you could bear that in mind when you speak to her.’
‘I can arrange it that your wife doesn’t see Sara or even know that she is on the unit,’ said Kate, ‘but that has to be your decision. Is that what you would like?’ she prompted when he appeared to hesitate.
‘Yes,’ he said at last, and Kate thought she saw something like relief in his eyes. ‘Yes, please.’
‘As far as I know, your wife shouldn’t have any complications,’ Kate went on. ‘As this is her third delivery it should be quite straightforward. I imagine she will be discharged after a few hours, as she was with her last baby. I understand she wants you to be present at the birth.’
‘Yes.’ Philip ran one hand over his hair in a gesture that implied growing distraction. ‘Yes, she does.’
‘I’ll go and examine her now,’ said Tom.
‘You stay here for the moment, Mr Browne,’ Kate said as she turned towards the door, ‘then I’ll come back and let you know what’s happening.’
‘I wouldn’t be in that man’s shoes for anything,’ said Tom darkly as he and Kate left the relatives’ room.
‘I couldn’t imagine you getting yourself into that sort of situation in the first place,’ said Kate.
‘Maybe not.’ He shrugged. ‘But it’s amazing how these situations escalate and spin out of control.’
In the labour suite, they found that Nicole’s contractions had started again.
‘I can’t understand why my husband isn’t here,’ she muttered between contractions.
/> ‘He’s on his way,’ said Kate. ‘Maybe he’s been held up in traffic.’
When she returned to the relatives’ room, alone this time as Tom had to go to Theatre to scrub up for a Caesarean section, she found Philip sitting with his head in his hands and for the first time she felt a stab of pity for him.
‘I don’t know what I’m going to say to Sara,’ he said, looking up as Kate came into the room.
‘I don’t know how you are going to solve your problems, Philip,’ she said, shutting the door behind her and sitting down beside him, ‘but, like Mr Fielding said, the important thing at the moment is to keep calm and for us to get both babies safely delivered.’
‘You must think I’m absolutely terrible,’ he said, lifting both hands in a gesture of near despair, ‘but, really, I never meant for any of this to happen.’
‘It isn’t for me to moralise. Neither, by keeping these two ladies apart, are we being party to any deception,’ said Kate. ‘Our main aim, as I said, is to deliver two healthy babies and to ensure the well-being of both mothers.’
As she finished Philip immediately began speaking, as if it was suddenly imperative to him that she should understand him and what had happened. ‘I want to tell you about all this,’ he said.
‘You don’t have to,’ Kate replied quickly, ‘and I do have a lot to do.’
‘Please,’ he said, and there was anguish in his eyes now.
‘All right.’ With a little sigh Kate sat down and prepared to listen.
‘I work with Sara,’ he said after a moment. ‘I didn’t plan to fall in love with her—it just happened. We used to take our lunch to the park each day and it was at a time when Nicole and I had been going through a rough patch in our marriage. I started seeing Sara outside the office and…I don’t know…I suppose we became careless. Anyway, Nicole found out and there were some dreadful scenes. She told me I had to give Sara up or get out. My boys begged me to stay…It was a ghastly time.’ Leaning forward in his chair, he linked his hands together.
‘What did you do?’ asked Kate.
‘I gave Sara up,’ he replied, ‘or at least I tried to, and Nicole and I decided to try for another baby in an attempt to save our marriage, but after a while Sara and I slipped back into seeing each other again…It was so difficult not to, what with us working together.’
‘And she also became pregnant,’ said Kate.
He didn’t answer immediately and then, as if reaching a decision, he admitted, ‘She stopped taking the Pill without telling me.’ When he saw Kate’s expression he said, ‘I’m not trying to make excuses. I love Sara, I really do, but I also love Nicole…and my boys.’
‘You know, Philip,’ said Kate gently, ‘you are the only one who can sort this mess out.’
‘I know.’ His voice sounded choked now.
‘I don’t know how you are going to do it and I can’t help you with it,’ said Kate, ‘but what I do know is that you can’t do anything today. You owe it to both of them to let them have their babies in peace.’
‘Yes. Right.’ Taking a deep breath, he stood up. ‘Where do I go first?’
‘You must go to Nicole,’ said Kate. ‘She is expecting you to be by her side when she gives birth. You can see Sara later, if you wish.’
‘Very well.’ He nodded. ‘Thanks, Sister,’ he added.
‘What for?’ asked Kate.
‘For listening,’ he replied helplessly.
‘Well, I think he’s a rat,’ said Natalie.
It was much later and Kate and some of the others were taking a well-earned break in the staffroom.
‘That was my immediate reaction,’ said Kate, ‘but after talking to him I came to the conclusion that he had got himself in so deep that he simply didn’t know how to get out of it.’
‘Surely you’re not taking his part?’ Natalie turned to her in amazement.
‘No, not really.’ Kate shook her head. ‘He shouldn’t have allowed himself to stray in the first place then none of this would have happened.’
‘I blame the girlfriend,’ said Mary. ‘Her type think nothing of breaking up a happy marriage.’
‘It couldn’t have been that happy if he was willing to look elsewhere,’ observed Melissa as she poured herself a second cup of coffee. ‘I would say the wife is as much to blame as anyone else.’
‘Maybe they are all a bit to blame,’ said Kate with a sigh, ‘but, as we said before, it isn’t for us to judge—all that we should be concerned with is that Nicole was delivered of a healthy baby girl and has been discharged, and that Sara is well into labour.’
‘Do we know where Sara is going after she is discharged?’ asked Melissa.
‘She said to her mother,’ Kate replied, ‘which I think, under the circumstances, is just as well.’
‘What do you think he’s told Sara?’ asked Natalie curiously.
‘I don’t know.’ Kate shook her head. ‘But Sara had assumed that Nicole must have been having an affair herself to get pregnant. Maybe Philip is letting her go on believing that, for the time being anyway.’
‘Surely he won’t be able to get away with two-timing both of them any longer?’ said Mary Payne.
‘No,’ Kate replied. ‘I think he’s well aware the time has come that he has to finally make a decision and stick to it.’
‘Do you think he really does love both of them?’ asked Melissa, looking around at the others.
‘Probably,’ said Natalie with a shrug, ‘but that’s not the point. He’s married to Nicole, she’s his wife and his first loyalty has to be to her.’
‘But he told Sara he was going to leave his wife,’ protested Melissa.
‘That’s as may be,’ said Mary, ‘but in my experience men rarely leave their wives and when they do they very often return to them further down the line. I even know of a couple who divorced and the man remarried, only for him to go back to his ex-wife fifteen years later.’
Mary’s words left Kate feeling vaguely uneasy, although she couldn’t exactly say why that should be. Was it because she herself was on the brink of starting a relationship with a divorced man? But was she, she asked herself? Surely the friendship she had with Tom Fielding hardly constituted the type of relationship that need have her questioning whether or not he still loved his ex-wife?
She drained her coffee-mug and was about to rise to her feet when the intercom on the coffee-table suddenly bleeped. She leaned forward and flicked the switch, and Rachel’s voice came through, informing them that Sara was about to give birth.
‘I’ll go,’ said Kate. ‘Would someone please page Mr Fielding? He said he wanted to attend this one.’
When Kate entered the labour suite she found Rachel Paterson in attendance on Sara, and Philip seated beside her. She found herself wondering how on earth he’d managed to get his wife and baby daughter home and get back to the hospital without any questions being asked.
‘She’s fully dilated,’ said Rachel, as Kate pulled on her surgical gloves and donned a large plastic apron to protect her uniform. ‘And she’s wanting to push, aren’t you, Sara?’
Sara nodded then gasped as another contraction seized her and she clutched at Philip’s hand.
Ten minutes later Tom arrived and, after examining Sara, decided that he would perform an episiotomy.
‘What’s that?’ Philip looked alarmed.
‘It’s all right, Mr Browne,’ said Tom reassuringly. ‘It’s simply a little cut performed under a local anaesthetic which will help the baby’s passage into the world. If we didn’t do it Sara would tear quite badly, she would be more uncomfortable and it might take longer to heal with a greater risk of infection.’
‘Just let them do it, Philip,’ said Sara weakly. Turning to Kate, she said, ‘He does worry about me so, but maybe I shouldn’t complain.’
Kate turned away, for once quite lost for words. Drawing up the injection of local anaesthetic, she handed the syringe to Tom who administered it and, after waiting a few moments for it to t
ake effect, performed the episiotomy. The birth came after several more very strong contractions, and as Sara groaned and pushed for all she was worth Philip supported her neck and shoulders reassuring and encouraging her, for all the world like any devoted husband.
It was Tom who delivered the baby as it emerged into the world with one long drawn-out wail. ‘You have a son, Sara,’ he said as he lifted the baby onto Sara’s chest. ‘A fine, healthy boy.’
‘Oh, Philip,’ she cried, ‘look, isn’t he lovely? He looks just like you, with all that dark hair.’
In the excitement and emotion of the moment Philip admired his new son, and as he looked up and his gaze met Kate’s she saw there were tears in his eyes. In that moment she knew his decision had just become all the more difficult.
He declined the offer to cut the cord and after Kate had performed that task she gathered up the baby and took him to the far side of the room where she cleaned him up and weighed him while Tom sutured Sara’s cut.
‘We’ve decided on a name,’ said Sara, who had been lying quietly with Philip holding her hand.
‘Oh, yes,’ said Tom, ‘and what is that?’
‘Well, definitely Philip after his father,’ Sara replied, ‘and we thought Thomas after you.’
‘I’m honoured,’ said Tom. ‘It’s great to have such a handsome little fellow named after me.’
Kate wondered what Sara would have thought had she known just how many little boys born at Ellie’s bore the name of the consultant obstetrician.
‘We are going to take you over to the postnatal ward now,’ said Kate, as Tom finished suturing.
‘And the baby?’ asked Sara anxiously.
‘Of course,’ Kate replied. ‘He goes where you go.’
‘Did you hear that, Philip?’ said Sara. ‘We are a proper family now.’
Just once, briefly, before Rachel took them to Postnatal, did Philip acknowledge Kate and Tom. ‘Thank you,’ he said, his gaze flickering from one to the other. ‘Thanks for everything.’
They both knew he wasn’t only referring to the safe delivery of his son but to the diplomatic way they had handled the events of the day.
A Very Special Surgeon Page 10
