Brides of Penhally Bay - Vol 2

by Various Authors

  So why was Dr Edward Tremayne different?

  She felt uneasy. No way was she going to become closely involved with a man again. Not even a man like Ed Tremayne. He seemed to be…different.

  She checked Mrs Jones who’s condition appeared to be stabilising.

  While she was thinking about this, Ed came back. He looked at Mrs Jones and nodded.

  She smiled. ‘Ed, she’s going to be OK. You’re doing a really good job.’

  She thought at first that he wasn’t going to answer, he took so long to reply. But then he said, ‘Thanks for being there Maddy. I’m sorry if I’m…It’s just this is bringing back so many memories.’

  ‘Even doctors are entitled to feelings,’ she told him gently. ‘Don’t be ashamed of them.’

  There was another pause and then he said, ‘I just wanted Mrs Jones to have that chance. But I’m sorry if I was a bit short with you.’

  Maddy paused for a moment and then said, ‘So you’re obviously used to emergencies like this. Where were they?’

  ‘Africa.’ A curt, one-word answer. But after a moment he said, ‘I was an army doctor, went out there expecting to deal with trauma, war wounds, the diseases that a fit soldiery might catch. And I finished up spending most of my time with a starving native population.’ He looked at her. ‘Come on, there’s more patients to see.’

  They worked together through the night. Steady but exhausting work. But they knew they were doing a good job.

  Maddy was glad she had Ed with her. He seemed to know almost instinctively what was the right dose, the right treatment. She knew she would have done what she could. But Ed was able to do it better. ‘You’re saving lives,’ she told him.

  ‘I’ve learned how. I’ve watched other people lose them,’ was the flat reply.

  She wondered what he was really thinking.

  At two in the morning there seemed to be another lull. They both knew it wouldn’t last—but it was there. Maddy pointed to her watch. ‘This is going to be a long haul,’ she said, ‘we both know that. You’ve sent half the stewards off to have some sleep, now you need some yourself. Go to bed, just for a couple of hours. You’ll be a better doctor when you wake up.’

  ‘I’d rather you took a break first.’

  She shook her head. ‘You’re showing signs of fatigue now. What time did you get up this morning?’

  ‘I’m an early riser, I was in the sea at six this morning. But I don’t need much sleep.’

  ‘I was up a lot later than that and now you need it more than me. Just look at yourself in the mirror.’

  She saw him do so, knew he couldn’t miss the darkness around his eyes. ‘Don’t act the macho male with me,’ she urged. ‘You’ve got more sense than that. Exhausted doctors make mistakes. Just a couple of hours will improve you no end.’

  She could see that he was reluctant to agree but that he had to accept her argument. ‘All right, then. But only two hours!’

  ‘After two hours I’ll wake you up,’ she promised.

  She took him to her cabin, pointed to her bed. ‘Sleep there. It’s my cabin but there’s no time to find you somewhere of your own to sleep. And there’s a bathroom there if you want it.’

  The phone rang. She left him, went to answer it.

  He was tired, he had to admit it. And the temptation was just to take off his shoes, lie on the bed and go to sleep. But he decided not to. He’d have a shower first. Just five minutes would make no end of difference.

  He had to smile when he walked into her tiny bathroom. Maddy had not been expecting visitors. On a couple of strings stretched across the shower there were three sets of underwear drying. So far he’d seen her as a nurse, in a rather severe uniform or scrubs. And it suited her. But the knowledge that underneath she wore the flimsiest of coloured lace rather intrigued him.

  He had a swift shower, cleaned his teeth. He had brought toiletries with him, in anticipation of his stay on board.

  He was still tired but felt considerably better when he climbed into her bed. He decided that he could allow himself another five minutes—but no longer—to think about what he was doing here.

  So far he was surviving. He knew he was being efficient, organising the treatments, doing the best possible for his patients. He thought—he hoped—that people felt confident in him.

  No one suspected the memories, the terror that swirled underneath. And as he got more fatigued he knew it would get worse, But he would do it. He had to. Only his father would guess what he was going through.

  Or had Maddy guessed, too? He had noticed once or twice the thoughtful way that she had looked at him. Her seemingly casual questions had been probing, too. Maddy was quite a woman.

  So far he had been thinking about her solely as a colleague. Or had tried to. Now he could think about her as a person. She was so attractive! He was becoming increasingly aware of the generous curves of her body, for some reason emphasised by the plainness of the uniform covering it. When they touched—accidentally, of course—there was that slight electric shock. And the sheen of her hair and the way that it brushed against her cheek when she leaned forward. And he had kissed her! What had possessed him? It was the fact that he was enjoying just being with her and he wanted to—Stop it!

  To his horror he realised that he could fall for her. It wasn’t just that she was beautiful—though he was coming to appreciate that she was. Ellie Clinton was just as beautiful. Well, nearly as beautiful. And Ellie had nothing like the effect on him that Maddy had. Maddy had some power—a combination of her voice, her figure, her actions, her face…Her face. He remembered that look deep in her eyes…She had been hurt. Like him.

  Then he remembered when he had been in a situation like this before. Working in a closed environment with someone he loved. It wasn’t good! The risk of tragedy was too great.

  Perhaps it would be better if they left each other alone. If they could.

  She had intended to leave him for two hours, but after an hour she had to go into her room to wake him. Now she herself was really tired—but she felt that alertness that sometimes came with extreme fatigue.

  She switched on the light. She saw his clothes neatly piled, saw him in her bed. The sheet had ridden down, there was a naked shoulder, part of his bare chest. He was muscular—well, she had known that. And was that the end of a scar? Not a medical scar, though.

  For a moment she was captivated by the sight of him. He was asleep in her bed, not exactly in her power but something like that. She could look at him, dream, not worry that her feelings might be showing on her face. He was asleep. Then she told herself not to be ridiculous, this was only fatigue. She was not interested in men.

  He rolled over onto his back, the blue eyes opened. Briefly she had a glimpse of what he must have looked like as a child as he hovered for a brief moment between being asleep and awake. Innocent, unscarred by life. He would have been a beautiful baby. But he wasn’t beautiful now, not exactly. Life had scored lines on his face, made it harsher. And more interesting.

  He blinked and intelligence returned to his eyes at once. He was looking at her, recognising her, assessing the situation. However, he was still not fully awake, still not quite his usual guarded self. She thought she saw his pleasure at seeing her. For a moment they just looked at each other, and perhaps some non-verbal message passed. But both seemed to agree that this was not the time to talk about it. Or even to consider it.

  ‘Sorry to wake you early,’ she said, ‘but we’ve got an emergency, something quite different.’

  ‘OK, I’m rested.’ He sat up, swung a bare leg out of bed and grinned. ‘If you wouldn’t mind turning your back just for a moment?’

  ‘Oh, yes, of course.’ He was naked in her bed! Why did the thought give her a sudden tiny thrill?

  There was the rustle of clothes and then he said, ‘What’s the emergency, then?’

  Just the sound of his voice gave her some confidence but…‘It’s the last thing you’d expect, the last thing we n
eed. We’re supposed to be coping with an outbreak of gastroenteritis here! Isn’t that enough?’ The thought of even more work was shocking her.

  ‘Old saying, quoted to us by the captain. “Hope for the best, expect the worst.” What’s happened?’

  ‘A woman has just gone into labour, I think. She claims the baby’s about four weeks premature.’

  This did shock him. ‘What the hell is a heavily pregnant woman doing on a cruise?’

  ‘Tell me then we’ll both know. It’s the first I’ve heard of it. She must have deliberately kept quiet about it. Worn those long floaty dresses. The cruise firm doesn’t allow passengers on board who will be over twenty-eight weeks pregnant during the holiday, and for good reason.’

  ‘Right. But she decided she knew best and now we’re faced with the problem.’ He frowned and Maddy was surprised.

  ‘Childbirth isn’t an illness, Ed,’ she said gently. ‘It’s a perfectly normal healthy process.’

  She saw him take control of himself. ‘Of course. Now we’ve got her, we’ll have to cope. Just how up to date are you with childbirth, Maddy?’

  ‘I’m no midwife. I’ve watched a few births, been on take a couple of times. If it’s straightforward, I could manage. But mostly I’ve worked in places with a midwifery section. How about you?’

  ‘I did a bit when I was a medical student but nothing much since then. When I was in Africa the people had their own midwives so I was rarely requested for help.’

  ‘That makes sense. Now, I’ve already phoned the captain. It’s protocol, he has to be informed of events like this. He says he hopes we can cope. The storm has got really bad—nearly hurricane-force winds. If he has to ask for a boat to come out, he will. But he doesn’t advise it.’

  ‘No way can we put a pregnant woman into a boat in this weather. It’s up to the home team, Maddy.’

  She smiled. ‘Right. And we’ve got to be extra-careful not to get the poor little blighter infected. We’re still dealing with a gastroenteritis outbreak.’

  ‘I remember,’ he said. ‘Let’s go and see what we can do.’

  Maddy was surprised at the bleakness in his voice. True, Ed had worked a full day, and had then had only an hour’s sleep. But when she had woken him up he had seemed fine. Only when she’d told him that this was an emergency birth had he seemed upset. She wondered why.

  Mr and Mrs Flynn were having their first baby. They had calculated exactly when it was due to be born, worked out that they could have that long-awaited holiday before it was born. There was a month to go. They knew that if they’d told the cruise company that Mrs Flynn was pregnant, they’d never be able to book the cruise. So they hadn’t told anyone.

  ‘We never expected this,’ Mr Flynn wailed as Maddy and Ed walked into their cabin. ‘We thought everything would be all right. I think that it’s the storm that’s brought it on. All that shaking.’

  ‘Very possibly,’ Ed said. ‘Now Mr Flynn, if you’d just sit over there and stay calm, we will examine your wife.’ He went to Mrs Flynn’s side and spoke to her quietly and reassuringly. ‘Have your waters broken, Mrs Flynn?’

  She nodded, and Maddy sighed. She had had a last hope that it might be a false alarm, that there were just contractions which might slow down and stop. No such luck. The waters had broken.

  Ed had taken the usual readings, was now timing the contractions, trying to decide roughly when the baby might be born. Then he placed his hand on the woman’s distended belly, gently palpated it.

  Maddy was watching his face, saw the quick flash of alarm. He felt again. Then he said, ‘Maddy, would you like to palpate?’

  She did, and found at once what he was concerned about. This was something that she’d only read about, never experienced. Not that it was too uncommon, but it was to her. She managed to keep calm and said to Ed, ‘Yes, I see.’

  Ed stood back, peeled off his rubber gloves. ‘Well, Mrs Flynn is certainly in labour. It’s going to take quite a while before the actual birth, so you should be all right for an hour or two. Now, we are going to get things ready, if there’s any sudden problem, phone us. Mr Flynn, on no account are you to leave the cabin. We still have people suffering from gastroentiritis, and we don’t want it in here.’

  ‘Is my baby going to be all right?’ Mrs Flynn sobbed.

  Ed’s face softened and he nodded. ‘I’ve never lost a newborn baby yet,’ he said firmly. ‘I don’t see any problems. Now, try to stay calm because you’ll need all your energy. We’ll be back shortly.’

  Maddy walked down the corridor with him. ‘You’ve never lost a newborn baby because you’ve never delivered one outside hospital,’ she said.

  ‘I lied, Maddy. I have lost a baby.’ A short, flat statement, delivered without emotion. Ed went on, ‘But we had to reassure Mrs Flynn. Now, what did you feel when you palpated?’

  Maddy was shocked by his statement that he had lost a baby, she wanted to know more. But yet again this was not the right time to ask. ‘I’ve never felt one. But I thought the baby’s head was in the wrong place. The baby is upside down—I mean the right way up. It’s going to be a breech birth.’

  ‘I think so, too. Can we cope with a breech birth?’

  ‘We’ve got medical textbooks in the centre. Let’s go and look it up.’

  When they reached the medical centre they found the captain waiting for them. Maddy thought it typical—it might be the middle of the night, but the captain had dressed properly, formally. ‘I need to know the situation, Doctor,’ he said. ‘Then I will make a decision. It’ll be an informed decision as I will be guided by you. But the decision will be mine.’

  Maddy saw that Ed approved of this attitude.

  ‘We have a woman going into labour, about four weeks prematurely. There might be complications, though small ones. On shore I would recommend she be taken to hospital at once. Moving her from here by boat or helicopter could be dangerous. But, of course, it would no longer be your responsibility.’

  Maddy smiled to herself, she knew Ed had slipped this in on purpose. She also knew what the captain’s response would be.

  ‘Everyone on this ship is my responsibility until they are safe on shore. Can you and Maddy deal with these complications?’

  ‘Probably. Any risk would be small.’ Maddy thought it interesting to see how precise Ed was trying to be. ‘But there is a risk. However, I have a suggestion.’

  ‘Which is?’

  ‘We have a very experienced midwife at Penhally Bay. There may be a storm raging but we also have fishermen there who could probably get her here.’

  ‘Would she take that risk? It’s a lot to ask.’

  For a moment Ed was silent. Then he said, ‘Perhaps not. Her husband died during a sea rescue some years ago. But I could always ask her.’

  The captain thought a moment, then said, ‘Will you try her, please? And make it clear, to her and the fisherman, that price is not a consideration.’

  ‘The fisherman might need paying but Kate won’t,’ said Ed. He picked up the receiver, flicked on the speakerphone and dialled.

  Maddy was sitting next to Ed. She heard the phone ring, then heard a sleepy voice say, ‘Kate Althorp here. Whose baby is being born in the middle of the night?’

  ‘Middle of the night and the middle of the sea. Kate, it’s Ed Tremayne here. I’m on the cruise ship.’ His voice was a bit diffident, and Maddy guessed that he didn’t know Kate too well.

  ‘And you’ve got a birth out there?

  ‘A primigravida, about four weeks premature. And a breech presentation.’

  ‘How far is labour advanced?’

  ‘I calculate at least three or four hours to go.’

  ‘You need a midwife,’ Kate said. ‘And you’re in luck. Jem is spending a fortnight at a friend’s house.’

  Ed winced. What a thing to forget! Kate had an eight-year-old son. Still, it turned out he wasn’t a problem. ‘So do you fancy coming? Kick Jerry Buchan out of bed and ask him to bring you here? His
boat is the safest one for miles and there’ll be good money for him.’

  ‘That’ll bring Jerry. I’ll come.’

  Maddy saw Ed hesitate. ‘Kate, this is the worst storm for years. It’s dangerous. Are you sure you want to…to risk it?’

  There was a pause. Then a flat voice said, ‘I’ll risk it. Other people do. Other people have done. What kind of equipment have you got there?’

  ‘We’ve plenty of high-class medical stuff. Drugs, bandages, sutures, instruments and so on. We’ve got a very well-equipped theatre you can use. Specific midwifery kit—none. It’s not supposed to be needed.’

  ‘I can bring what I need. I’m on my way. I’ll be perhaps an hour, an hour and a half. Oh, and, Ed, tell the mother that she’s probably going to have an awful backache and the best way to deal with it is to be on all fours.’

  ‘I didn’t know that. I’ll tell her.’ Ed replaced the receiver, looked at the captain. ‘You heard that, Captain?’

  The captain nodded. ‘I’ll have the lights on, and a good crew on the landing platform. And I’ll be there.’

  ‘Right.’ Maddy saw Ed thinking. ‘Maddy, we’ve still got the gastro to deal with. But for the moment I’ll see to that. How about if you arrange to get Mrs Flynn transferred to one of the wards here—with her husband—and then keep an eye on her until Kate arrives?’

  ‘Seems a good plan.’ She was glad that as usual he had asked her instead of directing her.

  ‘Let’s get started. Captain, we’ll keep you informed. But for the moment I feel happier.’

  ‘I never had problems like this when I was Captain of one of Her Majesty’s frigates,’ the Captain said gloomily.

  After arranging for Kate to come aboard, Ed had little to do but check up on mostly sleeping patients, see that the stewards were happy with their work. And they were. There were no more new cases, no sudden crises.

  He felt responsible for bringing Kate out to the ship, so when he heard that the fishing boat was nearing the landing platform, he went out on deck. He knew that probably the most dangerous part of her trip would be the jump between fishing boat and platform. So he wanted to be there. Perhaps he might be able to help.