‘I’ll remember that,’ Lucy agreed. ‘Not too many cream cakes and pickles from now on.’
‘Already getting cravings, are you?’ Nick asked lightly, drawing over the file and reading through the patient’s history.
‘I think I must be. I’ve never really liked pickled onions that much but I’ve eaten a whole jar all by myself this week.’ She laughed. ‘My husband says that kissing me now is a whole new experience.’
‘I can imagine.’ Nick smiled but Katie could tell that his attention had been caught by something in the patient’s case history. ‘I was just glancing through your notes, Mrs Brothers, and I see that you told the admissions nurse that there’s cystic fibrosis in your husband’s family.’
‘That’s right. Tim’s brother has it and one of his cousins as well. I didn’t know if I should mention it or not when the nurse asked me about any hereditary conditions. There’s never been anything like that in my own family,’ she added.
‘You did the right thing to tell us,’ Nick assured her. ‘Although cystic fibrosis can be controlled by modern drugs, it’s still an extremely serious condition.’
‘You’re not saying that my baby could have inherited it, are you?’ Lucy exclaimed.
‘It’s highly unlikely,’ Nick assured her. ‘Cystic fibrosis is caused by a defect in a gene contained in one of the chromosomes.’
‘Chromosomes are the things that carry all the information about us, like what colour hair and eyes we’ll have,’ Lucy said hesitantly.
‘That’s right. They’re like mini fact-files which determine how tall we’ll be and if we’ll have a long nose or sticky-out ears.’ Nick smiled. ‘So when a baby’s born and someone claims that he has Aunt Ada’s chin or Uncle Cecil’s nose, they’re usually right.’
Katie listened in silence, thinking how good he was at explaining things to the patients. Lucy was obviously worried about her unborn baby yet Nick had taken the edge off her fear by explaining everything to her in a way she could understand. She felt a little pool of warmth collect in the pit of her stomach and shifted uneasily because she didn’t want to start thinking about how much she liked Nick when she needed to think about work.
‘Each chromosome can contain several thousand genes which are each responsible for one small aspect of our body chemistry. The defective gene which causes cystic fibrosis is attached to chromosome number seven,’ he continued. ‘It’s what is called a recessive gene which basically means that it needs to be inherited from both the mother and the father before an abnormality occurs.’
‘So Tim’s brother and cousin must have inherited a double dose of the bad gene from their parents and that’s why they have cystic fibrosis,’ Lucy queried.
‘That’s right. And Tim may have inherited a single dose of it so although he doesn’t have any symptoms, he might be a carrier and could pass it on to his children.’
‘But if I don’t have the bad gene then our baby will be OK?’ Lucy asked anxiously.
‘Yes, it will be fine. The odds on you being a carrier of the gene as well are fairly low. Among Europeans, about one person in twenty-five is a carrier. However, it might be worth you having a test just to check.’
‘Yes, I think it might be safer,’ Lucy conceded. ‘But what happens if I do happen to be a carrier as well? Does it mean that my baby will be born with cystic fibrosis, too?’
‘No. Even then there’s only a one in four chance of the child being affected.’ Nick shrugged. ‘In the unlikely event that you are a carrier we can test the baby either by amniocentesis, which is where we draw a little amniotic fluid out of the sac the baby is lying in, or by chorionic villus sampling when we take a tiny sample of chorionic tissue from the edge of the placenta. Because the placenta has the same genetic make-up as the baby, we can check for any chromosomal problems. The other advantage of CVS is that the test can be done quite early in the pregnancy, between nine and twelve weeks, in fact.’
‘It’s a lot to take in,’ Lucy admitted. ‘I have to confess that I never even considered the possibility that because Tim’s brother has cystic fibrosis there might be a risk that our baby has it.’
‘It’s a very slight risk,’ Nick assured her. ‘I’m sure your baby will be fine but I wanted you to know that there are tests available if you should choose to have them done. So now that we’ve got that all covered, I’d like to examine you. Can you take over, please, Sister?’
‘Of course.’
Katie took Lucy behind the screen and helped her into a gown then waited while Nick carried out a basic internal examination to check that everything was as it should be. Lucy got dressed again then told them that she’d decided she would like to be screened for cystic fibrosis so Nick wrote out a note for the lab and sent her back to the admissions nurse to have another blood sample taken.
He sighed as the door closed behind her. ‘She must be sorry now that she mentioned her brother-in-law. It’s rather taken the shine off her first antenatal visit, hasn’t it?’
‘Best to be safe,’ Katie said firmly. ‘If you suspect there might be a problem it would be silly not to do something about it, wouldn’t it?’
‘Yes, it would.’
There was the oddest note in Nick’s voice and Katie felt the hair on the back on her neck lift. She knew he wasn’t thinking about Lucy Brothers at that moment and had to bite her lip to hold back the question that was dying to get out. Nick was thinking about some other problem, and why did she have the feeling that it had something to do with her?
Unfortunately, there was no opportunity to ask Nick anything more because they were too busy. They saw the rest of the patients who were booked into the clinic that day then Katie went back to the maternity unit and found the place in a state of chaos. It appeared that the press had been phoning almost non-stop while she’d been away, asking for information about Jodie, and the staff had been under tremendous pressure trying to cope.
Katie contacted the switchboard and told them not to put through any more calls to the department. All calls should be directed to her office and she would deal with them from now on. It helped to calm things down but the staff were obviously unsettled by what was happening and it didn’t help when one of the reporters tried to sneak into the unit by posing as a visitor.
Katie called Security and had the man escorted from the building but she knew they couldn’t continue that way. It felt as though they were under siege and it wasn’t fair to the patients or the staff. The least affected by it all seemed to be Jodie because she was tucked away in a side room and had no idea what was happening. Katie went to see her and was pleased to discover that the girl looked a lot better than she’d done when she’d been admitted.
‘Your temperature is fine,’ Katie told her, checking the girl’s chart. ‘That’s a good indication there’s no infection brewing, but how do you feel?’
‘A bit sore—down there,’ Jodie told her shyly.
She was a pretty girl with long dark brown hair and looked far younger than her sixteen years. Katie couldn’t help wondering how she’d managed to get herself into this predicament in the first place, but it wasn’t her place to ask. The police had phoned to say that they wanted to interview Jodie as soon as she was well enough to speak to them, and Social Services would need to get involved at some point. The poor girl would have enough people asking her questions so Katie hung the chart on the end of the bed and smiled at her.
‘You’re bound to experience a bit of discomfort for a few days but it will soon clear up. I’ll ask Abbey to help you take a salt bath. You’ll find it very soothing. I’ll send her in to you in a few minutes.’
‘Thank you,’ the girl said quietly.
‘You’re welcome.’ Katie left the room and almost bumped right into Jodie’s mother. It was obvious the woman was upset so Katie drew her into an alcove so they could talk in private.
‘I was just getting myself a cup of coffee from the machine and I heard one of the nurses saying that there’s been repo
rters phoning up about Jodie,’ the woman explained anxiously. ‘Is it true, Sister?’
‘I’m afraid so.’ Katie sighed. ‘We even had one fellow try to sneak in here by posing as a visitor.’
‘Oh, no!’ Mrs Carmichael looked stricken. ‘I don’t want poor Jodie to find out what’s been going on. She’s got enough to deal with without all this as well.’
‘She won’t hear about it from us,’ Katie assured her. ‘I know your husband seems to believe that one of the maternity unit staff leaked the story to the press, but I know for a fact that the people who work in this department would never do such a thing.’
‘I’m sure you’re right,’ Mrs Carmichael said hurriedly, looking embarrassed. ‘Derek’s biggest problem is that he won’t listen. He has such set ideas about everything and always thinks he’s right. Anyway, I’d be really grateful, Sister, if you could ask the staff not to let Jodie see any of those newspapers. I’ve read what they’re saying about her and it’s horrible. I don’t want her getting upset.’
‘Don’t worry. I’ll make sure everyone keeps the papers well away from her. But she’s bound to find out what’s been going on at some point, you do realise?’
‘I know that but I just want to…well, protect her for as long as I can.’ Tears welled into the woman’s eyes. ‘It’s the least I can do. I’ll never forgive myself because she felt she couldn’t confide in me.’
Katie sighed as Mrs Carmichael hurried back to her daughter, wishing there was some way to make the situation easier for them both. She decided that the only thing she could do was to protect Jodie’s privacy and make sure the girl didn’t see all the awful things that were being written about her so she gathered the staff together and explained that Jodie mustn’t be given any newspapers then reminded them not to talk about the case outside the maternity unit.
Everyone promised to be careful so Katie left it at that. There wasn’t much else she could do, in all honesty, but she decided to have a word with Nick and see if he had any ideas about how to protect the girl from any more unwanted attention. He arrived half an hour later so Katie asked him to come to the office after he’d seen Jodie and explained what had happened when he got there.
‘I’m not sure what to suggest for the best,’ he said worriedly. ‘I had been thinking about moving Jodie because of the other mums, but I’m no longer sure if it would be a good idea. At least the press can’t get to her here because we screen all the visitors coming into the unit.’ He grimaced. ‘It doesn’t help you very much, though. Can you cope with the continued disruption if we leave her here?’
‘We’ll have to,’ Katie said firmly. ‘There’s no way I’m throwing that poor kid to the lions!’
Nick laughed. ‘Good for you. Anyway, the good news is that Jodie’s finally admitted that baby you found is hers. She’s asked to see him so I’m going to check with SCBU to see how he’s doing then make all the arrangements.
‘Apparently, the child’s father is a boy she met on an exchange visit to France, arranged by her school. She doesn’t intend to see him again but her mother has told her that she will help look after the child if Jodie wants to take him home.’
‘Oh, that’s brilliant!’ Katie declared. ‘I was hoping for a happy ending.’
Nick shook his head. ‘Now, don’t get too excited. There’s a long way to go yet. Social Services will want to check that she understands what she’s taking on and—’
‘And nothing! You’ve just said that Jodie’s mum has offered to help her look after the baby so of course she’ll be able to manage.’
‘Let’s hope so.’ Nick glanced at his watch. ‘I’d better dash. I promised Niall that I’d bring him up to speed about what’s been happening over Christmas. He’s not had much chance to catch up with all the fuss that’s been going on today.’
‘Well, make sure you tell him that we couldn’t have coped without you,’ Katie said sternly. ‘No hiding your light under a bushel.’
‘As I have no idea what a bushel is, I might find it rather difficult.’
‘Never mind changing the subject, Nick Lawson. If you don’t tell Niall what a star you’ve been then I shall.’
‘I was only doing my job, Katie,’ he said quietly, his expression turning sombre all of a sudden.
She shook her head. ‘You did a lot more than that, Nick.’
His hazel eyes filled with sudden warmth and he smiled at her. ‘Then thank you. That means a lot to me, Katie.’
‘You’re very welcome,’ she murmured as he hurried away. She took a deep breath but it was impossible to ignore the fact that, little by little, her feelings for Nick were growing deeper. She couldn’t help feeling scared by what was happening because she had no idea where it was going to lead. Nick was only going to be in Dalverston for a few months and she didn’t want to start hoping that he would stay longer when there was no basis for it. Her heart lurched because, sensible or not, she knew there was going to be a big gap in her life when Nick left.
The rest of the shift flew past with barely a minute to spare. Lara Henderson and her baby were well enough to be discharged so Katie helped get the baby ready. Once he was dressed, she wrapped him in a cosy fleece blanket and strapped him securely into the carrying chair that Lara’s boyfriend had brought with him.
‘All ready to go home now, poppet,’ she said, stroking the infant’s soft little cheek. ‘Have you decided on a name for him yet?’
‘Stephen,’ Lara told her with a smile. ‘It’s my dad’s name and he’s absolutely thrilled to bits because we’re naming the baby after him.’
‘Lovely idea,’ Katie told her warmly. ‘Now, don’t forget that if you’re at all worried just give us a call. It can be a bit scary at first looking after a new baby so don’t feel that you have to manage all by yourself. And, of course, your health visitor will be in contact very shortly so she’ll be on hand to give you any advice you may need.’
‘I’ll remember. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done. And will you thank Dr Lawson for us as well?’ Lara sighed as she looked at her small son. ‘Things might not have turned out so well if it weren’t for him.’
Katie accompanied the young couple to the door and waved them off then went back inside. There were just a couple of hours of her shift left and before she knew it, it was time to go off duty. She handed over to Jean then fetched her coat and headed for the lift. She was just about to step inside it when she spotted Nick hurrying along the corridor so she held the door open for him.
‘This is getting to be a habit. You’re always opening doors for me!’
‘At least I come in useful for something,’ Katie joked, trying to keep the mood light because she didn’t want Nick to get any inkling of what she’d been thinking earlier that day. Maybe she would miss him when he left but he wasn’t leaving for a while yet so there was no point worrying about it. Anyway, she didn’t want to make the mistake she’d made with David by getting too involved, too quickly, did she?
She felt a little easier after that and chatted about what had happened during the day as the lift carried them down to the ground floor. She was just passing along Lara Henderson’s thanks when they stepped out into the foyer and she stopped when she saw the crowd of people milling about.
‘What on earth is going on?’
‘Looks like the press,’ Nick replied grimly. ‘They’re probably after more information about Jodie.’
He took her arm and steered her through the crush of people, shaking his head when a reporter pushed a microphone into his face and demanded to know if he worked there. Katie heaved a sigh of relief when they finally made it out of the main doors.
‘It’s absolute bedlam. I wonder why Security haven’t moved them out of the building.’
‘They probably will as soon as they can muster enough staff,’ Nick told her. ‘I had a word with the head of security about that reporter who managed to sneak into the maternity unit and he told me that this flu epidemic has hit them hard. Apparent
ly, they’ve been struggling to cover all the shifts.’
‘Typical it should happen now, isn’t it?’ Katie said wryly, leading the way round the side of the building. She ground to a halt when she spotted the crowd gathered around the entrance to the staff block, causing Nick to cannon into her back.
‘Sorry,’ she said, glancing at him. ‘But it looks as though the press have set up camp outside the staff residence as well.’
‘That’s all we need, isn’t it? Is there another way in, do you know?’
‘No. There’s just the fire doors but you can only open them from the inside.’ She looked back towards the way they’d come. ‘Maybe we could get one of the security staff over here to move them away?’
‘I expect Security will have enough to do, clearing the hospital. No, it looks like it’s time for plan B.’
‘Plan B. What’s that?’
‘That we take the easy option and go to the pub for something to eat.’ He grinned at her. ‘With a bit of luck those reporters will get fed up standing around in the cold and have gone home by the time we come back so how about it?’
Katie took a deep breath. She knew what her answer should be, of course. Hadn’t she just admitted that her feelings for Nick were growing too intense too quickly? It would be silly to make matters worse by spending the evening with him. She opened her mouth to tell him that she was too tired to go out only the words came out rather different from what she’d planned.
‘Sounds good to me!’
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘ONE glass of red wine, as requested. And the waitress said to tell you that our food will be ready in about fifteen minutes’ time.’
Nick put the glasses on the table, hoping Katie couldn’t tell how nervous he felt. Asking her out must come under the same heading as that near-miss he’d had in the kitchen the other day—a huge mistake. He certainly hadn’t been planning on inviting her to spend the evening with him—it had just happened. Now he would have to deal with it the best way he could so he picked up his glass after he’d sat down.
The Midwife's New Year Wish Page 9
