by Sarah Morgan
Luca was at the desk, together with Dr Ford and Dan Sutherland, the consultant.
‘She complained of severe headache and visual disturbances,’ Luca was telling the team, ‘and she’s also had epigastric pain and vomiting. The casualty officer thought it was a virus to start with but was smart enough to do a pregnancy test.’
‘She didn’t know she was pregnant?’ Dr Ford looked slightly disdainful and Luca flashed her a slightly impatient look.
‘It would seem not.’
Dan Sutherland picked up the notes. ‘Does she have many risk factors for pre-eclampsia?’
‘A few.’ Luca raked long fingers through his dark hair. ‘First baby, overweight, family history according to the case officer—her mother had pre-eclampsia—and her blood pressure was already high.’
Dan frowned. ‘How do we know that?’
‘The casualty officer rang the GP to check on her history.’
Dan raised his eyebrows in surprise. ‘Smart chap.’
Luca gave a wry smile. ‘It was a woman,’ he drawled softly, his eyes flickering back to the notes. ‘She called me down to A and E because she was worried, I examined the patient and gave her a nifedipine capsule to chew because we needed something fast-acting. In my opinion she was—and is—at very high risk of developing full-blown eclampsia.’
Dan nodded. ‘All right, let’s take a look at her. She’s going to need one-to-one care, I should think.’
‘Tia will be her midwife,’ Sharon said quickly, pushing open the door and holding it while they all trooped into the room.
‘Hello, Sue, I’m Dan Sutherland, the consultant and this is Dr Zattoni, my senior registrar, and Dr Ford…’ Dan made the introductions as Sue Gibbs lay on the bed, clearly very ill. ‘And you had no idea you were pregnant?’
Sue shook her head, slowly. ‘None. My husband and I were desperate to have a baby, but in the end nothing happened so we gave up. I still can’t believe I’m pregnant. Are you absolutely sure?’
Dan gave a brief nod. ‘But it seems that you’ve developed a condition called pre-eclampsia, Sue. Which is basically high blood pressure of pregnancy. It can be dangerous if not controlled, so we’re trying to bring your blood pressure down.’
‘Will the baby be all right?’
‘Don’t worry about the baby,’ Dan said immediately. ‘The scan shows us that at the moment he’s fine. His heartbeat is strong and he’s still moving around. It’s you we need to worry about.’
He motioned to Tia to take over with the patient and moved to one side with Luca.
‘We need to give her an anti-hypertensive by infusion, do you agree?’
Luca nodded. ‘And we need to catheterise her and monitor her output.’
Dan cast another look at the patient and then lowered his voice. ‘I suggest you stay close.’
Luca nodded, understanding immediately. ‘That was my intention.’ He turned to Dr Ford. ‘I want you to check U and Es, LFTs, urate and placental function and platelets. A falling platelet count and changes in clotting factors have been reported in many cases of pre-eclampsia. Tia, can you put her on a monitor and keep her on it for now?’
Tia nodded. It was obvious that they were very worried about Sue.
She monitored Sue’s blood pressure regularly throughout the morning but despite the drugs it still crept upwards.
She slipped out of the room briefly to have a word with Luca, who was at the desk finishing a telephone call, Dr Ford by his side.
‘Her blood pressure is sneaking up again,’ she mouthed, and he nodded as he replaced the receiver.
‘She is at a very high risk of developing full-blown eclampsia,’ he agreed and Dr Ford frowned.
‘But you’ve given her anti-hypertensives.’
‘Anti-hypertensives do not alter the course of pre-eclampsia,’ Luca reminded her. ‘There is only one thing that will do that, which is?’
He paused, waiting for Dr Ford to answer, but she looked at him blankly.
‘Delivery.’ Tia broke the awkward silence, thinking that if the glamorous Dr Ford paid as much attention to her textbooks as she did to her make-up and her male colleagues, she might be a better doctor.
‘Yes.’ There was a warmth in Luca’s eyes as they rested on her briefly and then he turned his attention back to his SHO. ‘I’d like you to bleep Duncan Fraser, the anaesthetist, and warn him that we might need his services at short notice, and do the same with Paeds, please. I think we’re probably going to need to get the baby out. And could you also call ITU and check their bed state?’
Dr Ford reached for the phone, her expression flustered for the first time.
Tia followed Luca back to the room.
Sue’s husband, Eddie, was sitting on the bed, his face ashen.
‘Will she be all right?’
‘She is very ill,’ Luca said honestly, ‘but she is in the right place and we are doing everything we can.’
Eddie’s face crumpled and Luca put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. ‘Come with me to the relatives’ room,’ he said quietly, ‘and I can explain exactly what is happening.’
They left the room and Tia was alone with Sue.
She checked her patient’s blood pressure again and then tensed. As she watched, Sue became suddenly restless, her head drawn to one side, then her body went into spasm and she started to fit.
‘Damn!’ Smashing her hand against the emergency button, Tia immediately inserted an airway, quickly disconnected the CTG machine and shifted Sue into a semi-prone position.
Grabbing the oxygen, she placed the mask over Sue’s face, knowing that care of the mother was everything.
She heard footsteps outside the door and sighed with relief.
Reinforcements…
Luca came back into the room at a run, his eyes taking in the problem immediately.
‘I want to give her magnesium sulphate,’ he ordered, his voice calm and level as he delivered his instructions. ‘Give her 4 g in 100 ml of normal saline over at least five minutes, and then I want an infusion rate of 1 g an hour for 24 hours.’
Tia prepared the drug and gave it to Luca to check.
‘All right.’ He gave the drug and glanced towards Dr Ford. ‘Check her patellar reflexes every fifteen minutes. Tia, her resps should be more than sixteen a minute. Check every fifteen minutes and if it drops below that I want to know immediately. And let’s keep an eye on her urine output.’
Duncan Fraser, the anaesthetist, hurried into the room at that point and Luca glanced up, his expression grim.
‘We need to section her now.’
Duncan nodded. ‘Let’s get on with it, then.’
It was the fastest section Tia had ever seen, and in no time the baby was out and screaming with outrage.
‘Sounds hopeful,’ Luca commented, his eyes still on the wound. ‘Julie? Give me some good news on the baby.’
‘He seems fine.’ Julie Douglas, the paediatric registrar, had the baby on the rescusitaire and was checking it over. ‘Small, of course—I’ve warned Special Care to expect a new customer. How’s Mum?’
‘Not good.’ Luca didn’t look up. ‘Someone, please, tell Eddie that he has a little boy. The man must be out of his mind with worry. Tia, can you do that?’
‘Of course.’
Tia checked again that the baby seemed all right and then walked into the anteroom where Eddie was pacing, frantic with worry.
‘Eddie, you have a baby boy,’ Tia said softly, and he stared at her, ashen-faced and stunned.
‘A boy?’ He looked at her stupidly and then shook his head, rubbing a hand around the back of his neck to relieve the tension. ‘Ridiculous, isn’t it? We always wanted a baby, and now we’ve got one I don’t really care. All I want is for Sue to be back to normal. How is she?’
‘She’s poorly,’ Tia admitted, ‘but she’s getting the best possible care. Dr Zattoni is just finishing in Theatre and then she’ll be transferred to ITU. You can go and see her when they’ve sett
led her down.’
‘And the—my son?’
‘He’s beautiful.’ Tia smiled at him. ‘Very small, so he’ll be in Special Care for now. The paediatrician is taking him up there now. Are you ready to see him?’
Eddie licked his lips. ‘I don’t know.’
Suddenly Tia made a decision. ‘Wait there.’
She slipped back into Theatre and walked quickly up to Julie. ‘Can I take the baby for two minutes? If we wrap him up well…’
Julie stared at her. ‘You want to take the baby?’
‘His father doesn’t know whether he’s coming or going,’ Tia told her quickly. ‘I think he needs to see his little boy quickly. Just for a moment.’
Julie frowned. ‘But—’
‘Julie, will it harm the baby if he is well wrapped up for a few minutes?’ Luca’s voice intervened across the theatre. ‘I agree with Tia that it is important. This family have had a terrible shock—they are not prepared for this baby at all. If we’re not careful, we could have bonding problems.’
His dark eyes locked with Tia’s and she knew what he was thinking.
If Sue died, would Eddie blame the child?
‘It should be all right, I suppose.’ Julie gave a nod and wrapped the baby, handing him carefully to Tia. ‘Don’t be long. He needs to be checked out in Special Care.’
‘Hello, sweetheart.’ Tia gazed down at the tiny features of the baby and her heart melted. He looked completely helpless. ‘We’re going to meet your daddy, so be a good boy and don’t let me down.’
Someone opened the door to the anteroom for her and she slipped inside and walked across to Eddie who was sitting with his head in his hands.
‘Someone to meet you, Eddie.’ Taking a chance that her instincts were correct, she laid the tiny bundle on his lap and held her breath.
There was a long silence. Eddie stared wordlessly down at his baby son and then tears started to pour down his cheeks.
‘He’s beautiful,’ he croaked, tightening his grip on the little bundle. ‘So beautiful. How can I possibly blame anything so perfect? I still can’t take it all in—we thought we couldn’t have children.’
He rambled incoherently for a few minutes and Tia slipped an arm around his shoulder.
‘He’s beautiful, Eddie,’ Tia said softly, feeling her own eyes fill as she watched him. ‘A bit small, but the paediatrician thinks he’s doing very well. I don’t suppose you’ve thought of a name?’
‘Oh, yes.’ Eddie gave an embarrassed sniff and gazed down at his son. ‘We always knew what we’d call a little boy. Harry.’
‘That’s lovely.’ Tia’s voice cracked and she cleared her throat. Maybe being pregnant made her more emotional than usual. ‘OK, well, we need to get Harry up to the ward now…’
Julie was hovering in the doorway, keeping a close eye on her charge. ‘Why don’t you come, too, Mr Gibbs? You can stay with him while we settle him in and then go and tell your wife all about him.’
It was hours later when they finally climbed into Luca’s car to drive home.
‘I can’t believe how quickly she fitted,’ Luca said as he reversed the car out of his space. ‘You had an airway in the room, ready? That was quick thinking.’
‘In my pocket,’ Tia murmured. ‘It seemed like a good idea.’
‘It was more than a good idea.’ Luca flicked the indicator and pulled onto the main road. ‘You’re an excellent midwife. How on earth did you manage to put her in the recovery position by yourself?’
Tia shrugged. ‘Panic, I suppose. I kept thinking that if Sue died, the baby would die, too.’ She gave a sigh. ‘Do you think she will die, Luca?’
He pulled a face. ‘I don’t know. She is certainly very sick but I hope that she will be all right.’
‘You were fantastic,’ Tia said softly, a flush touching her cheeks. ‘Really fantastic.’
He glanced at her briefly and his gaze burned into hers. ‘Thank you.’
They arrived at the cottage and Luca pushed open the door. ‘What a day! Go and have a bath and I’ll prepare supper.’
She stifled a grin. ‘Another omelette?’
‘No.’ He shut the front door behind them and walked through to the kitchen. ‘I’m the first to admit that my experience in the kitchen is limited but I arranged to have some shopping delivered today so there should be something simple in the fridge.’
She stared at him. ‘You went shopping?’
Luca Zattoni? Shopping?
He gave a shake of his head and a wry smile. ‘No. I didn’t exactly go shopping. But I arranged for the supermarket to deliver.’
She blinked at him. ‘What supermarket? And how could they deliver? We weren’t in.’
A flush touched his hard cheekbones. ‘Dan Sutherland’s secretary ordered everything and I gave her a key to the cottage. She nipped here today so that someone was in when they delivered.’
Luca had arranged all that? The least domesticated male on the planet?
Tia was totally speechless and he gave her a gentle push. ‘Go and have a bath.’
Without argument she wandered upstairs and minutes later she slid into a deep bubble bath with a contented sigh. She still couldn’t believe that Luca had really gone to those lengths just for her. It was totally out of character.
Or maybe it wasn’t.
Maybe it was just another indication that she didn’t really know much about him.
Drifting away with her thoughts, she was still trying to make sense of it when the door opened ten minutes later. Tia gave a squeak of embarrassment and slid under the bubbles as Luca strolled in.
‘What are you doing? You promised—’
‘I promised I wouldn’t touch you,’ Luca drawled softly, his eyes darkening as they rested on the gentle swell of her breasts. ‘And I haven’t.’
Not with his hands maybe, but with his eyes…
‘I knocked, but you didn’t answer. I wanted to check that you hadn’t fallen asleep in the bath.’
‘Well, I haven’t,’ Tia muttered, and he gave a slow smile.
‘In that case, why don’t you get dried and come down to supper?’
Not while he was standing there!
Suddenly she was hideously aware of every inch of her naked body and her eyes meshed with his. Oh, dear God, how had she ever thought she’d be able to keep the physical element out of their relationship?
He’d removed his jacket and undone his top button and she could see a hint of dark, curling chest hair at the top of his shirt. And she could remember exactly how his chest looked. How it felt under her eager fingers. The way his muscles curved, strong and sleek, and the way his body hair trailed downwards…
She swallowed and slid further under the water. She needed a cold shower, not a hot bath.
He handed her a towel and from the gleam in his eyes she was fairly sure that he knew exactly what she was thinking.
Damn the man.
How was she going to get dressed and eat supper without breaking her own rules? She was desperate for him to touch her.
But she’d made the rules and now she had to stick to them. No touching, she’d said, and he’d agreed.
It was going to be a difficult evening.
CHAPTER FIVE
WHEN Tia finally plucked up the courage to slink into the kitchen, she was amazed by what she saw.
Instead of relying on the usual harsh kitchen lights, Luca had found some candles and grouped them in the centre of the scrubbed pine table. The subtle, cosy lighting flickered across the room, revealing a tempting selection of mouth-watering dishes which he’d laid out on the table.
The atmosphere was romantic and intimate and she felt inexplicably shy. She really didn’t know this man at all. It was like being with a stranger. The longer she knew him, the more he surprised her.
‘I thought all you could cook was omelette?’ She used humour to try and disguise just how confused she was feeling, and he returned the smile as he strolled across the room towar
ds her.
‘I haven’t exactly cooked,’ he confessed, glancing at the table with a wry smile. ‘And we both know that my omelette was inedible.’
Another point in his favour. He obviously had no problem admitting when he wasn’t good at something.
‘Well, this looks fantastic.’ There was a delicious-smelling soup, crusty bread and various cold meats and salads. Her smile was teasing. ‘For an unreconstructed Italian male, you’re obviously good in the kitchen.’
‘I am very good in the kitchen, cara mia.’ Suddenly the temperature of the room seemed to shoot up and his eyes gleamed wickedly. ‘And so are you, if my memory is correct.’
‘Luca, for goodness’ sake…’ She blushed deeply but couldn’t look away from his compelling gaze.
‘I was late home from work and I’d ruined your dinner.’ His soft voice caressed her nerve endings. ‘Do you remember that night, Tia?’
Of course she remembered that night.
The minute he’d walked through the door their dinner had been forgotten.
‘Luca…’ His name was almost a plea on her lips and she felt sexual heat curl deep inside her stomach.
He slid a hand behind her head and gently forced her to look at him. ‘It has always been like that between us, has it not?’ His voice was husky with desire and his eyes slid to her mouth.
For endless seconds they stood still, both battling against the physical force which drew them together, then Luca released her suddenly and stalked to the other side of the kitchen.
‘I must have been mad to agree to the no-touching rule.’ His voice was a frustrated growl and he dragged both hands through his black hair, his eyes stormy. ‘Maybe I should check into a hotel until we decide that our relationship can move forward.’
Tia felt her heart lurch uncomfortably in her chest. Would it move forward? She wasn’t sure.
‘We were supposed to spend the evening talking,’ she reminded him, a small smile of satisfaction touching her mouth as she registered his tension.