She was shocked by the swift stab of jealousy when the woman’s rail-thin next-door neighbour simpered up at him and held out a bony claw tipped with blood-red talons.
To her surprise, Seth was shaking his head, reaching instead for the pink-cheeked matron’s hand and urging her to join him on the floor.
‘Well, that was one in the eye for Mrs Nip-and-tuck,’ crowed Carol, letting Ella know that she hadn’t been the only one watching that little drama unfold.
‘You wouldn’t know,’ Carol explained in a quiet aside for Ella’s and Trish’s benefit, ‘but she used to be a nurse on the staff here until she married one of the senior plastic surgeons. From the look of her, he’s been spending all his time operating on her rather than his patients, and now it looks as if she’s on the hunt for fresher meat.’
‘Well, all I can say is our Seth is a real gent,’ Trish commented supportively. ‘Look at the smile on that woman’s face. I can almost forgive him for not making a beeline for me. You all know how willing I was to pay for the privilege.’
More and more people had finished eating now, and there was a sudden flurry of activity around the corner of the room their little group had annexed. Ella found herself trying to dance with a whirling dervish—a very energetic trainee male nurse who introduced himself as Vijay and didn’t seem to notice that the band was playing a fairly sedate number.
In spite of the fact that the floor was now filled almost beyond capacity, for some reason she still seemed to be able to keep track of Seth’s whereabouts.
Regardless of the high proportion of older members of staff, the band had fairly quickly abandoned the slower melodies in favour of more modern ones. The younger element had responded with enthusiasm, rarely dancing with the same partner twice.
Seth was still changing partners with every change of tune but as the evening wore on it began to look as though he’d completely forgotten his promise.
The bandleader had just announced that they were going to be playing the last waltz to bring the night to a close and Ella was on her way to collect her coat when someone caught hold of her elbow and brought her to a halt.
‘You can’t run off before I can pay my debt,’ Seth demanded as he drew her back through the archway.
The lights had been dimmed so that she only had a vague impression of couples swaying together with their arms around each other. Then Seth drew her towards him, capturing one hand to trap it against his heart while he slid the other around her waist.
Hesitantly, Ella hovered her free hand almost in mid-air, wondering just how ‘correctly’ Seth expected them to dance together. She’d taken classes for years and could follow almost any partner in any dance, but when it came to putting her hand on Seth, she didn’t know what to do.
Then he tightened his hold on her just enough that their bodies fitted together like two halves of a perfect whole and the only logical place to settle it was on his shoulder with her fingers curving along the rich black satin of his collar.
She drew in a steadying breath while she waited for him to take the first step and suddenly recognised the smell of the soap the hospital stocked in the staff showers. Underlying that, though, there was the musky mixture of male skin, and pheromones that belonged exclusively to Seth.
Ella closed her eyes and realised that the two of them were already subconsciously swaying in time to the music, so perfectly in tune with each other that she hadn’t realised it was happening. Was this an indication of how well they would move together when they started to dance?
Before they’d had a chance to take a single step together there was a sudden shriek at the other side of the crowd, followed by a cheer that gradually spread out like ripples on a pond.
Ella could have wept with frustration when the band faltered to a halt. How could this be happening when she’d been waiting all evening…all week…to dance with him? It just wasn’t fair!
Seth had turned so that they were both facing the little rostrum where the band had been playing all evening and they saw someone beckoning the band-leader down to listen.
‘It’s like watching a mime performance,’ Seth murmured when the bandleader invited the unknown man up onto the rostrum, indicating that he was welcome to use the microphone.
Whatever was happening at the front of the room, no one around Ella and Seth had any idea. The ripples of information hadn’t reached that far, but they were surrounded by wild speculation.
‘Perhaps someone’s had a heart attack,’ suggested one.
‘Has someone gone into labour?’ asked another. ‘The wife of one of the charge nurses in A and E looked ready to pop.’
‘I bet there’s been a punch up,’ contended another with unseasonable glee. ‘Perhaps someone’s drunk too much and propositioned the wrong wife.’
‘Inventive lot, aren’t they?’ Seth said with a chuckle while they waited for the real answer. Ella couldn’t find the wit to say anything. She was far too caught up in the wonder of the fact that Seth hadn’t loosened his hold on her even though the music had stopped several minutes ago.
Not that she was complaining. She’d never felt so comfortable or so content as she rested her head against his shoulder and waited for events to unfold.
‘Hey!’ she exclaimed, her attention thoroughly caught when she recognised the young woman now being helped up onto the rostrum to join the little knot of people congregated up there. ‘That’s my sister, Sophia, getting up onto the stage. What on earth’s going on?’
‘Your sister works at the hospital, too?’
‘Yes. She’s a sister in the cardiac department; has been for a couple of years now.’ Ella’s words were almost automatic. All she was concentrating on was trying to work out what was going on at the front of the room.
‘Hello, everybody,’ said a gentleman with very distinguished streaks of grey at his temples. He winced when the microphone gave an unearthly shriek. ‘I’m sorry to spoil the last few minutes of your evening, especially if you’d just got in the mood for a romantic end to the night.’
There was a chorus of catcalls and cheers at that and he had to hold his hand up for silence.
‘The romance has already worked its magic on one couple because the cardiac department is proud to announce a joining of hearts. In spite of all my advice to the contrary, Sophia, here…’ he held up her hand ‘…has just agreed to become engaged to David…’
There was a roar of congratulations as he held up the hand of the man on his other side so Ella probably wasn’t the only one who didn’t hear his full name.
All she could do was watch as the man who had been making the announcement stepped back and left her sister centre stage with the man she’d apparently just agreed to marry.
‘Did you know about this?’ Seth demanded over the chaotic noise, his body curved around hers as he leant forward to speak directly into her ear.
Ella shook her head silently, bereft of words. Her eyes were already burning with the threat of tears because she’d known nothing about such a momentous step in her only relative’s life. Then she saw the way her sister was looking at the man she’d accepted as her husband-to-be. There was such love in their eyes as they gazed at each other that it almost seemed as if the rest of the world had ceased to exist.
‘I don’t know anything about him. Not even his name,’ she quavered, not even certain that Seth could hear her. ‘Oh, I had a feeling there was someone when I spoke to her the last time, but…well, I haven’t seen enough of her since she left home to start her training at eighteen to feel comfortable asking. With five years between us we’ve never had much in common, even though we both went into medical careers.’
She blinked hard to force the emotional tears back then sniffed, realising too late that if they did start to fall, she’d left her handkerchief in her coat pocket. ‘I was hoping that, now we’re working at the same hospital, we could at least become friends even if it was too late to ever be confidantes.’
It took Seth’s su
rreptitious donation of a clean white square of fine cotton for her to realise that she’d lost the battle with at least one tear.
‘Sorry to turn into a watering can,’ she apologised, and blew her nose ferociously. ‘I’m happy for her. Really, I am. It’s just…’ She shrugged, unable to conjure up the words for how she was feeling.
‘It must be a bit of a shock to find out something so important in her life at the same time as hundreds of other people,’ he suggested compassionately as he led her out of the hall and into the comparative quiet of the corridor. ‘But have you thought that she might not have had any option? If the proposal was on the spur of the moment, it could have accidentally been overheard. The news would have spread like wildfire, knowing what that lot are like for gossip. Well, you heard all that speculation going on all around us while we waited for the announcement.’
His suggestion probably made sense but Ella found herself concentrating more on the soothing tone he was using than the words. She certainly hadn’t noticed that he’d been leading her towards the concierge so that they could retrieve their coats.
The evening had been full of so many highs and lows that she was more than grateful to let Seth take charge, agreeing meekly when he said he would drop her at her flat.
‘This Cinderella didn’t get to dance with the handsome prince, but at least she got to ride home in the carriage without it turning into a pumpkin,’ she murmured when he drew up outside at the end of a totally silent ride.
‘I’m glad I managed to do something right but I’ll have to give you an IOU for the dance.’
‘No. That’s all right. I didn’t mean…’ she began, stumbling around to find the right words. Not for anything would she have Seth think that she wasn’t grateful for the way he’d rescued her when she could have ended up as a soggy puddle of overwrought emotions.
‘I insist,’ he said quietly, his velvety voice sounding husky in the midnight dark confines of the car.
Subconsciously she noted that vandals must have taken pot-shots at the streetlight again, only days after it had been fixed, but the lack of illumination didn’t stop her hearing the sincerity in his voice.
‘I always pay my debts,’ he insisted, clearly not wanting to let the subject go. ‘I promised you a dance and one of these fine days you shall have it. Now, let me escort you to your door before you freeze in that stunning little slip of nothing. Can’t have one of our most gifted midwives going down with flu just before Christmas.’
Ella was nearly an hour early and still yawning as she checked her pigeonhole for post in the staff lounge the next morning.
There was a request from the salaries department to confirm one of the digits of her National Insurance number—as soon as possible, please, if she wanted to get her salary paid in before Christmas—and the usual handful of marginally important memos that she glanced through just to make certain that she hadn’t missed anything interesting.
She hadn’t slept much last night, her mind full of conflicting memories of those few brief moments in Seth’s arms before Sophia’s bombshell had shattered around her. It was only when she’d concentrated on the care and consideration with which he’d escorted her home that she’d finally been able to doze off, but it hadn’t lasted long.
Distracted and overtired, she’d nearly discarded a small plain envelope bearing nothing more than her name before she realised that she wasn’t concentrating properly.
‘What’s this?’ she muttered as she fought her way into it impatiently, then stood slack-jawed as she read the contents.
‘So that’s why I didn’t know anything about it,’ she whispered as tears prickled her eyes again. The words swam over the paper but she hardly needed to see them to know what they said.
‘Little Sister Gabby,’ it began, bringing back memories of teasing exchanges over the comparative lengths of their names. ‘I’ve got an announcement to make and if I wait until I can see you face to face it will be too late,’ she’d continued in handwriting atrocious enough to qualify her as a doctor.
‘I’m engaged!
We didn’t want to spoil the surprise as we’ve kept it a secret from everyone else at the hospital, but I couldn’t let you find out in front of all those people as if you didn’t mean any more to me than they did…’ Sophia had written in her usual exuberant way.
‘We’re getting married in March and you’ve just got to be my bridesmaid. Oh, Gabby, I’m just so happy. See you tonight after the announcement and I’ll tell you all about it…all about him. Love, Big Sister Soph.’
‘Problem?’ murmured an achingly familiar voice right behind her and suddenly the moment became perfect.
‘No. Yes. Oh, not really,’ she sniffed and brushed a couple of stray tears away with her fingertips. ‘Here. Read this. It proves that you were right…more or less.’
She passed Seth the letter and watched while he skimmed the contents with practised speed.
‘If only you’d thought to check your pigeonhole yesterday before you went home…’ he said ruefully as he handed it back to her.
‘Oh, Lord! I’ll have to phone her to let her know why I didn’t speak to her after the ball,’ Ella exclaimed. She glanced around, trying to remember where to find the closest pay phone. ‘What must she have thought when I just disappeared?’
‘Sorry, but I’m afraid it’ll have to wait a bit longer,’ he said as he grabbed the edge of her sleeve to stop her moving away. ‘That’s why I came looking for you. Carol needs some help. She’s one midwife down through sickness this morning and one delayed in traffic and she’s got two mums coming to the boil. She was hoping you’d be early and sent me to see if you’d arrived yet.’
Instantly, duty took precedence, the letter unceremoniously thrust into the pocket of her drawstring cotton trousers as she gathered her thoughts.
‘Which room is she in and where does she want me?’ she said briskly, already in motion towards the door as she began to pepper him with questions. ‘Do you know if there are any complications expected with either delivery? Are they both full term?’
‘I don’t know much more than I’ve told you,’ he said with both hands held up defensively. ‘I’m just the messenger. Carol will have to give you the low-down. Don’t forget,’ he called after her as she set off towards the delivery suites, ‘you can call me if you need an extra pair of hands. I’m not due in surgery till nine and I don’t mind an excuse to get away from paperwork.’
Ella threw a brief word of thanks over her shoulder as she disappeared around the first corner.
‘Ella! Thank goodness you’re here!’ Carol exclaimed, beckoning frantically. ‘I’m not nearly schizophrenic enough to deal with two patients at once, not on opposite sides of the corridor.’
‘What have you got and which one do you want me to take?’ Ella didn’t waste time. Seeing Carol in such a state was so unusual that she knew things were desperate.
‘I’ve got one of “my” first-time mums in here in transition with a husband who looks as if he’s about to keel over any second.’
She broke off for a moment when her patient shouted something extremely uncomplimentary about her less-than-helpful spouse and informed him in no uncertain terms that if he wanted any more children he could give birth to them himself.
‘That’s transition,’ Ella said and they grinned at each other before Carol continued.
‘In there…’ she pointed to the delivery suite on the opposite side of the corridor ‘…is a young woman called Virginia Drew who walked in off the street about twenty minutes ago in active labour. We have no medical records but she says she’s full term. She’s complaining of headache and her blood pressure is rather lower than I’d like. On the good side, the baby’s head seems to be perfectly positioned for a straightforward delivery and Mum seems to be otherwise fit and healthy.’
‘OK, Carol.’ Ella gave a mock salute. ‘Best of luck in there.’
‘It sounds like I’m going to need it if she doesn’t get to s
econd stage fairly quickly. Still, her choice of vocabulary is probably concentrating the father’s mind wonderfully.’
Ella was still smiling when she entered the delivery suite on the opposite side of the corridor but one look at her patient’s grey sweaty face had her hurrying to her bedside.
‘Virginia, how are you feeling?’ she asked, her eyes already flying over the displays on the continuous monitor. Tachycardia and her blood pressure was much too low for a woman in normal labour.
‘I feel…dreadful,’ she muttered, each word seeming to take a monumental effort. ‘Weak. Dizzy. Thirsty. My head…my back…my belly…’ Her hand hovered protectively over the taut mound covered only by the brightly patterned gown and the wide band that held the foetal monitor in position.
Ella placed her hand over the baby and her heart gave a sickening jolt when she saw the monitor warning that it was becoming distressed.
‘Are you having a contraction?’ she demanded, only realising how sharp her voice was when Virginia looked startled.
‘No.’ She shook her head weakly, and when she winced Ella realised it must have jarred her aching head. ‘But…it will come. Another one…always comes.’
Except that the belly under Ella’s hand was absolutely rigid, and it shouldn’t have been unless Virginia’s uterus was contracting.
A swift apology was all Ella had time for before she flipped the hem of the gown up.
‘No blood,’ she breathed, half in relief and half in terror, while her own heart rate doubled. All the factors for a differential diagnosis were whirling round in her brain but she kept coming up with disaster.
She was praying as she reached for the phone to page Seth. Oh, please, God, don’t let it be an abrupted placenta.
She’d never even seen one before but she knew that there wasn’t a second to waste. If the placenta had torn away from the wall of the uterus her patient could be bleeding to death inside without a drop of blood to show it. And without that vital blood supply, the baby would die within minutes.
Mistletoe Mother (Medical Romance) Page 6