‘I can’t wait to meet her.’
‘Neither can I,’ Bridgette admitted. It was, so far, turning out to be a gorgeous labour—especially as it was one that could have been labelled ‘difficult’ because the testing and scans had revealed that Maria and Tony’s baby had Trisomy 21. The diagnosis, Maria had told Bridgette, had caused intense upset between both families—Spanish passion combined with pointless accusations and blame had caused a lot of tension and heartache indeed. Maria and Tony, however, once they had got over the initial shock, had researched as much as they could, and had even met with a local support group who ran a regular playgroup.
‘It took away a lot of the fear,’ Maria had explained, when Bridgette admitted her. ‘Seeing other Down’s syndrome
babies and toddlers and their parents coping so well. We’re so looking forward to having our baby. I just wish our families would stop with the grief.’
So upset was Maria with the response of her family that she hadn’t even wanted them to know that she had gone into labour, but with three other small children to care for she’d had no choice but to tell them. And now two anxious families were sitting in the maternity waiting room. Still, Maria was doing beautifully and was helped so much by her husband’s unwavering support. He rubbed her back where she indicated, stopped talking when she simply raised a hand. They had their own private language and were working to deliver their daughter as a team.
‘How are things?’ Rita popped her head around the door. ‘The family just asked for an update.’
‘It’s all going well,’ Bridgette said.
‘Tell them it will be born when it’s good and ready,’ Maria snapped, and then breathed through another contraction. She was suddenly savage. ‘You’d think they were preparing for a funeral more than a birth!’ She let out an expletive or three in Spanish and Tony grimaced, then she told him exactly what she thought of Abuela.
‘Grandmother,’ Tony translated with a smile when Bridgette winked at him. ‘My mother.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘She does a lot for us, but she can be a bit too much at times, though she means well.’ He rubbed his wife’s back as Maria said a little more of what she thought about her mother-in-law. ‘Maria always does this when…’ And Bridgette smiled, knew as Tony did, what was coming. Maria leant against the bed, her face changing to a familiar grimace.
‘I want to push.’
‘That’s good,’ Bridgette cheered.
‘Come on, Tony,’ she said and they both helped Maria up onto the bed. ‘I’m just going to let Dr Hudson know—’
‘No need.’ Dr Hudson came in.
‘How’s she doing?’ Rita popped her head around the door again and Bridgette gritted her teeth, while trying not to let Maria see.
‘Can we get the paediatrician down?’ The obstetrician’s tone was a little brusque and Bridgette saw the flare of panic in Maria’s eyes.
‘It’s fine, Maria,’ Bridgette reassured her as Rita went to make the call. ‘The fact Dr Hudson wants the paediatrician to come down means that you’re getting close now and it won’t be long till your baby’s born.’
‘The paediatrician is on his way,’ Rita called over the intercom. ‘I’ll come in and give you a hand in a moment.’
Bridgette watched as Maria’s eyes closed; as she dipped into her own private world and just tried to block the gathering crowd out. She had wanted the birth to be as low-key and as relaxed as possible, and had three other births with which to compare, but because of the possible health complications, more staff would be present with this one. Though potentially necessary, it just compounded things for Maria.
‘Have you got everything ready?’ Rita bustled into the room. ‘Dominic is just a couple of minutes away.’
Bridgette felt incredibly confident with Dominic. He was an amazing doctor and very astute. However, for Maria, perhaps it was not the best combination of staff. Dr Hudson believed in planning for every eventuality—every eventuality—and Rita was one of those high-energy people who somehow didn’t soothe. Now Dominic, a rather aloof paediatrician, was being added to the mix, except… ‘Dominic Mansfield?’ Tony looked over at Bridgette. ‘Is that the
paediatrician who’s coming?’ When Bridgette nodded, Tony hugged his wife. ‘That’s good news, Maria.’
‘Bridgette?’ Rita was checking and double-checking everything Bridgette had already done. ‘Have you got the—?’
‘Shut up!’ roared Maria, just as Dominic came into the room.
For once Bridgette was grateful for his silence. He gave Tony a nod as Maria
quietly laboured. Dominic took off his jacket and headed to the sink to wash his hands and then tied on a plastic apron.
‘Big breath, Maria,’ Bridgette said gently. ‘Come on, another one…’ The birth was imminent. ‘And then push until Dr Hudson tells you to stop.’ Maria was very good at this. There was grim concentration on her face as she bore down and Bridgette held her leg, relaying Dr Hudson’s gruff instructions but in more encouraging tones. ‘Don’t push now. Just breathe. The head’s out.’
The baby didn’t even require another push. She slithered out into Dr Hudson’s hands, where Rita was waiting to cut the cord and whisk the baby off for examination.
‘Up onto Mum’s stomach,’ Dominic said. ‘Tony can cut the cord.’ Bridgette silently cheered as his calm, authoritative voice slowed the haste.
‘Do you want the baby moved over for examination?’ Rita checked when, again, she didn’t need to. It had been a very beautiful birth, and Bridgette was especially thrilled that Dominic seemed in no rush to whisk the baby off and examine her—instead, he just quietly observed.
The little girl was small and Bridgette placed a towel over her, rubbing her to stimulate her, but she felt very calm with Dominic’s stoic presence so close.
As the baby took her first breaths, Dominic called Tony over and the cord was cut—and Bridgette felt a blink of tears because the birth Maria had wanted so badly for her baby was happening.
‘I can examine her here,’ Dominic said, when Rita checked again if he wanted the baby moved over. And he did. He checked the little baby’s muscle tone and her palate and listened to her heart for a long time. He told Maria he would perform a more comprehensive examination in a little while. ‘But for now I’ll let you enjoy her.’
There really was a lot to enjoy. She peered up at her mum, her almond-shaped eyes huge and gorgeous; she was very alert, and even though she let out a few little cries, she was easily comforted by Maria.
‘Do you want me to let your family know?’ Rita asked, and Bridgette’s jaw tightened. She could understand the conversation that had been held at Jasmine’s leaving do now. Rita really did try and take over.
‘They’ll want to come in,’ Maria said. ‘I just don’t want…’ She held her baby closely. ‘I want it to be a celebration, the same as it was with my others.’
‘It will be,’ Dominic said. ‘They just haven’t met her yet.’
‘She wants to feed,’ Maria said, as her daughter frantically searched for her breast.
‘Let her.’
‘You said they’d scan her first,’ Maria said, because, though detailed prenatal scans had not shown anything, the nature of the syndrome meant the little girl was at risk of a heart defect and would need to be checked by a paediatric cardiologist soon after birth, but Dominic was clearly happy with his findings.
‘She’s looking great,’ he said, quietly observing, and the baby did latch on, but Bridgette helped with the positioning.
It was one of those births that confirmed her vocation—there was no greater gift than watching a new life come into the world, and today’s so-called difficult birth had been made especially wonderful by the calm presence of Dominic. Again he had surprised her. He wasn’t particularly effusive or gushing, he was so much more than that, and he was eve
rything this little family needed today.
Dominic stayed and wrote up his notes while the little girl fed and Bridgette watched for any signs that the baby was having trouble sucking and swallowing but she was doing very well. ‘Dominic said that breast feeding might be more difficult than with the others…’ Maria looked down at her daughter, who was tiring, so Bridgette suggested she take her off now.
‘She’s doing an awful lot right,’ Bridgette said, checking the babe and then filling in her own notes. ‘She’s cried, pooed, wee’d and fed.’
Dominic came over. ‘You remember I said that I’d take her up to NICU for a little while after she was born,’ he said. ‘I want that scan done. Everything looks good,’ he reassured the parents, ‘but I just want her thoroughly checked. Hopefully she’ll be back down with you soon.’
Maria nodded and then took a deep breath. ‘Can you bring in my family first?’ Her eyes went to her husband’s. ‘If they start, I want you to…’
‘We’ll be here,’ Bridgette said. ‘You won’t have to say a thing. I’m very good at bringing up excuses as to why people have to leave. If you start getting upset, or you’ve just had enough, you just have to let me know.’ They worked out a little code, and she gave Tony a smile as he walked out. Dominic, she noted, instead of heading out to the desk, was sitting on a couch in the corner of the room, finishing his notes—a quiet, unobtrusive presence that was welcome.
Maria and Tony set the tone, but Bridgette’s heart did go out to the family. They were trying to be brave, to not be upset, but there was so much tension, so many questions as they all peered at the newest member of the clan. Then Maria’s three-year-old, Roman, climbed up on the bed and gazed at his sister, kissing her on the forehead, and the old abuela laughed.
Dominic came over and checked the baby briefly again, more for the family’s benefit, or rather Maria’s, Bridgette rightly guessed, because the questions they had been asking Maria were aimed at him now.
‘She’s doing very, very well,’ he said, and answered more of their questions and told them that, yes, the prenatal diagnosis was correct. Yes, shortly there would be further testing, but for now she was doing perfectly. And then Bridgette blinked as he chatted with the abuela in what appeared to be fluid Spanish for a moment. ‘Sí, ella es perfecta…’
‘We’re going to move her up now.’ Kelly from NICU had come down just as all the cameras came out.
‘Photo with el medico,’ the abuela said.
‘We really ought to get moving.’ Dominic was reluctant, but then obliged, and it struck Bridgette that though of course he held
babies in the course of examining them, he wasn’t the type to steal a cuddle.
He held the new infant and gave a smile for the camera and then he looked down at her.
‘She’s gorgeous, isn’t she?’ Maria said.
‘Oh, I don’t do the cute-baby thing,’ Dominic answered, ‘but, yes, I think I have to agree in this case. You have a very cute baby. Has she got a name?’
‘Esperanza,’ Maria said.
‘Hope!’ Dominic smiled.
He popped her back in her cot and at the last minute Tony asked if he might be able to stay with the baby during her tests. When Dominic agreed, the family all followed Dominic, Kelly and the porters in a little procession down the hall.
‘He’s lovely, isn’t he?’ Maria said. ‘Dominic, I mean. He sort of tells you like it is.’
‘He’s very good,’ Bridgette said, and gave Maria a wink. ‘Speaks Spanish too.’
‘Abuela was very impressed.’ Maria grinned. ‘Dominic’s mother is Spanish apparently.’ She had to find out about him from a patient! ‘He’s been great. We went to him when we got the amnio back and he told us what to expect. Well, I guess he’d know as his brother has Down’s.’ She must have seen Bridgette’s eyes widen. ‘Sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have said—it was just that Tony was crying and so was I and it seemed like a disaster when we first found out, but Dominic was terribly patient. He told us what we were feeling was completely normal. We saw him again a couple of weeks ago and we were embarrassed about the scene we’d made, but he said not to give it another thought. It was all very normal, that his mother had been the same.’
They knew nothing about each other, Bridgette realised.
Which had been the point, she remembered.
She really was lousy at one-night stands.
Still, she didn’t have time to dwell on it. L and D was busy and she was soon looking after another birth, a first-time mum called Jessica, who was very nervous, as well as keeping an eye on Maria.
Esperanza was gone for about an hour, and her heart test was clear, which was brilliant news, and by the time she was back, Bridgette had just transferred Maria to the ward. Having checked on her next patient, Bridgette was more than ready for lunch.
‘What’s all this?’ Bridgette tried not to care that Dominic was sitting in the staffroom. After all, if he didn’t care, why should she? Anyway, Rita was there too and there were other distractions this lunchtime. Instead of plain biscuits the table was heaving with fruit platters, small filled rolls and a spread of cheese.
‘Leftovers from the obstetricians’ meeting.’ Rita gave a wry smile. ‘I rescued some for the workers. Enjoy.’
Bridgette selected a roll and a few slivers of fruit. She glanced at the cheese—even though that would usually be her first option, even if it seemed stupid, with Dominic there she chose to give it a miss.
‘How’s Harry?’ Rita asked.
‘Better,’ Bridgette answered. ‘He was just having a bit of a tantrum. He’s not in the best of moods today. I’m sorry I had to dash off.’
As annoying and inflexible as she could be, Rita could, Bridgette conceded, also be very nice. ‘No problem. It’s to be expected in the first weeks at daycare. He’ll soon get used to it. The real question is, how is his aunt doing?’
‘Trying to get used to it too,’ Bridgette admitted. ‘But we’re getting there.’
Unfortunately Rita’s break was soon over and word couldn’t yet have got around about the spread on in the staffroom because only Dominic and Bridgette remained. Well, she wasn’t going to give up a single minute of the precious break by going back early. Her feet were killing her and she was hungry too, and Jessica, her new patient, was progressing steadily. If Dominic wasn’t feeling awkward then why on earth should she be? And if she wanted cheese, why not?
Bridgette stood and refilled her plate with some Cheddar and Brie and a few crackers and went to sit back down, selecting a magazine to read as she did so.
‘I thought you liked blue cheese.’
‘Maybe.’ Bridgette refused to look up, just carried on reading the magazine. She was not going to jump to make conversation just because he suddenly deigned to do so.
‘How’s Maria?’
‘Marvellous.’ She refused to be chatty, just because he suddenly was.
‘The baby I saw you with yesterday…’ Still she did not fill in the spaces. ‘He’s your nephew?’ When still he was met with silence, Dominic pushed a little further. ‘Why didn’t you just say so?’
‘I don’t really see that it’s relevant,’ Bridgette answered, still reading her magazine. ‘Had our one-night stand been two years ago and you’d seen me walking out of daycare carrying a mini-Dominic, then, yes, perhaps I’d have had some explaining to do. But I don’t.’ She smirked with mild pleasure at her choice of words and looked up. She was rather surprised to see that he was smiling—not the Dr Mansfield smile that she had seen occasionally since her return to work but the Dominic smile she had once been privy to.
‘I’m sorry about yesterday. I just jumped to conclusions. I saw you with—’ he paused for a brief second ‘—Harry, and I thought that was the reason…’ He really felt awkward, Bridgette realised. Despite insisting how easy
this was, Dominic seemed to be struggling.
‘The reason?’ She frowned, because he’d done this to her too, made her blush as she’d revealed that she thought about that night—but Dominic didn’t blush in the same way Bridgette had.
‘The reason that you went home that morning.’
‘Oh, I needed a reason, did I?’ She went back to her magazine.
What was it with this woman? She had made it very clear that morning that she didn’t want more than their one night. Normally it would have come as a relief to Dominic, an unusual relief because he was not the one working out how to end things.
‘Excuse me.’ Her phone buzzed in her pocket and Bridgette pulled it out, taking a deep breath before answering.
‘Hi, Mum.’
Why did he have to be here when she took this call? Hopefully he’d choose now to leave, but instead he just sat there.
‘I might need a hand a little bit later,’ she said to her mother. She’d left a message for her parents earlier in the day, when she’d realised that Harry might not last out the day in crèche and also she wanted to stay longer for Jessica. ‘There’s a chance that I won’t be able to get away for work on time and it would really help if you could pick up Harry at four for me.’ She closed her eyes as her mother gave the inevitable reply. ‘Yes, I know the crèche doesn’t close till six, but he’s a bit grizzly today and I don’t want to push things—it’s been a long day for him.’
Bridgette looked down and realised she was clicking her pen on and off as her mother reeled out her excuses. She could hear the irritation creeping into her own voice as she responded. ‘I know Dad’s got the dentist but can’t he go on his own?’ She listened to the train of excuses, to how they would love to help, but how nervous Dad got at the dentist, and if he did need anything done when they got there… ‘You mean he’s just having a check-up?’ Now Bridgette couldn’t keep the exasperation from her voice. She really wanted to be there for Jessica and didn’t want to be nervously keeping one eye on the clock in case the crèche rang. With a pang that she didn’t want to examine, her heart ached for the long day Harry was having. She wanted some back-up, and despite her parents’ constant reassurances that they would help, she never seemed to ask at the right time.
Hers For One Night Only? Page 6