‘She remembers dancing with various people and thinks someone bought her a drink but she can’t remember who it was.’ Jean shrugged. ‘There were enough people there on the night so someone must have seen who she was with.’
‘I know this is a horrible thing to ask but is there any trace evidence the police could use to identify him—semen or saliva?’ Katie asked with a shudder.
‘I don’t know. She’s had the usual tests done—blood and a hair sample to try and identify the drug she was given, but they’re still waiting for the results to come back from the lab.’ Jean grimaced. ‘However, I did overhear one of the A and E staff saying that they were waiting for the forensic team to arrive so I expect they’ll do the rest.’
Katie nodded, wishing there was something she could do to help her friend. She couldn’t begin to imagine what Abbey must be going through. Nick had to leave just then because he was needed in clinic so she and Jean did the handover. There was just one mum in the delivery suites and she’d opted for a water birth so Katie went to check on her as soon as the formalities were completed. Trish Johnson, one of their part-timers who worked three mornings a week, was with the patient and it was obvious that she was eager for news about Abbey.
Katie wanted to clamp down on any gossip for Abbey’s sake so she told Trish firmly that she had no idea what was happening. It seemed to do the trick and left them free to concentrate on the delivery. It was Suzanne Whalley’s second child and she’d prepared for the birth by working out a birth plan. Katie knew that Suzanne had been disappointed when she’d had her first child at a hospital in Essex because she’d felt the whole process had been too mechanical. She was determined that this baby would be born with as little intervention as possible and had set out guidelines about what she wanted. They would stick to the plan so long as there weren’t any complications.
Katie got the room ready while Trish finished helping Suzanne to undress. The birthing pool had been filled with warm water and was all ready so she dimmed the lights then put the tape Suzanne had selected in the player. Some mums enjoyed listening to music while they gave birth and others preferred total silence. Suzanne’s husband came in with a bag of scented candles so they placed them around the room and then Suzanne arrived.
Katie helped her into the pool. Suzanne was fully dilated and her contractions were coming at regular intervals so she guessed it wouldn’t take long for the baby to arrive. Suzanne didn’t want gas and air or any drugs so it was just a case of monitoring her progress and making sure the baby didn’t become distressed. Most mums who opted for water births had very positive attitudes and Katie had found that this helped enormously. She wasn’t surprised when an hour later Suzanne’s baby made its appearance. It was a little boy, which was what both mother and father had been hoping for, so it was a very special moment for all of them.
Katie took the baby and carried him over to the table so she could check him over. He was alert yet calm as so many babies were when they were born in water. Trish had delivered the afterbirth by the time Katie took the child back and handed him to his father, so that was another thing accomplished without any fuss. Suzanne hadn’t suffered any tearing either, so she could be moved straight to a ward. However, Katie decided to give the parents some time alone together with their child and left them in the delivery suite with instructions to ring the bell if they needed anything.
Nick was just passing the door when she left the room and he stopped when he saw her. ‘How did it go?’
‘Perfect. When I have a child I’m definitely going to opt for a water birth. It’s much less stressful for both the mother and the baby, isn’t it?’
‘It seems to be.’
Katie frowned when she heard the rather terse note in his voice all of a sudden. ‘Is something wrong?’
‘No, of course not.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘I’ll have to run. I only popped back to fetch some notes that had gone missing from one of the files. If I don’t get back to the clinic soon we’ll have a riot on our hands and that would never do, would it?’
‘No, it wouldn’t,’ Katie agreed, chuckling at the thought of all the pregnant mums rioting around the clinic. ‘Maybe we can have a cup of coffee together later on. I’m due for a break at two if that fits in with you.’
Nick shook his head. ‘No can do, I’m afraid. I’m going to be tied up in clinic all day. There’s a couple of mums who need repeat scans so Niall has asked me to be on hand in case of any problems.’
‘Not to worry.’ Katie shrugged, trying to be philosophical about his refusal. After all, the patients had to come first. ‘I’ll catch up with you at some point, I expect.’
‘Of course.’
Nick treated her to a quick smile then hurried away. Katie went back to check on Suzanne and her baby, determined not to read anything into the fact that Nick hadn’t made any definite arrangements to see her again that day. He’d been too busy to worry about it, she told herself, so there was no point getting paranoid.
Her heart suddenly lifted because she couldn’t imagine Nick not wanting to be with her after the last couple of days!
Nick was glad when it was time to go off duty. It had been a stressful day for many reasons but most stressful of all was that comment Katie had made about how she intended to have her children. It seemed to have cut right through to the very heart of his being and he’d found it difficult to deal with the shock waves it had caused.
He went back to his room and sat on the bed while he thought about it, and about everything else that had happened in the past few days. He’d never intended to get involved with Katie but it had happened and he couldn’t pretend that his life hadn’t been turned on its head because of it. He’d sworn that he would devote himself to work in memory of his brother, but now he could no longer picture himself living that lonely existence. Work might have been enough in the past but now he wanted more: Katie and those children she’d spoken about; a home and everything that other people took for granted. But did he deserve any of those things? Was it right for him to seek personal happiness?
He couldn’t put his hand on his heart and answer yes to either of those questions and that was the most scary part of it all. He had to be sure about what he was doing because it wasn’t just his life that would be affected by any decisions he made. Katie’s life would be equally affected and he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he did anything to cause her pain.
He took a deep breath but there was no hiding from the truth. It would be better to end this now rather than run the risk of ruining her life.
Katie managed to slip down to the assessment ward during her evening break. She’d phoned A and E and one of the staff had told her that Abbey had been moved there while they waited for the test results to come back from the lab. Katie popped into the shop in the foyer and bought some magazines then went straight to the ward. Abbey was in a bed in the far corner, looking pale and dazed and so unlike the happy, smiling girl Katie had seen two days earlier that she felt a lump come to her throat.
‘How are you?’ she asked gently, putting the magazines on top of the locker and pulling over a chair.
‘I don’t know how I feel,’ Abbey whispered, her eyes brimming with tears. ‘Why did it happen to me, Katie? I mean, did I do something wrong, something to make it happen?’
‘Of course you didn’t,’ Katie said firmly, taking her hand. ‘No woman makes a thing like this happen to her so don’t you dare blame yourself.’
‘That’s what the police doctor said when he came to collect the forensic evidence.’ Abbey managed a wobbly smile. ‘He was really kind and told me that he’d get all the tests done as quickly as possible.’
‘Did he seem to think he’d found anything useful?’ Katie asked, careful how to phrase the question, but Abbey still shuddered.
‘Not really. Whoever did it used a condom. It’s good in one way because there’s less risk of me having caught an STD or anything worse, but not so good in another way because
the police might not be able to trace who attacked me.’
‘And you can’t remember who you were with before it happened?’ Katie prompted.
‘No. My mum keeps asking me that but it’s all so vague. When I woke up I felt as though I had a massive hangover but I knew it couldn’t be that because I don’t drink very much. I kept coming to and passing out again so it wasn’t until late last night that I realised something had happened to me…’ She stopped and frowned. ‘I remember someone asking me if I wanted a drink but I’m not sure who it was.’
‘Let’s hope someone else remembers who you were with,’ Katie said quickly, not wanting to upset her any more. ‘Somebody is bound to have seen who you were talking to.’
‘The police said they’re going to interview everyone who was at the ball that night.’ Abbey bit her lip. ‘That means everybody’s going to know what’s happened.’
‘I’m sure they’ll be discreet,’ Katie assured her, although there was little hope of keeping a lid on it once the police started asking questions.
She stayed another few minutes then left when Abbey’s parents came back. They were going to take her home with them as soon as she was discharged so Katie told her that she thought it was a good idea not to be on her own. She went back to the maternity unit and helped hand round the bedtime drinks then got everyone settled for the night. A couple of mums were doing last-minute feeds in the nursery so she spent a few minutes chatting to them. Then the bell rang. Katie went to the door and was surprised when she found Larry Price, the anaesthetist, outside. He had his wife with him and she was obviously in a lot of pain so Katie found a wheelchair and whisked her straight to the examination room.
‘Becks only realised she was pregnant on New Year’s Day,’ Larry told her anxiously. ‘She was going to make an appointment with our GP in the morning. We were just getting ready to go out tonight when she started having pains and realised she was bleeding. A and E are dealing with a bad traffic accident so I brought her straight to you. If it’s a miscarriage you’re the best people to deal with it.’
‘I’ll get Julie to take a look at her,’ Katie assured him, hurrying to the phone. Once she was sure the young registrar was being paged, she went back to the bed. She knew Becks quite well because Becks had worked in Theatre before she’d taken a job with a local nursing agency.
‘Can’t stay away from the place, can you?’ she said, helping Becks out of her coat.
‘It’s like home from home,’ Becks replied, bravely trying to smile.
They got her undressed and onto the bed but Julie still hadn’t arrived so Katie went back to the phone and asked the switchboard to page her again because it was urgent. Julie phoned her back almost immediately to say that she was in A and E, dealing with a patient who’d been involved in an RTA and was eight months pregnant. The young registrar didn’t know how long she would be there and Katie knew they couldn’t wait for her to get back. She would have to contact the next doctor rostered on call that night and it just happened to be Nick.
She had him paged then got everything ready so they wouldn’t waste any more time when he got there. She was just moving the ultrasound scanner over to the bed when he arrived and her heart filled with joy. She smiled at him, wondering if he could tell how much she loved him from the expression on her face. It was impossible to hide her feelings but if he did notice he didn’t give any sign, and a chill rippled through her. Maybe it was silly to get upset but she couldn’t help it when she longed to know if he returned her feelings.
‘When did you first start having pains?’ Nick asked after he’d introduced himself to Becks.
‘Late on this afternoon. It was just a niggly little pain at first, a bit like when you get a stitch in your side when you’ve been hurrying,’ she explained. ‘I took no notice at first because I was too busy getting dinner ready.’
‘Like any devoted wife should do,’ Larry interjected, making a brave attempt at levity although Katie could tell how worried he really was.
‘Like any woman who’s got a useless husband, you mean,’ Becks retorted. ‘After we’d eaten, I went upstairs to get changed because we were going to the cinema and that’s when I realised I was bleeding. Larry made me lie down but the pains started getting worse.’
‘I see. Let’s take a look at you and see what we can find.’ Nick gently examined Becks, pausing when she cried out when he touched her lower abdomen. ‘That seems to be very tender so I think I’ll do a scan. I’m going to do a trans-vaginal one, if that’s OK with you?’
Katie didn’t say anything as she got everything ready but she knew what Nick must suspect if he’d opted to do a vaginal scan instead of the more usual abdominal one. She waited while he covered the transducer wand—the part of the machine which emitted high-frequency sound waves—with a condom and lubricant. Larry was holding Becks’s hand and there was complete silence in the room when Nick began.
Katie watched over his shoulder as the images began to appear on the screen and her heart sank when she realised that his suspicions had been correct. Becks had an ectopic pregnancy which meant the baby had started to develop outside her womb. The foetus was growing in her left Fallopian tube and it was a life-threatening condition requiring emergency treatment, so she could understand why Nick looked so grave.
‘I’m sorry to have to tell you that it’s an ectopic pregnancy,’ he explained to the couple. ‘The embryo has embedded itself in your left Fallopian tube and we’re going to have to remove it before the tube ruptures.’
‘Is there anything you can do?’ Becks whispered. ‘For the baby, I mean.’
‘No. I’m very sorry but there’s absolutely nothing I can do to save it.’ Nick squeezed her hand. ‘I know how hard this must be for you but our main concern now is to make sure that you’re all right.’
‘Will you be able to save her Fallopian tube?’ Larry put in, looking very pale.
‘I’m not sure until I see how badly damaged it is,’ Nick replied honestly. ‘An ectopic pregnancy can occur if the tube is already damaged so I’ll need to take that into account, and even if the tube was perfectly healthy to begin with then there’s bound to have been some damage done to it by the embryo developing inside it. I have to warn you that in most cases the tube has to be removed.’
Becks began to cry. ‘That means I’ll never have a baby of my own now.’
‘No, it doesn’t,’ Nick said firmly. ‘Your chances of getting pregnant will be slightly reduced, but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t conceive again because you’ll still have one healthy Fallopian tube.’
‘We’ll just have to try that bit harder, then, won’t we, love?’ Larry told her, obviously trying to remain positive for his wife’s sake.
Katie sighed because it was sad to see such a lovely couple going through this awful experience. When Nick asked her to assist him, she readily agreed even though it meant that she’d be late finishing again. They took Becks to Theatre and managed to persuade Larry that it wouldn’t be a good idea for him to stay. Nick had decided to go for minimally invasive keyhole surgery, and once again Katie was impressed by his skill as he removed the embryo, placenta and damaged tissue then repaired the torn blood vessels. All things considered, the operation went very well although Nick was upset because he’d had to remove the Fallopian tube and said as much when they left Theatre a short time later.
‘It was too badly damaged to be saved,’ Katie assured him. ‘Plus there would have been a higher risk of Becks having another ectopic pregnancy if you’d left the damaged tube in situ.’
‘I know.’ He sighed. ‘It’s just that I could see how worried Larry looked when I told them I’d have to remove the tube. They’re obviously keen to start a family so it must seem like the worst thing that could have happened to them at this point.’
‘Maybe it does at the moment but they’ll soon come round. Most couples who find themselves in this situation go on to have a family. You know that as well as I do.’
> ‘Yep. I’m just being an old worrywart, aren’t I?’
Katie laughed. ‘Well, you said it!’
Nick grinned. ‘Meaning that you agree?’
‘Yes. You worry far too much, Nick. You can’t work miracles. You just have to do the best you can, like we all do.’
‘And what if I feel that my best isn’t enough? What should I do then?’
Katie’s heart leapt because she sensed there was more to that question than a simple need for reassurance. ‘Then you have to ask yourself why you’re always striving to reach an impossible goal.’
‘And what if I already know the answer to that question?’
‘Then you need to make some changes to your life.’ She took a deep breath. ‘This all has to do with your brother, hasn’t it? What really happened, Nick? Please, will you tell me?’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
‘THIS really isn’t the right time,’ Nick began, wishing that he’d had the sense not to say anything in the first place. He still wasn’t sure what he was going to do about him and Katie so it wouldn’t be fair to burden her with his problems at this stage.
‘Maybe not, but you need to talk about it at some point.’ She looked him squarely in the eyes. ‘Your brother’s death obviously affected you deeply so did you have counselling afterwards? Did you talk to your family and friends about it even?’
‘It was all very complicated,’ he said, thinking that must be the biggest understatement of all time. ‘My parents were too upset to talk about what had happened so we all tried to cope the best way we could.’
‘As a doctor you must know that it isn’t always possible to deal with events like that by yourself,’ she said quietly.
‘I thought I had dealt with it until recently,’ Nick admitted truthfully, then looked round when the door to Theatre opened and the scrub nurse appeared. They couldn’t talk with someone else there so he quickly changed the subject, relieved to have been let off the hook again. He knew Katie was right and that he did need to talk about what had gone on but, first, he needed to be sure that he was doing the right thing.
The Midwife's New Year Wish Page 14