Emergency in Maternity

by Fiona McArthur

  Iris…Cate fought back the sudden dread and managed a professional nod to Amber. But her mind whirled. Iris, not Iris! There was only one reason a patient would be admitted to the hospital’s soothing palliative care suite with its very comfortable bed, and Cate didn’t want to think about it.

  Iris was the sort of woman every girl would have loved having as a mother-in-law. She was certainly everything Cate wanted to be—independent, with a home and farm and a loving son to care for. Mr Dwyer had died some two decades earlier and, far from withering, Iris just seemed even more determined and in control.

  And now that would change. Cate acknowledged the sympathetic look from Amber. Iris and Brett had been a big part of her life before the break up of their engagement.

  ‘Brett’s mother has terminal cancer?’ Cate shook her head in disbelief. ‘Why didn’t I know she was sick? Why wouldn’t she tell me? Maybe I could have done something…’

  Amber understood. ‘Don’t feel bad she didn’t tell you. Iris has always been a self-sufficient woman. She must have preferred it that way. I don’t think she told anyone before she came in here.’ Amber shot a look at Cate to watch for her reaction to the next news. ‘Brett will be here soon.’

  Cate sniffed. ‘Why isn’t he here now? He’d better get here in time…’ Cate was still reeling from the more devastating news.

  Amber sighed. ‘You take too much on yourself, Cate. Nobody knew about Iris’s illness. She went to Theatre this morning for an abdominal mass and it was an open-and-shut case. Nothing they could do. She’s been running the farm up until her admission and it looks like she’s organising the way she dies just as efficiently.’

  A cold lump settled in Cate’s stomach and the back of her throat scratched as she fought to control the surge of emotion that welled. Brett had better make it. While her ex-fiancé was quite capable of behaving less than responsibly, she’d always enjoyed the company of his forthright and capable mother.

  Cate sometimes wondered if her fondness for Iris had been half of her attraction when Brett had come back on the scene.

  Amber touched her arm. ‘How do you feel about seeing Brett again?’

  Cate gave a tiny shrug—that was unimportant by comparison. ‘Like a fool for ever agreeing to marry him. But apart from that, I feel sorry that he’s going to lose his mother.’ Cate blinked away the sting in her eyes.

  ‘There’s a hard time ahead for him,’ Amber said with a catch in her voice, and Cate remembered that her friend had always had a soft spot for Brett. She could have him.

  ‘Poor Iris.’ Cate blinked the sting out of her eyes and met Amber’s sympathetic gaze. ‘You need to pick Cindy up from preschool. I’ll find the rest out when I go up and see her later on the ward.’

  Amber nodded and glanced at her clipboard. ‘Iris is our most critical. The other patients in Medical are slowly improving, which means they’re pretty much the same as they were when you went off yesterday. They have two spare beds.

  ‘Theatres are running to time, and Theatre Sister asked, as you were doing a quick shift, if you could take Theatre call tonight as it’s her husband’s birthday.’

  Cate shrugged at the chance of having her eight-hour break between shifts broken by an unexpected theatre case, as it had the last time she’d done the quick shift. ‘No problem. Have you marked it down yet?’

  ‘No. But I didn’t look for anyone else. Marshmallow centre—that’s you—but at least a lot of people owe you favours!’ Amber grinned and wrote down Cate’s name for the call.

  ‘Surgical?’ Cate took the theatre list Amber handed across and scanned the list of operations that had been that morning.

  ‘No spare beds so any emergency admissions or accidents will cause a reshuffle of beds or early discharge.

  ‘Children’s Ward has three in with gastroenteritis so don’t play with them if you want to spend time helping in Maternity,’ she teased.

  ‘And how is Maternity?’ Cate settled in the chair.

  Amber flicked her reading glasses back up her nose. ‘Just how you like it. They have babies coming out of their ears and two more in early labour.’

  Cate nodded. ‘I love it when it’s like that.’

  Amber rolled her eyes. ‘Intensive Care has three in, all day-two myocardial infarcts, who are progressing well. And last, but not least, Emergency is surprisingly quiet for the moment, but we all know how that can change in the blink of an eye.’ Amber put her reading glasses in her case and handed over the clipboard and the large bunch of keys. ‘Have fun with Noah Masters. I’ll look forward to the next instalment of Cate versus Goliath.’

  Amber stretched up and hugged Cate. ‘I’m sorry about Iris.’

  Cate returned the pressure. ‘She’s a wonderful woman and deserves more—but thanks.’ She pushed Amber towards the door.

  Cate shivered in sympathy as she watched her friend cross the car park from the office window. The rain was pelting down and Amber’s umbrella turned inside out from the wind as she struggled to get the keys into her car lock.

  Cate envied Amber her beautiful daughter but not Amber’s marriage to the domineering man she’d divorced.

  Cate dreamed of a home and family more than anything, and she’d thought she’d found the answer with Brett. But her great love affair hadn’t worked out either. Cate didn’t waste any sympathy on herself—she should have known better. Brett had ruled by emotional blackmail and she’d been lucky they hadn’t married. She thought of Brett’s mother and sighed. Poor Iris.

  She painfully rolled her shoulder. She’d pulled a muscle yesterday trying to straighten the top paddock gate. Served her right for being too stubborn to call her mother for help.

  And now it looked like Noah Masters had moved into Mr Beamish’s office indefinitely. Life was suddenly too much.

  She didn’t feel like being cooped up in the office. She needed to be busy and if they were short-staffed, there would be plenty of work to do.

  By late afternoon, Cate had secured relief for extra-busy wards from the less frantic ones, helped with the birth of a baby in Maternity, arranged casual staff who lived in town to replace those flooded in for the next shift, and updated the computer with the latest staffing statistics. She’d briefly spoken to every patient and a host of their relatives, and everything was under control. This was what she loved—having her finger on the pulse of the hospital.

  By five o’clock she’d made several visits to Mrs Dwyer in her darkened room, and she decided to pop in for a moment before tea. When Cate entered the room the old lady lay so still and quiet that for a moment Cate thought Brett had left it too late. Then she noticed the gentle rise and fall of the sheet covering the frail body and she bit her lip. Iris had only been deeply asleep. The old lady stirred and opened her eyes.

  Brett’s mother looked frail and it was as if the light had been turned out in her usually sparkling blue eyes. Cate could see that time was short and she felt useless as she stared down at the woman she’d grown to love. ‘Can I get you anything, Iris?’

  Iris smiled. ‘No, darling.’ The skin on the older woman’s hand was callused from hard work and yellow-tinged with jaundice. But her grip was still strong. ‘I’m quite comfortable. Even the dawn chorus of coughing and urinals is different to the birds at home but quite amusing.’

  Cate couldn’t help smiling, which was what Iris wanted. ‘Would you like some music to drown out the ward clatter? I could bring my CD player in.’

  Iris shook her head. ‘You do too much as it is and I don’t need to add to your load. There’ll be plenty of time for music in heaven.’ Cate winced and Iris frowned. ‘Stop it. I’ve had a good life and at the moment I’m enjoying the sound of humanity. It’s like a radio show and guess-the-secret-sound as I try to recognise a noise. Don’t worry about me.’

  Iris closed her eyes but she was still smiling and Cate wondered if she’d fallen asleep again. Cate could see from whom Brett had inherited his eyebrows and nose. A shame he hadn’t inherited
his mother’s determined chin. Almost as if she’d caught Cate’s thoughts, Iris opened her eyes.

  ‘I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you and Brett, for his sake.’ Her eyes twinkled briefly. ‘As much as I love him, I know he probably would have driven you mad. I’ve come to think he needs someone to lean on him to bring out his best. But I would have known he was OK with you.’ The frail hand tightened in Cate’s. ‘Look after yourself, Cate. You need to find a strong man to depend on. Sharing the load brings its own strength so if the chance comes, don’t fight it too much.’

  Cate dropped a kiss on the wrinkled cheek. ‘How like you to try and tie up my loose ends as well. Think about yourself for a change. I’d better get on with my work. You rest and mind you tell Sister if the pain gets worse.’ Iris shut her eyes and she was asleep before Cate turned away.

  Cate tried to regain her composure. Sometimes life was very unfair. She couldn’t believe Brett hadn’t arrived yet. She’d kill him if he didn’t get here in time. She pushed herself off the wall she’d leant her head on and hurried out of the room with her emotions a jumble, and pushed her sore shoulder straight into a solid wall of muscle. Two strong hands steadied her until she regained her physical balance and her traitorous body relaxed for a moment against the man. Her emotional equilibrium was harder to recapture.

  ‘Sister Forrest. We meet again.’ Noah’s hands loosened as she stepped away a pace but he could still feel the aftershock of her surprisingly luscious body against him.

  Noah redirected his gaze from the vulnerable line of Cate’s neck to her face as she straightened herself to look at him.

  ‘I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking.’ The slight catch in her voice sounded strange, coming from the tough cookie of yesterday. In fact, she looked like she was in some pain.

  ‘Did I hurt you?’ Noah tilted his head and then reached out to touch her shoulder. She winced and his brows drew together.

  She brushed his hand away. ‘It’s an old bruise and I’ve just given it a reminder. I’m fine. Was there something I can do for you?’

  She didn’t look as together today, but she certainly wasn’t any friendlier. It had been amazing how many little things he’d remembered about her. Like the way her blue eyes narrowed and then seemed to glow like flashing blue sirens when she was annoyed with him. And how the expressions on her face seemed to shift and change like the sea.

  Enough. Noah compressed his lips. He’d spent too much time thinking about her last night and he wasn’t going to get bogged down today. But she was a challenge. He refocused on her question.

  ‘I’ve come up to see how the medical resident went with discharging non-critical patients. I assumed there would have been more clients able to go than we’ve managed to discharge.’

  He watched her close her eyes for a minute to marshal her thoughts. When she opened them he was staring quite openly at her and she glared at him. He’d bet she couldn’t help herself. She’d be a dreadful poker player, he thought as he watched more emotions flash across her face when she spoke. ‘Those that are still here would be at risk if they were discharged. Until the rain stops we can’t guarantee that the community nurses will be able to take them on or that relatives will be able to get to them if they’re needed.’

  There was that fire and passion for the patients again. He had to harden his heart. ‘So what you’re saying is that if it wasn’t raining you’d be happy to send them home?’ She would fight him all the way, but that wasn’t a problem. He felt more alive than he had for years—perhaps it was the country air he hadn’t looked forward to.

  She did look determined, though. ‘What I’m saying, Dr Masters, is that an early discharge for these clients would most probably result in readmissions—which cost more money by the way—so nothing would be gained by putting them at risk.’ She folded her arms across her chest.

  ‘What about the risk here if you have an influx of sick patients and minimum staff to care for everybody? I’ll have a list of other possibles anyway, please, Sister Forrest.’

  He watched her shrug and realised she probably thought he hadn’t heard a word she’d said.

  Cate tilted her chin. ‘Then it’s on your head.’

  ‘That’s what my head is here for.’ His attempt at humour failed to draw a smile and she stared stonily back at him. He shrugged. He had other things to worry about. ‘I assume you’re aware that I’ve taken over from Mr Beamish in the interim as this hospital’s CEO?’

  ‘The news had made it to my desk, yes.’ She glanced at her watch.

  Noah could feel his temper rise. So he was holding her up, was he? ‘I hope I can rely on your support during this unsettled time, then.’

  ‘Of course,’ she said. So why did he feel that her fingers must be crossed behind her back?

  Then she said, ‘I always have the hospital’s best interests at heart.’ This time her voice wasn’t so meek. Her pager sounded and she tilted her chin before moving away.

  Noah shook his head. Right. He’d have her support as long as she totally agreed with his plans, and he watched her turn the corner towards Intensive Care without looking back. But she didn’t know whom she was up against. He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully at the spot where she’d disappeared from view.

  Cate couldn’t get away fast enough. Bumping into Noah Masters straight after seeing Iris had left her in turmoil. She’d actually felt comforted by his strong grip on her arms and her step back had been a defence against the inexplicable desire to stay and lean on him for a moment.

  Of all the people to feel like leaning on! She needed to get a grip on things. Why hadn’t Brett come so she could stop worrying about it hanging over her head? She hoped it wasn’t going to be awkward to see Brett but it was the first time face to face since they’d broken their engagement.

  Luckily she was busy. The rain continued and the calls from marooned staff members also flooded in. Cate glanced out of the corridor window as she made another trip to Maternity and realised that if the rain kept up she’d be one more person blocked by rising waters from going home. Though after her phone call to her parents earlier, she knew her brother was at home now. They said they’d manage fine without her. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

  Cate pulled open the door to Maternity. Michelle and Leif were going home a day early with baby Lachlan and they were waiting to say goodbye. Early on Tuesday morning, Cate’s sleep in the nurses’ quarters had been interrupted to set up for an emergency Caesarean section when baby Lachlan’s descent through his mother’s pelvis had apparently stopped.

  To everyone’s relief, he’d made his precipitous arrival in the normal way in the operating theatres before the surgeon had scrubbed his hands.

  ‘Lachlan looks much better this morning, Michelle. And so do you.’ The new parents looked up and smiled, and Cate’s day brightened to see the baby feed contentedly at his mother’s breast.

  Michelle was small-boned and blonde, and she stroked her son’s thick crop of black hair. ‘Thanks, Cate. It’s amazing how much they change in just two days. He was so blue and his head was such a strange shape when he was born.’

  Cate grinned as she remembered the marked moulding of Lachlan’s head caused by his squeeze through his mother’s pelvis. ‘I remember. Thank goodness babies’ skull bones are designed to do it. If he’d just tucked his chin in he would have made it much easier on both of you.’

  Leif laughed. ‘And your sleep. He was such a cone head. When I asked if his head would change shape, the doctor said if newborn heads didn’t there’d be a lot of funny looking people walking around town. That’s when I knew he was going to be all right.’ They all laughed at the mental picture of a town full of people with misshapen heads. ‘Everyone has taken such good care of us.’

  ‘And so we should.’ Cate had gone to school with Michelle’s older sister. The beauty of working in a small town hospital was that she knew most of the patients or at least one of their relatives.

  The new parents wa
nted to make sure they could make it home before their road was cut off.

  ‘Now, you’re sure you have enough supplies?’ Cate stroked Lachlan’s tiny hand as he lay in his mother’s arms.

  Michelle reached up and kissed Cate’s cheek. ‘Leif’s picked up everything on the list this morning and we have enough stuff to last us a couple of weeks. Hopefully the flood won’t linger, but luckily our house is on a hill. At worst we’ll be on an island, but I want to be home if that happens.’

  ‘Of course you do. Good luck and hopefully the roads won’t be shut long. Remember to ring the ward if you’re unsure about anything to do with you, breastfeeding or Lachlan.’

  Cate left them to pack the car in dashes through the rain, and got on with her own work, but she couldn’t help comparing her life to that of Michelle.

  Michelle was five years younger than Cate’s thirty years. She already had a husband who adored her and a new son and her own tiny farmhouse on the outskirts of town. It sounded idyllic and Cate sighed.

  Something was missing in her life and she could almost see herself ending up alone, with nothing but patients and cows to look after, when all she had ever wanted had been a home and family. Even Iris had had a child and Cate was beginning to wonder if she’d ever have a baby of her own.

  Perhaps that fear had been a factor in allowing her relationship with Brett to grow. She’d grown up with the local boys as friends. As casual boyfriends they hadn’t seemed to mind the fact that she was better at most things than they had been, but Cate had never found any reason to become heavily involved with someone she’d known.

  Until Brett had returned from medical school to complete his residency in Emergency at Riverbank. He’d stormed her citadel with flowers and pretty words and hadn’t been intimidated by Cate being in charge—quite the opposite. Their pairing had seemed to suit all round.