For a moment she was captivated by the sight of him. He was asleep in her bed, not exactly in her power but something like that. She could look at him, dream, not worry that her feelings might be showing on her face. He was asleep. Then she told herself not to be ridiculous, this was only fatigue. She was not interested in men.
He rolled over onto his back, the blue eyes opened. Briefly she had a glimpse of what he must have looked like as a child as he hovered for a brief moment between being asleep and awake. Innocent, unscarred by life. He would have been a beautiful baby. But he wasn’t beautiful now, not exactly. Life had scored lines on his face, made it harsher. And more interesting.
He blinked and intelligence returned to his eyes at once. He was looking at her, recognising her, assessing the situation. However, he was still not fully awake, still not quite his usual guarded self. She thought she saw his pleasure at seeing her. For a moment they just looked at each other, and perhaps some non-verbal message passed. But both seemed to agree that this was not the time to talk about it. Or even to consider it.
‘Sorry to wake you early,’ she said, ‘but we’ve got an emergency, something quite different.’
‘OK, I’m rested.’ He sat up, swung a bare leg out of bed and grinned. ‘If you wouldn’t mind turning your back just for a moment?’
‘Oh, yes, of course.’ He was naked in her bed! Why did the thought give her a sudden tiny thrill?
There was the rustle of clothes and then he said, ‘What’s the emergency, then?’
Just the sound of his voice gave her some confidence but… ‘It’s the last thing you’d expect, the last thing we need. We’re supposed to be coping with an outbreak of gastroenteritis here! Isn’t that enough?’ The thought of even more work was shocking her.
‘Old saying, quoted to us by the captain. “Hope for the best, expect the worst.” What’s happened?’
‘A woman has just gone into labour, I think. She claims the baby’s about four weeks premature.’
This did shock him. ‘What the hell is a heavily pregnant woman doing on a cruise?’
‘Tell me then we’ll both know. It’s the first I’ve heard of it. She must have deliberately kept quiet about it. Worn those long floaty dresses. The cruise firm doesn’t allow passengers on board who will be over twenty-eight weeks pregnant during the holiday, and for good reason.’
‘Right. But she decided she knew best and now we’re faced with the problem.’ He frowned and Maddy was surprised.
‘Childbirth isn’t an illness, Ed,’ she said gently. ‘It’s a perfectly normal healthy process.’
She saw him take control of himself. ‘Of course. Now we’ve got her, we’ll have to cope. Just how up to date are you with child birth, Maddy?’
‘I’m no midwife. I’ve watched a few births, been on take a couple of times. If it’s straight for ward, I could manage. But mostly I’ve worked in places with a midwifery section. How about you?’
‘I did a bit when I was a medical student but nothing much since then. When I was in Africa the people had their own midwives so I was rarely requested for help.’
‘That makes sense. Now, I’ve already phoned the captain. It’s protocol, he has to be informed of events like this. He says he hopes we can cope. The storm has got really bad—nearly hurricane-force winds. If he has to ask for a boat to come out, he will. But he doesn’t advise it.’
‘No way can we put a pregnant woman into a boat in this weather. It’s up to the home team, Maddy.’
She smiled. ‘Right. And we’ve got to be extra-careful not to get the poor little blighter infected. We’re still dealing with a gastroenteritis outbreak.’
‘I remember,’ he said. ‘Let’s go and see what we can do.’
Maddy was surprised at the bleakness in his voice. True, Ed had worked a full day, and had then had only an hour’s sleep. But when she had woken him up he had seemed fine. Only when she’d told him that this was an emergency birth had he seemed upset. She wondered why.
Mr and Mrs Flynn were having their first baby. They had calculated exactly when it was due to be born, worked out that they could have that long-awaited holiday before it was born. There was a month to go. They knew that if they’d told the cruise company that Mrs Flynn was pregnant, they’d never be able to book the cruise. So they hadn’t told anyone.
‘We never expected this,’ Mr Flynn wailed as Maddy and Ed walked into their cabin. ‘We thought everything would be all right. I think that it’s the storm that’s brought it on. All that shaking.’
‘Very possibly,’ Ed said. ‘Now Mr Flynn, if you’d just sit over there and stay calm, we will examine your wife.’ He went to Mrs Flynn’s side and spoke to her quietly and reassuringly. ‘Have your waters broken, Mrs Flynn?’
She nodded, and Maddy sighed. She had had a last hope that it might be a false alarm, that there were just contractions which might slow down and stop. No such luck. The waters had broken.
Ed had taken the usual readings, was now timing the contractions, trying to decide roughly when the baby might be born. Then he placed his hand on the woman’s distended belly, gently palpated it.
Maddy was watching his face, saw the quick flash of alarm. He felt again. Then he said, ‘Maddy, would you like to palpate?’
She did, and found at once what he was concerned about. This was something that she’d only read about, never experienced. Not that it was too uncommon, but it was to her. She managed to keep calm and said to Ed, ‘Yes, I see.’
Ed stood back, peeled off his rubber gloves. ‘Well, Mrs Flynn is certainly in labour. It’s going to take quite a while before the actual birth, so you should be all right for an hour or two. Now, we are going to get things ready, if there’s any sudden problem, phone us. Mr Flynn, on no account are you to leave the cabin. We still have people suffering from gastroentiritis, and we don’t want it in here.’
‘Is my baby going to be all right?’ Mrs Flynn sobbed.
Ed’s face softened and he nodded. ‘I’ve never lost a newborn baby yet,’ he said firmly. ‘I don’t see any problems. Now, try to stay calm because you’ll need all your energy. We’ll be back shortly.’
Maddy walked down the corridor with him. ‘You’ve never lost a newborn baby because you’ve never delivered one outside hospital,’ she said.
‘I lied, Maddy. I have lost a baby.’ A short, flat statement, delivered without emotion. Ed went on, ‘But we had to reassure Mrs Flynn. Now, what did you feel when you palpated?’
Maddy was shocked by his statement that he had lost a baby, she wanted to know more. But yet again this was not the right time to ask. ‘I’ve never felt one. But I thought the baby’s head was in the wrong place. The baby is upside down—I mean the right way up. It’s going to be a breech birth.’
‘I think so, too. Can we cope with a breech birth?’
‘We’ve got medical text books in the centre. Let’s go and look it up.’
When they reached the medical centre they found the captain waiting for them. Maddy thought it typical—it might be the middle of the night, but the captain had dressed properly, formally. ‘I need to know the situation, Doctor,’ he said. ‘Then I will make a decision. It’ll be an informed decision as I will be guided by you. But the decision will be mine.’
Maddy saw that Ed approved of this attitude.
‘We have a woman going into labour, about four weeks prematurely. There might be complications, though small ones. On shore I would recommend she be taken to hospital at once. Moving her from here by boat or helicopter could be dangerous. But, of course, it would no longer be your responsibility.’
Maddy smiled to herself, she knew Ed had slipped this in on purpose. She also knew what the captain’s response would be.
‘Everyone on this ship is my responsibility until they are safe on shore. Can you and Maddy deal with these complications?’
‘Probably. Any risk would be small.’ Maddy thought it interesting to see how precise Ed was trying to be. ‘But th
ere is a risk. However, I have a suggestion.’
‘Which is?’
‘We have a very experienced midwife at Penhally Bay. There may be a storm raging but we also have fisher men there who could probably get her here.’
‘Would she take that risk? It’s a lot to ask.’
For a moment Ed was silent. Then he said, ‘Perhaps not. Her husband died during a sea rescue some years ago. But I could always ask her.’
The captain thought a moment, then said, ‘Will you try her, please? And make it clear, to her and the fisher man, that price is not a consideration.’
‘The fisherman might need paying but Kate won’t,’ said Ed. He picked up the receiver, flicked on the speaker phone and dialled.
Maddy was sitting next to Ed. She heard the phone ring, then heard a sleepy voice say, ‘Kate Althorp here. Whose baby is being born in the middle of the night?’
‘Middle of the night and the middle of the sea. Kate, it’s Ed Tremayne here. I’m on the cruise ship.’ His voice was a bit diffident, and Maddy guessed that he didn’t know Kate too well.
‘And you’ve got a birth out there?
‘A primigravida, about four weeks premature. And a breech presentation.’
‘How far is labour advanced?’
‘I cal cu late at least three or four hours to go.’
‘You need a midwife,’ Kate said. ‘And you’re in luck. Jem is spending a fort night at a friend’s house.’
Ed winced. What a thing to forget! Kate had an eight-year-old son. Still, it turned out he wasn’t a problem. ‘So do you fancy coming? Kick Jerry Buchan out of bed and ask him to bring you here? His boat is the safest one for miles and there’ll be good money for him.’
‘That’ll bring Jerry. I’ll come.’
Maddy saw Ed hesitate. ‘Kate, this is the worst storm for years. It’s dangerous. Are you sure you want to…to risk it?’
There was a pause. Then a flat voice said, ‘I’ll risk it. Other people do. Other people have done. What kind of equipment have you got there?’
‘We’ve plenty of high-class medical stuff. Drugs, bandages, sutures, instruments and so on. We’ve got a very well-equipped theatre you can use. Specific midwifery kit—none. It’s not supposed to be needed.’
‘I can bring what I need. I’m on my way. I’ll be perhaps an hour, an hour and a half. Oh, and, Ed, tell the mother that she’s probably going to have an awful backache and the best way to deal with it is to be on all fours.’
‘I didn’t know that. I’ll tell her.’ Ed replaced the receiver, looked at the captain. ‘You heard that, Captain?’
The captain nodded. ‘I’ll have the lights on, and a good crew on the landing platform. And I’ll be there.’
‘Right.’ Maddy saw Ed thinking. ‘Maddy, we’ve still got the gastro to deal with. But for the moment I’ll see to that. How about if you arrange to get Mrs Flynn transferred to one of the wards here—with her husband—and then keep an eye on her until Kate arrives?’
‘Seems a good plan.’ She was glad that as usual he had asked her instead of directing her.
‘Let’s get started. Captain, we’ll keep you informed. But for the moment I feel happier.’
‘I never had problems like this when I was Captain of one of Her Majesty’s frigates,’ the Captain said gloomily.
After arranging for Kate to come aboard, Ed had little to do but check up on mostly sleeping patients, see that the stewards were happy with their work. And they were. There were no more new cases, no sudden crises.
He felt responsible for bringing Kate out to the ship, so when he heard that the fishing boat was nearing the landing platform, he went out on deck. He knew that probably the most dangerous part of her trip would be the jump between fishing boat and platform. So he wanted to be there. Perhaps he might be able to help.
It took an effort to push open the door that led to the deck. And when he did step outside, the wind whipped across his face, pushing him violently against the railing.
He had lived by the sea for much of his life. But he had never seen, or heard, a storm like this. The waves were breaking as they did on the shore. There was the hiss of them as they smashed against the side of the ship. And above all the howl of the wind screaming through the ship’s rigging.
He could make out the dancing lights of the fishing boat as it approached the landing platform. The landing platform itself was brightly lit, showing the chaos of waves beating at it. He’d asked Kate to come out in this! Just for a moment he wondered how he would feel if there was an accident. If Kate were injured—drowned even? What would his father say?
Interesting that he thought of his father first.
Then he decided that he was being foolish. Sometimes decisions had to be made. If necessary, he would make them.
He saw the captain approaching him, clutching the railings as he did so. ‘Dr Tremayne? Not expecting to go down onto the platform, are you?’
‘I wondered if I might be of help.’
‘You’d only get in the way. My crew are trained. Leave them to do their job.’
Probably—certainly—true. He’d stay here, where he could do no harm. He noticed the captain did the same.
The fishing boat came along side the platform, tossed by the waves so that some times the two were level and some times the boat was a good six feet lower. Ed saw a fisherman on the boat wave to one of the crew waiting on the platform and then throw a bag across. The crewman caught it, ran to take it to safety. The boat sank again below the platform level.
Ed saw two of the crew poised right on the edge of the platform. Each was fitted with a safety line, controlled by another crewman further back. Ed saw the boat rising—and there was Kate, balanced on the edge of the fishing-boat deck, a fisherman holding her from behind. A wave swept the fishing boat upwards, Kate jumped. She landed on her knees on the landing platform, where the two crewmen grabbed her.
She was safe. She was half hurried, half dragged back into the ship. The fishing boat stood off at once, with just a wave from the fisherman.
‘A good competent job,’ the captain said to Ed.
Ed wiped his forehead. It was cold out here—but he had been sweating.
A crewman brought Kate up to them, and the captain escorted her inside the ship. Then he said, ‘I’m Captain Smith. Mrs Althorp, welcome aboard. I don’t need to tell you how thankful I am to have you here, I think you know. Anything you need, just ask for. Now I’ll leave you to Dr Tremayne.’
Ed smiled his relief. ‘I’ll keep my distance from you, Kate, just in case, but you don’t know how glad I am to see you. I know it was a lot to ask.’
‘Because of my husband being killed in a storm?’
He had not expected her to be as forth right as this. ‘That’s right. You must have been terrified.’
She shook her head. ‘Not so. This is my way of fighting back.’
‘Good. And you’re not too tired to work?’
Kate looked at him sardonically. ‘Since when did babies come only in the daytime? Midwives are on twenty-four-hour call. Anyway, how are you coping with this outbreak Nick told me about?’
He shrugged. ‘We’re coping. There’s a nurse here.’
‘So I heard. Is one nurse enough? How good is she?’
‘She’s very good. We’ve bonded, we’re a team, she knows what I want before I do.’
He felt Kate look at him again. ‘So quickly,’ she commented casually. ‘What is she like as a person?’
He had wondered about this and then decided that this wasn’t the time or place for any such thoughts. ‘She’s professional,’ he said, ‘which is all I need right now.’
‘Of course,’ Kate said.
CHAPTER FIVE
STILL keeping his distance, Ed took Kate to the medical centre. Then he told her to go inside, introduce herself to Maddy and the mother, and do what was necessary. ‘There’s clean scrubs available, you’ll want to get out of those wet clothes. You’re in charge, Kate.
Maddy will give you a buzzer, you can contact me if you need me.’
Kate nodded. ‘I’ll probably need you when we deliver. It might be an idea to have both of you. But before you get inside my delivery room, you make sure you’re clean!’
‘Shower and new scrubs on us both,’ he promised her. Then he set off on his rounds again.
Maddy joined him fifteen minutes later. When he saw her smiling at him he felt his spirits lift. It was good to see her, even though it had only been a couple of hours since he’d seen her last. Why do I feel this way? he wondered. Then he decided it was just a side effect of fatigue.
‘How have you got on with Kate?’ he asked.
‘Wonderfully. She inspires instant confidence, doesn’t she? Are all the members of your practice like that?’
‘Of course. Do I inspire instant confidence?’
She pursed her lips. ‘I’m afraid you do. But I still have to be convinced that it’s genuine medical ability and not just a con trick.’
‘It was a weekend course I went on, just for GPs. How to inspire instant confidence and thus cheer up patients even if they are dangerously ill. Is Kate happy with her patient?’
‘Very happy. And the patient is happy, too. Even Mr Flynn is happy. Kate took him to one side and gave him a short but intense lecture on the duties and functions of a father-to-be in a delivery room.’
‘Kate has her own way of doing things,’ Ed said.
‘I’m glad that she’s come,’ Maddy said after a pause. ‘But if it hadn’t been possible, could we have managed on our own?’
Ed thought for a moment. Then he said, quite honestly, ‘Together we would have been fine. But I’m not sure I could have managed. It’s not something I’d want to do on my own.’
His face went blank and just for a moment Maddy had the impression that some memory had returned to haunt him. And she remembered how earlier he had said that he had lost a baby. But then he smiled and said, ‘Anyway, the problem’s over now. I think we have a good team.’
‘We do,’ Maddy said.
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