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‘Nasty family history.’ Understatement. He seriously wasn’t being flippant. It was a shocker and he could see how that could be a trigger for more risky, adventurous behaviour. ‘My life is boring in comparison.’
‘Tell me about boring.’
He shrugged. ‘Nothing to tell except my mother didn’t tell my biological father she was pregnant, a minor glitch I didn’t find out about till after I grew up. That was as adventurous as I got.’
‘That’s adventurous. Especially searching him out as an adult.’ There was wistfulness in her eyes when she said that and he knew she wished she had someone to search out. He’d never actually looked at it like that.
‘So, anyway, maybe I should be up for exciting escapades.’ His voice trailed off as she pulled her T-shirt over her head and it stuck, alluringly, in a few damp places.
He closed his mouth and glanced away. Regathered his thoughts with some difficulty. ‘One day I will try being adventurous for a change.’
She looked him up and down and he sucked in his belly. Not that he was ashamed of his six pack, and not quite sure why he should even think about it because he wasn’t usually a vain man, but he had no control over the reflex. She just did that to him.
‘You could jump with me on Tuesday if you like.’
He knew the horror showed on his face.
To make it worse, then she laughed at him. And not even with him. Not sure he liked that either.
Tough. He wasn’t jumping. ‘How about I come and be ground support? Hold a glass of champagne for you.’
He could see she liked the idea of that and he felt he’d redeemed himself somewhat. ‘Thank you. That’d be very cool.’
‘Okay. We’ll talk about it later when I get the picture out of my mind of you stepping out of a perfectly good plane.’ They picked up the towels and walked back towards the path.
‘So what were you and Maeve talking about doing later?’
‘Antenatal clinic. I offered and she’s accepted to go on my caseload.’ She sounded a little hesitant and he guessed it could be confronting to take on the sister of the consultant. He needed Maeve to see someone and he didn’t have much chance of her listening to him at the moment.
‘That’s great. Really. I think you guys will have a great rapport.’
She flashed a grateful glance at him. ‘Thanks, Simon. I’m looking forward to it. I’ll take good care of her.’
CHAPTER FIVE (#u4458ba54-093b-5c04-b4a4-5700fe238f16)
THE ANTENATAL CLINIC opened at eleven a.m. seven days a week. That way the morning midwife had discharged any women and babies who were due to go home. Plus the ward was often less busy so the women booking in could look around. Except when there was a woman in labour.
Tara had ten women on her caseload at the moment in various stages of pregnancy and two who had already delivered on the six-week postnatal check programme.
The first visit at least would be held at the clinic but most visits she would do at the woman’s home. All the midwives took turns to carry the maternity phone in case one of the other midwives needed help in the birthing suite or two women went into labour at once on the same midwife’s caseload.
Maeve looked very interested in the running of the unit, judging by the way her head never stopped swivelling, and Tara smiled quietly to herself. She’d bet there’d be some thought about staying on after Maeve’s baby was born.
Even during the antenatal check Maeve was asking questions about the way they ran the caseloads, and the girls were firm friends by the time the official paperwork was completed.
Tara sat back. ‘Okay. So your blood pressure is slightly elevated and your baby is a little under the normal size for thirty-six weeks but all of those things could be normal. It’s nothing startling but we’ve done a couple of extra blood tests to rule out anything we need to watch for.’
‘You thinking my blood pressure could go up more? So watch out for toxaemia?’
‘We’ll both have a good look at the results. At the moment you feel well in yourself, and baby is moving nicely, but I wonder about the nausea and the itch.’ She looked at her. ‘Don’t you?’
‘Yeah.’ Maeve sighed. ‘Of course I’m thinking it could need watching. That’s why I’m glad we sorted out the caseload. In case Simon decided I was high risk and whisked me back to Sydney.’
‘If you got a lot worse we are a low-risk unit. But being thirty-six weeks helps so we don’t have to deal with a premature baby if things did escalate.’
‘Don’t tell Simon.’
Tara had wondered if this would come. ‘If Simon asks, I’m not going to lie.’
‘And if he doesn’t ask, don’t tell him.’
‘As long as the tests come back normal, there’s nothing to talk about. Sure.’
‘You wiggling out of that?’
‘You asking me for the impossible?’ Tara countered, and she saw the realisation in Maeve’s eyes that she wasn’t a pushover. She couldn’t be.
Maeve stood up and so did Tara. It was going to go one way or the other.
‘Fine.’ Maeve shook her head. ‘Sorry. I don’t know why Simon makes me so wild. He hasn’t done anything wrong. I guess it’s because I feel like I let him down when I made the choices I did.’
‘Choices are there to be made and who knows what the end result will be? But, boy, do I know that feeling.’ She handed Maeve her antenatal card. ‘I’m trying to learn that blame and guilt are useless emotions. So is resentment. It’s helped me. Hard to do but letting all that go has really made me start each day fresh.’
Maeve patted her stomach. ‘A bit hard when the reminder is poking out in front.’
‘Nah. Perfect time to be fresh with a new baby. I’ll be there for your birth, Louisa will spoil you rotten, and Simon will be a doting uncle.’ She looked at Maeve. ‘You say the baby’s father is out of the picture. Do you think he’ll try to find you when he gets out?’
‘I don’t think so. As I said before, a crazy, stupid, one-night stand with one of Simon’s old friends, a hunk I’ve always fancied, but he didn’t think to tell me he was going to prison. He hasn’t answered one of my letters. Or Simon’s attempts to talk to him. So that just makes me feel even more stupid.’
‘Nope. Silly would be if you were waiting for him with open arms and no explanations.’ Maeve made no move to go now they were finished and Tara glanced at her watch.
‘If you want to come and help me with the young mums’ class, it starts around one p.m. In the mothers’ tearoom behind the desk.’ Tara pointed.
‘Thanks. I’ll think about it. I might go for a walk now after sitting for so long.’
‘Sure. Or have lunch and come back. I’ll go home soon and grab a bite.’ One of the midwives signalled to Tara as they walked out the door and Maeve shooed her towards the midwife.
‘I’ll go for a walk and come back.’
Tara arrived back at the manse half an hour later and Simon was in the kitchen, making coffee. He’d been waiting for them to return and, to him, it seemed like they’d been gone for hours. Maybe Maeve did have something wrong. Maybe his niggling worries did have some foundation. By the time Tara arrived, minus Maeve, he could barely contain his concern.
He forced himself not to pounce on her and gestured to the pot. ‘You want one?’
‘Love one, thanks. Black.’
‘No sugar.’
‘How did you know?’
He had to smile at that. He’d asked Louisa yesterday. ‘So how did the antenatal visit go?’
‘Fine.’
‘So everything’s fine?’
‘I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you.’
‘Come on. Reassure me.’
‘Sure. We did bloods for thirty-six weeks and baby is moving well.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Nothing else to tell until the blood results came back or we’d be speculating.’
‘Speculating about what?’
‘Nothing yet.’ She was squirming and he wanted to know why, though it warred with his sense of fair play, but then there was big brother mode.
He saw the way Tara straightened her back and he felt a pang of guilt. She shouldn’t have had to gird her loins against him.
She sized him up. ‘You know, you’re the one who said we should have a great rapport, and I’m just wondering how you think that will be built if I run to you with results and private information. I’m assuming you don’t discuss your pregnant ladies with their relatives?’
He paused. Looked at her. ‘No. You’re right. I take that on board.’ In fact, he was ashamed of himself for leaning on her but the niggling unease about his sister’s health was also a concern. ‘But if you’re keeping something from me about my baby sister, I won’t be happy.’
He couldn’t seem to stop himself.
Tara was up for the challenge. ‘Thanks for that. Didn’t pick you for a bully. Silly me.’
True, and he didn’t know what had come over him. Simon reached out, wanted to touch her briefly on her shoulder, but pulled back. ‘Tara, I’m sorry. I have no right to harass you. Please accept my apology.’
Her phone rang and she glanced at the number. ‘Now I know why you drive your sister mad. Good intentions and apologies. Would make anyone feel bad. But I’m not going there.’ She answered the phone. Listened and then said, ‘Okay.’
She glanced at Simon with a bland smile. ‘No problems. Gotta go.’ Pulled open the fridge and grabbed an apple before she sailed out the door. ‘See you later.’
Simon watched her walk away and he knew he’d been in the wrong—but she still hadn’t given him answers.
The problem was that the last few days he’d been aware that something was not quite right about Maeve. He hated it had been a month since she’d last been seen, and he couldn’t put his finger on the symptoms. But pressuring Tara was unlike him.
He guessed on Monday he’d be in a position to access his sister’s blood pathology files when he went to work but he’d try not to look. It wasn’t his practice to second-guess a colleague and he shouldn’t start now. But it would be challenging not to peek.
CHAPTER SIX (#u4458ba54-093b-5c04-b4a4-5700fe238f16)
MONDAY MORNING SAW Tara scooting around the ward, tidying up after their last discharged mother and baby. The first thing she’d done was check Maeve’s results and thankfully they were totally normal so it was fine she hadn’t mentioned anything to Simon.
As she worked she was thinking at least if Simon asked she could say everything was fine. Funny how she wasn’t looking forward to the next time she saw him in one way and in the other she looked forward to just ‘seeing him’.
Before she could think too much of it a car screeched to a stop out front and a harried-looking man she hadn’t seen before leapt from the driver’s side before Tara could open the passenger door.
‘Her waters broke. She’s pushing.’
Tara sent a reassuring nod towards the strained face of the woman seated awkwardly in the front seat, and wished this had happened earlier at handover so at least there would be two midwives there for the birth. Judging by the concentration that had settled over the woman’s face and the tiny outward breaths she was making, that wasn’t going to happen.
The man said, ‘It’s breech and they said Susan had to have a Caesarean birth in Brisbane.’
Tara doubted a Caesarean would be possible in the minutes they had left. ‘Okay. I’ll grab a wheelchair while you stand Susan up and we’ll get inside at least.’
She was thinking breech, Simon, handy, and before she spun the strategically placed wheelchair out the door she pressed the little green button they used for paging help so that someone from the other side of the hospital could lend her a hand, even if it was only to phone the midwife and doctor on call.
‘It’s okay, Susan.’ She spoke in a slow, calm voice, because people arriving at the last minute in labour wasn’t that unusual, and she smiled again as she eased the woman into the chair and began pushing swiftly towards the door. ‘You’ll be fine. Help’s coming, and we’ve had breech babies here before.’ Not in her time but she’d heard the stories and Susan’s belly didn’t look full term so baby might be a little early as well. All good things for a breech delivery.
The stress on the husband’s face eased a little and Tara shared additional comfort. ‘The more worried Susan is, the more painful the contractions feel. That seems a shame so if everyone takes a deep breath and just accepts that baby is going to do this his or her way, we’ll work it out.’
‘Thank God, someone with sense.’ The muttered comment from the woman who hadn’t previously spoken startled Tara, and she had to bite her lip to stop a laugh, but then Susan was hit by another contraction and became far too busy to add further pithy comments.
The sound of footsteps meant help was almost here and by the time Tara had Susan standing up from the chair beside the bed Simon appeared at the doorway.
From worrying about when she saw him next to relief at his appearance. Another miracle. ‘Simon. Great. This is Susan, who’s just arrived. Waters have broken and she wants to push her breech baby out very soon.’
Susan glared at him and said, ‘I’m not lying down to have this.’
‘Sounds good.’ Simon crossed the room quietly and shook the harried man’s hand. ‘Simon Campbell. Obstetrician.’
‘Pete Wells, and my wife, Susan.’
Simon turned to Susan and touched her shoulder briefly while he glanced at her tight belly and then her face. ‘Hi, Susan. First baby?’ The woman nodded.
‘And what date is your baby due?’
‘Four weeks.’
‘And breech, you think?’
‘Was yesterday at ultrasound. We were on our way to Brisbane.’
‘Unless you’ve noticed lots of movements since then, your baby probably still is breech.’ He glanced at Tara. ‘What’s the plan?’
‘The plan was a Caesarean in Brisbane, but Susan wants to stand up for a vaginal birth. So I thought that seeing you’re here you could check and see where she’s up to, and baby will tell us what to do. Unfortunately, Susan has to lie down for a part of that.’
Simon grinned at her. ‘Interesting take. And I concur with it all.’ He looked at Susan. ‘You fine with those plans?’
‘Perfect. As long as you are quick. I never wanted the Caesarean.’
‘Ah,’ said Simon, as Tara helped Susan undress and reluctantly lie down for the examination. ‘A rebel.’ Simon quickly but thoroughly palpated Susan’s belly, stepped aside so Tara could also confirm the position of the baby, and then washed his hands and pulled on the sterile gloves. ‘Baby taking after the mum? I’ll be as quick as I can so you can stand up again.’
One minute later it was confirmed. ‘Yep, breech. In perfect position. And ready to come.’ He nodded at Tara. ‘Best get another person here for baby and we can send them away if we don’t need them.’
Tara crossed to the phone and called the switchboard then dragged a sheet-covered mat to the side of the bed in case Susan wanted to kneel down at some stage, and prepared her equipment. She’d never opened up sterile packs or drawn up needles so fast and excitement bubbled inside her. She was going to see her first breech birth.
Then Simon made it even more exciting. He spoke to the couple. ‘I guess I should tell you that my specialty is promoting vaginal breech births at the Central Women’s Hospital in Sydney, and if you don’t mind I’d like to talk Tara through this birth so she can practise her own breech deliveries.’
He looked at Susan and then Pete. ‘Is that all right with you?’ Susan ignored Simon but nodded at Tara while she pushed, and Pete reluctantly agreed. Tara slid the little ultrasound Doppler over Susan’s belly and they all heard the cloppety-clop of the baby’s heartbeat. Susan’s shoulders sagged with relief and she bore down with a long outward breath now she knew her baby was fine.
