The Bush Doctor's Challenge

‘I’m not babysitting,’ Kell insisted, but Shelly shook her head.

‘So why have you spent the whole afternoon painting the baby’s nursery when Ross was going to do it at the weekend?’

‘When did Ross ever get a weekend off?’ Kell said, collapsing onto the couch and placing two massive feet onto the coffee-table before him, which had Abby cringing, though Shelly didn’t seem remotely bothered. ‘Anyway, I need the cash.’

For some reason Shelly seemed to find this hilarious and picking up a T-shirt she tossed it in Kell’s vague direction. ‘Well, if you’re staying you can at least put some clothes on.

‘Kell thought I needed a rest,’ Shelly explained to a politely smiling Abby. ‘So he decided to make lunch.’

‘You don’t have to tell everyone,’ Kell grumbled, pulling a very white T-shirt over his head, much to Abby’s relief. Now at least she’d be able to look at him without blushing. ‘Trouble is he ended up wearing a bottle of mayonnaise.’

‘It’s not my fault Ross screws the lids on so tight.’ He cast a brief look to Abby. ‘I don’t usually walk around half-naked. Sorry if I scared you.’ Fortunately, Abby was saved from answering as he turned back to Shelly. ‘Look, if you really don’t want me around I’ll head off, but I think I’ve at least earned a cup of coffee.’

Which, Abby reasoned, at the rate Shelly was moving, would probably give Bruce plenty of time to have Ross safely back home. This man took his duties seriously.

‘Abby, would you like a coffee?’

‘Thanks.’ Abby smiled. ‘If you show me where things are I’ll make it. You look as if you’re a bit busy.’

‘Just a bit,’ Shelly admitted, gesturing to the mountains of laundry adorning every available surface. ‘I’ll feel so much better when all this is done.’

Abby chose to ignore Kell’s upwardly mobile right eyebrow as she fumbled around the kitchen, watching with undisguised bemusement as Shelly proceeded to tear the wrappers off a pile of new baby clothes and bundle them into yet another laundry basket.

‘So how was the journey, Abby?’

‘Long.’

Shelly laughed. ‘Tell me about it. I remember the first time I came here I thought the journey would never end. It’s like another planet, isn’t it?’

Abby nodded, her smile finally genuine as she warmed to the likable Shelly.

‘Hard to believe it’s the same country. Just wait till Ross takes you out and you see some of the homesteads, miles and miles from anywhere. They make Tennengarrah look like a thriving city—at least we’ve got a pub and a few shops, and a hairdresser’s…’

‘Since when?’ Kell asked, perking up a bit and leaning forward.

‘Well, not a hairdresser’s exactly,’ Shelly conceded. ‘But June Hegley’s niece, Anna, is staying for a few months and apparently she trained in Sydney, so she’s going to set up shop at June’s house.’

‘I must remember to make an appointment,’ Kell said, shooting a wink at Abby, who realised with a start she was again staring at him.

That shaggy dark mane that framed his face could certainly do with a cut, but on the other hand it actually suited him, Abby couldn’t quite imagine Kell with the short back and sides which was so much part of the uniform of most of her colleagues.

‘The clinic’s nice,’ Shelly chattered on, happily oblivious to the sudden crackling tension in the room. ‘It’s really come a long way since we’ve been here. I think you’ll be quite pleasantly surprised.’

‘How busy does it get?’

Her question was aimed at Shelly. From their brief chats on the telephone and a couple of longer ones with Ross, Abby had gleaned that Shelly was a nurse who until recently had been working, but Kell, who obviously thought he knew everything about anything, decided to answer for her.

‘All depends. Sometimes you can go a full day without even getting a new patient, but those days are getting few and far between now. With tourism and everything the town’s thriving.’

Sucking in her breath, Abby bit back a smart answer, her eyes pointedly trained on Shelly. ‘So, how long have you been here?’

‘Just over a year. It took me a while to settle in but I think I’m finally getting the hang of it. Matthew, on the other hand, fell in love the first day he was here.’

‘Matthew’s Shelly’s son,’ Kell interrupted needlessly, and Abby didn’t even bother to answer him, again directly addressing Shelly.

‘How old’s Matthew?’

‘Three. He’ll be up soon, he’s just having an afternoon nap, which is great for me as I finally got a parcel today. Mum sent me some baby clothes and a few odds and ends.’ Holding up a box of laundry powder, Shelly grinned. ‘You’d be surprised the things you miss.’

‘They don’t sell laundry powder here?’ Abby asked, aghast, visions of washing her shorts with a rock in the creek gushing into her mind. What on earth had she let herself in for?

‘What’s laundry powder?’

It took a second for Abby to register Kell was joking. Blushing, she took another drink as Shelly started to laugh. ‘It’s not that bad, Abby. I wanted some soap flakes, but the local shop didn’t quite stretch, so it was quicker to get Mum to send some than wait till we do our big shop in town next month. Now, if you two don’t mind, I’ll just go and throw this lot in the washing machine.’

‘Go ahead.’ Kell nodded, flicking on the television with the remote. ‘I’ll go and get the other basket pegged out for you.’

Abby tried, she really did. She tried not to roll her eyes but sitting in the middle of nowhere discussing the merits of soap flakes versus detergent was just so far removed from her normal life she couldn’t help herself.

‘Something wrong?’ Kell asked.

‘Nothing,’ Abby retorted.

‘Shelly’s great,’ Kell enthused. ‘And if the conversation’s not up to your usual standards, bear in mind the poor woman’s about to give birth.’

‘I didn’t say anything,’ Abby protested, annoyed with herself for being caught out, and also irritated with Kell for his uneducated assumptions. Shelly Bodey did not look like a woman about to give birth!

‘You didn’t have to.’

They sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment or two before Abby succumbed, curiosity finally the getting the better of her. ‘Kell, why is she washing new clothes?’

‘You’re supposed to wash them,’ Kell explained patiently, his smile back in place to show her she was forgiven, ‘before the baby wears them. It gets rid of any perfume or harsh detergents.’

To Abby’s utter surprise she found she was actually laughing.

‘What did I say?’

‘Nothing.’ Taking a sip of her coffee, Abby started to laugh again then forced herself to stop. ‘It’s just the last thing I expected to hear from a guy like you.’

‘A guy like me?’ Kell asked as he stood up and picked up the laundry basket. ‘What, do you think I’m too macho to know about washing powders and the like?’

Finally she managed to look at him. It should have been so much easier now he was wearing clothes, but even without visual access to that toned body he was still stunning, and something about the way he was looking at Abby had her stomach doing somersaults. He looked so ridiculously gorgeous, six feet five of oozing masculinity with a laundry basket tucked under his arm and a handful of pegs!

‘You’d better get on.’ Abby smiled. ‘If you want to get your washing dry.’

It was Kell laughing this time. ‘Now, what would a woman like you know about laundry?’

As the fly door slammed Abby let out a long-held breath and sank back into the deep sofa, staring out of the window, her gaze filtering out the so-called town to the view beyond which seemed to stretch on to infinity. Mile after mile of red soil, no bay view, no skyscrapers, no hum of traffic in the distance, just the aching gap of emptiness. Staring moodily out as the sun bobbed lower in the sky, Abby truly wondered how she could possibly survive.

Three months, she consoled herself.

In three short months she’d be handing her washing over at the dry-cleaners without even meriting it a thought.

In three months she’d be a consultant.

CHAPTER TWO

‘KELL!’

Shelly’s voice wasn’t particularly loud, but the note of urgency in it had Abby on her feet in less than a second.

‘Kell!’ Shelly’s voice was louder this time, more desperate. Putting down her mug, Abby cast an anxious look through the window, catching sight of an oblivious Kell, happily pegging out the washing, his mouth full with pink plastic pegs.

Unsure whether to call Kell or investigate herself, Abby tentatively followed the sound of Shelly’s increasingly urgent demands. As she pushed open the laundry door, she swallowed a gasp of shock as Shelly let out a deep guttural groan, two frightened eyes darting up to meet Abby’s as she hunched over the washing machine.

‘I want to push!’

Please, don’t. Abby didn’t say it, but she definitely thought it!

Stay calm. Abby mentally steadied herself making her way over and gently helping a groaning Shelly onto the floor. There’s a clinic two minutes away filled with nurses, equipment… Her mind flashed to her doctor’s bag winging its way across the outback, a doctor’s bag with artery forceps and umbilical clamps and, luxury of luxury, latex gloves. For that split second she could have cheerfully strangled Kell with her bare hands.

‘I’ll get Kell to ring the clinic,’ Abby said assuredly, pushing herself up from the floor, but Shelly’s hand grabbed her arm as she shook her head, her face purple as she started to bear down.

‘It’s coming now!’

‘Then we’d better get on and deliver this baby’ Abby soothed, her voice amazingly calm given her rapid heart rate. ‘We’ll manage just fine.’

Grabbing a handful of folded towels, Abby took a deep steadying breath. She hadn’t delivered a baby for years.

Years!

Even then it had only been a token attempt, with registrars and midwives beside her in a delivery room packed with equipment! Still, she reassured herself, fast labours were normally easy, just a steadying hand to help Mother Nature along. But as she examined Shelly Abby’s heart sank and Shelly’s question reiterated Abby’s findings from her brief assessment.

‘Is the baby still breech?’

‘Yes,’ Abby’s said, in what she prayed was a confident voice, as Shelly let out a moan of terror.

‘I thought it had turned. I said to Ross this morning—’

‘Shelly,’ Abby broke in firmly, ‘the baby’s going to be fine. I just need you to listen carefully to what I’m telling you to do.’ Her eyes shot up to her new patient and she forced a smile. ‘I’m going to shout for Kell. He can get someone over with a delivery pack, so try not to push just yet.’

‘What if I can’t stop myself?’

Abby took a deep steadying breath then looked up at Shelly, her smile every inch the confident emergency doctor she was. ‘Then we’ll deal with it.’

‘Kell!’

It wasn’t exactly a dulcet summons but, given that the television was still blaring and no doubt he was still playing housemaid, Abby wasn’t exactly left with much choice.

‘What’s up?’

He strolled into the laundry and to Abby’s bemusement he didn’t even look remotely fazed by the sight that greeted him.

‘Ring the clinic,’ Abby said through gritted teeth, as the baby’s buttocks descended lower in the birth canal, Shelly’s agonised screams splitting the hot afternoon air like a knife.

He returned moments later, pulling open a large leather bag, and Abby nodded her thanks as he handed her a pair of gloves and started to open a large paper-wrapped pack. ‘Did you ring?’

‘Yep, Clara’s on standby’ Kell said as Abby’s eyes widened in horror.

‘I don’t want Clara to be on standby,’ she hissed as loudly as she could without alarming Shelly. ‘I want her to send a team.’ Hell, why didn’t this Neanderthal just do as she asked? Yes, she was a doctor but this was a complicated delivery. Beads of sweat were on her brow as she struggled to stay calm. Why was Kell still here? Shouldn’t he do the polite thing and go and boil some water or something?

‘I’ve got to push,’ Shelly begged, and as the baby moved further down the birth canal Abby wasn’t sure what terrified her the most—the thought of a breech birth with no back-up or the fact Kell was pulling on a pair of gloves.

‘We are the team, Abby,’ Kell said in low tones, bending down so that only she could hear. ‘This as good as it gets here.’ His voice changed then, coming out lighter and friendly, as he looked up and smiled at Shelly. ‘The little one’s still bottoms up, Shelly, so I’m just going to move you.’

To Abby’s stunned amazement, in one quick motion he scooped Shelly up as easily as if she were a child and deposited her gently on the laundry bench. Then, pulling a basket over, he kicked it upside down and pushed Abby’s shoulders firmly down till she was sitting. As the fog cleared from her shell-shocked brain Abby realised Shelly was actually in the perfect position for a breech delivery.

‘You’re a nurse?’ Abby muttered, as the baby edged ever closer.

‘And a midwife,’ Kell whispered, guiding her hand to take the weight of the buttocks now being delivered. ‘You never said.’

‘You never asked.’

There wasn’t time for a smart reply. Shelly started to groan in earnest now, her frightened screams filling the small laundry. ‘I want Ross!’

‘He’ll be here soon, Shelly.’ Kell’s smile was far more effortless and, Abby realised, far more reassuring than hers.

‘I wanted him to be here!’ Shelly’s voice was rising as another contraction gripped her, and with a grunt that defied her tiny frame she bore down, but seemed to change her mind halfway, her arms flailing in agony, panic overwhelming her. Breech deliveries required a supreme maternal effort combined with concentration and Abby looked up anxiously, worried by Shelly’s lack of focus, knowing she needed her onside here.

‘Shelly, listen to me…’ Abby started, but a warm hand on her shoulder halted her in mid-sentence and she briefly turned her anxious eyes to Kell, who nodded assuredly.

‘She’ll be fine,’ he mouthed, then turned his attention to the restless woman. ‘Shelly, Ross is on his way, and we all know how much you need him right now, but holding back until he gets here isn’t the right thing to do. This little one isn’t waiting for anyone, so you need to do what Abby says and stay with us, OK?’

There was an air of authority in his laid-back voice, an assurity that to this point had been missing from the room, and Shelly responded to it.

‘I’m just scared.’

‘Why?’ Kell asked easily. ‘Abby’s got it all covered. You and the baby are both going to be fine.’

There was a strange pecking order in medicine. The fact Abby was a doctor supposedly overrode Kell, and, given that she had started the delivery, if Kell were to rush in and take over it could, by some, be seen as professional discourtesy. But at that moment Abby would have very happily given up her seat on the upturned basket and willingly handed the reins to a far more experienced midwife. This was not the welcome she had expected, and Abby took a deep, calming breath trying to quell the mounting panic inside her before the next contraction came and they set to work again.

‘All right?’ Kell checked, and Abby felt both embarrassed and strangely pleased that he seemed to sense her trepidation.

‘I hope so,’ Abby mouthed, and then suddenly it was her turn to benefit from his rather dazzling smile.

‘You’ll be fine, too,’ he said quietly as Shelly pushed for all she was worth as Abby and Kell shouted encouragement. With the lower trunk of the baby delivered, Shelly had a welcome break for a moment or two, but there was no time for Abby to relax. She checked a loop of the cord and nodded to Kell, the steady pulsing of the cord reassuring her that the baby wasn’t in distress, but she had the shoulders to deal with next and then the hardest part, the head.

‘OK, let’s go.’ Kell sounded as enthusiastic as he had when he’d started his bike as the next contraction started.

Abby felt a surge of confidence. Surely if Kell wasn’t worried she must be doing OK. One strong hand assisted her, gently pushing Abby’s hand, guiding her to deliver the baby’s shoulder downwards towards the floor. Suddenly Abby felt in control, the textbooks, the deliveries she had observed springing into her mind like a much-watched video. The shoulders were out now and she cast a quick glance up to Kell.

‘Hold steady a moment, Shelly.’ Coming round to Abby, he guided her arm to the infant, so that the baby was effectively straddling Abby’s forearm with its arms and legs. ‘Just let it hang for a moment,’ Kell said gently, and Abby gave a grateful nod, the weight of the baby allowing gravity to help with the delivery of its head. His hand was back on hers now, guiding her middle finger into the infant’s mouth as Abby used her other hand to increase the flexion of the head.

She drew the body of the babe first downward and then forward, the baby over Shelly’s abdomen as the last inches of the birth canal were negotiated, until finally, with a relief that literally overwhelmed Abby, the head was out, the baby was out and safe, taking a huge breath, its little eyes blinking in indignation as it was delivered. Abby placed the slippery bundle on Shelly’s stomach, whose hands moved down to scoop the babe up to her, tears streaming down her face as Kell rubbed the stunned little baby vigorously with a towel.

‘A little girl,’ she gasped. ‘I’ve got a little girl.’

‘A beautiful little girl, too.’ Kell’s words were coming out almost as choked as Shelly’s and to Abby’s amazement she watched as a sparkle of tears flashed in his dark eyes. ‘Look how blonde she is—she’s her father’s daughter all right.’

‘And she’s OK?’

Better than OK. One little girl was pinking up before their very eyes as Kell continued to rub, her dark red lips parted to allow a furious scream to escape.

As Kell dashed off to find a duvet Abby clamped and cut the cord, the placenta delivering with satisfying ease. Wrapping a bundle of towels around the baby and a large bath sheet around a shivering Shelly, she stood for a moment, just revelling in the sheer and utter miracle of birth.

‘Abby.’ Kell was at the door, only his face peering around as he pushed the duvet through the gap. ‘Cover Shelly up, I’ve got a little guy here who’s woken up with a bit of a fright.’

‘Matthew?’ Shelly gasped, tearing her eyes away from her newborn as Abby quickly tucked the duvet around the pair. ‘He must be terrified.’

‘He’ll be fine,’ Abby said assuredly, but Shelly begged to differ.

‘He won’t understand.’ Her eyes met Abby’s. ‘You don’t understand. Matthew’s got Down’s syndrome. Ross and I had planned how we were going to introduce him. I was supposed to be in bed, the baby in a crib, Ross was going to—’

‘Do you want me to help you into the bedroom, get you settled a bit before he sees you?’

Shelly shook her head. ‘He’s awake now, you’d better just tell Kell to bring him in.’

Abby nodded and, doing a quick check to make sure there was nothing that might scare Matthew, she went to open the laundry door.

‘Abby.’ Turning, Abby smiled at Shelly, her hand on the doorhandle. ‘Would you hold her for me? It might make things a bit…’ Her voice trailed off and Abby stood there, looking at the mother cradling the daughter she had just delivered, and suddenly the lump that had been missing in her throat till now was so big it threatened to choke her.

‘I’d be glad to.’

A mother’s love…

Taking the swaddled bundle, Abby stared into the most innocent of all faces. Every fibre in Shelly’s being would be telling her she should be holding her baby, and yet a deep maternal instinct also told her that a little guy needed her now. Needed his mum to hold her arms out to him, to tell him what had taken place while he’d quietly slept.

Carefully holding the baby close, Abby pulled open the laundry door.

Two blue eyes met hers, two blue bewildered little eyes in a sleep-crumpled face.

‘This is Abby, Matty,’ Kell crooned gently. ‘She’s Tennengarrah’s new doctor.’ Wisely Kell didn’t acknowledge the baby Abby was holding, leaving that introduction to Shelly.

‘Matthew.’ Shelly’s arms were outstretched, her tired face managing a bright smile, her voice, her attention, all focussed on her son. ‘Did you get a fright, sweetheart?’

He didn’t say anything, just nodded seriously as Kell carefully passed him to his mother. ‘There’s nothing to be scared of Matthew. Abby and Kell have been looking after Mummy, and look who’s finally here.’

Taking her cue, Abby stepped forward, holding the infant where her big brother could get a proper look, and the lump in her throat swelled like bread in water as Matthew peered into the swaddle of towel.

‘Baby.’ His little face broke into a smile that met each ear and the whole room seemed to relax a notch, the tension seeping out as two inquisitive eyes searched his new sister’s face. ‘My baby!’ Matthew squealed excitedly.

‘That’s right big guy, it’s your baby sister.’ Kell laughed, one eye on Matthew, the other on a wilting Shelly. Scooping Matthew out of a tired Shelly’s arms, he held the little boy closer, allowing him to touch the tiny face. ‘That’s right, don’t touch her eyes, and just give her little cheek a stroke. I’ll bet she can’t wait for you to give her a big cuddle, but do you know what, little guy? First we have to get Mummy into bed, and I’m gonna need a hand. Do you think you can help me?’

Put like that, how could Matthew refuse?

Somehow, in a matter of minutes Kell had them organised. A now over-excited Matthew turned back the sheets on the bed and plumped pillows as Kell guided a very wobbly Shelly to the main bedroom. Abby followed, carrying the newborn as carefully as if she were the crown jewels, staring down into that tiny wide-eyed face, unable to believe the feelings this ten-minute-old baby was unleashing.

Oh, Abby had held babies before, well, sort of. She’d examined more tiny chests than most people had had cooked dinners, probed more little abdomens than she cared to remember, even bounced the odd baby or two on her knee during her time on the children’s ward.

But to hold one so new, so close and for so long was doing the strangest things to her.

To know that unaided by a huge team, she had brought this wanted, precious life into the world suddenly made that medical degree seem a touch more personal.

‘You were great.’ Kell was sitting on the bed and Abby did a double take when she stepped in the bedroom. ‘Shelly’s just in the loo,’ he explained, patting the bed beside him.

‘I only did great thanks to you,’ Abby admitted, not even bothering to look up. The face of the baby held far too much appeal.

But then again…her eyes flicked up and they were met by Kell’s black, coal chips.

‘I was just giving myself a big pat on the back about how well I’d done, but I’m the first to admit that I nearly had a full-scale panic attack when I saw the baby was breech. Heaven only knows what would have happened if you hadn’t been there.’

‘It would have been exactly the same,’ Kell said with the same assurance he had used with Shelly. ‘A couple of minutes of internal panic and it would have all clicked. You know that as well as I do.’

‘I hope so. Were you even a little bit worried?’

‘No, I never worry.’ Abby gave him a disbelieving look but Kell just stood up and rapped on the en suite door. ‘Are you all right, Shelly?’

‘A couple more minutes,’ came the distant reply, and Kell frowned.

‘Don’t you go fainting on me now, Shelly. Two more minutes or I’ll come in and fetch you myself.’ Smiling, he came back from the door. ‘Hey, Matty, why don’t you go and get a toy for the baby to put in her cot?’ As Matthew scampered off, Kell sat back down. ‘I hope she’s all right in there.’

‘This is the man who less than a minute ago told me he never worried.’

Kell laughed, but just as he opened his mouth to speak the bedroom door was flung open and they both turned as a tall blond man burst in.