He could hear the auctioneer’s warning. Confused, but also needing to get over to her, Ben put in a ridiculously high bid, heard the gasp of shock from the crowd. Ignoring the rest of the proceedings, he waded through the crowd towards her.
‘I think my waters just broke!’
‘It’s okay,’ he said soothingly.
‘No, it’s not.’ She was shivering, shock setting in as realisation hit. ‘I’m only thirty-four weeks.’
‘Thirty-four-weekers do very well...’ He could hear his calm voice, only the blood was pounding in his temples as he pulled out his phone. ‘Come on, let’s get you sitting down. I’ll call an ambulance.’
‘There’s nowhere to sit!’ she shrilled. The sun was suddenly hot on her head, her mouth filling with saliva. ‘Ben, I think it’s coming...’
The real-estate agent had come over to congratulate him, the house apparently his now, but Ben wasn’t listening.
‘We need to get her inside,’ he stated.
‘Excuse me?’ the agent said.
‘Ben...’ She was moaning now, whimpering in terror. ‘I’ve got pain...’
‘She needs to be inside.’ Ben was walking her to the entrance at the side of the house, taking her weight. ‘She needs some privacy...’
‘You can’t just go in!’
‘I just bought the house!’ Ben snapped. ‘She’s about to give birth. Where do you want her to do it—on the street?’ He gave up walking her then and picked her up—and such was his authority that the real-estate agent actually opened the side gate for him. ‘Now, call an ambulance,’ Ben ordered, ‘and tell them it’s a premature baby...’ He had her beneath the willow tree now and she was wriggling out of his arms, already starting to strain. Ben realised with alarm that there was no chance of getting her inside. ‘And say there’s a doctor in attendance.’
‘Is there anything I can do?’ The man he had waved to each morning, the man he had just bought a house from, was now there, being practical and helpful. ‘Some towels,’ Ben said as his wife rushed off and he struggled to be calm, to be professional. It was a delivery, he told himself, he was more than capable of dealing with that. Only he could see her terrified eyes...
‘I need you to listen to me, Celeste.’ He had pulled down her panties and examined her. The baby wasn’t waiting for the ambulance, it wasn’t waiting for anything... ‘This is a small baby, so we’re going to try and slow it down.’ It was important that they did so, as a rapid delivery could cause damage to the fragile brain. ‘You’re not to push,’ he warned Celeste. ‘We want this to happen as slowly and as gently as we can...’
She had never been more petrified—the thought of her baby coming so soon and here, no hospital, no shiny equipment... Yet she was suddenly desperate to bear down, to push, only Ben was telling her to just breathe through it, to resist this desperate urge—and she knew why. ‘It’s too fast...’
‘Your body will have been preparing for this for hours, you just didn’t know.’ He smiled. ‘We just need to slow down this last bit.’
He was right. All morning she had felt restless—trying to lie in bed, to read, to rest. She’d had a shower and then gone back to bed, then decided to go and look at the auction...
‘It’s coming,’ she moaned.
It was. Nothing was going to slow down her baby’s entrance to the world, and she was so glad Ben was here and terrified that he might not have been.
‘What if I’d been at home, what if...?’
‘You’d have coped!’ Ben cut short her what-ifs. ‘And you’re coping well now.’
‘I’m sorry we’re not talking.’ She panted with the effort of not pushing. ‘I’m sorry to do this to you...’
‘I’m glad to be here,’ Ben said, ‘I’ve done this pl—’ He didn’t continue, as he’d just seen that the cord was around the neck, but not tightly, and he slipped it over. Only it wasn’t just that which had halted his words. Yes, he had delivered babies over the years, yes, he had done this plenty of times before.
Just not like this.
Not like this, with his heart in his mouth, as he held a tiny head in his hand and guided a pale life into the world.
Not like this, as he delivered the babe onto Celeste’s stomach, rubbed at its back, flicked at its feet. He knew it would breathe, the doctor in him knew that it had only been a minute, but for Ben it was one very long minute, the babe floppy and cyanosed, its heart rate tipping almost low enough that if it went down further he would have to commence CPR. He could hear Celeste’s pleas and they matched his thoughts, willing the ambulance faster with oxygen for this little one. He turned the baby over, its back now on Celeste’s stomach, and felt his head lighten in relief as the tiny baby startled and took its first breath.
‘It’s not crying,’ Celeste sobbed.
‘She will,’ he promised.
‘She?’ Ben was no midwife—maybe it should have been for mum to find out herself, except the baby was too fragile and sick for anything other than practicality.
‘You’ve got a daughter,’ Ben said, ‘and she needs to be kept warm.’ He kept the little one on her mother’s stomach, and wrapped them both in towels, relieved to finally hear the sirens.
‘I got some string....’ The woman who had got the towels had been busy and had the ambulance not been pulling up Ben would have cut the cord then. He was seriously worried at the babe’s lack of response. She was breathing, but with effort, little bubbles coming out of her mouth with each breath. The paramedics were straight onto it—suctioning her little airway, even the tiniest oxygen mask swamping her tiny features as Ben clamped and cut the cord.
‘We might radio through...’ The paramedic looked at Ben, a quick decision being made between them without words—to attempt IV access and work to stabilise her here, or to scoop and run and get her to the hospital which was just a short drive away, depending on the traffic?
‘Let’s get her to hospital,’ Ben said, and the paramedic nodded, wrapping her up in towels.
‘We’ll send another vehicle for Mum,’ the paramedic said.
‘No, I want to go with her...’ Celeste was sobbing, shivering and shaking, stunned at the speed of it all.
‘She needs to get to hospital quickly.’ Ben’s voice was kind but non-negotiable. ‘Can you stay with Celeste for a moment?’ He spoke with the woman who had been so helpful. She had brought pillows and blankets from the house now and was doing her best to make Celeste comfortable. ‘I’m going to help them get the baby settled in the ambulance and then I’ll be back.’
‘No,’ Celeste sobbed. ‘Go with her. Please.’
There was a flash of confusion at his own thought process then, only he didn’t pursue it—there wasn’t time. He nodded his acquiescence and held the infant as the ambulance sped them the short distance to the hospital. Her little lungs were filling up with fluid and Ben held the oxygen mask close to her face, but allowing room for the paramedic to suction. There was a little probe attached to her ear and her oxygen saturation was low but not dire...
The ambulance swept through the streets, slowing down at High Street, which was filled with Saturday shoppers and weekend drivers, and Ben felt his tension rising as it braked and accelerated, the siren blasting out.
Then he looked beyond the mask and the flaring nostrils and he saw the creamy vernix-flattening dark curls, and navy eyes that were nowhere near able to focus, except he felt as if she was looking straight at him.
It was a bizarre moment of connection, and it was Ben who tore his eyes away first.
He was only the doctor.
This baby’s mother was just a friend...
Then the hospital was in view, and he could see Belinda waiting outside. As the ambulance opened he didn’t hand the little one over, but ran inside to Resus with the precious bundle—the resuscitation cot warmed and waiting, paediatricians and Raji there, and only then did he hand her over...
And only then did he realise how terrified he had been. A cold sweat was drenching him as he saw the urgency in the assembled staff, and he knew that this was no overreaction. He saw how very sick this little baby was and he was unable to speak for a moment as he struggled to get his breath.
He headed over to the sink as the paramedics gave the handover, and Ben took a long drink directly from the tap, before walking back to where they were working.
Raji had placed a tube down her nose and was suctioning her airway more deeply, the paediatrician had just inserted an umbilical line and fluids were now being delivered. She looked a touch more feisty than she had, her face scrunching in displeasure, little fists bunching and legs kicking a small protest...
‘She was very flat...’ Ben gave the Apgar scores. ‘It was a very rapid delivery.’