The Midwife's Christmas Miracle (Lakeside Mountain Rescue 5)

‘Don’t be too hard on yourself.’ His tone was firm. ‘A significant proportion of cases have absolutely no identifiable risk factors. You know that as well I do.’

Miranda was still running through the entire nightmare in her mind. ‘Perhaps I should have done something differently when I saw the head retract. I tried left lateral then I tried putting her on all fours and then I moved her through 180 degrees but it didn’t work.’

His gaze was steady. ‘You did all the right things. And you called for help immediately, which is the most important thing of all.’

‘But perhaps I should have tried the McRoberts manoeuvre first, instead of putting her on all fours. Will you explain something to me?’ Miranda chewed her lip. ‘Doesn’t lying her on her back just narrow the pelvic outlet?’

‘It corrects sacral lordosis and removes the sacral prominence as an obstruction.’

‘So you basically have more space?’

Jake grinned and lifted one of the mugs to his lips. ‘That’s the theory. Unfortunately not all babies are entirely familiar with the theory.’

‘Yes, well, that’s my other worry. What if it hadn’t worked? What then?’ Miranda was thoroughly absorbed. ‘You don’t think there’s value in performing an episiotomy presumably?’

Jake shook his head. ‘The baby is impacted under the bony structures of the pelvis and the episiotomy will only deal with soft tissues. Knowing that you’d already had her in left lateral and on all fours, if the McRoberts manoeuvre hadn’t worked then I would have tried to deliver the posterior arm, but obviously that isn’t without risk.’ He leaned forward and handed her the second mug of chocolate. ‘Now, stop worrying and drink something. You must be starving. You did well today.’

Grateful for the frothy mountain of bubbles that at least afforded her a reasonable degree of privacy, she sipped the chocolate, warmed by his reassurance. ‘I finally met Mr Hardwick.’

‘And that was doubtless an uplifting experience.’ His soft drawl made her wonder how on earth the two consultants managed to work side by side as colleagues when their approach to obstetrics was so dramatically different. They probably didn’t really work together much, she mused.

‘He was rude.’

Jake nodded and finished his chocolate. ‘Sounds fairly typical. He trained in an age when consultants were considered gods who dealt out instructions that people followed without question. These days we tend to favour discussion with the patient.’

‘If you hadn’t been in the hospital, what would have happened to that woman?’

‘Well, strictly speaking, Hardwick wasn’t on call so he didn’t have to be there.’ Jake suppressed a yawn. ‘It all comes down to whether you want to hang around if one of your patients is in. Hardwick tends to keep an eye on his private patients and ignore his less well-heeled clients.’

Miranda frowned. ‘That’s awful.’

‘Is it?’ Jake lifted an eyebrow and his gaze was faintly sardonic. ‘Would you want him around when your baby is delivered?’

Miranda shuddered. ‘Most definitely not.’

‘I rest my case. Talking of which, if you haven’t chosen an obstetrician yet, you should speak to Tom Hunter. He’s brilliant.’ Jake glanced at his watch and stood up. ‘Pizza delivery imminent. You’d better get dressed, unless you fancy wrestling with mozzarella in the bath.’

She slid further into the water. ‘I can’t get dressed with you standing there.’

He rolled his eyes. ‘Miranda, I’m an obstetrician. I’ve seen pregnant women before.’

‘You haven’t seen me.’

His eyes locked with hers and she felt colour seep into her cheeks. It was the warmth of the water that made her body heat, she told herself hastily. Nothing more. She knew better than to fall for any man, let alone a man like Jake. He was single for a reason and she had no intention of becoming another notch on his belt.

She almost laughed at her own thoughts. As if Jake would truly be interested in her! She was six months pregnant with another man’s child, for goodness’ sake. She didn’t exactly fit into the box entitled ‘Uncomplicated Relationships’. Not to mention the fact that he probably didn’t even find pregnant women attractive…

When he’d said that she was beautiful and had kissed her, it had been on Christmas Day, before he’d found out that she was pregnant. Things were very different now.

Furious with herself for allowing her thoughts to drift down that path, she glared at him. ‘Leave me in peace and I’ll get out of the bath.’

He took the empty mug from her. ‘Fair enough. I’ll meet you downstairs in five minutes. Any longer than that and I’m coming back upstairs to find you.’

‘Has anyone ever told you that you’re controlling?’

He smiled and strolled towards the door. ‘Frequently. Blame it on the job. Occasionally I’m required to make instant, unilateral decisions. Sometimes that spills into my personal life.’

She watched him leave, a small, regretful smile on her face. He was an indecently attractive man but it wasn’t his just his looks that made her stomach curl. It was his strength and his confidence.