‘He’s an excellent obstetrician.’ Miranda sat with Paula and monitored her contractions for the rest of the afternoon, and by five o’clock she was fully dilated and pushing.
Miranda hit the buzzer to ask for some help and then opened a delivery pack just as Ruth and Jake walked into the room.
‘Everything all right here?’ Jake glanced at the foetal heart rate and gave a satisfied nod. ‘That looks good. How are you doing, Paula? Tired?’
‘Determined.’ Paula screwed up her face and pushed again. ‘You’re not going to use those forceps on me or do a Caesarean section.’
‘Glad to hear it,’ Jake’
s tone was mild. ‘I’m essentially lazy by nature, so I have no intention of doing any of those things unless strictly necessary.’
‘I can see the head, Paula,’ Miranda said. ‘One more push and I think we’re there.’
Jake looked at Ruth. ‘Call the paediatrician. Just in case.’ He spoke softly so that Paula couldn’t hear, and Miranda knew that he was still slightly concerned about the baby. He was a man who didn’t take any chances and she liked that.
The paediatrician arrived just as the shoulder was delivered and the baby slithered into Miranda’s waiting hands.
Immediately the baby howled with indignation and Miranda placed him gently in Paula’s waiting arms.
‘Your son, Paula,’ she said huskily, and Paula’s eyes filled with tears.
‘Oh, he’s so beautiful…’ She turned her head against her husband’s shoulder and he held her as she started to sob.
‘I love you, Mike.’
‘I love you, too, babe. We’re a proper family now.’ Her husband’s voice was choked and Miranda swallowed down the lump in her throat.
What was the matter with her? She wasn’t usually so emotional. It was impossible to watch Paula and her husband and not wonder what it must be like to have that sort of love and support from someone.
Fortunately the delivery was far from over and she concentrated on the placenta and then on making Paula comfortable, blocking out the emotional scenes in the delivery room.
She was still holding herself firmly in check when she walked to the car with Jake.
‘That was such a nice delivery. I’m so glad it went smoothly for Paula.’
‘Me, too.’
‘They’re a lovely family.’
‘Yes.’
He glanced towards her. ‘No cynical comment? Aren’t you going to tell me that he’s probably having an affair with someone else and she’s really pleased because she hates him anyway?’
‘No.’ She interrupted him and looked away, unaware of the soft brush of snow on her cheeks. ‘No, I’m not going to tell you that. I think Paula’s lucky. I’m glad nothing went wrong. I was worried it might. You knew it would be all right, didn’t you?’
He shrugged. ‘No one can ever be certain, of course, but, yes, I had a good feeling.’
‘How? Why?’ She looked at him helplessly, wishing she had his antennae. ‘You just seem to know when something is about to go wrong and you’re always there to sort it out before things reach crisis point.’
He pressed the button on his keys and unlocked the doors. ‘That’s not instinct, that’s experience.’
‘But don’t you ever panic?’ She slid into the car and huddled her coat more closely around herself, suddenly feeling the cold. ‘Things can go wrong in the blink of an eye in obstetrics but I’ve never seen you anything but calm.’
‘Do I panic?’ He started the engine and frowned thoughtfully. ‘No. To be honest, I don’t. I just see a problem and try and solve it.’
‘You don’t worry about the responsibility? Litigation?’ Her teeth were chattering and she wished the car would warm up. ‘These days everyone is trying to sue everyone.’
Jake laughed and reversed out of his parking space. ‘Fortunately the UK isn’t as bad as the US. In America they actually have groups of lawyers dedicated to suing us obstetricians for malpractice. Delightful.’