The Doctor's Runaway Bride

‘The baby is a good size, and you’re only a day off thirty-four weeks,’ Luca said firmly, turning as Sharon appeared at the doorway. He spoke to her quietly and then turned back to Tia. ‘Let’s try not to panic until we know what we’re dealing with.’

Seconds later Sharon came in again with the relevant machines and Luca gave her a grateful nod.

‘I want to scan her and then I want her on a monitor. And could you call Dan Sutherland? I’d like his opinion.’

‘Well, he certainly owes you some time after all the clinics and Theatre lists you’ve covered for him this week,’ Sharon said immediately, her eyes on Tia. ‘Don’t you worry. You’re in the right place now and that baby of yours is going to be just fine.’

Tia forced back the tears that were threatening. She hoped they were right.

Luca scanned her carefully, checking the position of the placenta and looking for concealed bleeding.

‘There.’ He leaned forward and touched the screen with his finger to show Sharon what he’d noticed. ‘The placenta is in the upper segment and I can see just a small concealed bleed. I want her kept on a monitor, Sharon.’

Tia licked dry lips. ‘My placenta is coming away?’

Luca looked at her hesitantly. ‘Yes. But it’s only a small area—’

‘Luca, I’m a midwife,’ she reminded him in a croaky voice. ‘Small areas can become big areas.’

He sat down on the bed next to her, taking her hands in his. ‘Tia, now that we know what the problem is, we can deal with it. The baby is absolutely fine at the moment. He is still getting plenty of oxygen. We’re going to admit you to the ward here and you’re going to take it easy for a few days while we watch you.’

A lump grew in her throat at the thought of being on her own in a sterile hospital room.

She wanted to go home to their cottage.

‘This is all my fault,’ she whispered, placing a protective hand on her abdomen. ‘The baby must have known that I didn’t want it, but now I do, desperately, and—’

‘Hush.’ Luca’s voice was firm but kind. ‘Don’t torture yourself. The feelings you ha

d were perfectly normal. They certainly have no bearing on the fact that you’re bleeding. You need to try and relax, Tia. Please.’

Tia took a shuddering breath and tried to pull herself together. ‘I want to be at home—’ She almost said ‘with you’ but stopped herself just in time. The last thing he wanted was her all over him. They were good friends and they had an amazing sex life, but that was it.

‘Well, if you’re worried about not seeing Luca, don’t be,’ Sharon said briskly, helping Tia back into the wheelchair. ‘The man has a second home here in case you hadn’t noticed. He can sleep in the spare on-call room on the ward if he likes.’

‘Good idea.’ Luca nodded immediately. ‘I’ll pick up some stuff later and move in until you’re sorted out.’

The knowledge that he’d be close to her made her relax for the first time since she’d arrived at the hospital, and she gave him a grateful smile.

He might not love her but she certainly couldn’t fault the way he behaved towards her. He was very attentive and caring.

‘Right.’ He rubbed a hand over his face and took a deep breath, obviously marshalling his thoughts. ‘Let’s get you up to the ward and then I want to do a haemoglobin, a coagulation screen and a Kleihauer test.’

Dan Sutherland strolled into the room at that moment, his expression concerned as he looked at Tia.

‘What’s been happening to you, then?’

Luca filled him in and Dan nodded slowly. ‘Right. We really need to do a speculum examination as well. Would you rather I did that?’

Tia nodded, her cheeks flaming red. It shouldn’t have been embarrassing to be examined by Luca but she knew that it would be.

Sensitive to her feelings, Luca mentioned something about fetching some blood bottles and strode out of the room, leaving her with Dan and Sharon.

‘Poor chap.’ Dan glanced after him, a sympathetic expression in his eyes. ‘It’s never easy, having someone you love as the patient. He looks so stressed.’

Tia was hardly aware of what Dan was doing as he carried out his examination. It was true that Luca was stressed, but she knew that it was because of the baby, not her. She knew just how much the baby meant to him.

‘The bleeding is definitely from the uterine cavity,’ Dan said finally, tearing off his gloves and tossing them in the bin. ‘How far on are you? Thirty-three weeks—nearly thirty-four.’ He frowned down at her notes, lost in thought. ‘All right. Sharon, let’s give her some dexamethasone because I have a feeling that this baby might decide to make an appearance early.’