Emergency: Mother Wanted

'Keely, come a bit closer so that you can see.'.

Keely obeyed his instruction, watching with fascination as the baby's head crowned.

'The foetal heart is dipping,' Nicky said quietly, and Zach nodded.

'Pant for me, Tina,' he said quietly. 'Don't push. Good girl, well done. Let's get this baby out.'

Keely watched as he used his left hand to control the rate of escape of the head.

'Excellent.' Having delivered the head, he allowed it to extend and then used his fingers to feel for the cord, slipping it over the baby's neck. 'There we are. Nicky, have you got the ergometrine ready?' He turned back to Tina. 'We're just going to give you something to make your uterus contract once the baby is delivered. It's perfectly normal.'

She nodded and then screwed up her face and yelled as another contraction hit her and the baby shot into Zach's waiting hands.

He placed the baby gently on Tina's stomach. 'A little girl. Congratulations.'

'Oh, Mike!' Tina looked at her husband and tears spilled down her cheeks. 'Mike, she's beautiful.'

'She certainly is.' Her husband bent down and kissed her gently, his eyes damp. 'We're a family now. A real family.'

The baby cried loudly and everyone sniffed and looked decidedly emotional. All except Zach, whose face was strangely devoid of expression.

Keely watched as he clamped the cord and cut it and then examined the vessels.

Something was the matter with him.

Was it seeing the baby born? Was it the husband's comments about being a family? It must be awful for him, seeing other happy couples with children when he—

Damn. She couldn't bear to think about how much he must be hurting.

'Keely.' His voice was slightly sharp, as if he'd guessed what she was thinking. 'Can you remember what to look for?' He was as cool and professional as ever as she moved closer to see what he was doing.

'Two arteries?'

'That's right.' He shifted his position just as a man in theatre greens walked into the room.

Zach looked up. 'You've missed the action, Jed. Sorry.'

The other man grinned and looked down at the woman on the trolley. 'Trying to give everyone a heart attack, were you, Tina?'

The young woman still looked shell-shocked. 'At least she didn't arrive while we were shopping.'

'Yes, let's be thankful for small mercies,' the obstetrician agreed, glancing at Zach. 'Any problems?'

Zach shook his head. 'I'm just delivering the placenta. Do you want to take over?'

'Not especially.' But Jed stayed close by, talking calmly to the couple, keeping an eye on proceedings. Finally he gave Zach a thump on the back.

'Well done. We'll take it from here if that's all right with you.'

'Fine.' Zach stood up and ripped off his gloves, tossing them in the bin before moving back to the trolley and smiling at Tina. 'Well done.'

'You can have a cuddle if you like,' Tina said, but Zach's smile faded and his expression was suddenly remote.

'Thanks, but I'd better not. The sooner you get up to the ward the better.'

With that he picked up the notes and glanced at Nicky. 'I'll write up the notes in my office. Can one of you take them up to the ward later?'

Nicky nodded. 'Of course.'