The Midwife's Child

‘What have we got?’

‘Male who I haven’t assessed yet,’ Jed told them grimly, ‘but he’s talking. His wife is pregnant. I need to see to her—can I leave the man to one of you?’

The paramedic who stayed to assist with Linda narrowed his eyes at Jed and then grinned. ‘It’s Mr Matthews, isn’t it? Great. An obstetrician on site is a pretty lucky break.’

‘For whom?’ Jed replied dryly, working with him to stabilise the woman’s spine before lifting her from the car onto the stretcher. ‘At least your lights have improved the visibility. Now, Linda, I need to take a look at you. Are you sure you’re twenty-five weeks?’

The woman nodded and Jed tugged on some gloves provided by the paramedics and examined her, feeling the height of the uterus with a frown.

Brooke lifted her eyes to his. ‘Retroplacental bleed,’ she mouthed, and he nodded briefly.

‘Looks that way.’ He turned back to the woman, his voice calm and steady. ‘Linda, your uterus is bigger than it should be and I suspect you might be bleeding behind your placenta. We need to get you to hospital.’

‘It was a fox.’

‘Sorry?’ Brooke blinked and knelt down next to the woman. ‘What was a fox?’

‘Martin swerved to avoid a fox.’ She was sobbing quietly now and Brooke soothed her gently, holding her hand while Jed helped her into the right position.

‘She needs to get to hospital fast.’ Jed lifted his head and said to the paramedic, ‘Daniel, could you get some equipment here, please?’

‘What do you need, Mr Matthews?’

‘I need two 16 gauge cannulas. I want to give her one hundred per cent oxygen and I want to give her intravenous colloid.’

‘Coming right up.’ Daniel sprinted to the ambulance and returned with armfuls of equipment. ‘Two cannulas…’

‘Right. Squeeze her arm for me, Brooke.’ Jed gritted his teeth and breathed a sigh of relief as the first cannula slid home. ‘Now the other one.’

Soon that was in too, and Jed had attached an infusion set while Brooke attached the oxygen.

‘OK, guys, let’s get her straight to the infirmary,’ he instructed, straightening and glancing across to the husband as the second paramedic came over to assist. ‘How’s he doing?’

‘He’s fine, actually. Nasty cut on his scalp and he may have broken a couple of ribs, but he’s a lucky guy. Could have been a lot worse for him.’

Jed glanced at Brooke and she knew what he was thinking. If they didn’t get to hospital soon, things would be a lot worse. Linda was in a very bad way.

CHAPTER SEVEN

BROOKE followed the ambulance in Jed’s car, amazed that Toby was still asleep. When they arrived at the infirmary they rushed Linda straight up to theatre so that Jed could examine her properly. Brooke knew that he was worried that the placenta could be positioned low in the uterus, and any internal examination could trigger a severe haemorrhage. If he had her safely in theatre then at least he would be able to deal with the possible consequences of the examination.

Scooping her sleeping son out of the car, Brooke carried him up to the labour ward, laid him on the couch in the staffroom and covered him with a blanket.

‘I hear you’ve had a drama.’ Gill, who was still there long after she should have been off duty, popped her head round the door and gave her a curious look. ‘Jed’s gone into theatre now—do you need anything?’

Brooke shook her head, suddenly realising that the entire unit would now know that she’d arrived with Jed. Oh, well…

She made herself comfortable and settled down with a magazine and a coffee to wait for news, but it was an hour before Jed opened the door and strode into the room, his face strained.

‘What happened?’ She scrambled to her feet and he shook his head, his expression grim.

‘She had a massive haemorrhage. We stopped it eventually and the baby’s alive, but only just. It’s a tiny thing.’ He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers and gave her a sad smile. ‘They’re devastated, of course, but the truth is that Linda’s lucky to be alive at all. She lost a hell of a lot of blood.’

‘If you hadn’t been there she probably wouldn’t have made it,’ Brooke said quietly, handing him a coffee. He looked so exhausted and depressed that she wanted to hug him, but she didn’t dare. They didn’t have that sort of relationship. ‘Has the baby gone to Special Care?’

Jed nodded and sipped his coffee. ‘They’re sorting the little scrap out now, but it isn’t looking good. Oh, well. Is Toby still asleep?’

‘Certainly is.’ Brooke smiled at her son. ‘All that fresh air, I suppose. If you don’t mind giving us a lift home, I’ll put him straight to bed.’