Brooke felt a rush of admiration. He always seemed to know just the right thing to say in any situation.
Mrs Baxter took several deep breaths and winced as Carly screamed again. Then she marched off down the corridor towards the exit of A and E.
‘Mum, no!’ Carly’s sobs doubled as she saw her mother disappearing. ‘Mum, I’m sorry. Oh, the pain—help! I’m dying, I’M DYING!’
Jed watched Mrs Baxter go and muttered something unrepeatable under his breath, before turning his attention back to Carly.
‘She needs pain relief, poor kid. Let’s move her fast,’ he said quietly, his large hand smoothing the girl’s hair. ‘All right, sweetheart. Take a deep breath and we’ll have you straight in a minute.’
Fifteen minutes later Jed had examined her thoroughly and declared everything fine.
‘What happens now?’ Carly asked, her face white with panic and distress as she glanced at the ever-increasing number of people around her bed.
Jed followed her glance and frowned. ‘How on earth did we manage to accumulate this much of an audience? OK, everyone out except Brooke, please.’
He turned back to Carly, settling himself on the bed next to her, his strong hand covering hers. ‘Everyone around here gets a bit over-excited when a baby is about to be born. It’s a very special event, sweetheart.’
Carly shook her head from side to side, her breathing still erratic. ‘No. No! I don’t want a baby. I’m scared—help me!’
Her body convulsed with sobs again and Jed looked at Brooke, for once out of his depth. ‘You try.’
Brooke followed her instincts and did what seemed right. She scooped the sobbing teenager into her arms and held her tightly, murmuring soothing words in a soft voice while she stroked her hair.
Over her head Jed raised his brows and waited, both of them hoping that some physical comfort might calm the child down. It did. Soon the sobs lessened but Carly didn’t move, still clinging tightly to Brooke even when a contraction ripped through her plump frame, causing more howls.
Jed frowned and looked at Brooke, his voice soft. ‘What do you reckon? Epidural?’
Brooke pulled a face. ‘She just needs calming down. How about the pool? Gill was going to get one of the birthing rooms ready. It might do the trick.’
Jed looked at the exhausted girl and shrugged. ‘Well, there’s no reason why she shouldn’t have a normal delivery and I certainly don’t want to intervene unless I have to. We could give the pool a try, but isn’t she a bit beyond the touch of aromatherapy oils and candles?’
‘You’d be surprised.’ Brooke shifted slightly so that she could look at Carly. ‘Carly? It won’t be long until you have your baby and you’re very tense at the moment. We’re going to take you through to the next room and put you in a lovely warm bath with some nice smellies and candles. And then you and I are going to have a lovely, cosy chat, like sisters.’
Carly looked at her and nodded, her eyes dull with pain, and without further ado Jed and Brooke wheeled her into the next room and helped her into the water.
‘I’m going to leave you to it,’ Jed said quietly. ‘I think the fewer people the better, and my new senior reg wants to talk to me about the correct course of action in certain circumstances.’
He rolled his eyes expressively, and in spite of the tension Brooke smothered a grin. Unless she was mistaken, Brian Wells was about to receive the sharp end of Jed’s tongue.
Supported by the water, Carly calmed down significantly and Brooke lit the candles and put some soft music on the CD player. Suddenly the room wasn’t part of a hospital any more, but was somewhere cosy and safe, somewhere that any woman would want to give birth. One of the midwives had even found a few soft toys and had piled them on the bed for Carly. Brooke sighed as she looked at them. She was ready to bet that Carly hadn’t moved beyond the stuffed-toy stage herself yet.
She knelt down by the pool and checked the baby’s heart with the underwater ultrasound, satisfied with what she heard. ‘Oh, listen to that, Carly! Can you hear the little heart?’
She tried to involve the girl, to work up some excitement, but Carly looked more scared than ever. ‘It’s really going to happen, isn’t it?’
‘It certainly is,’ Brooke said with a gentle smile. ‘Did you really not know you were pregnant?’
Carly looked sheepish. ‘Well, I did wonder, but we only did it once…’
Brooke bit her lip. ‘It only takes the once, Carly.’
‘Well, I know that now, don’t I?’ Carly dipped further under the water, her eyes closed. ‘Oh, this feels brill. I couldn’t have told my mum, you know. She’d have gone off the deep end, like she just did.’
‘It was just the shock, Carly,’ Brooke soothed, ‘She’ll come round.’
‘She won’t forgive me.’ Carly’s voice was a thin whisper and Brooke gritted her teeth. If she could find Mrs Baxter she’d throttle her. She ought to be here with Carly, supporting her child through thick and thin.
‘Just try and relax, Carly. Feel the water around you…’ Brooke strok