LITMIR.BIZ

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watched sets of wheels flash past. That was an ECG monitor and those were a tangle of IV stands. A drug trolley was being pushed in the opposite direction. She could hear the sounds of a busy emergency department all around her. If she’d been on her feet, in her scrubs, with her stethoscope around her neck, this would all be perfectly normal.

      She’d never been on this side of the fence before.

      Or realised just how horribly vulnerable it made you feel.

      ‘We’re going to get you onto the bed,’ someone told her. ‘We’ll lift you. Don’t try and help.’

      ‘We’ll put her in an exaggerated Sims’ position to start with.’ Ellie didn’t recognise this male voice. ‘Left lateral with at least two pillows to support the pelvis. Lower the head of the bed, too. And get some oxygen on the mother.’

      The mother? Ellie squeezed her eyes tightly shut. She wasn’t supposed to be about to become the mother. This was a nightmare. Maybe she’d wake up in a minute to find Ava and Marco standing there. Smiling. Excited to be about to meet their new baby...

      This was a slightly more dignified position, at least, but she still had a restricted visual field. She could see the length of the body in dark green scrubs beside her, but it wasn’t until he crouched that she could see the face that belonged to that new voice. Tanned skin. Kind of wild brown hair with blond streaks. Hazel eyes. He looked like he’d just come out of some surf, on a hot summer’s day, with a board casually slung under one arm.

      ‘Hi, Ellie. I’m Luke Gilmore, one of the doctors here. I’m just going to have a look and see what’s going on, okay?’

      As another contraction gathered force, Ellie could only nod.

      Luke Gilmore? He had to be new here. A locum? She’d stopped work three weeks ago to rest and prepare for the birth so she hadn’t met him. She hadn’t even heard his name.

      Or had she? It did seem vaguely familiar...

      With the contraction reaching its peak, the thought was obliterated by pain. She pushed her fist into her mouth but couldn’t stifle a cry.

      For a long moment, nothing existed except the pain but then she became aware of the voices around her.

      ‘What was the time interval for that last contraction?’

      ‘Two minutes.’

      ‘Estimated blood loss?’

      ‘Five hundred mils on scene.’ The paramedics were still there. ‘We put in a wide bore IV and she’s had a litre of saline so far.’

      ‘She’s still bleeding. Let’s get another litre going.’

      That was this Dr Gilmore’s voice. Did he know what he was doing? He certainly sounded confident enough. Ellie could feel that her lower body was bare now. Maybe it was a good thing that she didn’t know this person but there were plenty of people she did know seeing a lot more of her than they ever had before. Not that she cared. Nothing mattered right now other than to get through this safely. There was a baby’s life at stake. Maybe even her own, if she was still losing so much blood.

      She could feel a hand inside her.

      ‘Ah...’ The sound was hard to interpret. Satisfaction...or concern? ‘Ellie? You’re going to feel me pushing. I need to take the pressure off the cord.’

      He still sounded calm, this Luke. And she could feel him pushing hard against the baby’s head.

      ‘Any risk factors in the pregnancy?’

      ‘Not that we know of.’ The paramedic sounded embarrassed. It was a question they should have asked.

      ‘Low lying placenta,’ Ellie said, but her voice was muffled behind the oxygen mask.

      ‘Sorry, what was that?’ Luke was still pushing against her baby’s head to ensure it was clear of the cord but he leaned sideways so that she could see his face as she turned her head. In the bustle of people and activity around her, there was something very calming in the steady gaze of those hazel eyes that were visible again.

      ‘I’ve had a low-lying placenta. Only marginal but I was due for another scan this week and possible admission for observation and a C section if indicated.’

      She saw the flicker of surprise in his eyes at her clinical information.

      ‘Ellie’s a nurse,’ someone behind him said. Sue had come into the resus area. ‘She’s one of our best ED nurses, in fact.’

      Luke’s face disappeared from her line of sight. ‘Where’s our Obs consult?’

      ‘Here.’ A female voice who sounded rather nervous.

      ‘This is Anne Duffy,’ Sue said. ‘O&G registrar.’

      Maybe Luke had picked up on the nervousness. ‘Have you got a theatre available? We’ve got a cord prolapse here. She’s fully dilated but still in stage one. We’re looking at either an emergency C section or an operative delivery.’

      ‘No.’ Anne sounded young as well as nervous. ‘We’re in the middle of a C section for triplets. It’s got most of our staff tied up for a while but it shouldn’t be too long until one of the consultants is available. Is the baby distressed?’

      Maybe it was her imagination but Ellie thought she heard Luke sigh. ‘Have we got that foetal monitor hooked up yet?’

      ‘Yes. Baby’s heart-rate is one-thirty. No, hang on...one-ten... It’s dropping...’

      Ellie could feel her own heart-rate increasing. This was suddenly getting very serious. If the baby’s heart-rate was dropping, it meant that the head was finally putting too much pressure on the cord despite the interventions. The clock was ticking now...

      And something else was changing.

      ‘I need to push,’ she said.

      ‘Don’t push.’ The registrar definitely sounded nervous now. Terrified, even? ‘Take deep breaths. Try and go limp. Relax your pelvic floor.’

      If Ellie had had any spare breath right then, it might have come out as an incredulous huff. Just how much experience had this junior doctor had? She fought the urge to push, her face scrunched as tightly as possible against the pain.

      ‘Heart-rate’s down to eighty,’ someone said.

      ‘Not too long isn’t good enough.’ There was a different note in Luke’s voice now. He had made a decision and was taking control. ‘Lay out the forceps kit, please. Can someone put out an urgent page and get a paediatrician down here, stat? Anne—take over here. Two fingers on the baby’s head and upward pressure, okay?’

      ‘Got it.’

      ‘Have you done a forceps delivery?’

      ‘I’ve assisted with one.’

      ‘Ellie? Can you hear me?’

      ‘Y-yes.’ Her voice came out sounding oddly croaky. Frightened...

      Luke was crouched right beside her now, his face only a few inches from her own.

      ‘We need to get your baby out as soon as possible. You’re fully dilated and with the help of forceps we can do it. I’ve done a long stint in obstetrics and have experience in assisted delivery. Are you happy for me to go ahead?’

      There was nothing about this that Ellie was happy about. But there was something in those eyes that gave her something to cling to.

      Confidence. Hope...

      She nodded, giving her consent.

      ‘We can give you some Entonox but there’s no time for any other pain relief to kick in. It’s going to be a bit rough. I’m sorry...’

      He was sorry. He looked as though he would take that impending pain himself rather than inflict

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