LITMIR.BIZ

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with her reply. She had every reason to gloat that close to seeing the end in sight but still she was hesitant to accept praise. He also realised that he had been wrong to judge the procedure. Perhaps, in fact, Juliet had made the right call with the quads. And if the babies all continued to grow, they would be able to prolong the pregnancy for at least a few more weeks until the uterus became too large, but by that time the babies would be all viable and have a good chance at a healthy life.

      The final artery was the most difficult to locate due to Baby B’s position. All eyes were on the monitor as Juliet carefully manoeuvred around the tiniest twin.

      ‘We have a problem,’ the neonatal cardiologist announced. ‘Baby B’s struggling, he’s clearly in stress.’

      Charlie stepped forward again to observe the screen. The invasive procedure had been delayed by the fact it was four babies, not two, and it had adversely affected the smallest quad.

      ‘I’m ceasing laser now,’ Juliet told the room, then quickly but delicately removed the fetoscope but it was too late. Without warning Georgina’s water broke. The operating table was saturated with the amniotic fluid of the boys. The girls, in a separate sac, were unaffected but that would not mean they were safe. If the boys were to be born, so would the girls.

      ‘I’ll take over from here. We’re in labour and delivering,’ Charlie announced as he removed his protective laser glasses, switched them for clear glasses and stepped up to the operation table. He looked over the blue curtain to the Abbiatis. ‘Georgie, Leo, your children are on their way,’ he said, before turning his attention back to the immediate task. ‘Nurses, please prepare for a Caesarean section—we have four twenty-nine-week foetuses that are neither large nor strong enough to pass through the birth canal.’

      Immediately Juliet stepped back as she watched the surgical tray swing around in reach of Charlie. She approached Georgina and Leo, leaving the operation table free for Ella and the other midwife to approach and assist.

      ‘The epidural was our safety net,’ Juliet said softly. ‘It won’t be too long before your babies are born.’

      ‘But...they’re...too...tiny,’ Georgina stated with fear paramount in each staggered word.

      ‘They’re small but, thanks to Dr Warren’s suggestion of the epidural, we’re more than adequately prepared. There’ll be no delay in delivering all four babies and that is an important factor. They will be assessed by the neonatal team and then moved quicker to neonatal ICU.’

      Carefully but with haste appropriate to the situation, Charlie made the first incision at the base of Georgina’s engorged stomach, cutting through the outer layer of muscle. Then carefully he prised open the first incision to reveal the almost translucent uterus that had been stretched to capacity with the four babies. Once through to that layer, Charlie cut the unbroken amniotic sac of the girls, and, reaching in, he carefully pulled free the first of the tiny infants. Carefully he placed the baby in the first neonatal nurse’s hands while he clamped the umbilical cord. One clamp for the first baby, who was named by the team, Baby C. The second girl followed a few minutes later; it was Baby D and she had two clamps. Baby D was slightly larger and began to cry immediately. Quickly she was taken by the second midwife. Then came Baby A and finally the smallest of them all, Baby B, who had been against his mother’s spine. Removing him from the womb proved tricky as he was the smallest and the most fragile. She could see the concern in Charlie’s eyes but along with it was sheer determination. Finally he was pulled free, blue and almost translucent, but alive.

      Juliet watched in awe as Charlie tenderly held the tiny infant while the final cord was clamped. The paediatric team worked alongside the neonatal nurses to assess all of the babies. But it was Baby A that caused the greatest concern. He had been the recipient baby and, while not the smallest, his heart had been pumping furiously for the previous twelve hours as Georgina had teetered on the periphery of stage five.

      Charlie’s focus remained with Georgina. There were still two placentas that needed to be delivered and then the painstaking work of closing the Caesarean section. Juliet remained with Georgina and Leo. It was where she was most needed at that time. With a heartfelt admiration for Charlie, she watched as he expertly began to repair the opening that had allowed Lily, Rose, Rupert and Graham to enter the world.

      * * *

      ‘You’re an incredibly skilled obstetrician and you have no idea how very grateful I am that you were in Theatre today,’ Juliet commented as she removed the disposable gown over her scrubs. ‘I’m just sorry you had to use your skills.’ She was waiting for what she knew would follow. And what she knew would be a fair call. I told you so.

      But it didn’t. Instead, she received the most unexpected praise.

      ‘I did okay, but your skills are second to none, Juliet. I observed you mapping the placenta’s vascular pathways. Not an easy task with two babies, but with four it was a miracle and you managed to cauterise all but one artery. And if you’d been provided the time then the quads would still be happily tucked inside Georgina for another few weeks. But fate had another idea.’

      Juliet pulled her surgical cap free. ‘So you’re not upset that I tried. I thought you would be...and justifiably so.’

      Charlie turned to face her. ‘The opposite, actually.’

      ‘Now I’m confused.’

      ‘If you hadn’t pushed for the fetoscopic laser surgery, Juliet, then Rupert’s heart would’ve remained overworked for another twelve hours and it might have been too late. We wouldn’t have done another scan until tomorrow and there’s every chance he would have gone into heart failure during the night. We would not have had the opportunity to save him.

      ‘I’m very glad you came all the way from Australia to fight me on this. You saved at least one baby’s life. If not all four.’

       CHAPTER TWELVE

      ‘THANK YOU, CHARLIE. That was an unexpected compliment.’

      ‘Perhaps unexpected but not undeserved. I think you know me well enough after the last few days together to know that I don’t hold back my opinion, whether others want to hear it or not. In this case I hope you want to hear it. And while I didn’t initially agree, you proved me wrong and that rarely happens.’

      ‘As I said, your compliment was unexpected but very much appreciated,’ Juliet said as she removed her surgical gloves and dropped them in the designated bin along with her surgical cap and gown. ‘There were a few scary moments in there and I must admit I felt a little out of my depth more than once.’

      Charlie slipped his surgical cap free and ran his fingers through his hair. ‘You seemed pretty poised and in control even when it all went south.’

      ‘I may have looked composed but my mind was the duck’s feet paddling underneath at a million miles an hour. You were the star today.’

      Charlie smiled at her analogy and Juliet thought it was the most incredible smile.

      ‘Seriously, you need to take credit where it’s due. Teddy’s are so fortunate to have you on staff. You could move permanently to anywhere in the world. There would be so many hospitals that would love to steal you, of that I’m sure.’

      ‘What about you?’ he answered quickly, still looking into her eyes with an intensity she had not experienced.

      The deep blue pools were threatening to pierce the last barriers of resistance to him. Watching him so expertly and confidently lead the team and deliver the four babies safely had brought a new level of admiration for him that she knew few, if any, other doctors could surpass. But Juliet still wasn’t sure what he meant. Was he asking if she wanted to steal him? The answer of course would be yes, if she could dull the alarm bells ringing in her head and bury her doubts.

      ‘I’m not sure what you mean?’ she asked nervously.

      He crossed his

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