Survival Guide to Dating Your Boss

The midwife in charge, thank goodness, was a sensible woman, but he wouldn’t tolerate lack of respect from anyone, no matter how many windows she’d fixed for his aunt.

Marcus didn’t wait for the lift and loped down the stairs two at a time, each step more forcible than the last, until he realised what he was doing. Calm. Control.

Tilly didn’t give Dr Bennett another thought. She used a different phone to get a gurney over for her patient to transfer immediately to Theatre as soon as she had ‘his’ permission.

The ambulance arrived with her patient a minute later and Tilly directed them into the empty birthing room where she had the set-up for a catheter and IV ready to go.

Mary looked calm as usual but her hand shook slightly as she handed over her patient. ‘This is Josie. We spoke about having a Caesarean on the way in, and that we’ll have to put in a drip and catheter before surgery.’ Mary’s lilt was more pronounced with worry.

‘Hi, Josie. I’m Tilly. One of the midwives here.’ Tilly handed Mary the pre-jellied sensor from the electronic foetal monitor so they could all hear how Josie’s baby’s heart rate was.

The monitor picked up the clop-clop of the baby, a little faster than average rate but as soon as Josie started to get a contraction it slowed quite dramatically and Tilly looked at Mary. ‘I’ll just pop the drip in while we wait for the obstetrician. Dr Bennett is our new consultant and he’ll be taking over Josie’s care while she’s here.’

Tilly smiled sympathetically at the worried woman and her husband, and they all listened as Josie sighed heavily at the end of the contraction. When it was completely gone and her baby’s heart rate had slowed even more they all waited with held breath until the rate slowly picked up and finally returned to the rapid rate of a compensating baby.

Okay, baby was coping and doing a good job of conserving energy, but not for long.

Tilly went on. ‘It’s rotten luck this has happened to you, but we’ll try and keep you up to date as we go, and Mary and your husband can stay with you whatever happens.’

The door opened and a group of three doctors swarmed in like big white moths. Tilly didn’t think it was fanciful to think they seemed to shrink the room.

The tallest moth was more like an avenging angel. An archangel she’d met before. ‘I’m Dr Bennett. Fill me in, please.’

Mary stepped forward. ‘I’m Josie’s midwife.’ That was all Tilly heard for the first frozen second or two because she was staring at the disaster that stood in front of her.

She felt like slapping her forehead. Dr Bennett. Mrs Bennett. Gnome man. This was a pearler. Wait till she told the girls at home. He didn’t even look at her but somehow she knew he knew she was there.

Mary’s voice drifted back in and Tilly listened distractedly as she went back to hanging the IV flask.

‘Josie was doing beautifully, seven centimetres dilated, when we had a sudden dive of the fetal hearts with a good recovery the first time and then a repeat with a slower response.’

The chief white moth didn’t say anything and Mary hurried on. ‘Then the foetal tachycardia you can see on this graph. I’m not sure why, the response isn’t dependent on position, but in case it was a true knot or something sinister we opted to come in. Each contraction has seen a slower recovery of the deceleration in heartbeat.’

‘Of course.’ His voice gave nothing away. ‘What time did you notice the first deceleration?’

Mary glanced at her watch nervously. ‘Maybe twenty minutes ago.’

He didn’t say anything but inexcusable delay was the message everyone in the room heard. He looked away from Mary and his face softened into a reassuring smile as he leaned down and met Josie’s eyes.

‘You did the right thing, coming in.’ He nodded and rested his hand on Josie’s as she clutched the sheet. ‘We’ll have your baby out very quickly. Hang in there.’ He glanced around at the rest of the people in the room. Tilly included. ‘I want Josie on the table in ten minutes.’

Tilly felt the tiny slip of her leash and gave up on her silence. Didn’t he have any idea how attuned Mary was to her women? She struggled, but thankfully her voice came out mildly, for her, as she gave in to defence. She waved the catheter in her hand. ‘Thanks to Mary’s pre-warning, the gurney’s here and Josie’s almost ready now, Doctor.’

His glance barely acknowledged her existence as he swept out.

‘Holey dooley, thanks for the bat.’ Mary caught Tilly’s eyes and rolled them as she regathered her composure. ‘Now I know what court feels like.’

‘You do an amazing job, and have better statistics than a dozen hospitals, Mary. I don’t mind telling people. He’s new and doesn’t understand but my manager says he’s one of the best,’ she said to Josie with a grin, ‘and we’ll have you there in under ten, Josie, so bear with us.’

Josie was in Theatre in eight minutes, once she was there a very quick spinal injection that numbed her took five, and her son was born ten minutes later.

Marcus peered over the green drape that separated Josie’s upper chest from the operation site. ‘A true knot in the cord, slowly pulling tighter as he descended the birth canal.’

At least he had the grace to nod at Mary, Tilly thought. ‘You were right. Well done.’ Then he looked back at Josie. ‘A bit too dangerous for baby for a normal birth this time but he looks great now. He’ll be with you in a sec.’

At the other end, waiting to take the baby, Tilly had to admit his technique was amazing. Swift, yet sure, and by far the most gentle Caesarean she’d seen since she’d started her training.

Sometimes the tugging at the end of the operation, that time as baby’s head and body were removed after opening the uterus, could look almost brutal, but this baby had been scooped seamlessly and with a birth almost as serene as vaginal birth in water.

Tilly had to grin under her mask. No doubt another tussle she’d be having with this man.

Now that baby was safe, just waiting for his cord to be clamped and cut, Tilly could allow herself a little flutter of anticipation for the ongoing battle as she waited for Marcus to pass across their patient.

He looked calm. Calmer than he had when she’d taken him out with a gnome. Calmer than when the police car had rolled up. And to be fair, he’d been very calm and concerned and even kind when he’d come to her rescue that morning.

The surgical team had been quietly courteous and extremely efficient. The scrub sister was smiling her heart out at the pleasure of scrubbing in with him. And Tilly couldn’t help notice his eyes glance Sister’s way with a twinkle when she spoke. The silly woman was blushing over a smile and a few curling hairs at the V of his loose scrubs.

Marcus ignored the fact that he knew Matilda was watching him. He reached across and carefully laid Josie’s baby on the sterile sheet on the resuscitation trolley and stepped away from the risk of contamination as she leaned forward.

It was Marcus’s turn to watch. From the safety of his sterile field he watched the little boy wriggle on the sheet as she wiped him dry and murmured to him. It seemed she was good at her job. How annoying. He frowned at himself. That was ridiculous. That was a good thing.

He watched her as she assessed heart rate and breathing, along with colour and tone as she finished drying him.

Baby looked perfect, not distressed and she gathered him up with a deftness that spoke of experience and well-founded confidence. As she carried him around the screen to his mother, Matilda’s pleasure shone and lit up the room. He glanced away because he’d almost smiled himself.

He saw the home-birth midwife’s eyes mist as she sat beside Josie’s head on the other side of the screen, not something he would normally have noticed, and he was left with a little disquiet at how abruptly he’d dealt with her. Hopefully he’d have a chance to reassure her before she left the hospital. Had he been insensitive? At least she’d known when to call it.

The next time he looked up it was because the little boy had begun to cry loudly as Tilly unwrapped him and draped him across his mother, baby chest to mother’s breast, skin to skin. Tilly tucked one of his hands in under his mother’s armpit and settled a warmed bunny rug over both of them.

He’d got over his shock and wasn’t feeling quite as annoyed with her. But he’d have a word later. She was a militant little thing. He’d picked that up from the one comment she’d made in the birth suite. He should probably tell her he wasn’t a fan of home births.

‘Hello, my little darling. You scared us.’

Marcus heard the words as he began to suture the uterus back together. Such heartfelt relief, and he caught the moment when Josie’s husband kissed his wife’s cheek with a shuddering sigh. This was why he did this job. To keep families safe.

Half an hour later they were almost done. Baby had just let out a roar. ‘Good set of lungs,’ Marcus said as he looked over the top of the screen again and smiled warmly at the new parents, then his gaze skimmed Mary and settled on Tilly.

Tilly saw his eyes rest on her. We’ll talk later, the look said. Now baby and mum were safe he appeared to be thinking of a little discussion about her phone manner perhaps. Good.

Tilly couldn’t help the flutter under her rib cage, the flickering nervousness of a battle of wits and practice preferences, and she turned her head away from him. She looked forward to the challenge but perhaps it would be wise not to let him know.

On the return to the ward, Tilly sponged and settled Josie and her baby so Mary could go home much relieved. The rest of the ward was so busy Tilly didn’t have a chance to wonder when Marcus would come to find her.

Which was just as well because he didn’t get a chance that night, and apart from a few over-the-shoulder glances that came up empty Tilly went home with unfinished business lying between them.

Marcus woke at dawn. He didn’t know what had woken him, but he knew it was hopeless to attempt further sleep.

He rolled out of bed and stretched, seeing the sun was tinging the horizon of ocean with pink and the promise of another beautiful day. The lure of the salty tang of a sea breeze had him swiftly change into his trainers and let himself out of his aunt’s house at a slow run towards the beach.