Baby Miracle In The Er

‘Yes, it was—and I don’t regret it.’

He must be strong to do that. At a young age the temptation to stay in the limelight would’ve been hard to ignore. She needed to follow his example as she got on with living back here. Days like today would occur occasionally, but she couldn’t let them decimate her. Her reaction to the birth of those twins had to be a one-off—anguish to be dealt with and put away. She needed to be strong, too.

A big, warm hand covered one of her smaller, chilled ones. ‘Tell me?’

He could see her thoughts? Probably not hard when her mouth wasn’t lifted in a smile any more, her hands had grown cold and her body had sagged forward.

‘I had IVF once.’

He didn’t look shocked, only sad for her. ‘You lost your baby?’

‘I didn’t get that far. Thank goodness. It was bad enough not conceiving with all the help available, but to get pregnant, feel your babies grow inside your belly and then lose them is beyond my comprehension.’

‘But you came close to understanding today?’

Oh, God. This wasn’t easy. Yet it felt good to tell Michael. She hadn’t talked about this to anyone since Freddy had left her.

‘I was probably way off the mark, but, yes, I hurt. For Melanie. For me. For those babies. Hers and the ones I can’t have.’

Michael was up and around the table, sliding in beside her, his arm around her shoulder bringing her close to his warm body.

‘You’re resilient. You might’ve had a wee moment in ED, but then you straightened up and got on with your job—saving others.’

It hadn’t been that easy, but she had found an inner strength. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered.

He pushed her glass towards her. ‘Were you married or in a relationship?’

‘Married for four years. Thought it was for ever. We both did. But the pressure of undergoing fertility treatment was hard...having it fail was much worse. We didn’t survive.’

Gulping at the beer, she thought back to Freddy and his tears the day he’d told her he couldn’t stay any longer, that he’d given all he had, his tank was empty.

‘I don’t blame Freddy for going. It was one of those mazes neither of us could find a way out of.’

Counselling might have worked, if Freddy had agreed to attend, but he’d refused. He was a man, and men didn’t do spilling their hearts to strangers. Not him, anyway. Not even for her, no matter how much she’d pleaded. Over was over, and he didn’t want to be with her any more.

‘He should’ve stuck to you like glue.’ Michael was tense against her, his voice fierce. ‘Not walked away when the going got tough.’

She pulled away from Michael’s arm, slid along the seat to put space between them. Staying curled against him was making her punch-drunk. His defence of her was wonderful, but it undermined her determination to go it alone in her quest to get her future sorted and never be rejected by anyone again. She’d promised herself she’d get over Michael when she returned home—not fall in love with him.

‘Freddy did the right thing for him, and ultimately for us. At first I hated him for going, but I’ve accepted the inevitability of it. If we couldn’t survive that, we weren’t as strong a couple as I believe couples should be.’

Their fish and chips arrived at that moment, and Stephanie didn’t miss the relief pouring through Michael. He didn’t have an answer to what she’d just said. Hell, she hadn’t even known that was what she thought until thirty seconds ago. It was all new to her, but it felt absolutely right.

Tapping her glass against his, she smiled. ‘Thanks for listening. I feel a lot better than I have at any time since picking up Melanie.’

Now she’d eat, and enjoy the fact that Michael had come out with her, before heading home to catch up on much needed sleep. Oh, and to tick another box—she’d found she might have the courage to stay put for ever this time.

She’d also told Michael about her infertility. So what? That wasn’t on her list, no, but at least there’d be no ugly surprises in the future if they did spend more time together. Which they weren’t going to do. Getting over him once and for all was the goal. The ultimate box to be ticked off.

But there was no denying he’d made her feel soft and warm when he’d got so uptight about Freddy. She didn’t need anyone guarding her back, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t kind of cool when Michael did it.

CHAPTER THREE (#u85e6e138-1518-536f-8ba7-c988e5e10359)

‘CARDIAC ARREST!’ STEPH YELLED through to the front. ‘I’m going to counter-shock.’

Waiting for Kath to pull over and stop, she checked the defibrillator that had been attached to their patient since they’d arrived at the factory where he worked as an electrician. She set it to start the moment Kath gave her the go-ahead.

‘Go!’ Kath called as she clambered through to join them.

‘Stand back.’ Steph punched the button on the machine.

Gavin Broad’s body jerked, then slumped.

Kath watched the flat line on the defib screen. ‘Negative.’

‘Stand back.’

Another electric current whacked the man.

‘We have a heartbeat. Erratic, but it’s there.’

Kath continued to read the printout while Steph took his respiratory rate.

‘Thank goodness for small miracles.’

Their man had mistakenly cut a live wire with clippers that hadn’t been insulated. His workmates had been quick to recognise that his heart had stopped and used the AED, but Gavin had arrested twice. A cardiologist was his best chance, and they weren’t far from Auckland Central’s ED.

Having to stop while applying the electric shock treatment was necessary for the patient’s safety as well as Kath’s and hers, but the delay sucked.

The ambulance lurched as Kath drove back out onto the road, sirens and lights going full blast. Steph focused on the heart monitor and on taking observations. This man was not going to die on her watch.

‘Gavin, we’re nearly at the hospital,’ she told him. ‘Then you’ll be in expert hands.’

Michael’s hands until the cardiologist arrived? He would pass up any case he was working on to take a stat one—unless another specialist was free already.

Her patient didn’t react, just kept breathing shallowly. Not good, but at least he was alive. A third shock would be drastic, but she’d do it if she had to.

The ambulance swung in a wide circle, started backing up.

‘We’re here?’

‘Yes, and we’ve got a reception committee waiting,’ Kath answered.

She’d parked and had the back doors open as quickly as Steph had the defibrillator attached to the gurney and the Patient Report Form ready for handover.

‘Who have we got?’

The question came from the man she’d been hoping to get a glimpse of.