Twin Surprise For The Single Doc

She nodded her consent as the contraction began to subside, along with her uncontrollable need to push.

‘Breathe slowly and deeply,’ he said while he stroked her arm and waited for the contraction to pass before he began his examination. Twins made the birth so much more complicated, along with his lack of equipment and the risk of losing the lights.

‘Have you delivered many babies?’

‘Yes, I’ve delivered many babies, Claudia, but never in an elevator and not for...’

The elevator phone rang and stopped Patrick from explaining how long it had been since his last delivery. Instinctively, he answered the phone. ‘Yes?’

‘This is the utilities manager. We’re working to have you out as soon as possible but it may be another twenty minutes to half an hour. Our only rostered technician is across town. How’s the young woman?’

‘She’s in labour.’

‘Hell... Okay, that’s gonna be brutal on her.’ The man’s knee-jerk reaction was loud. ‘I’ll put the tech to get here ASAP or get an off-duty one over there stat. We’ve already got an ambulance en route.’

‘That would be advisable,’ Patrick responded in an even tone, not wanting to add to Claudia’s building distress. ‘I’m about to assess her progress but you need to ensure there are two ambulances waiting when your technician gets us out. We’re dealing with the birth of two premature infants so ensure the paramedics are despatched with humidicribs and you have an obstetrician standing by with a birthing kit including cord clamps and Syntocinon.’ Then he lowered his voice and added, ‘And instruct them to bring plasma. There’s always the slight risk of a postpartum haemorrhage.’ With that he hung up the phone to let the team outside do their best to get medical help to them as soon as possible.

He immediately turned his attention back to Claudia, who lay against the elevator wall with small beads of perspiration building on her brow and the very palpable fear of what lay ahead written on her face.

‘I don’t want my babies to die.’

‘Claudia, you need to listen to me,’ he began with gentleness in his voice along with a reassuring firmness. ‘We are going to get through this. Your babies will be fine but you need to help me.’

Claudia couldn’t look at him. She couldn’t lift her gaze from her stomach and the babies inside of her. Fear surged through her veins. It was real. They weren’t getting out of the elevator. No one was coming to rescue them. No one was going to take her to the hospital. The harsh reality hit her. Her babies would be born inside the metal walls that surrounded them.

And they might not survive.

‘I am going to have to cut your underwear free. I don’t want to try and lift you and remove it.’

Claudia felt her heart race and her mind spin. She was losing control and the fear was not just physical. Deep inside, she knew the odds were stacked against her and her boys but she appreciated that Patrick hadn’t voiced that. The man with the sunglasses wasn’t anything close to what she’d thought. He was about to bring her sons into the world.

And she suddenly had no choice but to trust him.

Her hand ran across her mouth and tugged at her lips nervously. ‘Fine, just do it,’ she managed to say as she steeled herself for what was about to happen to her, her boys and Patrick as the urge to push and the pain began to overtake her senses once again.

Patrick ripped off the gloves that had handled the elevator telephone, covered his hands in antibacterial solution and slipped on another pair of gloves. Carefully using sterile scissors, he gently cut her underwear from her and checked the progress of her labour.

‘You are fully dilated and your first son’s head is visible,’ he told her. ‘Labour is moving fast and you’re doing great. Just keeping breathing slowly...’

His words were cut short by the cry she gave with the next painful contraction. More painful than the previous one.

‘I can’t do this. I can’t.’

‘Yes, you can.’

‘Should I be as scared to death as I am right now?’

‘No,’ he said, leaning in towards her. ‘Just remember, Claudia, you’re not alone. We’ll get through this together. You and I will bring your babies into the world.’

He prayed, as every word slipped from his now dry mouth, that he could do what he promised. He had the expertise, he reminded himself. But he also knew that was not always enough. There were some situations that no skills could fight.

Steeling himself, he knew he was prepared to fight for Claudia and her boys.

She closed her eyes and swallowed.

‘I need you to try and get onto your hands and knees...’

‘Why?’ Her eyes opened wide. ‘I thought you have babies lying on your back. Is there something wrong?’ Panic showed on her face as she stared into Patrick’s eyes, searching for reassurance but frightened of what he might tell her.

‘It will be easier on you and your babies if you’re on all fours,’ he told her. ‘It opens up the birth canal and, even though it may seem uncomfortable, believe me, it will be far better than being on your back. Just try it. Here, I’ll help you.’

He reached for her and she felt the warmth and strength in his hold as his hands guided her into the position he needed to best deliver the babies. He made sure her hands and knees were still resting on the damp jacket, not the bare floor.

‘I’d like to put a cool compress on you. It’s getting warm in here but I’m running out of clothing to give you.’

Even in pain, Claudia smiled at his remark. It was true. He had given his jacket and his shirt. ‘There’s a clean scarf in my bag but it’s very small. You could wet that.’

Patrick reached for her large tan leather bag and dragged it unceremoniously across the metal flooring. He emptied the contents onto the floor, found the small patterned scarf and then noticed the films.

‘Are those films for your obstetrician?’

She turned her head slightly. ‘Yes, he was going to check them and then sign the papers to allow me to fly home to London.’

He pushed the envelope to the side and took her bottle of water and sparingly dampened the scarf. Gently lifting the sweat-dampened curls on the nape of her neck, he rested the tiny compress on her hot skin. There was nothing he could do about whatever showed on the films now. They wouldn’t change anything in the confines of the elevator. He had no idea what the next few minutes would hold but he would be beside her and do whatever he could to keep Claudia and her babies alive.

Feeling his hand on her skin felt so calming and reassuring and Claudia wondered if it was the touch of his skin against hers as much as the makeshift compress. But neither gave relief when the next powerful contraction came and she cried out with the pain.

Her cries tugged at Patrick’s heart. He hated the fact there was nothing he could do. But he needed to focus on delivering both babies or risk losing them all. He wouldn’t let that happen.

Suddenly the first baby began to enter the world. A mass of thick black hair curled like a halo around his perfect tiny face.

‘Just push slowly and think about your breathing,’ he instructed her. ‘We need that to control the baby’s arrival. We don’t want to rush him. You can tear your skin and I want to avoid that.’

The urge to give a giant push was overwhelming but Claudia knew she had to let her breathing slow the pace. She thought of Patrick’s handsome face and tried to follow his instructions. There were a few more contractions and finally Claudia’s first baby was born into Patrick’s waiting hands. He let out a tiny cry as Patrick quickly cleared his mouth of mucous and quickly checked his vital signs.

The baby was small but not so small as to put him in immediate danger by not having access to a humidicrib. Patrick had feared he might have been tinier considering the gestational age and the fact he was a twin. He clamped the cord with a sterile surgical tie before he laid him on the shirt. The baby had endured a harsh entry into the world and the shirt was a far cry from a soft landing but, until his brother was born, there was little Patrick could do for the new arrival. He could not put the child to Claudia’s breast as she needed to remain on all fours until the second baby was delivered.

Another contraction began and the second baby was quickly on its way. Patrick hoped that he would not be faced with a foot. That would mean a breech birth and complications he did not want to contemplate.

That next painful contraction came and Claudia cried out loudly but managed with each following breath to push her second baby head first into the world. And once again into Patrick’s arms, where the baby took his first breath and cried for the first time. Patrick checked the second baby’s vital signs and again was relieved that the delivery had no complications. It had progressed far better than Patrick had imagined.

With beads of perspiration now covering her entire body, Claudia looked over at her two sons and felt a love greater than she’d thought possible.

And a closeness to the man who had delivered them. He was like her knight in shining armour. And she would be indebted to him forever.

Quite apart from being an amazing doctor, Patrick was a wonderful man.

Through the fog of her emotionally drained state, Claudia suddenly suspected her feelings for Patrick ran deeper than simply gratitude for saving them all.