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She swallowed. ‘Yes…’ Her voice faltered but she returned his smile. ‘Of course it is. Have you—have you ever delivered a baby before?’
‘Do you think I’d be here now if I hadn’t? I love delivering babies,’ Conner said smoothly, moving to her right side and glancing at Flora, his gaze faintly mocking. ‘Delivering babies is my favourite thing.’
Evanna clutched his arm. ‘You really have done it before?’
‘Loads of times,’ Conner said easily, and Logan snorted.
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake! I suppose you’re going to try and convince us that the army is popping out babies all the time.’
‘Of course not.’ Conner’s gaze didn’t flicker. ‘But the locals are. And they always came to us for help.’
Evanna gave a low moan and reached for Flora’s hand. ‘Actually, Logan, I think you should ring Meg and check on Kirsty. She was a bit off colour this morning.’
‘But—’
‘Logan!’ Evanna’s voice was surprisingly firm. ‘You have to let Conner do this. We’re wasting time. I tell you this baby is coming now, whether you like it or not.’
Flora realised that it was the first time ever she’d heard Evanna raise her voice and Logan took several deep breaths, his face a mask of indecision. ‘All right—but I’ll be back.’ He strode away from them and Conner crouched down beside Evanna.
‘Are you comfortable there?’
‘I don’t think I’d be comfortable anywhere,’ she gasped, wincing as another contraction hit her. ‘Wait a minute. I can’t—Oh, Conner, I want to push—really…’
‘Just hold on.’ Flora dropped to her knees beside her friend. ‘We’re going to take a look, see if we can see the baby’s head. We need to assess what’s happening.’
‘I can tell you what’s happening,’ Evanna muttered, her teeth gritted. ‘I’m a midwife. This baby is coming. I think it’s called precipitate labour.’
‘Well, that’s good news,’ Conner said lightly. ‘If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s hanging around.’
Janet hurried into the room with the delivery pack.
‘Open it,’ Conner ordered brusquely. ‘We’re both wearing sterile gloves.’
‘Open it fast,’ Flora said calmly. ‘I can see the head. In fact, I’d say it will crown with the next contraction.’ It was too quick, she thought to herself. Much too quick. ‘Don’t push, Evanna. Can you take some shallow breaths? Pant? That’s brilliant. Janet, put the central heating on.’
Janet stared at her. ‘It’s the middle of the summer.’
‘It’s not that warm in here and it’s stormy outside. The temperature will drop and I want to heat the room a bit. And warm some towels.’ Just in case.
Evanna groaned. ‘I have to p
ush. I can’t not push. You have no idea. I’ve got another contraction coming—I can feel the head, Flora.’
‘I know. It’s brilliant,’ Flora said cheerfully, ignoring Conner’s ironic glance. She used her left hand to control the escape of the head and then gently allowed it to extend, remembering the deliveries she’d observed in her training. ‘It’s all fine, Evanna. The head is out.’ And terrifying.
‘Is he breathing? Is the cord round the neck? It’s too fast. Logan was right,’ Evanna gasped, tears trickling out of her eyes.
‘That’s nonsense, Evanna,’ Flora said. She gently felt for the cord and her heart plummeted when she felt something. Struggling not to panic, she slid her fingers under it and slipped it over the baby’s head. Only then did she start to breathe again. ‘Everything is fine, Evanna. And there’s nothing wrong with having a baby at home, you know that. You’re a midwife!’
Suddenly aware that Conner was right by her side, Flora glanced at him. ‘Is someone going to call Logan? He should be here for the next bit.’
‘No.’ Evanna grabbed his hand. ‘It will be too much for him.’
But the decision was taken out of their hands because Logan appeared in the doorway, his face grey. ‘Oh, God—what can I do?’
‘Pour yourself a whisky and hold Evanna’s hand,’ Conner advised, and Flora glanced at him.
‘Actually, you can draw up the Syntometrine so that Conner can give it.’
