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‘I’d like to go.’ Tia stroked her blonde hair behind her ear. ‘What about you? You’d like her husband—he’s a GP.’
He nodded slowly. ‘I met him briefly at the wedding.’ He gave a wry smile. ‘But I have to admit that I didn’t take much notice of him then. I’ll tell her yes, but we won’t stay late because you look exhausted again and you were so stressed earlier.’
‘It’s this pregnancy business,’ Tia muttered. ‘Tiring work.’
He frowned. ‘Have you spoken to Dan yet?’
Tia’s eyes slid away from his. ‘Not yet,’ she murmured, purposely vague. ‘Give me time.’
‘I’ll give you time,’ he said softly, ‘but not too much time. Remember that, Tia. Either book yourself in or I will do it for you.’
Before she had time to accuse him of more male arrogance he turned on his heel and strode away, leaving her staring after him.
With a great effort of will she got on with her work and was forced to call Luca again when she examined a woman who was 32 weeks pregnant and discovered that the baby was breech.
‘Does that matter?’ Sally Clarke looked at her anxiously and Tia gave her a reassuring smile.
‘Not at all, but we do refer breech presentations to the doctor.’
Luca walked into the room at that moment and Tia explained what she’d found.
Sally was starting to look anxious. ‘I really don’t want to have a Caesarean section,’ she admitted. ‘It’s the one thing I dread. Will I have to?’
Luca shook his head. ‘Not necessarily. We will need to keep close eyes on you but a vaginal delivery is sometimes possible. It depends on a number of factors.’
Sally bit her lip. ‘Can you turn him around?’
‘Not at 32 weeks,’ Luca told her. ‘He would just turn around again. But that may be an option in a few weeks’ time. We’ll keep an eye on you and maybe try turning him nearer the time of delivery.’
Luca ordered a number of tests and examined Sally himself.
‘I really hurt under my ribs,’ Sally grumbled, rubbing herself gently, and Tia smiled sympathetically.
‘That’s because his head is pressing on your diaphragm.’
She and Luca spent a long time with Sally and Tia made a mental note to try and be on duty when she delivered. She knew that many obstetricians sectioned breech presentations routinely, but clearly Luca was willing to consider letting her try for a normal delivery.
Her shift over, Tia decided to nip up to Special Care to see how little Harry Gibbs was doing. Everyone on the unit was keeping tabs on Sue’s progress and were thrilled to hear that she was stable.
Harry was still in an incubator and Eddie was sitting in a chair next to him, reading out loud from a children’s book.
‘How’s he doing, Eddie?’ Tia peered into the incubator and Eddie closed the book with a sigh.
‘Well, they tell me I’ve been lucky. Apparently he could have had all sorts of breathing problems, but he seems fine apart from the fact that his sats keep dropping. Whatever that means.’ He gave her a rueful look. ‘I’ve been swamped with so many medical terms in the last twenty-four hours that I’ve given up asking for translations.’
Tia smiled. ‘If they’re telling you that his sats are dropping, they mean that his oxygen saturation is a little low at times, which is why they’re giving him the oxygen. But clearly he’s doing brilliantly. Have you talked to Sue?’
‘She’s still unconscious,’ he told her, ‘but I sat by her all night. I talked about the baby. Said all the things we would have said together had we known she was pregnant.’
Tia slipped an arm around his shoulders. ‘This has been such a shock, hasn’t it? And you’re coping so well.’
‘I don’t feel as though I am.’ Eddie stared at his son. ‘Do you realise, we haven’t even got a cot at home?’
‘Well, he won’t be ready to go home for a while, so don’t worry about that,’ Tia advised. ‘Just get through the next few days. You’ve got plenty of time to think about the detail. When did you last sleep?’
He looked at her blankly. ‘I’ve no idea. Two days ago?’
‘Why don’t you go home?’
