Chapter 22
22
Having not seen her sister for two decades, Nadia always thought that if the time came, she’d be hesitant; it would be a case of forcing herself to put one foot in front of the other to go to see her wherever she was.
She’d never thought she’d rush to her side quite the way she’d done just now.
Monica’s wave of pain allowed her to open her eyes momentarily and realise that her sister was here at her side after all this time. ‘Nadia?’
‘Yes. It’s me.’ She held back her tears. ‘Archie will be here soon.’
‘Giles…’ Monica didn’t get long to speak – contractions were coming thick and fast with no break in between.
‘He’s safe. With a childminder. And help is on its way; please don’t panic.’ There was, however, still no sign of the emergency services.
The next-door neighbour had seen Monica outside, doubled over in pain, and come to her rescue and taken her inside her own house while they waited for Archie, Nadia and Giles. The neighbour had called the emergency services and then called Archie’s phone and spoken to Nadia. Nadia had had to keep her voice neutral, not give too much away with Giles sitting in the car. The neighbour had offered to go a few doors down to where a registered childminder lived and ask her to look after Giles when the trio arrived and Nadia had agreed, sure that Archie would want the same. And so when they pulled up, Giles had only had to hear that there were a group of kids baking muffins at a house nearby, and that he could join in, to race off happily with his dad.
Archie rushed inside the house, having dropped his son with the childminder, and came straight to his wife’s side. The anguish, the emotion, it was all so much to deal with all round.
And Nadia was starting to panic. Crouched down next to her sister, with no sign of an ambulance or extra help, this was down to her. Archie was the emotional support but she now had to make sure that everything was okay medically until they got Monica the proper attention she needed.
She felt her sister’s pulse. It was racing, possibly more than it should be. On instinct, or maybe to be cautious, she needed to do an exam. Right now, she had to forget that this was her sister. She had to remember her nursing training. She hadn’t trained as a midwife but she’d learned, seen and heard enough to know the basics of what to do.
‘Monica, I’m going to try to examine you, okay?’
A groan, a loud one that took away her words.
She was about to palpate Monica’s abdomen, assess the position of the baby when the familiar sound of a helicopter’s rotor blades had the owner of the house running outside and calling back that an air ambulance had arrived. She’d make sure the paramedics found the house easily. Luckily, the street had tennis courts at the end and Nadia suspected the crew would be landing there. She had imagined a road ambulance would come but sometimes those were in short supply and with the rural location, a helicopter was probably the best bet.
By feeling Monica’s abdomen, Nadia was pretty sure the baby was posterior – there seemed to be a lot of movement in the belly, indicating the arms and legs might well be facing out with the baby’s spine resting against Monica’s. A posterior birth could mean a longer labour, there was a threat of postpartum haemorrhage; it could be a slow and difficult birth as it was harder for the baby to get through the pelvis.
‘Is everything all right?’ Archie asked.
She nodded. She didn’t want either of them to panic, but she briefed the crew at the door. Bess, bless her heart, was surprised to see her but went straight into work mode.
‘I suspect the baby is posterior,’ Nadia said but not quietly enough.
‘What does that mean?’ Archie had latched on to the word immediately.
She briefly explained it to him while Bess saw to Monica and gave her an internal examination as well as all the other checks they needed to do. There was no time to waste. She was on the scoop and out of the door almost before Nadia had really had time to reassure Archie that his wife was in good hands.
Giles had refused to be left at the childminder’s when Archie briefly went to the house to ask whether he could stay there a while longer. The little boy understandably wanted his dad and he even left the muffin-making behind.
Archie hadn’t argued with his son; there was no time. They needed to get going on the thirty-minute trip by road to the hospital.
‘Where are we going?’ Giles asked.
‘The hospital.’ Archie spoke with a flatness in his voice to mask his panic, his dread, for the sake of his son and to keep this little boy’s world stable at least for now. ‘We’re going to see your mummy.’
Giles sat as upright as he could in his car seat. ‘Mummy’s here?’
Nadia turned to see his little smile, his hands clapped together. He had no idea of the drama unfolding even when Archie told him that his baby brother or sister was on the way right now.
Nadia did her best to dampen down scenarios that popped into her head – forceps or ventouse delivery, an emergency c-section, an epidural? She wished she knew more about midwifery but perhaps it was best that she didn’t.
They pulled into the hospital car park. It was near impossible to find a space but they found the very last one that involved Nadia and Giles getting out of the vehicle first so that Archie could go close to the other car which had parked right on the line.
When Archie climbed out, Nadia told him to run on ahead. ‘Me and Giles won’t be far behind.’
Giles watched his dad go and as they entered the hospital, Nadia saw the café. ‘How about we have a little treat while we’re waiting.’ The best place for this little boy right now was to not be in the chaos as Archie frantically tried to locate Monica.
‘What’ll it be?’ she asked Giles as they found themselves in front of the cake counter.
He pointed at the apple cinnamon muffins. ‘Those are my mummy’s favourite. Can I take her one?’
‘That’s a lovely idea – maybe later on.’
He looked up at her. ‘How long does it take for a baby to get here?’
‘Sometimes quite a while. It could be hours, days.’
His eyes widened. ‘That’s a long time.’
But the conversation seemed to placate him enough to study the choices behind the glass counter some more.
‘Take your time; you want to choose well,’ she joked but really it was to give her enough time to fire off a text to Archie to let him know where they were and to ask for an update if he had one. He might not read the message for a while but it would be there ready for him when he was able.
‘Good choice,’ she approved as Giles settled on the chocolate chip muffin. ‘Make that two please,’ she asked the lady behind the counter. ‘Plus a coffee and…’
‘Apple juice?’ Giles requested.
‘An apple juice, please.’
Actually coming in here did a lot for Nadia too. It could be hours before they got news, and being here at least instilled some temporary calm.
And it helped her to start processing things.
She’d seen her sister, after all these years; she’d seen her and held her hand. And it was as though with that skin-on-skin contact, she remembered the family that had been together for so long before things began to unravel.
When she caught sight of the framed crochet design of an ambulance on the wall, it sent her mind back to better times. ‘Did you know your mummy is fantastically creative?’
Giles seemed more interested in waiting at the end of the counter for service of their order but he did admit, ‘She can draw. She drew me, playing with my cars, and then she painted it with paints mixed with water.’
‘Watercolours.’ Nadia smiled. ‘And does she still make things? Like clothes?’ That was something else Monica had done before things started to go wrong at school for her and her rebellion seemed to govern her life so much that she stopped doing the things she loved. Nadia hadn’t really registered that until now.
He tried to insist he carry the tray with their order but Nadia gave him the job to find them a table instead.
‘So does she?’ Nadia asked again when she sat down.
He took the little plate with his muffin on. ‘She has a machine thing.’
‘A sewing machine.’
‘Yeah, that’s what I said.’
The innocence of childhood, what had happened to that? Why did it all go by so very fast, almost in the blink of an eye?
Monica made Nadia an embroidered handkerchief once with little flowers down one edge in delicate pinks and soft yellows. Nadia wished she’d kept it, been able to remember some of the good. But she’d felt so closed off from her sister even before she left the country and pushing out anything positive became easier for her to handle than letting the better memories change her mind.
They got through their muffins and their drinks, Giles used the toilet and Nadia checked her phone for the umpteenth time but still no news.
They asked at the enquiries desk and found out where Monica had been taken. They got lost no less than three times despite signposting around the hospital and soon enough, they were in a corridor and Giles spotted his dad sitting at the end.
Head in his hands, Archie looked spent and Nadia felt her world twist on its axis.
If something had happened to Monica or the baby, she’d never forgive herself.