Chapter 22
“NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN, June. Take a seat. Hi kids, come in.”
Nate smiled at the rowdy family of four entering his office and turned his chair to face them. June, heavily pregnant, left the huge pram next to the door, lifting out each toddler and balancing one on her hip. She sat slowly, settling her young children around her.
“How’s everything going?” he asked, pulling a small toy basket out from under his desk and offering it to the three identical preschoolers.
“I’m just glad it’s not another set of triplets,” June said, laughing in what sounded like exhausted defeat.
Nate had been the one to break the news that June was having a set of twins a few months earlier.
Women who had multiples had higher chances of having multiples again.
He knew June and her husband wanted a big family, but he wondered how people coped with so many little ones.
June pulled a colour-coded notebook from her large baby bag and answered his question.
From what he’d seen, she was an incredibly organised person.
“I have another scan on the 15th,” June continued. “But I’m still worried about their movement. I know there’s two of them in there, but I’m not feeling them kick as much as I’d expect. Also, I’ve been having terrible reflux.”
“Okay, let’s get you up on the bed and I’ll have a listen. We can get you an ultrasound today too and see what’s happening in there.”
“Thanks, Doctor Mitchell. It’s probably fine.”
Nate smiled at her reassuringly and helped her onto the bed. “Always best to be safe with multiples. I’m glad you came in.”
He gently pressed on June’s stomach, feeling for one twin and then the other. From his estimates, they were large for twins and, June being a smaller woman, probably didn’t have much room for wiggling around. “I’ll have a listen to their hearts while we’re here, if that’s okay?”
June nodded and he applied gel to her stomach, pressing the doppler probe against it and moving it slowly to find the distinctive whoosh of the babies’ heartbeats.
“Everything sounds good. I’ll order that ultrasound now. You shouldn’t have to wait long.”
He offered June a wipe for her stomach and helped her up off the bed.
“I’ll write you a prescription for antacids too for your reflux. Hopefully that will help. Not long to go now.”
“Can you believe it?” June said, taking the prescription from Nate and tucking it into her bag. He helped her clip the triplets back into their seats and negotiate the pram through the doorway.
A lunch break was scheduled next and, after wrapping up his notes, he headed for the new cafeteria.
The maternity unit was still a building site, full of contractors and ladders and the constant noise of drills, but it didn’t bother him.
The small town hospital was exactly what he’d been hoping it would be.
It gave him a closer connection with his patients and plenty of time to enjoy his evenings and weekends.
It was the work-life balance he’d been craving.
At the interview the week after the premiere, he’d had to convince them the media wasn’t accurate. He wasn’t relaunching his acting career. The miniseries would be a one-off. It had taken a bit of convincing, but thankfully, they’d offered him the position.
During filming, he’d not only fallen for Jess; he’d fallen for the little rural township of Rangiora. His friends couldn’t understand it, but sometimes love didn’t make sense. He knew in his heart this was where he needed to be.
Things were settling into place. His parents were coming to visit next month and even considering joining him in New Zealand when they retired. His dad talked nonstop about all the fishing he could do, filling his online history with boats for sale, and researching outboard motors.
Nate selected a chicken wrap with avocado and placed it on the cafeteria counter. “Afternoon, Marilyn. Flat white, one sugar, thanks,” he said, greeting the grey-haired woman behind the counter.
“Busy day, hun?” she asked, taking his card and processing the payment.
“Like always.”
“Did you see they opened the west wing today? Placed a courtyard right in the middle.”
“No, I didn’t. I’ll have to go for a wander and check it out.”
“You should,” Marilyn said, handing him a takeaway cup. “Careful, it’s hot.”
“Thanks, Marilyn. What would I do without you?”
She chuckled. “You’d be drinking lukewarm instant in the staff room, I imagine.”
Something caught Nate’s eye and he almost choked on his mouthful.
“You okay, hun? Is the coffee too strong?”
“No. Sorry. It’s perfect. I just thought I saw someone from my…past.”
Nate stared at the now empty space she’d walked through only seconds before. The long raven hair tied up in a ponytail. The hour-glass curves. Her endless legs and rounded hips shifting side-to-side as she walked. He’d only caught her in profile, but she was undeniably Jess.
Was he imagining her?
At the premiere, in her silky gown, her hair piled on top of her head, she was more like a movie star than anyone else there.
He cringed thinking of the look on her face when the reporters had mistaken her for his ex.
The wonders of the media. Their interference had almost lost him a chance to work in New Zealand, and now they’d upset Jess.
He’d tried to ring her to explain, but she hadn’t picked up.
It didn’t seem like an appropriate conversation to have over text, either. What would he say?
Yes, you looked like my ex when I first met you but now that I know you I don’t think that, and by the way, she’s not my fiancée and she’s marrying my old school friend and I don’t care because I think I’ve fallen in love with you.
It was too much. There’s no way he could do that. It wouldn’t change anything, anyway. He figured she’d made the message clear. She wasn’t interested in him. Perhaps never had been.
JESS RUSHED TO MEET her first patient. Living in Christchurch still and driving out to Rangiora every day meant long drives back and forth, but it was worth it. Now that she had the role she wanted at the new hospital, she would save up a bigger deposit and start looking for houses nearby again.
Her chaos-to-calm plan was back on track.
If only she could get Nate Mitchell out of her head.
It didn’t help that he was all over the media.
She couldn’t go to the supermarket without seeing his annoying face plastered over the gossip magazines at the counter.
Strangely, they hadn’t mentioned his upcoming wedding.
She thought they’d fully capitalise on that. People loved celebrity weddings.
Jess found her patient already in a gown, waiting for her in the birthing ward. Cara and her wife, Maddie, greeted her and she ran through her usual checks: blood pressure, temperature, pulse.
“How are you both feeling?” she asked.
Maddie gripped her wife’s hand in both of hers. Her eyes filled with the familiar half-panicked, half-thrilled look most partners had before a birth. “I just want everything to go smoothly.”
Cara patted her wife’s hand. “It’ll be fine, but if you carry on squeezing my hand like that you’ll make me nervous too. I’m the one pushing out a watermelon.”
Maddie winced. “Don’t say it like that.”
Jess smiled at them both, hoping to exude a calm presence. “Cara’s vitals are all good. And I’m going to monitor the baby through-out. We’ll get him out safely.” She reached into a cupboard and found an abdominal belt for the fetal heart monitor.
“Why don’t you help Cara place this around her stomach,” she said to Maddie, knowing that giving the partner a job to do can help with their nerves. “It’s quite the fashion statement.”
The women laughed, tension dropping slightly from Maddie’s shoulders.
“Now it’s nothing to worry about,” Jess started carefully, “but because we found Group B Strep in your 37 week pregnancy check, we need to make sure your baby is protected. The anaesthetist will be in soon and she’ll place a cannula in your hand for the IV line.
It’s like a little plastic tube and it means we can give you antibiotics when you’re in active labour. Are you okay with needles?”
“I’m usually fine,” Cara said.
“Great.”
“Will you stay with us the whole time?” Maddie asked, now sitting next to Cara and holding her hand more gently.
“I’ll be back and forth to check on you while Cara’s labour progresses and there the whole way through the birth. I’ll make sure you always know what’s happening.”
“Thanks, Jess,” Cara said.
“I’ll be back to see how everything’s going soon. Sound okay?”
They reassured her they were both calm and prepared. Feeling confident in their word, she headed to the staffroom, grabbing a snack before it was time to get changed into her scrubs.
SHOULD HE CHASE AFTER THE WOMAN he thought was Jess? Nate briefly considered it, but decided against it. If she was here, what would he say? And if it wasn’t Jess, he’d look like an idiot.
He had a dozen appointments scheduled after lunch and there wasn’t time to be running all over the hospital chasing down apparitions.
He finished his chicken wrap without tasting a bite, his mind fully distracted by the image of Jess rushing down the corridor.
She’d been in casual clothes, not scrubs, so perhaps she was visiting a friend.
Even more reason not to go chasing after her.
She didn’t need him bothering her when she was trying to enjoy some time with a friend and her new baby.
The scenario was easy to picture—Jess and a new mother, chatting happily, and then him interrupting and being faced with awkward silence.
Ah, hi, Jess. Remember me? What do I want? Yes, good question. Never mind. Carry on as you were.
No. It was too humiliating.
Nate returned to his office and checked his notes for the afternoon’s patients.
Several high-risk pregnancies: older mothers, two patients with diabetes, and a woman who’d experienced three preterm labours.
There was also a woman with infertility issues he’d seen before and a new patient with epilepsy who was planning for pregnancy.
Working in a hospital again, but without all the intense stress of London, was a dream come true.
This job gave him another chance at the life he wanted.
Except this time, he’d get the balance right.
No more neglecting his relationships. He could see now what he’d done wrong before and was determined to do better.
The pager buzzed in his pocket. He checked the number and phoned the birthing suite.
“Sorry, Doctor Mitchell,” the nurse on the other end of the line said. “Looks like we need an emergency c-section.”
“I’ll be right there.” Nate mentally shifted gears from his afternoon’s patient load. That was one thing about small hospitals. There was a fair amount of juggling to do.
DRESSED AND FED, Jess returned to check on her patient, who had rung the bell.
“Is this normal?” Maddie asked. “Cara says she can feel something weird.”
Jess pulled on a pair of gloves and checked between Cara’s legs, temporarily ignoring Maddie’s question. She could feel the umbilical cord in the birth canal and from the print-out of the heart monitor, the baby had been in fetal distress for a few minutes.
She quickly pressed the emergency button for a Category One, alerting the team.
“Cara, we’re going to have to do an emergency c-section. The umbilical cord has slipped down and your baby needs to come now, okay?”
Cara nodded silently, panic on her face.
“It’s okay. You’re doing fine,” Jess encouraged, easing the mother onto her side. She wished she could offer more comfort, but there wasn’t time for that now.
“When I say three, lift your hips for me. Maddie, stand here and help her,” Jess instructed. She counted, sliding a pillow under Cara’s left hip on three, using gravity to stop the cord from slipping further.
The room filled with staff, two nurses lifting the sides of the hospital bed while Jess sat on the end, carefully holding the cord in place to prevent compression.
“Umbilical cord prolapse,” Jess explained to the room, rattling off her patients’ vital signs and details. “Decision made at 12:40. Let’s go.”
The nurses unlocked the wheels to the bed and, with Maddie following at the side, pushed Cara and Jess out of the room and down the corridor, some of the staff running ahead to the operating theatre.
“Can I come in with her?” Maddie pleaded as they raced toward the operating theatre.
Jess felt bad for Maddie, but the baby’s safety was first priority. They’d need to use a general anaesthetic for a faster delivery. That meant no partners in the room. “No. I’m sorry.”
Maddie and Cara made silent eye contact.
Jess focused on the delicate cord in her hands and the doors at the end of the hallway.
They were only meters away. The most important thing was to get this baby out safely as quickly as possible.
The picture of that happy moment when she could finally place the baby in his parents’ arms steadied her.
Entering the theatre through the double doors, Jess was relieved to see a team already there.
The room buzzed with motion. Surgical nurses placed equipment.
Two prepared the warmer for the baby. Others helped lift Cara onto the operating table, taking over from Jess so she could step down from the bed and comfort her patient.
“You’re doing well, Cara. Doctor Robinson will put you to sleep now. Are you ready?”
Cara nodded. Nurses placed drapes around her, prepping her for surgery, and Jess stepped back to make room for the anaesthetist. Doctor Robinson placed a mask over Cara’s face, pushing medications into the cannula she’d only recently placed on the back of her hand.
“Count to 10,” the anaesthetist instructed.
By the count of six, Cara was out and the obstetrician entered the room.
He positioned himself at the base of the operating table.
Her patient now asleep, Jess turned to greet him, her breath catching in her throat as she recognised the deep forest brown eyes above the mask.
“Hello, Jess,” said Nate.