Page 51 of The Grumpy Doc's Surprise Delivery

“Liam?”

CHAPTER 26

LIAM

When Emma answers the door, my mouth drops open and the pieces click into place. Phoebe has often talked about her brilliant best friend, and Emma has told me so much about hers. I just hadn’t realized that they were the same best friend.

I thought I was never going to see Emma again. I thought she’d got tired or bored with me, or annoyed with me for being flaky with her, for trying to push her away. I mean, why else would she have stopped texting?

She did her best to get through to me and I shut her out. I shouldn’t be surprised that she left me. I wanted it.

But seeing her again reawakens that ache in my chest like it never went away.

“Hello,” is all I can think to say.

“Hello,” she echoes, clearly as surprised to see me as I am to see her.

Then that work ethic that I always admired her for kicks in. “Come in. She’s progressing rapidly. I’ve followed the birth plan to the letter, done everything I can to make her comfortable, but I feel better knowing that you’re here.”

I know she meansyouas in “the medical practitioner in charge of Phoebe’s case,” and notyouas in “I, Emma, am pleased to see you, Liam,” but it still makes my heart flutter to hear her say the words. I think I have missed her more than I might have wanted to admit.

Emma leads me through to the living room where I see Phoebe sweating and straining, her face bright and red, her fists clenched. It’s not the most dignified look she could have, but she seems to be handling the whole thing pretty well. Emma rushes back to her side.

“Is Tom here yet?” Phoebe asks.

Emma shakes her head. “No. But he’s on his way, I promise. The doctor’s here.”

“Oh, Dr. Mercer,” she cries. “I’m so happy to see you. I didn’t think all this was meant to happen so fast.”

“It’s been about an hour and a half since her water broke, but I think she’s been in stage one for a few hours already,” Emma says. “Things are moving pretty quickly, and I think she’s getting close to full dilation.”

“Well,” I say to Phoebe, crouching beside her. “You look like you’re in great hands.”

“I am,” she says shakily. “I told you about Emma, right? She’s the best.”

I nod and notice the sharp look Emma gives me. No doubt both of us are coming to the same conclusion that we should have realized we had a connection earlier. But I look after a lot of pregnant women, and I’m not in the business of discussing my patients by name outside of the hospital.

“Yes,” I say. “You did. It’s good to have her here. Now, let’s check your blood pressure.”

I run through all the tests I need to do to make sure Phoebe and her baby are going to be fine, and they are. In fact, they’re all textbook, which is a blessing in a home birth. It’s always stupidly stressful to have to call an ambulance when all the mother wanted to do was stay home.

Not that it has ever stopped me. At the end of the day, all I care about is the health of my patients, and sometimes that means they need to go to the hospital.

Phoebe should be okay, though. We run through her plans again, where she wants to sit or squat or lie when the time comes, what she wants to do with the placenta, how we’ll handle any troubles or difficulties. She looks like she’s in more distress than I would like, but every word she says is calm and thought through.

That’s being a lawyer, I think. Like us, she’s got the ability to keep a cool head in a tough situation.

I step away for a second to make sure I have all the tools I need, and Emma sits on the floor next to Phoebe, holding her hand.

“Hey,” she says quietly, and I pretend not to be listening. “You’re doing great.”

“It doesn’t feel great,” mutters Phoebe.

“Trust me, you’re awesome. Why didn’t you tell me, though?”

“Tell you what?”

She glances over at me, and I stare into my bag, hoping she doesn’t realize that I’m listening in. To really look busy, I frown and start rummaging through my bag, forcing myself not to look over at them.

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