Page 99 of Christmas for the Village Midwife
‘Not a problem,’ Leon said, throwing Alex a silent look of apology. Clearly they’d had some sort of discussion about Zoe’s insistence on getting to Georgia as they’d come to rescue her, and Leon didn’t seem a bit surprised by her request. It also seemed, however, that he was aware of Alex’s opposition to the plan.
‘Thanks.’
‘What about your bag?’ Alex asked.
Zoe shook her head as she hobbled to Leon’s four-by-four. ‘I’ve tried to find it and I can’t and now, quite honestly, I’m more worried about how long it’s taking me to get to Georgia than what’s in there. Midwives managed without bags full of medical gadgets for thousands of years before, so I suppose I’ll find a way to manage now.’
30
Emilia hadn’t called Simon or Ottilie for help. Zoe couldn’t help but wonder why, but assumed it was something to do with the patchy signals they’d all been cursed with throughout the evening. There wasn’t time to ask because it would have been clear, without Emilia’s quick summary of the events, that Georgia’s labour had progressed significantly since Zoe had first been called. Despite being the only medically qualified person present, however, Emilia had done a good job of keeping things under control and Georgia comfortable. Zoe found her doubled over, clinging to the balustrade that led from the church floor to the pulpit, Brett rubbing her back as she sucked in regular breaths. At some point, a bed had been made for her on the tiles, piled up with blankets and pillows, and Georgia must have been on it for a time because everything was in disarray.
The poor vicar flapped on a nearby pew, speaking to someone on his phone. He leaped up as he noticed Zoe.
‘Oh, thank goodness!’ he cried, rushing to her with the phone held out. ‘It’s the call handler…the ambulance service. They want to know what’s going on, but I don’t…Well, perhaps you could speak to them?’
Zoe threw a glance at Georgia, who seemed, for the moment, to be coping better than the vicar was. She had the support of Brett and Emilia and would be all right for the thirty seconds or so it would take to reassure the call handler that she was fully trained and they’d be able to wait for the ambulance now without the need to take up more of their time. She took the phone.
‘Hello, yes…I’m Zoe Padbury. I’m the midwife here. Georgia’s midwife, actually. I’ve just arrived, and I should be able to keep things on an even keel until the ambulance gets here.’
‘Do you still want an ambulance?’ the handler asked.
‘I think so. There’s no telling what might happen. It’s a first baby, wasn’t planned for a home birth, I’m on my own with pretty much no equipment and if they’re already on the way, I think it might be useful to have them here.’
The handler asked her a few more questions, took down some particulars, and then asked to be given back to the vicar. Zoe had reassured her, but it seemed they didn’t want to lose contact just yet.
Then she hobbled over to Emilia, who had left Georgia in Brett’s care to come and fill her in.
‘What’s happened to you?’ she asked.
‘Fell,’ Zoe said. ‘Nothing to worry about – a sprained ankle or something.’
‘Want me to look?’
‘Later, maybe. I’ll manage until we’ve got Georgia sorted out.’
‘Right.’ Emilia didn’t argue because she was far too practical for that, and Zoe appreciated the lack of fuss on her behalf. Her ankle hurt like hell, but it wasn’t a case of life and death. She’d put it from her mind and concentrate on what really mattered, and later, when Georgia and her baby were safe, she’d make time to think about it.
‘What’s the situation?’ Zoe asked as she limped behind a striding Emilia.
‘It’s hard to tell how dilated she is, but I do believe she’s started properly. I’m sure you’ll have a handle on it straight away. You might be able to get her to sit still a while too. All she wants to do is walk around.’
‘It must be what she feels she needs right now. I could do with taking a look to see how far she’s progressed, though. If we could persuade her to take a load off for a few minutes, that would be good.’
‘I’m sure she’ll be more inclined to listen to you than me,’ Emilia said.
Zoe didn’t know why that would be but, once again, there wasn’t time to ask.
Brett looked traumatised as Zoe nodded hello to him, his eyes pleading for her to take the pressure off him. ‘Thank God,’ he mumbled as he tried to move away, Georgia grabbing for his hand and pulling him back.
‘Georgia…’ Zoe leaned in close. ‘I need to have a look at you, so you’re going to have to let Brett go for a minute.’
‘No,’ Georgia said. ‘Not again. He’ll leave.’
‘He won’t.’
‘He will. He’ll leave me – he said he was going to!’
‘I’ll be right here,’ Brett said. He threw an awkward look at Zoe that was full of shame. Whatever had happened between him and his wife in the time leading up to Georgia’s waters breaking had been significant and stressful, that much was obvious. Zoe wouldn’t have been surprised if it had contributed to the emergency they were now dealing with, but, as with all her other questions, there was no time to ask now. ‘Please, George, you need to let Zoe help you.’
