mouth and shut it again, her kind eyes suddenly puzzled. ‘OK. Sorry.’
‘No.’ Brooke took a deep breath and gave her friend an apologetic smile. ‘I’m the one who should be saying sorry. You’re so good to me and I’m a cross-patch. It’s just that I’m having a really lousy day.’
Suzie glanced up the corridor and gave her a quick hug. ‘What you need is a rich, handsome man who will write a huge cheque and solve all your problems.’
With that she darted off towards one of the delivery rooms, leaving Brooke staring after her.
‘No, Suzie,’ she murmured softly, tears pricking her dark eyes, ‘that is the last thing I need.’
* * *
‘Well, that looks fine, Jane.’ Jed ran his eye carefully over the trace Brooke had handed to him. ‘You’re not in labour at the moment and there’s no point in us keeping you in if the pains have gone.’
‘I feel OK now,’ Jane admitted. ‘What if it happens again?’
‘If they’re as bad as before then you’d better come straight back.’ Jed picked up the notes and tucked them under his arm. ‘But let’s cross our fingers, shall we?’
Aware that his eyes were on her, Brooke gave him a wary glance and then wished she hadn’t. The message in his intense blue gaze was clear enough. He hadn’t finished their conversation. She quickly busied herself helping Jane gather her things together, not relaxing until she heard him leave the room.
‘He’s gorgeous!’ Jane drooled, chattering away as she pulled on her coat. ‘Incredibly good-looking. Is he married?’
Brooke forced a smile. If he was then his wife needed to keep a better hold on him. ‘I don’t know.’
‘I expect he is.’ Jane laughed and picked up her handbag. ‘The good-looking ones are always taken. Lucky wife, having a man like that to take care of her.’
Brooke felt her heart twist and held open the door. Thank goodness they were so busy, Brooke thought as she saw Jed striding off towards Theatre again, followed by his SHO and a flock of medical students. At least it postponed the inevitable confrontation. She didn’t kid herself for one minute that Jed was going to let the matter drop. That one look had said it all.
‘Brooke?’ Paula, the student midwife she’d left with Alison Neal, was hovering in the corridor anxiously. ‘I could do with a hand if you’ve got a minute. Alison’s getting very distressed and I can’t seem to calm her down at all.’
Brooke gave a nod and a brief smile. At least work was a constant distraction. ‘I’ll come now. What pain relief has she had so far?’
‘Just gas and air.’ Paula looked stressed and worried. ‘But she’s really panicky and I can’t seem to relax her at all.’
Brooke followed her into the birthing room and walked straight over to Alison who was sitting on the edge of the bed, breathing rapidly, her hair hanging in damp tendrils over her forehead.
‘How are you doing?’ Brooke sat down next to her and slipped an arm round the woman’s shoulders, feeling the tension under her fingers.
‘I never imagined it would be this painful.’ Alison’s breaths were coming in pants and her cheeks were pale and stained with tears. ‘Breathing just doesn’t seem to work and the gas and air makes me feel sick. I’m no good at this.’
‘You’re doing brilliantly,’ Brooke said quietly, taking charge of the situation and glancing at Paula. ‘Can you draw the curtains, please? Let’s darken the room and try and make the atmosphere more relaxing. Alison, I’m going to use some aromatherapy oils to try and help you relax.’
Alison’s husband frowned. ‘Are they safe in labour?’
‘The ones we use are.’ Brooke stood up and reached into a cupboard for the vaporiser which was kept in each delivery room. ‘Generally we stick to lavender and clary but sometimes I use nutmeg.’
‘How on earth do you know all that?’ Alison looked at her, momentarily distracted. ‘Are you a trained aromatherapist?’
‘Yes, actually,’ Brooke admitted with a smile. ‘Lots of midwives are these days. There’s a general move towards a more holistic approach to pregnancy and birth, and quite a few have done the necessary training to offer aromatherapy to women in labour. We’re very lucky that the unit here encourages that sort of thing.’
Brooke added the oils to the vaporiser and the room was soon filled with the soothing smell of essential oils.
‘Oh, that’s nice.’ Alison closed her eyes and breathed deeply, dropping her head onto her chest as another pain ripped through her body. ‘Here we go again…’
Brooke sat beside her and massaged her gently, talking her quietly through the pain and helping her to breathe properly. When the pain was over Brooke turned to Alison’s husband.
‘It might help if you massaged her back for her.’
He looked helpless. ‘What do I do?’
Together they helped Alison straddle a chair and Brooke showed him how to do thumb-circling on the shoulders using an oil mixture blended with essential oils.
‘Oh, that feels so good, Tim…’ Alison gave a moan of pleasure and closed her eyes, breathing deeply as her husband gently massaged her skin. ‘Tell me you’ll do this when I’m not in labour.’
Tim Neal gave a self-conscious grin. ‘As long as you don’t expect me to go and train as an aromatherapist.’
Brooke stayed with them and monitored Alison’s contractions, and although she was more relaxed it was obvious that she was still finding the pain hard to bear.
‘Would you consider using the pool?’ Brooke crouched down in front of her, her eyes kind and gentle. ‘Many women find it a great pain-reliever, you know.’
Alison shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes. ‘I don’t fancy it. I’m sorry, I know it’s illogical…’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Brooke said quietly. ‘I’m just trying to find something that suits you because I think you do need something more, don’t you?’
Alison nodded and the tears slipped onto her cheeks. ‘I’m such a wimp.’
‘You’re not a wimp, Alison, far from it. You’re doing marvellously.’ Brooke sat cross-legged on a cushion and glanced from one to the other. ‘Would you like to consider an epidural?’
‘Paula was just telling us that there is a greater risk of forceps delivery if I have an epidural.’ Alison shifted on the chair, looking uncomfortable and anxious. ‘I really don’t know what to do.’
‘Well, it’s true that there’s a higher incidence of what we call an assisted delivery—that’s forceps or ventouse—with an epidural in place. That’s because you’re not always able to feel the urge to push so well when your lower half is numb. But there’s always the option of allowing the epidural to wear off when you’re ready to push.’
Alison
