the weekends. It was heaven. Jess adored her daughter and she’d dreamt of being able to spend quality time with her. Just the two of them. It was something she hadn’t experienced much in her own childhood and she was determined that Lily would have that quality time with her. After all, they only had each other.
She checked her watch as she tidied her clinic room and got ready to go home. Kristie was coming up for the weekend—in fact, she should already be here. She was changing the sheet on the examination bed when Donna, the practice manager, burst into the room.
‘Jess, do you think you could possibly work a little later today? We’ve had a call from the new hotel, one of their guests is almost thirty-six weeks pregnant and she’s having contractions. It might just be Braxton-Hicks but they’d like someone to take a look and all the doctors are busy. Do you think you could go?’
‘Let me make some arrangements for Lily and then I’ll get over there,’ Jess said when Donna finally paused for breath. Jess was happy to go, provided she could sort Lily out. She rang Kristie as she swapped her shoes for boots and explained the situation as she grabbed her coat and the medical bag that Donna had given to her.
Thank God Kristie was in town, she thought as she rang Fleur to tell her of the change in plans. Of course, Fleur then offered to help too but Jess didn’t want to push the friendship at this early stage. She explained that Kristie would collect Lily and take her home. She could concentrate on the emergency now. It was always a balancing act, juggling parenting responsibilities with her work, but it seemed she might have the support network here that she’d lacked anywhere else.
Jess hurried the few blocks to Main Street. The five-star, boutique Moose River Crystal Lodge, where her patient was a guest, was the new hotel on the Plaza, the one she’d noticed on the night they’d arrived. She and Lily had walked past it several times since. It was hard to miss. It wasn’t huge or ostentatious but it was in a fabulous position, and she’d heard it was beautifully appointed inside.
In the late-afternoon light, the setting sun cast a glow onto the facade of the lodge, making its marble facade shine a pale silver. On the southern side of the main entrance was an elevated outdoor seating area, which would be the perfect spot for an afternoon drink on a sunny day; you could watch the activities in the plaza from the perfect vantage point.
A wide footpath connected the lodge to the plaza and in front of the hotel stood a very placid horse who was hitched to a smart red wooden sleigh. Lily had begged to go for a ride when they had walked past earlier in the week but Jess had fibbed and told her it was for hotel guests only because she doubted she could afford the treat. She had meant to find out how much it cost, thinking maybe it could be a Christmas surprise for Lily, but she had forgotten all about it until now.
She walked past the horse and sleigh and tried to ignore the feeling of guilt that was so familiar to her as a single, working mother, struggling to make ends meet, but walking into the lobby just reinforced how much her life had changed from one of privilege to one much harder but she reminded herself it was of her own choosing.
The lobby was beautifully decorated in dark wood. Soft, caramel-hued leather couches were grouped around rich Persian rugs and enormous crystal chandeliers hung from the timber ceiling. It looked expensive and luxurious but welcoming. Although it was still four weeks until Christmas, festive red, green and silver decorations adorned the room and a wood fire warmed the restaurant where wide glass doors could open out onto the outside terrace. Jess tried not to gawk as she crossed the parquet floor. She’d seen plenty of fancy hotels but this one had a warmth and a charm about it that was rare. Maybe because it was small, but it felt more like an exclusive private ski lodge than a hotel.
She shrugged out of her coat as she approached the reception desk.
‘I’m Jess Johnson, from the Moose River Medical Centre. Someone called about a woman in labour?’
The young girl behind the desk nodded. ‘Yes, Mrs Bertillon. She’s in room three zero five on the third floor. I’ll just call the hotel manager to take you up.’
‘It’s okay, I’ll find it.’ Jess could see the elevators tucked into a short hallway alongside the desk. The hotel was small so she’d have no trouble finding the room. She didn’t want to waste time waiting.
She stabbed at the button for the elevator. The doors slid open and she stepped inside.
Jess found room 305 and knocked on the door. It swung open under her hand. There was a bathroom to her left with a wardrobe on the right, forming a short passage. Jess could see a small sofa positioned in front of a large picture window but that was it.
She called out a greeting. ‘Mrs Bertillon?’
‘Come in.’ The faceless voice sounded strong and Jess relaxed. That didn’t sound like a woman in labour.
A woman appeared at the end of the passage. She was a hotel employee judging by her uniform. ‘She’s through here.’ The same voice. This wasn’t Mrs. Bertillon. ‘I’m Margaret. I was keeping an eye on Aimee until you got here,’ she explained, and Jess could see the relief on her face. She’d obviously been waiting nervously for reinforcements. ‘I’ll wait outside now but you can call for me if there’s anything you need,’ she said, hurriedly abdicating responsibility.
Jess introduced herself to Aimee and got her medical history as she washed her hands and then wrapped the blood-pressure cuff around her patient’s left arm. This was her first pregnancy, Aimee told her, and she’d had no complications. Her blood pressure had been fine, no gestational diabetes, no heart problems. ‘I’ve had some back pain today and now these contractions but otherwise I’ve been fine.’
‘Sharp pain?’ asked Jess.
‘No. Dull,’ Aimee explained, ‘more like backache, I suppose. Ow …’
‘Is that a contraction now?’
Aimee nodded and Jess looked at her watch, timing the contraction. She could see the contraction ripple across the woman’s abdomen as the muscles tightened. This wasn’t Braxton-Hicks.
‘Your waters haven’t broken?’ she asked, and Aimee shook her head in reply.
Once the contraction had passed she checked the baby’s size and position, pleased to note the baby wasn’t breech. But she wasn’t so pleased when she discovered that Aimee’s cervix was already seven centimetres dilated. Aimee was in labour and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
‘Where is your husband?’ Jess asked. She’d noticed a wedding ring on Aimee’s finger but wondered where Mr Bertillon was.
‘He’s out skiing,’ Aimee replied. ‘Why?’
Jess smiled. ‘I thought he might like to be here to meet your baby.’
‘It’s coming now?’
‘Mmm-hmm.’ Jess nodded. ‘You’re about to become parents.’
‘Oh, my God.’
‘Does your husband have a mobile phone with him? Would you like me to call him for you?’ Jess asked.
‘No. I can do it. I think.’ Aimee put a hand on her distended belly as another contraction subsided. ‘If I hurry. Jean-Paul will be surprised. This was supposed to be our last holiday before the baby arrived and it wasn’t supposed to end like this.’ She gave a wry smile. ‘Maybe we’ve been having
