Midwives' Christmas Miracles. Tina Beckett

FOUR

      THERE WAS NO denying it. The labour suite had been in a complete muddle. Her mother would have called it a right guddle—a good Scots word. And she would have been right.

      It seemed that in the few weeks since the sister had left, a new ordering system had come into place, and a new electronic system for recording staff working hours. No one on the labour suite had the time or motivation to learn how to use either and things were well behind.

      Bonnie was lucky. There were other staff who offered to help. Isabel Delamere, an obstetrician on an exchange from Australia, was quick to give her the low-down on most members of staff. She wasn’t a gossip. In fact, Bonnie got the impression that Isabel was quite the opposite. But she’d been new here herself and obviously wanted to help.

      Hope Sanders, one of the other midwives, had been great. She’d quickly explained both new systems to Bonnie. It was strange. Bonnie had seen Hope talk to Jacob a few times. It was obvious they were friends. And the tall curly-haired blonde had already told her she was single. But Bonnie could tell there wasn’t anything romantic between them.

      If anything, Hope just seemed concerned about Jacob. She was always reminding him about the number of hours he worked and telling him to get out a bit more.

      Things were a little awkward on the ward. Both of them had decided it wouldn’t be wise if the rest of the staff knew Bonnie and her daughter were staying with Jacob. It meant that she tried to jump out of the car before they reached the car park and other members of staff would notice them together. For the last few days things had been fine.

      Well. That wasn’t entirely true. She’d spent every night poring over the Internet looking at rental properties and houses for sale. Jacob had tried to be helpful. But Jacob’s helpful had been telling her that one area where a house was for sale was less than salubrious and three of the rental properties had been similar. There was nothing else suitable in her price range. Trouble was, she’d moved here at the wrong time of year. Cambridge had lots of properties for rent, but most were rented by students and visiting lecturers for a year at a time. If she’d arrived a few months earlier there would probably have been lots of properties to view. Arriving in November? Not a chance.

      Kerry, one of the midwives in the unit, leaned over the desk towards her. ‘Bonnie, we’ve just had a call to say that Hayley Dickson is coming in, query spontaneous rupture of membranes. She’s twenty-seven, and is thirty-six weeks pregnant with twins. We’re expecting her in around an hour and I’ll need some assistance. Any chance you can go for your lunch now?’

      Bonnie smiled and nodded. ‘My first twin delivery at Cambridge? Love to. Have you had lunch?’

      Kerry nodded. ‘It’s only you that’s still to go. Better hurry before there’s nothing left in the canteen.’

      Bonnie stood up. ‘No problem. I’ll be back in half an hour to help you get set up.’

      She washed her hands and grabbed her bag. She was glad that the staff found her approachable and were happy to ask for assistance. It gave a bit of reassurance that they were accepting her as temporary sister around here.

      The canteen was quiet. She grabbed a tuna sandwich and walked over to a table to join one of the other midwives that she’d met. Jessica Black worked in the special care baby unit. Her blond straight hair hung in a ponytail but her pretty face was marred by a frown as she stared out of the window.

      ‘Mind if I join you?’

      Jess started but gave a smile and waved at the empty seats across from her. ‘By all means. Try and cheer me up if you can.’

      Bonnie pulled out a chair. ‘What’s wrong? Man trouble?’

      Jess rolled her eyes. ‘As if. I wish. That would be easy to sort out.’ She picked at her lunch. ‘Family troubles. It’s my parents’ thirtieth wedding anniversary in a few weeks. It’s been arranged for near Cambridge so I can’t make an excuse not to go and I’m looking forward to it like a hole in the head.’

      Bonnie was puzzled. ‘Shouldn’t that be something to celebrate?’

      Jess sighed. ‘It should. I love my parents. But it’s yet another family event where I’ll spend the whole time being compared to my sister. And will, yet again, be found lacking.’

      ‘I can’t believe that for a second. You’ve got a great job and career ahead of you. You’re a gorgeous girl. What on earth does your sister have that you don’t?’

      Jess paused for a second and let out another big sigh. ‘She’s not just my sister. She’s my twin. Abbie is perfect. She always has been. The sports star, top marks at school, the coolest boyfriend—you name it, Abbie’s done it. I’ve spent most of my life living in her shadow. If Abbie preferred my Christmas presents to hers, she made such a scene she always got them. When I started midwifery training, she decided she wanted to do it too. Then, she decided she wanted the boyfriend I had.’ She gave her head a shake. ‘So, she got him. Along with the big white wedding and three perfect kids with another on the way.’ She held out her hands. ‘In fact, here is the only place where I’m known as anything other than “Abbie’s sister”.’

      Bonnie was shocked by Jess’s words. She reached over and squeezed her hand. ‘Competitive siblings can be a nightmare. My ex-husband was like that with his brother. It made him even harder to live with.’ She sucked in a breath. ‘And if Cambridge Royal is like every other hospital I’ve worked in, you’ll have heard that I found my ex-husband in bed with my best friend. So, I sympathise. At least I had the option of walking away. I don’t need to look at them together.’ She leaned back and took a sip of her coffee. ‘It sucks that you have to do that.’

      Jess burst out laughing and reached over towards Bonnie. ‘Yes, the hospital grapevine is in full flow and I love that you just say it like it is.’

      Bonnie shrugged. ‘After thirty-two years there’s not much point in changing the habit of a lifetime.’

      Jess gave her a rueful stare. ‘I might have heard that about you too. Men suck. Unfortunately, men are my biggest issue. Or namely the fact I don’t have one. That’s the reason I’m dreading the anniversary party so much. Everyone is just waiting for me to produce who is going to be Mr Jessica Black and create the two-point-four kids we’re supposed to have.’

      Bonnie took a bite of her tuna sandwich. ‘Can’t you take a friend?’

      ‘Yeah, but the friend would need to reach my family’s exacting standards. They would have to be devastatingly handsome, completely charming and totally unfazed by my sister trying to be the centre of attention.’

      Bonnie gave a little smile. ‘I have to say, there’s more than a few handsome guys around here. Can’t you ask one to accompany you?’

      Jess frowned. ‘Like who?’

      Bonnie swallowed and tried to appear casual. ‘What about Jacob Layton?’

      Jess waved her hand. ‘Oh, he’s handsome enough but way too grumpy.’

      Bonnie tried not to let the wave of relief sweeping over her be obvious. ‘Aaron Cartwright, the infertility specialist? An American might go down well.’

      She smiled and shook her head. ‘He might. But he’s not for me. He’s too committed to his work. That’s the problem with most of the guys around here.’

      Bonnie thought again. She was just here. But she’d met most of the consultants in the last few days. ‘I’ve got it. What about an Australian, then, Sean Anderson, the obstetrician that arrived just a few weeks before me?’

      ‘Are you serious?’ Jess laughed and wagged her finger. ‘I’m going to forgive your observational skills, Nurse, because you’ve just started. But have you noticed how jumpy Isabel is since he got here?’

      Bonnie racked her brains. Isabel was also an Australian obstetrician. Bonnie hadn’t connected the two, but maybe there was something...