Page 47 of Christmas for the Village Midwife (The Village Midwife #2)

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.’

Georgia looked up at him from beneath a curtain of red hair. ‘Promise you won’t go.’

‘I promise.’

Georgia let his hand drop and then took the one Zoe offered instead.

‘God, I need a drink!’ Brett said under his breath but not quietly enough.

‘It’s a drink that got us in this mess!’ Emilia snapped.

He scowled at her, and then the anger suddenly drained from him, and he sat heavily on a pew, watching as Zoe manoeuvred Georgia onto the blankets so she could examine her.

‘Is there any way we can make this area more private?’ Zoe asked.

Emilia nodded. ‘Give me a second…’

She dashed to speak to the vicar and then returned with another sheet.

‘Take the other end,’ she ordered Brett, who leaped to her assistance without a single word of remonstration at her tone.

They stretched it out between them to form a curtain that would shield Georgia from the rest of the people in the church.

‘Someone’s impatient to appear…’ Zoe said as she checked Georgia’s progress. She pulled one of the blankets over her legs. ‘Are you in a lot of pain?’

‘What do you think?’

‘Sorry. The natural way isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be, is it?

There’s not a lot I can do for you now, but hopefully the paramedics will be here soon and they’ll have something.

If you last that long…’ she added in a quieter voice.

‘Do you want to be on your feet again, or are you happier staying here?’

‘I want to walk…’ Georgia held out her hands. ‘It hurts less.’

‘Don’t get walking around. You can stand, though. Holding on to the balustrade there seemed to be working for you when I got here.’

‘Do you think that was working?’ Georgia started to laugh, but was immediately silenced by a shudder of pain that had her teeth clenched and her eyes screwed shut.

‘Contraction?’ Zoe asked.

Georgia nodded, her face glistening with sweat.

‘Can you remember when the last one was?’

‘I don’t know…’

‘Maybe ten, twelve minutes,’ Emilia said. She lowered her side of the sheet. ‘I’d say around that.’

‘You can drop the curtain for a minute, Brett,’ Zoe said. ‘We’re going to get Georgia onto her feet again.’

‘Right.’ He let Emilia take it and rushed to help Zoe.

Georgia looked up at him and started to cry.

‘Don’t,’ he said, kissing her head. ‘I can’t stand it. I’m sorry for before…what I said…it was the drink; it wasn’t me. I would never…’

‘But you said—’ Georgia sobbed.

‘I know,’ he cut in. ‘Please, don’t remind me of what I said. I’m a tosser. I don’t know what you see in me.’

‘That makes two of us,’ Emilia said, and this time Zoe gave her a sharp look. Surely she was smart enough to see that her barbed comments were hardly helping. She might feel like sharing her opinions on whatever had happened, and perhaps she was justified in doing so, but now wasn’t the time.

‘Come on…’ Zoe said. ‘Lean on us…’

She took one side and Brett the other, and they led Georgia back to her previous perch.

‘Floor’s nice,’ Georgia said.

Zoe glanced down to see she was barefooted. ‘Cold?’ she asked.

‘Hmm. Lovely.’

‘Shouldn’t she lie down?’ Brett asked. ‘Will the baby come soon?’

‘Not for a bit. Gravity will be her friend for now. It’ll help speed things along, and standing up is clearly less painful for her. If she wants to give birth standing up, then it might also be easier on her.’

Brett’s eyes were wide in disbelief.

‘Did you miss that bit in the antenatal classes?’ Zoe asked wryly.

‘I didn’t…I didn’t go to all of them,’ he said. ‘I should have done, I know.’

‘You went to one,’ Georgia said.

‘I’m sorry.’

‘You didn’t want the baby.’

‘Of course I did! It was only…the timing…’ he finished lamely.

Zoe rubbed Georgia’s back. ‘Do you want anything? A sip of water? A damp flannel? Anything at all?’

‘I want this to be over. Can you get me that?’

‘We’ll get to it, don’t worry. It’s hard, but you’ll have to be patient. Before you know it, you’ll be done, and you’ll have a beautiful baby in your arms. Did you decide on that name?’

‘Not really.’

‘All bets are off now, aren’t they?’ Brett said. ‘Christmas Eve, in a church… It’s got to be something fitting, hasn’t it? I’ll have to think of something that suits. Like Noel? Or Holly?’

‘A bit predictable, though?’ Zoe asked, driving to keep the discussion going to take Georgia’s mind off her pain. ‘Surely you can do better than that between you. How about something biblical?’

‘Hannah…’

There was a shout from across the space, and they were reminded that they weren’t quite alone.

‘Why Hannah?’ Zoe asked.

The vicar got up and walked over with an apologetic smile.

‘Sorry to butt in,’ he said. ‘Only I rather like the name. I had two boys, you see, no need of it. Hannah means gift from God. It seems right, doesn’t it? For a baby born in His house.’

‘As long as it’s not a boy,’ Brett said. ‘Got any thoughts on that eventuality?’

Georgia let out a growl of pain. ‘It’s getting worse!’ she cried. ‘Where are those drugs?’

‘They’re on their way,’ Emilia said. ‘They’ll be here soon.’

Georgia shook her head desperately. ‘I don’t think I can hang on…’

‘You can,’ Zoe said patiently. ‘Don’t forget your breathing. Was that a contraction?’

Georgia nodded, and Zoe checked her watch.

‘Good girl. Let me know when there’s another one.’

‘Oh, you’ll bloody know all right! Sorry, Vicar…’

‘I’m not a bit offended,’ he said mildly. ‘Quite understandable in the circumstances.’