The Midwife's One-Night Fling

There was no such thing as orientation day at Cromayr Bay—a new staff member would be shown around and introduced and made welcome. Here, though, Freya sat with approximately fifty fellow nurses, admin staff and ancillary workers who were commencing, or had just commenced work at the Primary this month alone.

Freya felt like a very small fish in a very large and rather cold sea.

On Friday she had been in to collect her uniforms and her lanyard and had got rather lost on her way out of the huge building. Today, though, sitting in the lecture theatre, she had found out that the red strip painted on the corridor wall led to Casualty and the main exit. So that was good to know. The yellow strip, she had then been told, led to Maternity and the blue to Outpatients.

‘It helps not just the staff and the patients,’ the admin manager had said, ‘but it is also far easier to give directions to visitors. We shall soon be adding a green strip for the Imaging Department. Any more than that and the walls will start to look like rainbows!’

After a morning of lectures and films they had been told to head off for lunch and to be back at one.

There was no coloured strip that led to the canteen, but by following the overhead signs Freya had found it quite easily.

The place had been packed, and Freya had rather wished she had thought to bring her own lunch, as most of her fellow orientation candidates seemed to have done. Perhaps that was why she sat alone.

She hadn’t brought any change for the vending machines, so she’d queued up and selected a salad wrap, a packet of cheese and biscuits and a coffee, and then scanned the busy canteen for a table.

They’d all been rather full, but there had been a couple of seats that had seemed free on a table for four.

‘Do you mind if I join you?’ Freya had asked.

‘We’re just leaving,’ the man there had said.

They had also left their plates, glasses and cups.

She had to stop comparing things to Cromayr Bay, but all this was just so unlike anything she was used to.

Since her father had left her at her one-bedroom flat, four days ago, Freya hadn’t really spoken to anyone. Well, apart from a couple of shop assistants and a worker on the Underground who had helped Freya to buy a travel pass.

She had rung her mother and assured her that everything was fantastic.

‘Your dad said the flat’s a bit grim.’

It was rather grim, but Freya had reassured her mum that it was nothing a few rugs and pictures wouldn’t pretty up, and reminded her that it was a brilliant location—just a ten-minute walk to the Underground.

‘Is anyone...?’

Freya looked up as another unfinished question was asked by an elderly man in a porter’s uniform.

‘No,’ Freya said, and gestured to an empty seat. ‘Help yourself.’

He said nothing in response, just took a seat at the table and opened up some sandwiches, then pulled out a newspaper and started to read.

There was no conversation.

Having finished her wrap, Freya peeled open the foil on her cheese and crackers. But she really wasn’t hungry so she put them down and pushed away her plate.

Glancing at her phone, she saw that there were still another fifteen minutes left until she was due back.

‘Is this seat...?’ asked a snooty, deep, but far from unpleasant male voice.

Freya was suddenly sick to the back teeth of unfinished questions.

‘Is this seat what?’ she asked, but as she looked up her indignation took a rapid back seat as she was momentarily sideswiped by six feet plus of good looks dressed in blue theatre scrubs.

He had straight brown hair that was messy, and was so crumpled-looking that, despite the hour, he appeared to have just got out of bed. A stethoscope hung around his neck, and in his hands was a very laden tray.

Freya regretted her brusque response, but consoled herself that he probably hadn’t understood a word she had said.

Oh, but he had!

‘Is this seat taken?’ he enquired, more politely, though the smile he wore had a tart edge.

‘Please,’ Freya said. ‘Help yourself.’

He put down the tray, and Freya assumed when he looked around and then wandered off that he must be locating a spare chair for his companion. On his tray there were two mugs of tea, a carton of milk and six little boxes of cereal—the type that her mother had used to get when the family had gone camping, or in the holidays as a treat, when she and her brothers would fight over who got what.

But instead of a chair and a companion he returned with a spoon.

‘Len,’ he said to the porter by way of greeting. He got a ‘humph’ in return, but the good-looking stranger didn’t seem in the least bothered by the less than friendly response.

As Freya drank her coffee she tried not to look at him, and pretended not to notice when he opened each box of cereal in turn and poured them into the one bowl with all the flavours combined. It was a heap of cornflakes and chocolate puffs and coloured circles, and then he added to his concoction the small carton of milk.

No, there was no companion about to arrive, for next he added sugar to both cups of tea and made light work of the first.

And still Freya tried not to notice.

A domestic came round with a trolley and started to pick up the collection of cereal boxes, as well as the mess that the previous occupants had left in their wake.

‘Done?’ she asked Freya as she reached for her plate.

‘Yes, thank you,’ she said, and then blinked as the porter—Len—actually spoke.

‘Do you mind?’

‘Sorry?’ Freya asked as he pointed to her plate.

‘You’re not going to eat those?’ he asked, pointing to the open cheese and crackers that Freya hadn’t touched.

‘No.’

‘Do you mind if I have them?’

‘Go ahead,’ Freya agreed—because, really, what else could she do?

‘Ta very much,’ Len said, and took out a piece of kitchen paper from his pocket and wrapped the cheese and biscuits in them.

The domestic didn’t seem in the least perturbed by this odd exchange, and cleared up the boxes and plates. Then as she wheeled her trolley off, The Man Who Liked His Breakfast Cereal, spoke.

‘Here you go, Len.’ He pushed a granola bar across the table to him.

‘Cheers!’ Len pocketed his bounty as he stood up and then walked out of the canteen.

Goodness, Freya thought, people here were so odd. She simply couldn’t imagine asking a complete stranger for the leftover food on their plate.

But then that deep, snooty voice spoke again and attempted to clarify things a little.

‘He only talks to the animals.’

‘I’m not with you.’

‘Len,’ he explained. ‘He’s miserable around people, but he visits an animal shelter in his free time and he’s always after treats for them.’

‘Oh!’ Freya let out a little laugh.

‘You’re new,’ he said, glancing at her lanyard.

He had realised she was staff, but was quite certain he would have noticed her before if she wasn’t new.

She wore a dark shift dress that accentuated her pale bare arms, and her black curly hair was loose and down to her shoulders. From the little he had heard, he guessed she was far from home.

‘I’m here for my orientation day,’ Freya said.

He grimaced. ‘I’ve done a few of those in my time. The fire lecture, the union rep...’

‘We haven’t had a fire lecture yet,’ Freya said. ‘That’s this afternoon. I think it’s a film, followed by a demonstration.’

‘Fun,’ he drawled as he rolled his eyes. ‘Mind you, I did have a patient who tried to set fire to the ward once...’

She waited for more, but he’d gone back to his cereal.

‘Breakfast?’ Freya asked.

‘And lunch.’ He moved on to his second mug of tea. ‘Are you new to London as well as the hospital?’

Freya nodded. ‘I got here last week.’

‘I worked in Glasgow for a while.’

‘For how long?’

‘A year. I couldn’t understand a word anybody said. “Pardon” became my most-used word.’

‘I’m having the same problem—although in reverse,’ Freya admitted. ‘I have to keep repeating myself.’

‘I can understand you.’

‘Then you’re the first.’

‘You’re not from Glasgow, though?’

She was far too soft spoken for that, he thought. But not soft. He had liked the edge to her tone when he’d asked if the seat was taken. Richard loved the challenge of a sullen woman.

‘No, I’m from Cromayr Bay.’

‘Never heard of it.’

‘Fife,’ Freya said. ‘Overlooking the Firth.’

‘Never heard of it,’ he said again.

But this time he smiled just a smidge and she couldn’t tell if he was teasing.

‘How are you finding London?’

‘It’s early days.’ Freya gave a small shrug.

‘Ah, after a few late nights you’ll come to love it.’

It was then that she noticed his eyes—or rather, it was then that she properly noticed them.

In his good-looking face there were several stand-outs. If she’d been describing him to Alison, his sculpted cheekbones and attractive full mouth were two features she might easily have named, and that his hazel eyes were just so much more than hazel. They were the colour of burnt amber, with a smatter of golden flecks, and they made Freya feel as if she were gazing upon an open fire.

Or was that more from the way he absolutely held her gaze as she replayed his words in her mind?

‘Ah, but after a few late nights you’ll come to love it.’

Those words had sounded like an invitation.

As Freya held their eye contact steady, she wasn’t quite sure how, but he made her his sole focus.

And he was hers.

Gone was the canteen, and gone too was the noise.

But then he spoke, and Freya found herself blinking at the intrusion of words.

‘So, where will you be working?

‘Maternity. I’m a midwife. The name’s Freya,’ she added, and she was not just being polite. His stethoscope was hanging over his lanyard and she wanted to know his name and just who this delectable stranger was.

She would have to wait to find out, though. His pager was trilling. As he looked at it he scooped the last of his cereal into his mouth and then gulped down the remaining tea as he stood.

‘I expect you to be fully versed in the operating of a fire extinguisher the next time we meet.’

‘I’ll do my best,’ Freya said, but he had already gone, his large frame moving swiftly through the tables as people made way to let him past.

She watched.

And not idly.

The overhead chimes started then, and Freya heard that the Cardiac Arrest Team was needed in Casualty.

Through the glass windows of the canteen Freya watched as he ran down the corridor, and then she turned her head and surveyed his empty cereal bowl and the two empty cups of tea.

Freya didn’t know his name, just that he was gorgeous. Effortlessly so. And way more gorgeous than she could handle.

She hadn’t been born yesterday. In fact, Freya’s thirtieth birthday was fast approaching. And there was something about him that told her he had learnt to flirt from the cradle. There had certainly been a tease and a flirt in his eyes when they spoke—especially with that little quip about late nights.

Well, there would be no late nights spent with him! She was far too guarded and sensible for that.

With her lunch break over, Freya headed back to the lecture theatre for the afternoon session of her orientation day. Sure enough it was the fire lecture. She watched the film and tried not to smile when they were given a demonstration on how to use the various fire extinguishers.

And even as she watched and listened Freya wanted to know more about the time her lunch companion’s patient had tried to set fire to the ward.

And she wanted to know his name.

Fully versed in the fire policy at the Primary, as well as in the various codes used for emergencies of different natures, and how to report safety hazards, Freya found that it was time for coffee—and, she guessed, another fifteen minutes of standing alone.

‘There’s a lot to take in, isn’t there?’ said Rita, the woman who had earlier been sitting next to her.

‘There is,’ Freya agreed. ‘Where will you be working?’

‘I used to be a domestic on Maternity. I’m hoping they’ll send me back there, but I haven’t been told where I’m going yet. You?’

‘I’m a midwife, so I’m certainly hoping that they’ll be sending me there!’ Freya joked.

‘Pardon?’

‘Maternity,’ Freya said instead.

‘Well, I hope to see you there.’

They headed back for their final lectures about the pay office and superannuation. Rita took furtive notes and Freya did her level best not to tune out completely.

Finally orientation day was concluded, and the fifty or so new Primary Hospital workers all headed for home.

Freya followed the red line, and sure enough was soon approaching Casualty.

And there he was.

The man who had understood her when she spoke.

He must be hungry again, Freya thought, watching him feed coins into a vending machine.

Gosh, he really was good-looking—and just so tall and broad. Even side-on there was a presence to him. She wondered if she could come up with a witty line about fire extinguishers in the few seconds she’d have before their paths crossed again.

Except she didn’t come up with any witty lines, and neither was one needed—because he collected a bottle of water and a bar of chocolate and headed back into Casualty without noticing her at all.

Freya headed towards the Underground, as did seemingly fifty million other people, and stood squashed between them for the four stops to her flat. And surely those same fifty million people were getting off at the same stop, for they all seemed to be herding towards the escalator with her.

She thought of her little purple car at home. The one that would never have survived the motorway—which was the reason her father had driven her here. And she thought of the short drive from the hospital to her home and the gorgeous view that awaited her there.

‘Cheer up love!’ called out a man working at a flower stall. ‘It might never happen.’

Freya jolted as she realised he was calling out to her.

She walked into her dingy flat and let out a sigh.

The place looked no better for her efforts over the past four days. She had washed down the walls, but really they needed several coats of paint. The curtains she had washed had shrunk, Freya had realised when she’d put them back, and now they didn’t properly close, falling a foot short of the floor. And there was an awful picture of a horse and cart that had to come down!

Tomorrow, Freya decided. When she would also get a rug to cover the mustard-coloured carpet, she thought as she headed into the kitchen.

It was even worse than her kitchen at Cromayr Bay.

But it wasn’t just the flat that was upsetting her. Apart from that gorgeous guy at lunchtime she had barely spoken to a soul since she’d arrived here.

It would be better soon, Freya told herself. Once she got to the maternity unit she would start to make friends.

Wouldn’t she?

She was starting to think the flower seller had picked up on her mood correctly. ‘It’ had indeed happened.

Moving here, Freya was sure, had been a mistake.

CHAPTER TWO

‘FIONA, CAN YOU go to Labour and Delivery? I mean Freya.’

Freya nodded. She was getting rather used to being called the wrong name by Stella, the associate unit manager.

‘Sure.’

‘And can you buddy with Kelly?’

Freya had been working there for a fortnight now, and today she was to go to the labour and delivery unit. ‘Buddying’ meant that she and Kelly would check each other’s CTG readings to ensure that two sets of skilled eyes overlooked the tracings. Even after two weeks it was no less daunting than it had been on her first day.

She had spent the first week in the antenatal clinic and the past few days on the maternity ward, and now she was on her second day in L&D.

There were so many staff, and each day there seemed to be new faces. Freya had really clicked with one midwife yesterday, but as it had turned out she’d just been doing an agency shift, so Freya had no idea if she would see her again.

Everyone was so busy, and though they were all professional and nice, there just wasn’t the same vibe from her colleagues that Freya was used to.

As she walked to L&D Freya rolled over the top of her trousers as they were way too loose. Her uniform consisted of dark blue trousers and a pale blue top and it was less than flattering. She couldn’t care less, but the sizing must be off because it hung off her. Although she had lost a bit of weight since she’d arrived, due to the constant busy pace and the lack of time to do a proper shop.

As she pressed the green button and the doors to L&D parted she saw a woman pushing an IV, walking the corridor with her support person. Freya gave them a smile.

She checked the board and saw that Dr Mina was the obstetrician in charge today. In the short while she had been at the Primary, Freya had worked with her several times, and found her incredibly efficient as well as a calming presence to the patients.

The hand-over was in depth, so that everyone was well-versed on all the patients—both those present now and those expected to arrive over the course of the shift.

‘Freya, can you take over from Angela in D5?’ asked Pat, the midwife in charge of L&D today. ‘She’s awaiting an epidural, but finding an anaesthetist this morning is proving a rather hard ask.’

‘Has the second-on been paged?’ Freya asked, and that earnt her a wry smile from her colleague.

‘Everyone’s been paged, but there’s been a five-car pile-up on the M25 and there was already a dissecting triple A being rushed to Theatre, along with a collapse on the paediatric ward. Then we had to call the Crash Caesarean Team out half an hour ago. Right now Anaesthetics are snowed under, and it’s a case of if a patient’s screaming then at least they’re breathing.’

Freya took a breath of her own. That patient-load sounded like a full week’s work in Cromayr Bay at the height of summer, but it was just another morning at the Primary.

Or not. Because then Pat explained that it had been an exceptionally busy night in Casualty too.

‘Just remind Kathy in D5 that she hasn’t been forgotten. Her husband, Ben, is getting upset.’

Freya checked her patient’s details and then went into the delivery suite. The lights were low and the suite was dim, and Kathy was kneeling up and holding on to the head of the delivery bed as Angela pressed a hot pack into her back.

‘Hi, there,’ Freya said as she approached. ‘I’m Freya. I’m—’

‘Are you an anaesthetist?’ Kathy’s husband snapped.

‘No, I’m a midwife,’

‘Not good enough! My wife has been waiting for two hours for an epidural.’

‘Please, Ben,’ Kathy implored, but then her face screwed up and she leant on her forearm as a contraction came.

Angela helped her through it as Freya checked all the equipment. Angela brought her up to speed with Kathy’s progress, but then gestured with her head to the door. Freya followed her out.

‘The husband is getting really tense and it’s upsetting Kathy,’ Angela said.

‘I can see that.’ Freya nodded.

‘He’s a great guy—he’s just terrified. But Kathy has still got a good way to go. I’ve called down to Casualty but two of their patients are currently being transferred to ICU, so they’re very tied up. The anaesthetist in our theatre is aware, though he’s probably half an hour or so away.’

‘Okay...’

‘You could try calling Switch and asking—’

‘No need.’

A voice she recognised, though she hadn’t heard it since her orientation day, caused Freya to turn around.

‘Oh, Richard!’ Angela sighed in relief. ‘Am I pleased to see you.’

‘Not as pleased as your patients will be. What room?’

‘D5 is first,’ Angela said. ‘It’s all set up for you.’

‘Thanks, Angela,’ he said. ‘Freya.’

She gave him a smile. ‘Richard.’

Finally she knew his name.

And, more than that, he was still stunning.

He had been wearing scrubs when they’d met, but this morning he wore a dark suit and a crisp white shirt with a silver-grey tie. His straight hair was damp, and rather more in need of a cut than the last time she’d seen him, and he was unshaven.

In seconds she took in every delicious detail, and the last few didn’t quite fit. He was so well turned out that the unshaven jaw stood out for Freya.

Instead of heading to the suite, he took the patient’s notes and walked over to the desk. The sharp, fresh scent of his cologne lingered. Freya saw him removing his jacket as she followed Angela back into D5.

‘Good news,’ Angela said. ‘The anaesthetist is here.’

‘Well, where is he, then?’ Ben demanded.

‘Dr Lewis is just reading up on the notes.’ Angela gave Kathy a lovely smile. ‘I shall leave you in Freya’s hands. You’ve been amazing, Kathy.’

Kathy nodded and tried to say goodbye, but was overwhelmed by another contraction. Freya took over, rubbing Kathy’s back and trying to establish a rapid bond with the woman, and also with her husband.

‘Would you like to come and rub her back?’ Freya suggested, but Ben stood against the wall and gave a tense shake of his head.

Yes, it was all terribly different from anything she was used to. Usually Freya would have seen her patients at antenatal clinic, and often their partners too.

‘Well done, Kathy,’ Freya said as the contraction faded. Knowing that the anaesthetist was here, Freya suggested that Kathy empty her bladder and walked with her, pushing the IV pole, to the en suite bathroom attached to the delivery room.

‘He’s nervous,’ Kathy said, explaining Ben’s behaviour.

‘Of course he is,’ Freya said. ‘It’s hard work for the women but it’s hell on the men.’

That made Kathy laugh a little.

Freya waited outside, and when Kathy came out after washing her hands, she asked Freya a question. ‘Do you have children?’

‘No.’ Freya said. ‘I’ve got nieces and nephews, and my best friend’s expecting, but I’d definitely like my own someday.’

She was actually enjoying getting to know the women here, and opening up to people who didn’t know her at all, Freya realised. At home, had she said that, it would have been all around town that she and Malcolm were trying for a baby.

‘We tried for ages...’ Kathy sighed. ‘I thought it would never happen.’

‘Well, it clearly is.’

‘Thanks, Freya,’ Kathy said as Freya pushed the IV pole. But as they got to the door she paused. ‘Please...’ she said. ‘Don’t mind Ben. His bark is far worse than his bite.’

‘I know that. You’ll be feeling a lot more comfortable soon, and I’m sure he will too.’

She was just helping Kathy back onto the delivery bed when the door opened and she saw the beautiful man she now knew was called Richard come in.

‘Where the hell have you been?’ Ben said by way of greeting.

‘I’m Dr Lewis,’ he responded. ‘Consultant anaesthetist.’ Then he smiled at his patient. ‘Hello, Mrs Hudson.’

But Ben wasn’t finished yet. ‘She was booked to have an epidural hours ago, but she’s been left screaming in pain.’

‘I’m aware of that, Mr Hudson, and I agree that it’s unfortunate, but I’m here now.’

‘It’s more than unfortunate, it’s not good enough,’ he retorted.

‘Ben, please...’ Kathy pleaded, but her husband still wasn’t done.

‘Where were you?’

‘Actually,’ Richard said as he rolled up his sleeves, ‘I was in bed when I was called to see if I could come in. I’m not supposed to be here until eight.’