Summer of Love Marie Ferrarella (easy books to read in english TXT) 📖

Daniel got out and took his case out of the back. He also lifted out the pack of medical supplies that Jim kept ready for just such an emergency as this. There was no sign of Emma when he let himself into the house but he could hear voices coming from upstairs so headed in that direction and soon found himself in the main bedroom. A fair-haired man in his thirties, whom he assumed must be Harry Groves, was holding the hand of the woman lying on the bed. She was very pale and obviously in a great deal of pain. Emma was in the process of checking her pulse so Daniel left her to deal with that while he introduced himself.

‘I’m Daniel Kennedy. I’m covering for Dr Haynes while he’s in hospital.’

‘So Emma said,’ Harry replied. He looked anxiously at the door. ‘Did you pass the ambulance on your way here?’

‘No, but it may have taken a different route from us.’ Daniel smiled reassuringly at the couple. ‘Can you tell me exactly what’s happened?’

‘I started having pains after tea but thought it was because of the way the baby was lying,’ Sarah Groves explained. ‘I lay down on the settee for a while and that seemed to help, but then the pains started again, worse than ever. That’s when I discovered I was bleeding. I told Harry to phone the midwife, but she was out at another call so he phoned for an ambulance.’ Her voice shook. ‘When they said it would take over an hour for it to get here, he rang the surgery.’

‘You did exactly the right thing,’ Daniel said soothingly. He glanced at Emma, hoping his feelings didn’t show. Maybe it was foolish to feel upset but he couldn’t help it. In a tiny corner of his heart, he had nurtured the hope that their love could have overcome any obstacle. Even though he hadn’t been prepared to take that risk, it had been something to cling to, but now he could see how stupid it had been. His relationship with Emma would have ended the same way as his parents’ had done if they had stayed together.

‘We need to know how much longer the ambulance is going to be,’ he said with a heavy heart.

‘I’ll get onto Ambulance Control and see if they can give us an update,’ Emma offered immediately.

She left the bedroom and Daniel turned his attention to Sarah again, relieved to have something to focus on apart from his aching heart. ‘Has the bleeding stopped now?’

Sarah shook her head, her pretty face clouded with worry. ‘No. In fact, I think it’s got worse in the last ten minutes or so.’

‘I’ll just take a look, if that’s all right with you.’

Daniel drew back the bedding, struggling to hide his dismay when he saw the bright red pool that had collected on the sheets. He fetched the foetal stethoscope from the pack of emergency medical supplies and listened to the baby’s heartbeat. It was slightly slower than it should have been but not worryingly so, which was a relief. He had just finished when Emma came back and he could tell immediately that it wasn’t good news when she beckoned him over to the door.

‘What’s happened?’ he demanded.

‘Apparently, the ambulance has had a puncture. They’re waiting for the breakdown truck, so Ambulance Control has dispatched a second vehicle.’

Daniel rolled his eyes. ‘Which means we’re starting from scratch. It could be another hour before an ambulance gets here.’

‘It looks like it.’ Emma looked at Sarah. ‘How is she?’

‘She’s lost a lot of blood. I’m going to set up a drip, which should help, but I’m not happy with the way things are going.’

‘How about the baby?’

‘Foetal heartbeat is slightly slower than I would like it to be. We’ll need to keep a close check on what’s happening.’

‘It looks like a placental abruption, doesn’t it?’

‘Yes, that’s my guess too. At least part of the placenta has become detached from the wall of the uterus.’ He sighed. ‘If we were able to perform an ultrasound scan then we could tell how bad the abruption is, but at the moment we’re batting in the dark.’

‘What’s going on, Doctor? I may not have seen a human baby being born before but I’ve delivered umpteen lambs and I know this isn’t normal.’

Daniel turned when Harry came to join them. The farmer was obviously worried and Daniel led him out onto the landing. The last thing he wanted was to upset Sarah any more. ‘The bleeding could be a sign that the placenta has become partially detached from the wall of the uterus.’

‘But why?’ Harry demanded. ‘Sarah’s been fit as a fiddle up to now, so why on earth should this have happened right out of the blue?’

‘It’s impossible to say. These things just happen sometimes and there’s no explanation as to why.’

Daniel glanced back into the room. Emma was bending over the bed while she inserted a cannula into the back of Sarah’s hand. Her face was set with concentration, even though she must have performed the procedure many times before. Daniel felt a wave of emotion wash over him as he watched her. He might regret having to let her go but he knew that he would do the same thing all over again. He simply couldn’t bear it if Emma ended up hating him for ruining her life.

Emma could feel Daniel watching her but she didn’t look up. She felt too emotionally raw to take that risk. Had Daniel ever regretted breaking up with her? she wondered as she taped the cannula into place. Had he ever missed her? Even though she knew how stupid it was, she couldn’t help wishing that he’d felt something.

Sarah moaned softly, clutching her stomach, and Emma quickly returned her thoughts to what was going on. ‘Are the pains coming at regular intervals?’ she asked, placing her own hand on the woman’s distended abdomen.

‘I don’t know … they