Unwrapping Her Italian Doc (11 page)

It was lovely to see them all cosy and happy.

‘It looks like you might get that Christmas at home after all.’ Louise smiled.

‘Oh, I’m going home tomorrow,’ Carmel said. ‘Nothing’s going to stop us having the Christmas we want now.’

Later, in the kitchen, pulling a teabag from her scrubs to make Carmel her only fantastic cup of hospital tea, she saw the hotel card that she had brought in to give Emily.

Was it a ridiculous idea to ask him to be there tomorrow? Did she really have to put him through some strange test?

Yet a part of Louise wanted him to see the other side of her also.

She walked out and saw Anton sitting at the desk, writing up his notes.

‘Are you working tomorrow?’ Louise asked.

‘I am.’

She put the card down.

‘It’s my photo shoot tomorrow from ten till seven—see if you can get away for an hour or so. I’ll leave your name at Reception.’

Anton read the address and then looked up but Louise was gone.

I
T REALLY WAS
the best job in the world.

Well, apart from midwifery, which Louise absolutely loved, but this was the absolutely cherry on the cake, Louise thought as she looked in the mirror.

Her hair was all backcombed and coiffed, her eyes were heavy with black eyeliner and she had lashings of red lipstick on.

All her body was buffed and oiled and then she’d had to suffer the hardship of putting on the most beautiful underwear in the world.

It was such a dark red that it was almost black and it emphasised the paleness of her skin.

And she got to keep it!

Louise smiled at herself in the mirror.

‘Okay, they’re ready for you, Louise.’

Now the hard work started.

She stepped into the presidential suite and took off her robe and there was Jeremy in bed, looking all sexy and rumpled but very bored with it all, and there, in the lounge, was Anton.

Oh! She had thought he might manage an hour, she hadn’t been expecting him to be here at the start.

He gave her a smile of encouragement and Louise let out a breath and smiled back.

‘On the bed, Louise,’ Roxy, the director said.

‘Morning, Jeremy.’ Louise smiled. She had worked with him many times.

‘Good morning, Louise.’

It was fun, though it was actually very hard work. There were loads of costume changes and not just for Louise—Jeremy kept having to have his shirt changed as Louise’s lipstick wiped off. Cold cream too was Jeremy’s friend as her lips left their mark on his stomach.

And not once did Anton frown or make her feel awkward.

As evening fell, the drapes were opened to show London at its dark best, though the Christmas lights would be edited out. This was for Valentine’s Day after all.

‘He’s just home from work,’ Roxy said. ‘Flowers in hand but there’s no time to even give them …’

‘Okay.’

Jeremy lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his hips and crossed her ankles as Roxy gave Jeremy a huge bouquet of dark red roses to hold.

‘A bit lower, Louise.’

Louise obliged and as she wiggled her hips to get comfortable on Jeremy’s crotch she made everyone, including Anton, laugh as she alluded to his complete lack of response. ‘You are so-o-o gay, Jeremy!’

Anton had stayed the whole day. Louise could not believe he’d swapped shifts for her and, better still, clearly Emily’s baby was behaving.

At the end of the shoot she put on her robe, feeling dizzy and elated, clutching a huge bag of goodies and
ready to head to a smaller room to get changed. Anton joined her and they shared a kiss in the corridor.

‘Do you want me to hang up my G-string?’ Louise asked, between hot, wet kisses.

‘God, no,’ Anton said.

‘You really don’t mind?’

‘Mind?’ Anton said, not caring what he did to her lipstick.

They were deep, deep kissing and she loved the feel of his erection pressing into her, and then she pulled back and smiled—they must look like two drunken clowns.

‘I’ve booked a room,’ Anton said.

‘Thank God!’

They made it just past the door. Her robe dropped, her back to the wall, Louise tore at his top because she wanted his skin. Louise worked his zipper and freed him, still frantically kissing as she kicked her panties off. Anton’s impatient hands dealt swiftly with a condom and then he lifted her. Louise wrapped her legs around him and crossed her ankles far more naturally this time. She was on the edge of coming as she lowered herself onto him but he slowed things right down as he thrust into her because what he had to say was important.

‘I am crazy for you, Louise, and I don’t want to change a single thing.’

‘I know,’ Louise said, ‘and I’m crazy about you too.’

She couldn’t say more than that because her mouth gave up on words and gave in to the throb between her legs. The wall took her weight then as Anton bucked into her, a delicious come ensuing for them both. Then
afterwards, instead of letting her down, he walked her to the bed and let her down there.

‘We’re going to sort this out, Louise.’

‘I know we will.’ Louise nodded, except she didn’t want to ruin their day with tales of yesterday and it was Christmas tomorrow and Louise didn’t want to ruin that again, so instead she smiled.

‘I need carbs.’

They shared a huge bowl of pasta, courtesy of room service, and then Louise, who had been up since dawn, fell asleep in his arms. Better than anything, though, was the man who, when anyone else would have been snoring, lay restless beside her and finally kissed her shoulder.

‘I’m going to pop into the hospital,’ Anton said. ‘I’ve got two women—’

‘Go,’ Louise said, knowing how difficult it must have been to swap his shift today. ‘Call me if something happens with Emily.’

‘You don’t mind me going in?’

She’d have minded more if he hadn’t.

T
WO PATIENTS WERE
on his mind this Christmas Eve and Anton walked into the ward and chatted with Evie.

‘Hazel’s asleep,’ Evie said, as he went through the charts. ‘I’d expect you to be called in any time soon, though.’

‘How about Emily?’

‘Hugh’s in with her, he’s on call tonight. Stephanie looked in on her an hour ago and there’s been no change.’

‘Thanks.’

He let Hazel sleep. Anton knew now he would be called if anything happened but, for more social reasons, he tapped on the open door of the royal suite.

‘Hi, Anton,’ Hugh said. ‘All’s quiet here.’

‘That’s good.’

‘How was your day off?’ Emily asked.

‘Good.’

‘I was just going to check on a patient.’ Hugh stood and yawned.

‘I could say the same,’ Anton said, ‘but I wanted to check in on Emily too.’

‘Is this a friendly visit, Anton?’ Emily asked when Hugh had left.

‘A bit of both,’ Anton said, and sat on the bed. ‘How are you?’

‘I don’t know,’ Emily admitted. ‘I think I’ve given up hoping for thirty-three weeks.’

‘Thirty-one weeks is considered a moderately premature baby,’ Anton said. ‘Yours is a nice size. I would guess over three pounds in weight and it’s had the steroids.’

‘How long would it be in NICU?’

‘Depends,’ Anton said. ‘Five weeks, maybe four if all goes well.’ He knew this baby was coming and so Anton prepared Emily as best he could. ‘All going well with a thirty-one-weeker means there will be some bumps—jaundice, a few apnoea attacks, runs of bradycardia. All these we expect as your baby learns to regulate its temperature and to feed …’ He went through it all with her, and even though Emily had been over and over it herself he still clarified some things.

Not once had she cried, Anton thought.

Not since he had done the scan after her appendectomy had he seen Emily shed a tear.

‘You can ask me anything,’ Anton offered, because she was so practical he just wanted to be sure there was nothing on her mind that he hadn’t covered.

‘Anything?’ Emily said.

‘Of course.’

‘How was the photo shoot?’

Anton smiled. ‘I walked into that one, didn’t I?’

‘You did.’

‘Louise was amazing.’

‘She is.’

‘Yet,’ Anton ventured, ‘for someone who is so open
about everything, and I mean
everything
, she’s very private too …’

‘Yes.’

‘I’m not asking you to tell me anything,’ Anton said.

‘You just want her to?’

Anton nodded and then said, ‘I want her to feel able to.’

L
OUISE OPENED HER
eyes to a dark hotel room on Christmas morning and glanced at the time. It was four a.m. and no Anton.

She lay there remembering this time last year but even though she was alone it didn’t feel like it this time, especially when the door opened gently and Anton came in quietly.

‘Happy Christmas,’ Louise said.

‘Buon Natale,’ Anton said, as he undressed.

‘How’s Emily?’

‘Any time now,’ Anton said. ‘I was just about to come back here when another patient went into labour.’

‘Hazel?’ Louise sleepily checked.

‘A little girl,’ Anton said. ‘She’s in NICU but I’m very pleased with how she is doing.’

‘A nice way to start Christmas,’ Louise said, as he slid into bed and spooned into her.

His hands were cold and so was his face as he dropped a kiss on her shoulder.

‘Scratch my back with your jaw.’

He obliged and then, without asking, scratched the back of her neck too, his tongue wet and probing, his
jaw all lovely and stubbly, and his hand stroking her very close to boiling.

‘Did you stop for condoms?’

‘No,’ Anton said. ‘We have one left.’

‘Use it wisely, then.’ Louise smiled, though she didn’t want his hand to move for a second and as Anton sheathed himself Louise made the beginning of a choice—she would have to go on the Pill. They were both so into each other that common sense was elusive, but she stopped thinking then as she felt him nudging her entrance. Swollen from last night and then swollen again with want, it was Louise who let out a long moan as he took her slowly from behind. His hand was stroking her breast and she craned her neck for his mouth.

He could almost taste her near orgasm on her tongue as it hungrily slathered his. He was being cruel, the best type of cruelty because she was going to come now and he’d keep going through it. She almost shot out of her skin as it hit, and she wished he would stop but she also wished he wouldn’t. It was so deliciously relentless, there was no come down. Anton started thrusting faster, driving her to the next, and then he stilled and she wondered why because they were just about there …

‘No way,’ Louise said, hearing his phone. ‘Quickly …’

Oh, he tried, but it would not stop ringing. ‘Sorry …’ Anton laughed at her urgency, because sadly it was his special phone that was ringing. The one for his special Anton patients. And a very naked Louise lay there as he took the call.

‘Get used to it,’ Anton said as he was connected, and then he hesitated, because if he was telling Louise to get used to it, well, it was something he’d never said
before. There was no time to dwell on it, though, as he listened to Evie.

‘I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes. Thank you for letting me know.’ He ended the call. ‘Are you coming in with me to deliver a Christmas baby?’

‘Emily!’

‘Waters just fully broke …’

‘Oh, my goodness …’

‘She’s doing well. Hugh’s on his way in but things are going to move quite fast.’

They had the quickest shower ever and then Anton drove them through London streets on a wet, pre-dawn Christmas morning and he got another phone call from the ward. He asked for them to page the anaesthetist for an epidural as that could sometimes slow things down and also, despite the pethidine she’d been given, Emily was in a lot of pain.

‘She’ll be okay,’ Louise said, only more for herself. ‘I’m so scared, Anton,’ Louise admitted. ‘I really am.’

‘I know, but she’s going to be fine and so is the baby.’ There was no question for Anton, they
had
to be okay. ‘Big breath,’ Anton said.

‘I’m not the one in labour.’

It had just felt like it for a moment, though.

Oh, she was terrified for her friend but Louise was at her sparkly best as she and Anton walked into the delivery ward.

‘Oh!’ Emily smiled in delighted surprise because it was only five a.m. after all.

‘The mobile obstetric squad has arrived,’ Louise teased. ‘Aren’t you lucky that it’s us two on?’ She smiled and gave Emily a cuddle. ‘Oh, hi, Hugh!’ Louise
winked and noted he was looking a bit white. ‘Merry Christmas!’

‘Hi, Louise.’ Hugh was relieved to see them both too.

‘I want an epidural,’ Emily said.

‘It’s on its way. I’ve already paged Rory. We want to slow this down a little,’ Anton explained while examining her, ‘and an epidural might help us to do that. You’ve got a bit of a way to go but because the baby is small you don’t have to be fully dilated.’

‘I’m scared,’ Emily admitted.

‘You’re going to meet your baby,’ Louise said, and she gave Emily’s hand a squeeze. ‘Let us worry for you, okay? We’re getting paid after all.’

Emily nodded.

‘NICU’s been notified?’ Anton checked, and then gave an apologetic smile when Evie rolled her eyes and nodded, and Anton answered for her. ‘Of course they have.’

There was a knock on the door and Emily’s soon-to-be-favourite person came in.

‘Hi, lovely Emily,’ Rory said. ‘We meet again.’

‘Oh, yes,’ Louise recalled. ‘Rory knocked you out when you had your appendix.’

‘Hopefully this will slow things down enough that I miss Christmas dinner,’ Louise joked, though they all knew this baby would be born by dawn.

A little high on pethidine, a little ready to fix the world, very determined not to panic about the baby, Emily decided she had the perfect solution, the perfect one to show Louise how wonderful and not controlling or jealous Anton was.

And the man delivering your premature baby had to be seriously wonderful, Emily decided!

‘Tell them about your Christmas dinner last year,’ Emily said, as Louise sat her up and put her legs over the edge of the bed and then pulled Emily in for an epidural cuddle.

‘Relax,’ Hugh said, stroking Emily’s hair as she leant on Louise, while Rory located the position on Emily’s spine.

But Emily didn’t want to relax, she wanted this sorted now!

‘Tell them!’ Emily shouted, and Louise shared a little ‘yikes’ look with Hugh.

Never argue with a woman in transition!

‘I’m going to have a word with you later,’ Louise warned. She knew what Emily was doing.

‘Okay!’ Louise said, as she cuddled Emily. ‘Well, I’d broken up with Wesley and I checked myself into a hotel—the most miserable place on God’s earth, as it turned out, and I couldn’t face the restaurant and families so I had room service and it was awful. I think it was processed chicken …’

‘Stay still, Emily,’ Rory said.

‘She’s having a contraction,’ Anton said, and Louise rocked her through it and after Rory got back to work she went on with her story.

‘Well, I was so miserable but I cheered myself up by realising I’d finally got out of having Christmas dinner at Mum’s.’

‘It’s seriously awful food,’ Rory said casually, threading the cannula in.

‘You wouldn’t know,’ Louise retorted. ‘The one time you came for dinner you pretended you’d been paged and had to leave. Anyway, I arrived at Mum’s on Boxing
Day and she’d
saved
me not one but about five dinners, and had decided I needed a mother’s love and cooking …’

Anton laughed. ‘That bad?’

‘So, so bad,’ Louise said, and her little tale had got them through the insertion of the epidural and she’d managed not to reveal all.

She looked at Anton and there wasn’t a flicker of a ruffled feather at her mention of Rory once being at her family’s home.

He was a good man. She’d always known it, now she felt it.

‘You’ll start to feel it working in a few minutes, Emily,’ Rory said.

‘I can feel it working already.’ Emily sighed in relief as Louise helped her back onto the delivery bed.

Rory left and Louise told Evie she’d got this and then suggested that Anton grab a coffee as she set about darkening the room.

‘Sure,’ Anton said, even though he didn’t feel like leaving, but, confident that he would be called when needed and not wanting to make this birth too different for Emily, he left.

The epidural brought Emily half an hour of rest and she lay on her side, with Hugh beside her as Louise sat on the couch out of view, a quiet presence as they waited for nature to take its course, but thirty minutes later Louise called Anton in.

The room was still quiet and dark but it was a rather full one—Rory and the paediatric team were present for the baby as the baby began its final descent into the world.

‘Do you feel like you need to push?’ Anton asked, and Emily shook her head as her baby inched its way down.

‘A bit,’ she said a moment later.

‘Try not to,’ Anton said. ‘Let’s do this as slowly as we can.’

‘Head end, Hugh,’ Louise said, because he looked a bit green, and she left him at Emily’s head and went down to the action end, holding Emily’s leg as Anton did his best to slow things down.

‘Do you want a mirror?’ Louise asked.

‘Absolutely not.’

‘Black hair and lots of it.’ Louise was on delighted tiptoe.

‘Louise, can you come up here?’ Emily gasped. ‘I don’t want you seeing me …’

‘Oh, stop it.’ Louise laughed and then Emily truly didn’t care what anyone could see because, even with the epidural, there was the odd sensation of her baby moving down.

‘Oh!’

‘Don’t push,’ Anton said.

‘I think I have to.’

‘Breathe,’ Hugh said, and got the F word back, but she did manage to breathe through it as Anton helped this little one get a less rapid entrance into the world. And then out came the head and Louise gently suctioned its tiny mouth as its eyes blinked at the new world.

‘Happy Christmas,’ Anton said, delivering a very vigorous bundle onto Emily’s stomach.

Emily got her hotbox blanket wrapped around her shoulders and then another one was placed over a tiny baby whose mum and dad were starting to get to know it.

Anton glanced over at the paediatrician and all was well enough to allow just a minute for a nice cuddle.

‘A girl,’ Emily said.

The sweetest, sweetest girl, Louise thought. She stood watching over them, holding oxygen near her little mouth as Emily and Hugh got to cuddle her and Louise cried happy tears, baby-just-been-born tears, but then she did what she had to.

‘We need to check her …’

And finally Emily started to cry.