Every little thing she does is magic
Half an hour later, Shelagh, followed by Patrick, entered A.C.K. Guesthouse. Immediately, one of the women at the reception waved at Shelagh. "Miss Mannion," she exclaimed. "Miss Franklin is in room 44 with Mrs. Carter."
"Thank you very much," Shelagh said firmly and hurried into the direction of said room. Patrick followed her. Inside the room, they found a very pregnant, groaning woman laying on her back on the bed. Trixie was kneeling at the foot of the bed, in the process of examining the mother. When she noticed Shelagh and Dr Turner, Trixie slowly got up from the bed and approached them.
"Thank you for coming so quickly", Trixie murmured relieved. "She is fully dilated now; this was progressing rather fast." Shelagh nodded and rolled up the sleeves of her blouse. She noticed Dr Turner doing the same. She also saw that Trixie had already gathered some towels. As per Trixie's request, Shelagh had also brought the well-stocked first aid kit from their duty car.
On their way to the guesthouse, Shelagh had briefly informed Patrick about what she knew about Mave Carter. She had sat next to Mave during dinner the day before and learned about the woman's rather particular story.
Mave and her sister Meg were Mormon missionaries. They had come to Nairobi to take their husband to the airport as he needed to attend some family business in the US. They had planned to leave the next day; but apparently their plans had been spoiled by the onset of Mave's labour.
Mave had explained to Shelagh that she did not believe in modern medicine and wanted to give birth at their hut in Turkana County, in the far North of Kenya, where they were posted. She had never once seen a doctor or midwife and planned to give birth with the help of a local midwife. According to Mave's estimation, her baby would be due in more than four weeks. Shelagh had commented to Patrick that she believed Mave was further along but had not said anything to her.
Now, in Mave's room with Trixie already in full midwife mode, Shelagh turned to Mave. "Mave, you are doing very well. You remember me, I am Shelagh Mannion. We were talking over dinner last night. I am a midwife just as Trixie and we are here to help you bring this baby into the world."
"Where is Meg?" Mave cried. "I need her. The baby can't come out just now." Shelagh turned towards Trixie with a questioning expression.
Trixie shrugged her shoulders. "She left the room after I got here", she explained. "Once her labour had begun, Mave asked to see any of us two for support", she continued, "Her sister did not approve. Then they got into a fight."
"Oh dear", Shelagh whispered. Then she addressed the pregnant woman: "Now Mave, we will do this together. I assure you that you are in good hands between the three of us. I brought my colleague Dr Turner. He is an obstetrician and we will do anything we can to support you. But first, I suggest he goes out to look for Meg and let her know she's needed in here. Is that all right with you?"
Mave nodded and grimaced in pain when the next contraction hit her. Shelagh looked at Patrick who instantly understood and left the room.
Trixie and Shelagh supported Mave for the next fifteen minutes during which the contractions got ever more intense. Trixie monitored the progress of the baby while Shelagh sat next to Mave's head and let her squeeze her hand during every contraction.
"I can see the head, Mave, it won't be long now", Trixie announced after a particularly long and painful contraction. Just in this moment, Patrick entered the room. Shelagh looked at him and he nodded towards the door and rolled his eyes. Shelagh instantly understood that he had found Meg, but for whatever reason she did not want to enter the room.
Shelagh and Trixie kept motivating the crying and moaning Mave until, after a particularly shrill cry of the mother-to-be, Trixie exclaimed "Mave, you're almost there, the head is born." With the next contraction, barely a minute later, Mave's little baby daughter entered the world, announcing her arrival by letting out a thin wail.
"Well done, Mave, I am so proud of you", Shelagh said.
Trixie had already wrapped the baby into a towel and handed it to her mother. "Congratulations, Mave, to your beautiful baby girl. "
Shelagh got up from the chair she had sat on and slowly retreated from the bed until she stood next to Patrick. The two exchanged a happy grin and watched Trixie for a while who remained close to Mave, waiting for the afterbirth.
"I am going out to announce the glad tidings," Patrick whispered after a long moment and left the room. A minute later, he entered again and murmured to Shelagh: "Well, the sister is outside but she does not want to come in. She said Mave does not need her, she has a baby now."
Shelagh frowned and tried to think about what she might do when Trixie quietly called "Shelagh? Could you come over for a moment?"
Shelagh stepped up next to Trixie who whispered to her: "Something feels strange. No placenta yet, but the contractions seem to intensify again. I think there might be another baby coming."
Shelagh took in a sharp breath. "Now Mave," she addressed the mother, "I need to examine you to see where we are in the process. I'll be as quick as possible."
Patrick and Trixie watched Shelagh intently as she carefully palpated Mave's abdomen, her facial expression highly concentrated, eyelids half-closed. When she was done, Shelagh released her breath, raised her eyebrows and looked at her colleagues. "Trixie, you were right." Then she addressed Mave: "Mave, you are going to have a second baby, you are having twins."
Mave moaned: "Oh no, I can't do this another time, I don't have any strength left. I just can't."
"Oh yes," Shelagh encouraged her in her most motivational midwife-tone. "Yes, you can do it and Trixie and I are here to help you with it. You are almost there."
Then she looked at Trixie and Patrick again. "Baby is in a transverse position. I need to turn it. Could you two please steady her?"
Shelagh looked around the room and murmured "ah" when she had found what she had been looking for. She walked to the bedside table next to Mave's bed and took a small container of Vaseline. She opened it and generously spread the lubricant on Mave's belly while explaining what she was doing to the labouring mother.
"Mave, this may hurt now, but we have to turn baby in order to bring him into the correct position for delivery." In the meantime, Trixie, in an attempt to place the newborn safely, had opened a drawer of the chest of drawers next to the door and laid the baby onto Mrs. Carters' clothes.
Shelagh put her hands on Mave's abdomen and moved them in circles in an attempt to turn the baby while Patrick and Trixie steadied Mave's arms and legs. Mave groaned in pain until a few minutes later, Shelagh announced that she was done, smiling relieved at her colleagues who had stepped back from the bed.
After a few more contractions, a surge of blood shot out from between Mave's legs, followed by a piece of the placenta.
"Placenta is coming away," Shelagh shouted, alerting Patrick and Trixie. "We have to get the baby out now." All three immediately spurred into action. Without speaking a word, everyone took their positions. Trixie held Mave's right hand and told her to squeeze it as much as she needed, Shelagh applied fundal pressure to help the baby come out and Patrick steadied the mother's legs and waited for the head to be born.
Mave groaned louder and louder and suddenly let out a high-pitched cry of pain. Right after, the door flew open and a woman looking exactly like Mave came running in and shoved away Patrick. When Shelagh tried to grab the furious woman by the arm, she slapped Shelagh into her face, causing Patrick to step in between, shielding Shelagh from Meg's rage.
"Mrs. Carter," he shouted enraged. "We are trying to save your sister and her baby. Now please step back or you will risk further damage."
"Meg, come over here," Trixie commanded and tugged at the raging woman's arm. She ushered her towards the bed and placed her next to a crying Mave's head. Mave extended her arm and her sister gently took her hand.
Meanwhile, Shelagh, Trixie and Patrick had gone back to their positions and worked hand in hand to help the second twin into the world. A few short moments later, Patrick announcing: "head is born," caused a sigh of relief among his co-workers. Not long after, the baby was delivered, with Patrick exclaiming "Another girl, Mave, congratulations."
Shelagh grabbed a towel and rushed to take the baby from Patrick while he, assisted by Trixie, tried to stop the bleeding.
"Why isn't she crying?" Mave anxiously asked, voice thin.
"We need to give her some time," Shelagh murmured, and everyone looked at her as she gently rocked the baby back and forth. After moments that seemed like an eternity, a very thin wail emerged from the little bundle in Shelagh's arms.
A tear run down Shelagh's face and she whispered "Praise the lord." Patrick who meanwhile had succeeded to stop Mave's bleeding, swallowed hard. Something about watching Shelagh with a newborn baby in her arms moved him down to his core.
In the meantime, Trixie had taken the second twin from the drawer and the babies were handed to their mother. While Meg and Mave took turns admiring the little girls, Shelagh and Trixie began quietly cleaning the room. Patrick kept an eye on Mave in case further bleeding might occur.
After about one hour, mother and babies were declared healthy and stable enough to be left to rest on their own. Trixie offered to stay back for a few moments in order to assist with breastfeeding while Patrick and Shelagh left the room.
"Thank you for coming," Shelagh addressed him while they were walking towards the main door.
"No need to thank me; I'm glad that I could be of help," he replied.
"Well, the reception is closed at this time of night," Shelagh said matter-of-factly, "but we could ask one of the watchmen to get a taxi for you." Patrick nodded and Shelagh stepped outside and approached one of the two watchmen who sat near the entrance gate, drinking coke from the bottle.
When she returned she said: "One of them has called his brother-in-law who is a taxi driver. He will be here shortly."
"Thank you," Patrick said, smiling warmly at Shelagh. He was still processing the image of her holding the baby. "You were wonderful in there," he said admiringly. "I always knew you were quite an accomplished midwife but I have now seen it with my own eyes. Congratulations."
Shelagh blushed and smiled her shy smile. Patrick knew she was too modest to accept praise. "I'll wait out here with you. A bit of fresh air will do me good after the heat inside," she said, sitting down at the entrance step.
Patrick sat down next to her and lit a cigarette. "Ahh, I feel like an officer and a sergeant after the battle of the Somme," he joked. "And that is not to say that I see myself as the officer."
Shelagh looked at him a little bewildered. "The Somme?" she asked. "Why ever the Somme?"
Dr Turner chuckled. "Timothy and I just did some research on The Great War. He had to write an essay on his family and lucky for us, Granny Parker is a hobby genealogist. She sent us lots of the research she has done over the years. Apparently, one of his great-great-grand uncles died at the Somme. Tim had lots of questions about the war, that's why it came to mind."
Shelagh smiled and looked into the distance.
"I feel like I should offer you one," Dr Turner said suddenly, waving his cigarette into her direction.
Shelagh breathed in audibly. "Just a puff, just a wee one," she said in a low voice.
Patrick raised his eyebrows in surprise. He had never seen her smoke and had not expected her to take him up on his offer. He held out his cigarette for her and her fingers very gently brushed his hand when she took it from him.
"What are these?" she asked curiously after she had taken a drag.
"Embassy," he replied. "This local stuff is just too cheap. I've wanted to quit ages ago, but I just keep buying them."
"They remind me of my father's. Henley's were his brand," Shelagh said. "I used to sneak out one from his desk sometimes when I was about fourteen," she added.
Patrick smiled, trying to picture a fourteen-year-old Shelagh. He noticed that he hardly knew anything about her outside her professional life.
"Where was this?" he asked. "Somewhere in Scotland, I suppose?"
"Yes," Shelagh replied. "Aberdeen. I grew up in Malawi, though", she added after a short pause. "My parents were missionaries. Some time after my mother had died, my father and I returned to Scotland. He took a position with the diocese. He found it easier back home, raising me all by himself. Also, he wanted me to get a decent education."
Shelagh fell silent and carefully handed him back his cigarette. Patrick took a drag and it struck him that she had held it in her mouth only seconds ago. He felt a tingling in his belly radiating through the whole of his body.
"Has he ever visited you here? Your father?" he asked.
"No, sadly not," Shelagh answered. "He died a few months after I arrived here. My first trip home was the one to his funeral."
Patrick bit his lips. "I am sorry for bringing this up," he said quietly.
"Never mind," Shelagh said. "It is all right. Just before I came here, we had a long talk and he told me that he wanted me to know that he was proud of me. I believe he had a foreboding about his death. He was not sick or unwell, but he must have sensed something."
She paused for a long moment before she continued: "But I still miss him every day, very much. He was a wonderful father and a wonderful man." She looked down at her feet and Patrick felt the strong urge to put his arm around her shoulders and hold her tight. But before he could finally decide whether he should do so or whether it meant overstepping a boundary, a car entered the compound.
"Your taxi is here," Shelagh said, slowly getting up from the steps.
Patrick got up, too, and turned towards Shelagh. "Get some rest. I am certain you can skip the first slot in the morning," he said while gently brushing her right upper arm with his left hand. Shelagh sighed.
"I am afraid not. I have been looking forward for Professor Stern's lecture for months. She will be talking about the latest findings on nutrition recommendations in resource-poor settings and I don't want to miss it. She'll be on at 8 am, so I have to get up again in" she looked at her watch, "three hours. Three and a half if I skip breakfast."
Patrick opened his mouth as if he wanted so say something. Then he remembered his taxi and did not want to keep her from her well-deserved sleep any longer. Thus he extended his right hand and said good night. Shelagh replied with a warm smile, turned and slowly walked through the door.
Patrick looked after her for a few moments, watching her small figure retreat into the house. He wondered how her body might look below her usual clothing of a loose fit blouse and cotton trousers. He was slightly appalled at himself when he realized what he was thinking. She deserved his respect, and instead, he thought of her in what were most inappropriate thoughts. But he could not help picturing her in something more tight fit or with less fabric altogether.
Then he shook off his thoughts and went to the taxi. He only had a few meetings over coffee the next day, and would be able to lie in a little longer than Shelagh.
