Patrick had been called to a delivery at Ontario Buildings right at the end of hours at his surgery when he should have been heading home to Tim. He had finished with the last patient at surgery before heading to the patient and midwife in need. When he arrived Nurse Franklin was already poised at the business end of Mrs. Reed, ready for delivery. She made quick comments about a slow fetal heart rate and abnormal presentation and added that she had called for the flying squad after calling him. He palpated the stomach and felt the baby in a transverse position. He knew this would not be an easy delivery and he wished it had been one of the more experienced midwives with him. However he moved forward trying to prepare everything in his mind.

"Have the waters broken?" He asked.

"No Dr. Turner." Nurse Franklin replied quickly.

"Have you ever had to turn a transverse baby? It takes a lot of force and we need to be ready to break the waters and use forceps if necessary." Dr. Turner explained briefly, grabbing the needed tools from his medical bag.

"I've only seen it done. Twice. Once in training and once by Sister Bernadette during one of my first few weeks here." She replied back stunned at the thought of doing it herself. She remembered the strain on Sister Bernadette's face when she had done the maneuver, not to mention the pain for the poor mother.

"We have to try. Labor is too advanced to get her to the hospital for a cesarean and as you said the fetal heart rate is already slow." Dr. Turner rattled off as he helped Trixie up onto the bed to help the got on her knees on the bed as close to Mrs. Reed as she could while Dr. Turner took her former position at the end of the birth canal.

"Alright Marianne during the next contraction I am going to push on your tummy to try to get the baby into proper position. This will hurt while I am doing it. Once the baby is in position Dr. Turner will break your waters and you will need to start pushing, even if the contraction has ended." Trixie explained what would happen to the frightened woman she was now hovering above on the bed.

Patrick was startled at the patient's name and he froze. He watched as the contraction started and Nurse Franklin pushed on the expanded stomach before him. She was kneeling on the bed, head bent over the stomach, face turning red in concentration as she exerted as much force as she could muster to turn the baby but not break the amniotic sack. After what felt like forever she gave him a nod. He quickly broke the waters and immediately knew things were wrong. Meconium, the dark green instead of clear waters rushed at him and he immediately reached for forceps. Nurse Franklin was telling the woman to push without even seeing the meconium. Fumbling with the forceps he saw a head coming and dropped them to instead hold onto the baby. After a few more pushes the baby was completely out but also completely silent. He tried clearing the airways and rubbing the back but nothing was working. He rushed to the dresser his bag was on and tried to find a heartbeat with his stethoscope. He noticed from the corner of his eye that Nurse Franklin had moved to take care of the placenta.

After what felt like hours but was probably only a few minutes he gave up on resuscitation. Nurse Franklin was looking over the placenta and Mrs. Reed was flat on the bed with her eyes closed. He caught the nurses eye and shook his head no, she nodded her understanding and went back to the placenta. After a few more moments of silence the flying squad arrived. While he was informing them of the baby, Nurse Franklin interrupted to say some of the placenta was missing. After ergometrin was injected with no success the flying squad took Mrs. Reed and her stillborn baby to the hospital with Nurse Franklin accompanying them. He took Mrs. Reed's file, knowing that Nonnatus House would need to know both about the stillbirth and the location of their midwife, so he headed there.

It had been a horrible day he thought as he drove towards Nonnatus House. It seemed horrible days were all he had now. In the six months since Marianne had passed away everything seemed to be falling from his grasp. Timothy had withdrawn from things that used to bring him joy and Patrick couldn't seem to help or comfort him. Heck, he couldn't even cook for his son. His surgery was always full of patients but it was growing even more unorganized as he couldn't hold onto a secretary for more than a month. The disorganization meant he was constantly running behind and showing up late everywhere he went. This was not very professional of him. It was also not very professional of him to constantly be mixing up the two new midwives of Nonnatus House, he had rather put his foot in it this morning by accidently calling the wrong one Nurse Miller. She had not said anything during the birth this evening so he hoped Nurse Franklin would move past the mix up quickly. The chaos and fumbling hadn't seemed to be affecting his patients, apart from his lateness, until today. Showing up late to Mrs. Reed's delivery may have cost her baby's life. Attempting to move the fetus instead of waiting for the flying squad may have also contributed to the fate of the baby. Getting distracted by the patient's name when he should have been paying attention to the birth... his train of thought ended abruptly as tears came to his eyes. He sat in his car long after he had arrived at Nonnatus House trying to calm himself down. After a little while he finally got out and went to knock on the door.

After several minutes with nobody coming to answer, Patrick walked into Nonnatus House. He walked towards Sister Julienne's office but was distracted by other sounds, he thought it must be the nuns in prayer and that he might find Sister Julienne there instead of in her office. As he neared the noise it hit him that instead of prayer he was hearing singing. It sounded like one person singing a line or two and then several voices answering back. He couldn't fully make out the words but the music lifted his spirits. He stopped outside the door of what looked like a chapel and saw all the nuns standing near the altar. The beautiful lone voice continued on, then he realized that instead of a back and forth it was really that the lone voice was always there but simply joined by the others on certain verses. He also realized that the clear voice that rang above the others belonged to Sister Bernadette. She had always impressed him with her medical knowledge and ability, in fact he considered her Poplar's best midwife. But he didn't know she also had the voice of an angel. As he stood there in the doorway listening to the lovely singing of Sister Bernadette, everyone else melted away. He smiled to himself thinking simply, man she can sing.

He didn't know how long he stood there listening, he knew the song changed but Sister Bernadette's voice kept him focused, his thoughts no longer on his horrible day. He was startled out of his focused concentration when the nuns all exited the chapel. When Sister Julienne walked out she was shocked to see him standing there, she knew he was not a religious man and assumed he must be waiting for her.

"Hello Dr. Turner. I'm sorry if you were waiting long. Compline is our last office of the day and sometimes we let it last a little longer than is needed to express our joy for the day the Lord has given us." Sister Julienne explained with her typical serene smile on her face.

"Hello Sister. I wasn't waiting long and it was very peaceful to hear. I was called to assist Nurse Franklin at a birth at Ontario Buildings. It was a stillborn little boy. Mrs. Reed retained some of the placenta so Nurse Franklin went with her to the hospital. I felt I should inform you of her where-abouts and drop off the file." Patrick informed her before handing the patient folder over to Sister Julienne.

"Oh poor woman, Lord be with her." Sister Julienne responded quietly. "Thank you for bringing us the patient notes, Dr. Turner." She added.

Once the chapel had been straightened Sister Bernadette went to leave the room and bumped into Dr. Turner and Sister Julienne in the hallway.

"Greetings Dr. Turner. Are you in need of assistance this evening?" Sister Bernadette said with a small smile. She loved Compline, the hymns always reinvigorated her soul, and refreshed her even at the end of a long day.

"Mrs. Reed from Ontario Buildings has had a stillbirth. Nurse Franklin has accompanied her to the hospital due to a retained placenta." Sister Julienne reported quickly to Sister Bernadette.

"I shall go at once and clean the flat for Mrs. Reed. She will need to rest when she returns home, not clean up a mess that only reminds her of her loss." Sister Bernadette said with determination before heading towards the front door.

"Thank you again for the patient file Dr. Turner. Have a good evening." Sister Julienne said before turning towards the clinical room to return the file to its rightful place.

Patrick stood there surprised. He had already been shocked at the lovely voice Sister Bernadette had displayed in the chapel and now he was also shocked at the display of her generous heart. Without being asked she had run off to do the cleaning up after a horrifying birth, not concerned about herself getting her rest this evening but instead concerned for the welfare of a mother who she was not even the midwife for.

He was always amazed at how far the Nonnatuns would go for their patients. He was also always curious about the young Scottish sister who seemed closer in age to the new midwives than the other nuns. Marianne had been the first to point it out to him and they had spent an evening rattling off suspected reasons why she might have joined a convent, mostly things that led to a good laugh. He felt bad about that now, seeing the true devotion she had for helping others. He vowed to always treat the sisters with respect, he may not understand their religious devotion but he knew what it felt to be a medical professional trying to help those around you and in that way they were the same. He shook himself from his thoughts and turned to head home, excited at the idea of getting there in time to tuck Timothy into bed.