Something caught Nate’s eye and he almost choked on his mouthful.
“You okay, hun? Is the coffee too strong?”
“No. Sorry. It’s perfect. I just thought I saw someone from my…past.”
Nate stared at the now empty space she’d walked through only seconds before. The long raven hair tied up in a ponytail. The hour-glass curves. Her endless legs and rounded hips shifting side-to-side as she walked. He’d only caught her in profile, but she was undeniably Jess.
Was he imagining her?
At the premiere, in her silky gown, her hair piled on top of her head, she was more like a movie star than anyone else there. He cringed thinking of the look on her face when the reporters had mistaken her for his ex. The wonders of the media. Their interference had almost lost him a chance to work in New Zealand, and now they’d upset Jess. He’d tried to ring her to explain, but she hadn’t picked up.
It didn’t seem like an appropriate conversation to have over text, either. What would he say?
Yes, you looked like my ex when I first met you but now that I know you I don’t think that, and by the way, she’s not my fiancée and she’s marrying my old school friend and I don’t care because I think I’ve fallen in love with you.
It was too much. There’s no way he could do that. It wouldn’t change anything, anyway. He figured she’d made the message clear. She wasn’t interested in him. Perhaps never had been.
JESS RUSHED TO MEETher first patient. Living in Christchurch still and driving out to Rangiora every day meant long drives back and forth, but it was worth it. Now that she had the role she wanted at the new hospital, she would save up a bigger deposit and start looking for houses nearby again.
Her chaos-to-calm plan was back on track.
If only she could get Nate Mitchell out of her head. It didn’t help that he was all over the media. She couldn’t go to the supermarket without seeing his annoying face plastered over the gossip magazines at the counter. Strangely, they hadn’t mentioned his upcoming wedding. She thought they’d fully capitalise on that. People loved celebrity weddings.
Jess found her patient already in a gown, waiting for her in the birthing ward. Cara and her wife, Maddie, greeted her and she ran through her usual checks: blood pressure, temperature, pulse.
“How are you both feeling?” she asked.
Maddie gripped her wife’s hand in both of hers. Her eyes filled with the familiar half-panicked, half-thrilled look most partners had before a birth. “I just want everything to go smoothly.”
Cara patted her wife’s hand. “It’ll be fine, but if you carry on squeezing my hand like that you’ll make me nervous too. I’m the one pushing out a watermelon.”
Maddie winced. “Don’t say it like that.”
Jess smiled at them both, hoping to exude a calm presence. “Cara’s vitals are all good. And I’m going to monitor the baby through-out. We’ll get him out safely.” She reached into a cupboard and found an abdominal belt for the fetal heart monitor.
“Why don’t you help Cara place this around her stomach,” she said to Maddie, knowing that giving the partner a job to do can help with their nerves. “It’s quite the fashion statement.”
The women laughed, tension dropping slightly from Maddie’s shoulders.
“Now it’s nothing to worry about,” Jess started carefully, “but because we found Group B Strep in your 37 week pregnancy check, we need to make sure your baby is protected. The anaesthetist will be in soon and she’ll place a cannula in your hand for the IV line. It’s like a little plastic tube and it means we can give you antibiotics when you’re in active labour. Are you okay with needles?”
“I’m usually fine,” Cara said.
“Great.”
“Will you stay with us the whole time?” Maddie asked, now sitting next to Cara and holding her hand more gently.
“I’ll be back and forth to check on you while Cara’s labour progresses and there the whole way through the birth. I’ll make sure you always know what’s happening.”
“Thanks, Jess,” Cara said.
“I’ll be back to see how everything’s going soon. Sound okay?”
They reassured her they were both calm and prepared. Feeling confident in their word, she headed to the staffroom, grabbing a snack before it was time to get changed into her scrubs.
SHOULD HE CHASE AFTER THE WOMANhe thought was Jess? Nate briefly considered it, but decided against it. If she washere, what would he say? And if it wasn’t Jess, he’d look like an idiot.
He had a dozen appointments scheduled after lunch and there wasn’t time to be running all over the hospital chasing down apparitions.
