Every Mother's Fear: Powerful family saga by Joanna Warrington

Author:Joanna Warrington [Warrington, Joanna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-12-21T00:00:00+00:00

29

Rona

It’s a jaw-dropping moment as Rona and Doctor Gerard deliver the baby. Quiet calm descends and Rona feels as if she’s floating, looking down on the scene unfolding. This isn’t real. It’s a horror film. Time stands still as Rona tries to maintain a semblance of professionalism but is unable to help for the first time in her career. She can only stand by as the doctor cuts the cord, sedates Sandy and stitches her.

‘We’ll keep her sedated for as long as we can.’

Rona knows that Sandy is unmarried and has no partner. Her plan is to have her baby adopted; she needs to be told what’s happened. It doesn’t feel right to keep her sedated unnecessarily. But she doesn’t want to break the news. Concern lays low in her belly as she struggles to take it in. Nurses drift in and out of the room, hands clapped to mouths they whisper and frown with shocked faces, all coming to see the macabre spectacle. She snaps out of her trance. She has a job to do and heads for the sink, filling a bowl of warm water to clean the baby.

‘Maybe we should call the mother’s parents to be with her.’

The doctor ignores her.

‘When you’ve finished go and put him in the cold room,’ he orders in a brusque tone, drained of any emotion.

Anger roots in the pit of her stomach.

‘He’ll die there. I’ll do no such thing. He’s a baby, not a side of lamb.’

‘He’s deformed. He won’t live. It’s kinder this way.’

‘He’s got no arms, but he’s still a human being. He’ll freeze as fast as any other baby. What you’re suggesting is murder and I’ll have no part in it.’

‘How many deformed babies have you delivered?’ His acidic words hang in the air between them. ‘Just do as you’re told.’

Rona longs to defy him but is struck by how afraid she feels. His words and his cold stare press down on her. There’s no air in the room and her face is clammy. She doesn’t like the insensitive doctor. There’s a nasty streak to his character, amplified by situations that he can’t handle. He doesn’t cope well when he feels his control slipping.

He washes his hands at the sink while Rona dabs the birth debris from the baby’s body. He has forked hands—with two fingers that look like a pair of scissors coming out of his shoulders— other than that he’s a perfect child. She can’t see anything else wrong with him.

‘Poor little mite.’

‘This is no time to be soft. You’ve got to be tough in this job. We’re dealing with life and death.’

Rona dabs at his hands. She’s flooded with a tide of love and protectiveness towards this helpless mite.

Sandy is wheeled into a side ward, leaving Doctor Gerard and Rona alone in the delivery room. She weighs the baby and wraps him in a towel. She studies his soft hands and compares them to her own wrinkled mitts that are sun-dried and dappled with liver spots.

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