Free The Sheikh and the Surrogate Mum by Meredith Webber

their mothers here at the hospital?’ she asked Laya.
    ‘Some do,’ Laya told her. ‘It’s a choice the mothers are offered.’
    ‘And are there on-call staff rooms at the hospital—places where staff can stay over?’
    Laya frowned at this question—not a big frown, more a worried grimace.
    ‘Of course. Why are you asking?’
    Liz grinned at her.
    ‘I’m thinking maybe this baby can room in with his mother,’ she said. ‘Khalifa—’ should she keep calling him that now she knew about the Highness thing? ‘—said there were few financial restraints and, anyway, it would only mean maybe a couple of shifts of nursery nurses, preferably ones who’ve worked with fragile newborns, helping stablise them before they’re flown out, and we could keep him with the mother. I’d be happy to live in at the hospital to take a couple of shifts, and I’d still be able to do the preliminary work on the new unit at the same time. What do you think?’
    It was Laya’s turn to glance towards the surgical team.
    ‘I don’t know what to think,’ she said. ‘But once she’s out of Recovery, the mother will go into Intensive Care…’
    ‘A very sterile environment for a newborn,’ Liz reminded her. ‘Of course, we’ll have to make sure there’s room for the crib and a nurse to watch his monitor, but if there is, wouldn’t it be best to have the baby near the mother? Wouldn’t that be more of a help to her recovery than a hindrance?’
    Laya shook her head.
    ‘I don’t know,’ she said, glancing again at the table—or more particularly at the lead surgeon, who was still bent over the patient.
    ‘You think he’ll be a problem?’ Liz teased, then she realised Laya was genuinely distracted.
    ‘I know he lost his wife and child,’ Liz said gently, ‘but I would have thought that would make him all the more determined to achieve the best outcome for this mother and child.’
    ‘Of course,’ Laya told her, ‘but…’
    ‘But what?’
    Laya hesitated, before saying, in a very quiet voice, ‘Will you ask him?’
    The way she spoke reminded Liz of the fear some surgeons managed to instil in their theatre staff, roaring at the slightest mistake, swearing and cursing when things went wrong. Now she, too, looked back at this particular surgeon. She didn’t know him from Adam, but from the time she’d spent with him, she’d have put him down as the very opposite—quiet, reserved, not given to tantrums.
    ‘Is it because of the highness thing you don’t want to ask him?’ she said to Laya, who looked even more uncertain.
    ‘Not really. But I suppose it must be, because when he was just a doctor, if I did happen to run into him, it was just “Good morning, Doctor” like you do with all the staff you don’t know really well. But since he became our leader—well, it changes things, doesn’t it?’
    Liz adjusted the cannula in the baby’s nose.
    ‘Did he change?’ she asked, and Laya gave the question some thought then shook her head.
    ‘He’s not here as often, of course, but when he is he’s just the same. And he always knows everyone’s name, which most of the doctors and even nurses from other departments don’t, but I don’t think he’s changed. It must be me who’s changed.’
    ‘I wouldn’t if I were you,’ Liz told her. ‘Just carry on as you always did. But, anyway, it was my idea we room the baby with the mother so I’ll ask him and make the arrangements, okay?’
    Laya’s smile told her the nurse had relaxed, and her words delighted Liz even more.
    ‘Will you ask if he can arrange for me to be one of the nurses? I’ve travelled with preemie babies to the hospital in the capital so I know how to care for them, and I’ve already put my name down for training in the new unit.’
    ‘Then I’ll certainly ask for you,’ Liz promised as Khalifa straightened up, stepped back from the patient and pulled off his gloves.
    ‘Clean gown and gloves,’ he said to one of the surgical