Free Runaway Sister by Ann Jennings Page A

who smiled weakly back. Warning bells rang in Samantha’s head; she felt instinctively that something was not right. Looking at the charts, she saw that Mrs. Collins’s urinary output was very low and that her blood pressure had risen slightly during the night.
    â€œTake Mrs. Collins’s blood pressure, will you, Nurse,” she asked the student midwife with her, “and I think we’ll take a urine sample as well.” She turned to Mrs. Collins. “How are you feeling, dear?” she asked gently. “Any headaches or anything?”
    â€œFunny you should mention that,” said Mrs. Collins, “but I do have this most awful headache here.” She put her hands either side of her head on her temples.
    Samantha put her hand gently on Mrs. Collins’s brow. “Don’t worry about it,” she reassured her. “I think we’ll get the doctor to look at you and try to make you feel a little more comfortable.”
    The student midwife had finished taking the blood pressure and urine sample. The blood pressure was ominously up and the urine showed increased proteinuria.
    Samantha was just about to tell the junior to go and get an obstetrician quickly when her worst fears were realized. Mrs. Collins started to fit, and the student, who had never seen a case of eclampsia before, stood in the middle of the room, petrified. Samantha flew into action automatically, pressing the emergency button on the side of the bed as she fought to stop the fitting patient falling from the bed to the floor.
    â€œHelp me!” she shouted at the student, the urgency in her voice galvanizing the girl into action. Samantha’s most urgent thought was to prevent the patient biting her tongue, thus blocking her airway and starving herself and her baby of oxygen.
    The door burst open and the emergency team hurried in, headed by Adam Shaw.
    â€œEclampsia,” said Samantha briefly.
    â€œI can see that,” said Adam Shaw grimly. “A full-blown case, by the look of it.”
    He didn’t bother to ask questions, just issued orders which Samantha and the rest of the emergency team carried out without question. When Mrs. Collins had stopped fitting he sedated her, sent most of the emergency team away, and drew Samantha to one side of the room.
    â€œWe’ll go into the whys and wherefores in a moment,” his voice was low with worry, “but what I want to know right now is, did she at any time prior to my arrival in the room become cyanosed?”
    â€œNo, thank God,” replied Samantha. “I managed to keep her airway free, and she maintained a good healthy color, that’s something to be thankful for.”
    â€œNow we’ll get to the whys and wherefores,” he said grimly.
    She handed him the notes. “I took over from the night midwife at eight thirty this morning, and immediately felt unhappy. She complained of a headache, so we took her blood pressure and tested her urine, as you can see from the notes.” She pointed to where the student had entered in the results. “I was actually on the point of sending the student to get an obstetrician because I recognized the signs, when she had her first fit. Thank goodness the student was here to help me control her—I don’t think I could have managed her on my own.”
    â€œIt’s a great pity you weren’t with this lady last night,” said Adam, flicking back through the previous night’s records. “I don’t think she would have got into this mess if you’d been here.”
    â€œI would have picked it up sooner,” agreed Samantha, “but the night midwife is new and not very experienced.”
    â€œThat’s no excuse,” he growled. “Cases like this shouldn’t occur in modern hospitals.”
    â€œBut they do,” said Samantha, “but only very rarely, that’s probably why she missed it.”
    â€œYou didn’t miss