Only eleven more weeks on the night rotation, but he had two more years left in his residency. Sometimes he wondered if he had the temperament to be a good doctor. He knew he didn’t want to be like Dr. Callister. Callister was arrogant and misogynistic. But Ammon didn’t think he had it in him to be like Dr. Sandoval, endlessly patient and cheerful. And he could never be like Dr. Ferguson, because he wasn’t a woman.
Two hours later, Ammon stopped by the nurses station to get an update on the HELLP patient. Dr. Sandoval had left detailed notes for him since he’d been called away. The Foley bulb had been inserted into the patient’s cervix. Ammon needed to check for cervical readiness and decide if a ripening agent would be necessary after all. He prayed it wouldn’t. He did not want to have that conversation with a patient who had already decided, per her birth plan, that ripening agents were bad. If the cervix was ready, Dr. Sandoval had instructed Ammon to start Pitocin at the lowest dose. Please refer to Jessica’s birth plan often, Dr. Sandoval had written. And work with the doula and patient, not against them.
Ammon felt a tiny sting at the implied accusation. He always tried to follow birth plans, even if they made him grumpy. He wanted to crumple up the note but instead folded it in half and walked to the patient’s room. Upon entering the room, he found himself locking eyes with an attractive redhead, a woman he hadn’t thought about once since Monday, the home birth midwife with the pretty, sharp mouth. Her jaw fell slack with surprise, and his heart did a funny little skip. “What are you doing here?” he asked, not even trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice.
The patient sat up in bed and glanced from Ammon to Audrey.
“I’m here for Jessica,” Audrey said coolly.
Ammon shook his head. “Jessica is one of Dr. Sandoval’s patients, and her chart said nothing about her being a home birth transfer, so I’m a little confused.”
“Audrey delivered my first baby two-and-a-half years ago,” Jessica chimed in. “But because of complications with this pregnancy, I’ve been seeing Dr. Sandoval. Audrey is acting as my doula instead of my midwife this time.”
Ammon pasted on a smile. “Great,” he said, then turned to Audrey. “You willing to stay within your limited scope of practice as a doula?”
Audrey folded her arms over her chest. “Are you willing to not slice my friend open?”
Ammon chuckled. This girl was something. He turned his attention back to the patient. “Jessica, I’d like to check on the Foley bulb.”
Jessica looked from Audrey to Ammon again.
“Where’s Ric?” Audrey asked.
Ammon raised his eyebrows. There was no way Audrey was referring to Dr. Sandoval. For all his warmth and friendliness, he still didn’t let patients call him by his first name. Only colleagues called him Ric, and Ammon wasn’t even colleague enough to get that honor.
“I’m sorry, who?” Ammon asked.
“Ric,” Audrey repeated slowly. “Dr. Sandoval.”
Ammon narrowed his eyes. Should he warn her about her faux pas or let her learn the hard way? “He’s in a C-section and should be back soon,” Ammon replied. “I’ll be taking care of Jessica and working with him tonight.”
Audrey’s pretty mouth remained in a neutral line.
“He’d like me to check on the Foley bulb and start Pitocin if Jessica’s cervix is ready,” Ammon continued.
“Jessica,” Audrey said, turning to her. “If you aren’t comfortable with Dr. Parker, we can request someone else.” She glanced at Ammon out of the corner of her eye. Her glare was sharp, and Ammon returned it with a pleasant smile instead of the insult on the tip of his tongue. He’d maintain professionalism, even if she couldn’t.
Jessica shook her head. “No, it’s fine.”
Ammon checked on the bulb. She’d hardly progressed, and with her condition, there wasn’t time to wait to see if another hour or two would change that. He checked the blood pressure monitor and the fetal heart rate. Things appeared to be stable now, but the sooner the baby could be delivered, the better.
“I need to start you on Cytotec,” Ammon told Jessica, purposely not looking at Audrey. “I know your birth plan stated you’d prefer to avoid that drug, but your cervix hasn’t progressed, and for the safety of you and the baby, it’s really best if we get things moving.”
Jessica glanced at Audrey, who wore a polite smile, before looking back at Ammon. She nodded. “Okay. I understand.”
Ammon moved out of the dominant hands-on-hip pose he’d subconsciously taken. He’d been expecting a fight. He stole a peek at Audrey, who raised her eyebrows only slightly at him but didn’t say anything. “Okay, then,” he said. “I’ll let the nurse know.” He made a graceless exit, wondering why he felt so flabbergasted.
***
Audrey watched Ammon go, irritated by the little flutters in her stomach whenever he looked at her. It was just physical attraction. Everything other than his appearance was terrible.
“Is he, like, absurdly hot for a doctor?” Jessica asked. “Or are those my pregnancy hormones talking?”
Audrey smoothed a hand through her hair. She’d always had a weakness for men in scrubs, and they suited Ammon just fine. She tried not to think of the way they hung low on his hips or how they showed off his arm muscles. “I guess he’s kind of good-looking.”
Jessica laughed. “How do you know him?”
“What?”
“Come on, I saw the daggers you two were shooting at each other.”
“I met him at church, and he disparaged my profession.” Audrey shrugged.
The nurse entered the room, and Audrey stepped back. She needed to get into the right headspace for this birth and not let Ammon derail her. So what if he was “absurdly hot for a doctor”? And happened to hate her because she helped women birth babies at home? Audrey could be professional. Plus, Jessica needed her for what looked like was going to be a long night.
The nurse administered the Cytotec and left the room. “We should get some sleep,” Audrey said to Jessica.
Her friend nodded as she reached for her phone on the bedside table. “Let me text Doug and let him know what’s going on.” Doug was her husband and was staying with their toddler until Jessica was in active labor.
Audrey went to the chair and unfolded it into a bed. She’d ask the nurse for a pillow and blanket the next time she came back. Part of Audrey was exhausted, but the other part of her was wide-awake. Jessica should be terrified. HELLP could turn deadly fast, sending Jessica into multiple-organ failure. For all of Audrey’s natural-mindedness, she’d have a C-section if she were in Jessica’s position. But Audrey wasn’t Jessica’s midwife right now, so it would be inappropriate for her to voice any medical opinions. Plus, she needed to put her nerves away. This wasn’t her baby’s birth, and she had to trust Ric was pursuing the right treatment. Trusting Ammon, however, was another story.