Читать книгу Miracle Christmas: Dr Romano's Christmas Baby - Cara Colter - Страница 9

RILLA tried to ignore the betraying flutter of her heart as she waited for the imminent arrival of Dr Luca Romano. It had been ten days since the birth of her niece. Ten days of knowing he was back, of expecting to look over her shoulder and see him. Beth had told her he’d popped in to see the baby every day during their admission, so she knew he’d been at the General. But he’d made no attempt to contact her, which only made this moment even bigger.

The place was abuzz with speculation about the new director of emergency. Few people in the department had been around long enough to remember him from eight years ago. Or, thanks to her insistence she keep her maiden name, to know that once upon a time he and Rilla had been married.

She figured it wouldn’t take long though, the hospital grapevine what it was.

‘You going to be OK, Rilla?’ Julia Woods, the NUM asked, sidling up to her.

Rilla forced a smile to her lips as she carried out the daily task of checking the resus trolley, pleased to have the routine. ‘Of course,’ she dismissed.

‘I’m sorry, he had some admin stuff to attend to so he thought it would be a good opportunity to drop in and meet everyone informally before he started next week. I could hardly say no.’

‘Of course,’ Rilla replied.

‘Have you seen him since he’s been back in the country?’

Rilla shut her eyes briefly, the image of his naked back as he strode along the track with Beth in true hero fashion burnt into her retinas. ‘Yes,’ she said noncommittally, her hand shaking slightly as she checked the light on the laryngoscope. ‘It’ll be fine, Julia. Really.’

Rilla saw the doubt in her boss’s gaze. Julia had known her for a long time. Had gone to their wedding. She knew how hard the separation and the intervening years had been on Rilla.

‘Really,’ Rilla reassured her, giving Julia’s arm a quick squeeze.

An hour later all the nursing staff were summoned to the staffroom to meet the new director. Rilla contemplated not going. It wasn’t like she needed an introduction. And if they’d been busy she would have stayed behind to man the fort, but the post-night duty lull was in full swing and unless a disaster struck, it would probably be another hour before today’s patients start tricking through the doors.

And then there was the message that not going would send. To those who knew their history. And to Luca. It was going to be hard enough working together again without people’s pity. It was time to show everyone, including Luca, that she was over him and moving on with her life.

As far as work was concerned, her baggage with Luca was in the past. Once word got out of their prior relationship they would be watched and speculated over endlessly. Rilla had to start on the right foot. Had to project an it’s-OK, it’s-all-in-the-past, the-divorce-papers-are-out-there, we’ve-moved-on aura. Even if it killed her.

Still, as he entered the staffroom, she wasn’t prepared for the sight of him. On Friday, due to the urgency of the situation, she hadn’t paid much attention to his attire, apart from when he’d been shirtless. But today, dressed in his work clothes, he looked devastatingly handsome. Like the old Luca.

His dark trousers sat low on his hips, the pleats at his waistband pressed perfectly, sitting in a way that emphasised the narrowness of his hips. His crisp navy blue business shirt was luxuriously thick. His zigzag-patterned tie classy.

So much for a casual meet and greet.

She didn’t have to check his clothing labels to know they were Italian, as were his soft black leather shoes. Luca had always dressed with complete and utter class. His wardrobe had had more labels than hers and she had teased him un-mercilessly about it when they had first got together.

But it was about more than the designer quality of his clothes. It was how he wore them. He’d always exuded charisma but now there was supreme confidence. Arrogance, almost. Once she would have put it down to his Italian roots or his noble Latin features, but she wasn’t so sure any more.

There was a distance to his demeanour, a streak of aloofness that moulded his raw sex appeal into something much more mature, more dangerous. And she didn’t think it had anything to do with ancestry. Whatever it was, the combination was powerful. Luca Romano was still a pleasure to watch.

Rilla was pleased to note, though, that there was some evidence of ageing. It hadn’t just been her. At thirty-five his black hair had some grey streaks. It looked more severe too. The length had been tamed. It had once brushed his collar and flopped a little in his eyes. Now it was more closely cropped. But it only succeeded in drawing attention to his amazing fringe of thick sooty lashes.

The few extra lines around his eyes and mouth in no way marred his handsome face. His jaw was just as square, his nose as patrician. He was still tall and lean and most definitely wearing his years well.

Rilla could see the fact was not lost on some of the younger nurses and was surprised by the hot shaft of jealousy that sliced through her. It shouldn’t have. Luca had, after all, always aroused this kind of reaction in women. Once, secure in his love, she’d taken pride in it, knowing he had been hers. Now it was as irritating as hell.

There were ten nursing staff on the morning shift and Julia introduced each one. Luca was his usual charming self. Not hurried. Taking the time to ask each one about themselves, putting everyone at ease, making them laugh. He was a hit.

‘Of course, you know Rilla,’ Julia said as she came to her second-in-charge.

‘Of course,’ Luca said, inclining his head.

They locked gazes for a moment, his accent sliding over her skin, eight years of history thick between them. Rilla felt her cheeks grow warm as Luca’s gaze moved quickly on to the next person, excruciatingly aware of the curious stares of her in-the-know colleagues.

She was pleased to escape ten minutes later after Luca’s brief new-broom speech finished with a my-door-is-always-open assurance. But his gaze was careful not to encompass her and she got the distinct impression she wasn’t included.

By midmorning the lull was well and truly over. In fact, the department had descended into bedlam. Ambulances arrived with frightening regularity, unloading their cargo of car-accident victims, asthmatics and chest pain sufferers, filling the resus bays.

The usual suspects swelled the waiting room out front with a mishmash of legitimate illnesses and minor time-consuming complaints—sore throats, vague pains, migraines, fevers, paper cuts.

The combined noise could have given a crowded theatre before curtain-up a run for its money. Not that Rilla noticed, well used to the low-level chaos that the emergency department became most days. And today, after the unsettling brush with Luca, she was more than grateful for the background hum distracting her from buried memories, newly roused.

Just before lunch the appropriately nicknamed Bat-phone rang. It was red and their direct link to the ambulance control centre. Rilla took the call about the imminent code-one arrival of a ten-day-old baby with apnoea. She replaced the receiver, a sudden chill up her spine as her thoughts instantly turned to her ten-day-old niece.

How worried the parents must be that their baby was having episodes where it stopped breathing. She quickly sorted through the possible causes. A seizure? Maybe caused by a brain infection or cranial trauma from an accidental or non-accidental injury. A respiratory infection? A near cot death?

‘Apnoeic ten-day-old. ETA two minutes,’ Rilla told Henry Bosch, the junior resident, as she entered the resus cubicles to prepare the area.

Henry gave her a startled look and Rilla could see the convulsive bob of his Adam’s apple.

‘Where’s Karen?’ he asked.

Rilla wished the senior reg was there too as she recognised the wail of a distant siren. ‘She’s still up with Julie and the resus team, dealing with the arrest on ward eleven. I’ve paged her. You’re it until then.’ Rilla smiled and injected confidence into her voice.

Please, let this kid be fine by the time it gets here.

There was no more time for wishes as the siren blared louder, announcing its arrival outside. ‘Let’s hustle,’ she said to Henry.

The ambulance doors opened and Rilla’s worst fears were confirmed when she saw the paramedic huddled over a small form, ambu-bag in place over the tiny face.

‘Ten-day-old baby, four weeks prem, three-day history of upper respiratory tract infection, Mum has a cold.’ The paramedic rattled off a brisk, succinct handover, eyes not leaving the baby as his partner slowly pulled the gurney from the car.

Sounds like an RSV picture, Rilla thought. The respiratory virus could affect babies very seriously, making them desperately ill. Especially if there was a history of prematurity.

‘Lethargic and poor feeding today. Mum had babe at the GP when she had a prolonged apnoea, resolving with stimulation. GP called the ambulance. Three further episodes en route, requiring vigorous stimulation and oxygen therapy.’

‘Rilla!’

Rilla turned, startled by the hysterical call, shocked to see Beth getting out of the passenger side of the ambulance.

‘Beth?’ Rilla gasped, looking at her sister’s tear- stained, frantic face. ‘What the …?’ She swivelled her head back to the tiny baby on the gurney, looking small and defenceless on the huge trolley. Bridie? Beth reached her and Rilla enfolded her distraught sister in her arms, her heart hammering madly as her sluggish brain connected the dots. This apnoeic, seriously ill baby was her niece?

‘It’s all my fault,’ Beth sobbed. ‘I gave her my cold. Her lungs are too premature to cope with it. Oh, my God, I don’t want her to die.’

Rilla would have given anything at that moment to be in possession of a magic wand. Anything. Instead, she was it. The only senior nurse they had around until Julia got back from the arrest, and she had only a very junior doctor at her disposal.

Her brain raced as she prioritised. ‘Bridie’s going to be fine, just fine,’ Rilla soothed as she hurried inside, dragging Beth with her, keeping up with the gurney. ‘You know she’s in the best hands here,’ she said, ‘the best.’

Rilla prayed to every god she could think of plus the ones she couldn’t, that she was right. She froze out the sickening worry of an aunt and the more basic pull of sisterhood. She had to remove herself emotionally from her tiny niece, struggling to breathe, and her frantic sister.

‘You’re going to have to intubate,’ Rilla told Henry briskly as she hooked Bridie up to the monitors and another apnoea required Rilla to give a vigorous sternal rub before it resolved. This time Bridie’s heart rate slowed and her oxygen saturations dipped. The situation was worsening.

‘We need to secure her airway,’ Rilla said, ignoring the frantic beat of her heart as she handed the laryngoscope, endotracheal tube and other equipment to Henry. One of the junior nurses was drawing up some intubation drugs.

‘Brenda, go put out a code blue page,’ Rilla ordered as Henry prepared to intubate. His hand shook and Rilla had the awful feeling he was going to foul it up.

Intubating a child or baby was always a little fraught, but in an emergency and for the first time? She knew Henry had to be feeling the pressure. Better to get as many medical people as possible down here so someone more experienced could take over. Hell, she’d ring the chief of staff, if she had to. Her father may not have had recent clinical experience but she’d bet her last cent he could intubate Bridie with his eyes closed.

Beth was crying and clutching at Rilla’s uniform, begging them both to do something as alarms shrilled all around them. Damn it! Rilla felt like her heart was being torn in two. She wanted to be over there comforting Beth but Bridie needed her too. At this moment even more than her sister.

‘Did you notify Gabe?’ Rilla asked as she administered the muscle-paralysis drug so Henry could pass the tube through Bridie’s vocal cords.

‘I paged him. He’s in Theatre. He didn’t want to go in today,’ Beth cried. ‘But he was fussing so much and it was only a short list. She wasn’t that bad this morning. I shouldn’t have made him go,’ she wailed.

‘It’s OK, Beth,’ Rilla assured her, her pulse rate skyrocketing as Henry attempted to insert the endotracheal tube. ‘I’ll send someone for him, I promise. Let’s just do this first, OK? It’s going to be fine. Nearly done.’

Only Rilla knew it wasn’t. Knew Henry was having trouble, and as she saw Bridie’s saturations plummet and her heart rate drop, she knew he was going to have to stop, re-oxygenate and try again.

‘Do you want me to give some atropine?’ she prompted Henry, and gave it when he nodded.

‘Oh God,’ Beth cried.

Where was the team? It seemed like an hour but in reality it had only been a minute. Satisfied that Bridie’s heart rate had stabilised and that Henry had control of the airway, Rilla made a decision.

‘I’ll be back in two seconds,’ she announced.

‘Ril, no! Where are you going?’ Beth demanded, her voice raising several octaves.

Rilla turned and looked at her sister. She grabbed her arms and gave them a gentle squeeze. ‘I’m going to call Dad.’

Beth’s face crumpled. ‘OK.’

Rilla paced out of the resus area into the corridor. Taking a couple of deep cleansing breaths, her hands shaking, she headed for the nearest phone. Before she could pick it up, her gaze met Luca’s.

‘Rilla? What’s wrong,’ he demanded, striding towards her. She looked like hell. Pale and shaken and about two seconds away from collapsing.

‘Luca. Thank God,’ Rilla said, putting her hand out to steady herself on his outstretched arm. She knew he wasn’t officially at work yet but she didn’t care. Bridie’s life depended on him. She’d never been more pleased to see him. Not even in the bush ten days ago. ‘I need you. It’s Bridie.’

Luca didn’t ask any questions, just followed her brisk lead. He listened as she prattled off the details and he swore under his breath as his sharp gaze took in the situation in the resus area.

‘Luca,’ Beth sobbed. ‘Oh, Luca.’

Luca gave Beth’s hands a brief squeeze before muscling a relieved Henry aside and with Rilla’s assistance slid the endotracheal tube past the vocal cords and into the trachea in one smooth movement.

‘It’s OK now, Beth,’ Luca soothed, as he held the tube with one hand and bagged with the other while Rilla, hands still shaking, secured the tube with brown tape. ‘She’s going to be OK. We won’t let anything happen to our little bush baby.’

Julia and Karen arrived in the resus bay, along with a PICU consultant, just as Rilla was satisfied the tube was secure. Luca and Henry filled in the details and Rilla was pleased to let them take over so she could comfort her sister. So she could be a worried aunt.

‘Come on out with me,’ Rilla encouraged. ‘Bridie’s in good hands. She’ll be up in ICU before you know it.’

‘No,’ Beth shook her head vigorously, wiping at her eyes with her hands. ‘I can’t leave her.’

Rilla nodded, knowing if it was her baby she wouldn’t be able to either. ‘I’ll ring Dad. We’ll get him to go and talk to Gabe.’

‘Oh God, Gabe.’ Beth dissolved into more tears.

‘Shush,’ Rilla soothed, rubbing Beth’s arm. ‘He’ll be here soon.’

Rilla didn’t even get three paces out of the resus bay before the enormity of the situation overwhelmed her. She groped for a nearby wall and sagged against it. Her breath hurt in her chest and tears stung her eyes as visions of her niece’s still body and pale lips replayed in her head. The what-ifs were crippling.

‘Rilla?’

She looked up to find Luca standing in front of her, his gaze gentle, a frown marring his forehead. She sucked in some much-needed air.

‘Are you OK, cara?’

Rilla nodded her head vigorously as his quiet endearment brought her perilously close to breaking down. She breathed in and out a few more times, grabbing at the sharp pain in her side. ‘I’ll be OK.’ Her voice was shaky and she knew it. ‘I was just … It was just …’

Luca nodded. She didn’t have to explain. ‘I know.’

They looked at each other for a few seconds. ‘I don’t know how to thank you. You’ve come to the rescue twice now with Bridie.’

Luca shrugged. ‘She’s my niece too.’

Rilla felt her eyes widen, a storm of emotions battering her already precarious state. Did he think he could waltz back in after all this time and play happy families with her? Why was he here? What did he want? Damn him! She didn’t have time for this now.

‘I … I have to call my father.’

He nodded. ‘You sure you’ll be OK?’

Rilla nodded back.

‘I’ll go and check how things are going.’

When Rilla re-entered Resus a few minutes later, Luca was holding a sobbing Beth and Rilla’s heart did a triple back somersault with a twist. He looked so big and manly, stroking her sister’s head. So like the old Luca. The one she’d fallen in love with. Not like the distant, workaholic stranger he’d become after the miscarriage.

‘Dad’s finding Gabe,’ Rilla said as she approached.

‘Oh, thank you,’ Beth said, her voice strained with emotion. ‘Look at me.’ Beth blew her nose. ‘I must be such a mess. So much for the capable nurse. I just fell apart.’

‘Of course you did,’ Rilla soothed. ‘She’s your baby.’

‘They think it’s RSV,’ Beth said, her voice thick with emotion and the remnants of her cold. ‘They say she’ll be tu-tubed for a few days.’ Beth broke down again and this time sought comfort in her sister’s arms.

‘Beth?’

Rilla looked up to find her father and an ashen-faced Gabe, still in his scrubs, staring at his daughter, who looked increasingly small amongst all the medical equipment that Julia, Karen and the ICU doctor and nurse kept adding. Beth ran straight into his arms, sobbing loudly. ‘I’m so sorry, Gabe. It all happened so fast.’

‘Shh,’ he soothed. ‘She’s in good hands now.’

‘How are you, darling?’

John Winters embraced his middle daughter.

‘I’ve been better.’ Rilla hugged her father. ‘Thank goodness for Luca being around. He was …’ her eyes met Luca’s over her father’s shoulder ‘… magnificent.’

It was true. He’d been calm and focused under pressure. He’d been exactly what Bridie had needed. What she’d needed—again. Their gazes locked.

John moved out of Rilla’s embrace and shook his son-in-law’s hand. ‘Thank you, Luca. Again.’

Minutes later Bridie was attached to the transport ventilator and was ready to move up to PICU.

‘Julia, I know we’re frantic but—’

‘Go,’ Julia ordered Rilla with a dismissive wave of her hand. ‘Of course you must go. Don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine. Just look after that niece of yours. And your sister.’

Rilla gave her boss a hug. Deserting her post on a frantic day was not going to win any brownie points for the NUM job but it was moments like these that put trifling things like jobs firmly into perspective, and Julia understood that family came first. It was why she was leaving her beloved post, uprooting her kids and following her husband and his new job to Canada.

Luca accompanied them, down corridors and up lifts, walking silently beside Rilla. Ahead Gabe and Beth huddled together, seeking comfort and support from each other and Rilla yearned to be able to do the same with Luca. She was so worried about Bridie, she could feel a knot in the pit of her stomach the size of a cricket ball and her legs felt like a dubious support. Once she would have leant on Luca automatically. But so much had changed.

The ICU nurse asked them all to wait in the parents’ lounge, promising to get them as soon as they had Bridie settled.

‘You don’t have to stay,’ Rilla said quietly as Luca took a seat next to her. He’d removed his tie and undone the top two buttons and she quashed the stupid urge to crawl onto his lap.

He turned and looked at her. ‘I’m staying.’

Rilla swallowed, absurdly happy by his insistence. She shouldn’t be. She should be angry. Why hadn’t he offered this level of support when she’d needed it seven years ago? Instead, he had thrown himself into his work, grown away from her. As had she. Too ill equipped to deal with the tragic end to a fledgling pregnancy so early in their relationship.

But he was here now, all solid and silent and dependable, and as confusing as it was, she’d take it for the moment. Because Bridie was by no means out of the woods and Luca had always made her feel like she could cope with anything when he was by her side. Well, for a while, anyway.

An increasingly fretting Beth and Gabe were ushered inside twenty minutes later. Given that they were all on staff at the hospital and the patient was the chief of staff’s granddaughter, the unit’s policy of only two visitors at a time could no doubt have been bent, but Rilla knew her sister and brother-in-law needed time by themselves with Bridie.

A frantic Hailey arrived, followed closely by Penny Winters.

‘Darling. What happened? How is she? Oh, poor Beth,’ Penny gabbled.

John embraced his wife. ‘She’s ventilated. They think she has a respiratory infection. We don’t know much more than that at the moment.’

Penny held her arms out to her daughters and Rilla and Hailey embraced their mother. ‘She’ll be fine, Mum,’ Rilla assured her.

‘Has anyone contacted David?’ Hailey asked.

They all looked at each other. ‘Damn! No.’ John shook his head and flipped open his mobile phone. ‘I’ll do it now.’

‘David?’ Luca murmured to Rilla as he watched John leave the room.

‘Beth’s son.’

Luca frowned. ‘The one she put up for adoption when she was fifteen? Just before your parents fostered her?’

Rilla nodded, not surprised that he’d remembered. He had been very close to her family. ‘He found her earlier this year.’

‘That’s wonderful,’ Luca enthused quietly. ‘Beth must have been ecstatic.’

Rilla swallowed a lump, thinking about all the things he’d missed out on. The things they could have shared, that he could have been part of. ‘She was.’

Another hour passed while the family waited. The television was on in the background, a welcome distraction, but no one could really concentrate on it for any length of time. They made idle chit-chat, all the time on tenterhooks.

Luca looked at his watch. It was two o’clock. He saw the strain and felt the tension in the room and felt as helpless as the rest of the Winters family. Whether he wanted it or not, he and Bridie were connected.

And not just because she was his estranged wife’s niece but because he’d been at her birth. Had put a tube in her throat today to save her life. After seven years of silence he wasn’t sure if he belonged here any more, amongst this shocked family, but he felt compelled to stay anyway.

Not just for him but for Rilla. OK, he’d come back to give himself some closure, to prove he was over her and sign the divorce papers, but Rilla was in the midst of a crisis and nothing else mattered for the moment other than Bridie getting well.

‘I’m going to go and get us all some lunch,’ he announced, standing and stretching.

He returned fifteen minutes later with a variety of prepackaged sandwiches, muffins, chocolate bars and a tray full of cappuccinos. Gabe entered the room as the food was being devoured. They all stood.

‘How is she?’ John asked.

‘Her condition is still unstable. Her blood gases are terrible and they keep escalating her ventilation. They’ve had to keep her paralysed to ventilate her adequately.’

Gabe’s voice cracked and they all crowded closer, touching his arm, rubbing his back and hugging him.

‘How’s Beth?’ Luca asked.

Gabe rubbed his eyes. ‘Terrible. She’s exhausted. Bridie hasn’t been sleeping or feeding well the last few nights because of the cold, so Beth’s pretty sleep deprived on top of being scared out of her mind.’

‘Has she eaten?’ Rilla asked.

Gabe shook his head. ‘I’ve tried to persuade her to come out and have some lunch but she’s adamant she’s fine.’

‘Right.’ Rilla nodded. ‘You sit and have something to eat and I’ll see if I can persuade her. Bossy sister might work better.’

Gabe nodded. ‘Thank you.’

Rilla was stopped at the door by Luca’s. ‘Do you want company?’

She looked back over her shoulder. The thought of seeing Bridie so ill was sickening and she was surprised at how very, very much she did want Luca with her. ‘Two at a time. That’s the rules,’ she pointed out.

‘Forget the rules,’ Luca said, striding towards her.

They spoke briefly with the ICU doctor who had helped earlier before going into Bridie’s isolation room. Beth looked dreadful, her face puffy, her hair rumpled. Rilla hugged her and Beth’s face crumpled.

‘She’s getting worse,’ she sobbed into Rilla’s shoulder.

‘Shh,’ Rilla crooned. ‘The doctor was just saying they’ve confirmed it’s RSV. You know they always get worse before they get better.’

Rilla looked at her niece lying in the warming cot, wires criss-crossing her tiny body like railway tracks. The monitor displayed multicoloured squiggles representing heart rate and blood pressure as well as respiratory rate and oxygen saturations.

Bridie had only been two and half kilos at birth and the illness had set her weight gain back. She was so pale, her legs slightly mottled. She looked lifeless and Rilla could see why Beth was so distraught.

Rilla stroked Bridie’s fingers, which were just sticking out from beneath some bandages. An IV line had been placed in her arm and it had been bundled up to keep it secure.

‘Hey sweetie,’ she crooned, ‘your Aunty Ril’s here. We all are.’

She looked over her shoulder at Luca. She was conscious of his presence behind her and his quick reassuring smile bolstered her flagging confidence that everything would be all right. He placed a hand on her shoulder and his thumb stroked the tense muscles of her neck.

‘Beth, Luca bought some lunch. Why don’t you come outside and have something to eat?’

Beth shook her head vigorously.

‘You need to keep your strength up, Beth,’ Rilla cajoled.

‘I can’t leave her.’ Beth shook her head again.

Rilla could see the determined jut of her sister’s chin. She needed to eat. She looked like she was ready to drop. Rilla despaired that she wouldn’t find the right words and she looked up at Luca. He squeezed her shoulder and mouthed, ‘Let me.’

‘Beth,’ Luca said, coming around to kneel beside her. ‘You need to look after yourself. Bridie is in the best place, being looked after by the best people. You need to rest and eat and drink regularly. They’re going to want you to start expressing milk soon to provide Bridie with much-needed calories to help her recover quickly. Your milk supply will suffer if you don’t take care of yourself. You wouldn’t want that, would you?’

Beth raised her face to look at Luca. ‘No,’ she sniffled.

‘OK, then. I promise Rilla and I will stay here right by her side until you get back. We won’t leave her, will we, Rilla?’

Rilla felt mesmerised by his low, accented voice. His sincerity was strangely seductive. ‘No. Absolutely not.’

Beth looked at Rilla then back at Luca. ‘OK. But just for a short while.’

‘Of course,’ Rilla said.

And that set up the pattern for the next two nights and days. As the medical team supported Bridie, adjusting to each phase of the illness, the family rallied to make sure that Beth and Gabe were getting enough rest and time away and looking after themselves.

Penny cooked nutritious meals and tempting snacks, feeding them all as they maintained their vigil at the hospital, grabbing brief moments of sleep where they could along with quick showers and hasty clothing changes.

Rilla didn’t leave the hospital at all, the vision of Bridie the day she’d come in by ambulance still too fresh in her mind. Luca stayed by her side and was a huge support for the entire family, volunteering to do the myriad things that needed doing outside the hospital so the family could stay together.

And, of course, when it was her turn to be with Bridie—night or day—he was by her side. It was odd, spending so much time in his company after seven years of no contact at all. By tacit agreement they didn’t talk about their own issues, even though she kept asking herself why. Why was he back? Why was he acting like he was still a part of the Winters clan? Like he still wanted to be part?

For the moment it was immensely comforting to have Luca with her. Their time for questions would come soon enough.

‘So how did Gabe and Beth meet?’ Luca asked as they sat beside Bridie in the wee small hours of the third day.

He’d been watching Rilla for the last hour as she’d struggled to keep her eyes open, the tawny flecks in her amber eyes visible even in the subdued light of the room. He remembered numerous times when she’d looked at him with slumberous eyes, turning in his arms and snuggling against him, her head beneath his chin as she’d fallen asleep.

‘The Fisher twins,’ Rilla said, rousing herself from the thick web of exhaustion. She’d had maybe ten hours of sleep in small blocks over the last couple of days and it was catching up with her.

Luca frowned. ‘The conjoined twins?’ Luca recalled the case instantly. There had been a lot of global press and he’d paid particular attention because of the connection with his old hospital, the Brisbane General.

Rilla nodded. ‘Gabe was the surgeon who separated them. Beth is NUM of operating theatres here. They worked very closely on the case. Bridie’s named after one of the twins.’

Luca had always had a soft spot for Rilla’s older sister. ‘I’m pleased Beth got her happily-ever-after. She’s had a tough life, she deserves it.’

Rilla agreed. Beth had been through a lot before the Winters family had taken her in, and no one was more worthy of happiness.

But what about me? About us?

Rilla didn’t know where the errant thought came from. Maybe it was the hour, maybe it was the persistent tug of tiredness, but the urge to demand answers was suddenly overwhelming.

Bridie coughed and the ventilator alarm was triggered, along with the monitor, and the words died on her lips. This is not the place, Rilla. Not the place. Concentrate on Bridie and worry about Luca and his motives another time.

Later that morning they had their first piece of good news. Ventilation had been reduced. Bridie’s condition was stabilising. She’d turned the corner.

Beth was over the moon. It was the first time Rilla had seen her sister smile in three days. Everyone was kissing and hugging each other, and Rilla was so relieved that when Luca kissed her she kissed him back enthusiastically. ‘Isn’t it great?’ she enthused, pulling away. A shot of adrenaline charged through her system. She wasn’t entirely sure it had anything to do with her niece’s improved condition either.

‘It’s the best,’ Luca agreed, savouring the taste of her after seven years of famine.

Bridie improved rapidly over the course of the day and the medical staff were hoping to have her extubated by tomorrow or the next day at the latest. The mood was suddenly lighter. Their collective tiredness magically evaporated.

Beth and Gabe ordered everyone home later that night.

‘Now we know she’s turned the corner, we’re going to sleep in the parents’ lounge tonight on one of the pull-out sofas,’ Beth said. ‘We’re both exhausted. So are all of you. We can’t thank you enough for all the support these last few days but you need to go to your homes. Sleep in your beds.’

The family protested and fussed but Beth was adamant and they eventually all agreed they could do with a good night’s sleep. Rilla and Luca hung around for a few hours after everyone else had left. She felt too anxious to leave. Her home was furthest away and she wanted to be close should Bridie relapse.

‘Go home,’ Beth ordered at close to midnight as Gabe prepared their sofa bed.

‘I don’t mind staying the night,’ she stalled.

‘Luca, take her home,’ Beth said, hands on hips.

Luca rose and Rilla shot him a ‘down, boy’ glare. ‘But everyone else is so much closer.’

‘You’re only ten minutes away,’ Beth pointed out.

‘Mum and Dad and Hailey are two,’ Rilla returned.

‘So go stay with them.’

‘They’ll all be asleep by now and I don’t have a key any more.’ Rilla knew she was going to sleep like the dead. She didn’t want to wake any of them from their first decent sleep in three days.

‘I’m two minutes away,’ Luca interrupted. Why he did so, he had no idea. But it made sense.

Rilla looked at him, startled. She saw Beth look at Gabe in her peripheral vision.

‘Problem solved,’ Beth said brightly.

‘Luca, no,’ Rilla said, shying from the intense blackness of his eyes.

‘You’re tired, I’m tired. I live closer. It’s just geography, cara.’

‘He’s right,’ Beth pushed.

Rilla looked from one to the other. She knew he was right. Except he said ‘cara’ and she wanted to melt. Rilla wavered.

‘You can sleep in the spare room,’ Luca said.

Well, she sure as hell wasn’t going tobe sleeping with him.

‘Damn right I will,’ she said, gathering her stuff and heading for the door, Luca’s sexy chuckle following her.