Sydney Harbour Hospital: Zoe's Baby. Alison Roberts

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      ‘Send her to CT first,’ Finn was saying. ‘I’ll have a theatre free in thirty minutes. It’ll take that long to see what you’re dealing with.’

      ‘It’ll take less time than that for her to crash. She’s got a haemothorax that’s barely under control. We’re losing fluid as fast as we can load it. There’s an arterial bleed going on in there. She’s lost the pulse in her right arm and she could lose the limb if we can’t get in and deal with the damaged artery. Now, Mr Kennedy, not in thirty minutes.’

      ‘And what is it, exactly, that you want from me, Dr Lockheart?’

      What indeed? It wasn’t the conversation that was piquing Teo’s interest. It was more the way they were standing.

      Too close?

      Or maybe it was the way they were looking at each other. If he didn’t know better, he’d think that that kind of eye contact was about something a lot less professional than juggling a theatre queue. It was ridiculous but it was making him feel like he was eavesdropping on a private conversation. Maybe he should step away. But Zoe was here. Was she listening too? A sideways glance seemed to coincide with exactly the same movement from the paramedic. For a split second they held the eye contact and he knew they were on the same wavelength. Teo stepped closer.

      ‘I’ve just come in to check on the baby,’ he said quietly. ‘Do you know where he is?’

      They both turned back to scanning the board. The department was clearly very busy. Dozens of boxes were filled with the scrawl of marker pen.

      The voices on the other side of the board were fainter now.

      ‘But didn’t one of your recent edicts stipulate that there would always be a theatre kept free for emergencies from this department?’

      Evie Lockheart wasn’t a short woman. In the heels she was wearing now, she was only a few inches shorter than Finn’s six feet or so. And the way she was holding herself at this moment made her seem even taller.

      ‘There is. You’re using it. Plus one of mine for that ruptured spleen you sent up ten minutes ago.’

      ‘You’ve got a patient in Theatre 5 who’s about to go in for an elective procedure that could easily wait. They haven’t started the anaesthetic and they’re standing by for a green light from you to set up for Michelle Drew.’ To her credit, Evie wasn’t sounding smug. In fact, she seemed to have just the right note of reason and deference in her voice. She also sounded extremely persuasive.

      Finn wasn’t about to be a soft touch for anyone, especially a pretty young woman. His body language was defensive, to say the least. Was Evie about to have her head bitten off in public for interfering with his job? It hadn’t been that long ago, in the wake of a discussion about funding cuts, that Teo had heard Finn make some disparaging comment about applying for a few more of the Lockheart millions seeing as their princess was currently a member of staff. But while Finn was giving Evie a glare that could have shrivelled steel, he was far too professional to lose his temper in here.

      ‘Fine,’ he snapped. ‘I’ll sort it.’

      Evie’s smile lit up her face. ‘Fantastic. Thank you so much, Dr Kennedy.’ She whirled away from him, heading back to the trauma resus area.

      Finn stared at her back for a moment longer before swinging away himself, to head for the nearest telephone.

      ‘Um …’ Zoe cleared her throat beside Teo. ‘I think your patient’s in cubicle 4. Look … eleven-month-old boy from MVA. His name is Harry.’

      ‘Cool. I’ll go and see what they’ve found.’ He lowered his voice. ‘I might need to pull a few strings and get the little guy admitted.’

      ‘Why would you do that?’

      Teo didn’t have a chance to answer as a nurse came up to the board with an eraser and a pen. She filled in an empty slot to show that a patient had just come back from CT.

      ‘That was the woman from your scene,’ she told Zoe. ‘Good job you immobilised her. She’s got cracked vertebrae C4 and 5. Could have ended up quadriplegic if they’d been displaced.’ Then she smiled. ‘Hi, Teo. We heard you were involved in a bit of action. Your baby’s in cubicle 4 if you want to go and see him.’

      ‘Thanks.’ Teo returned the smile. ‘And it’s only a rumour, Louise. I’m not really the father.’

      Louise giggled. Zoe didn’t even smile. In fact, she was staring at him as if that tiny bit of flirting was just as unprofessional as the spat they’d overheard between Finn and Evie.

      Suddenly, it seemed important to do some damage control. ‘You’re Zoe, aren’t you?’

      ‘Yes. Zoe Harper.’

      ‘We didn’t get the chance for a proper introduction, did we?’ He held out his hand and gave her his best smile. ‘I’m Teo Tuala.’

      Her expression softened. ‘And I didn’t get the chance to thank you for your assistance.’ Her hand was surprisingly soft. And small. It disappeared completely within his huge, brown paw. Teo gave it a gentle, friendly squeeze and let go.

      Behind them, a team of people was swiftly manoeuvring the bed that Michelle Drew lay on towards the internal doors and the lift that would take her up to Theatre.

      ‘How’s she doing?’ Teo asked.

      ‘Touch and go. She really does need to get into surgery.’ Zoe was watching his face. ‘Why did you say that you’d find a way of admitting the baby even if he didn’t need it?’

      Teo rubbed the side of his nose. ‘That’s not what I said.’

      ‘It sounded like it was what you meant.’

      He smiled at her again. ‘OK, I confess. I want to make sure he’s got family to go to while his mum’s in here. It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of foster-care.’

      Zoe’s gaze flicked away. She was looking over his shoulder. ‘Tom. You ready to hit the road?’

      ‘Absolutely. Hi, Teo. You’ll be happy to know that little Harry’s been cleared. His dad’s on the way here now. And his grandma, apparently.’

      ‘Couldn’t be happier,’ Teo nodded. ‘I’ll go and see him now before I get any later for my rounds. Good to meet you both.’

      Zoe watched him walk away, heading for cubicle 4.

      She was trying very hard to suppress a niggly sensation in her gut that had the potential to undermine how good her first day back at work had been promising to be.

      She recognised the niggle all too well.

      Guilt, that’s what it was.

      Good grief. Teo Tuala was prepared to cross professional boundaries if necessary to prevent a child going into temporary foster-care.

      What would he think if he knew that she had considered foster-care as an option for her own child?

      That she’d СКАЧАТЬ