Their One Night Baby. Carol Marinelli

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CHAPTER ONE

      ‘HELLO, BEAUTIFUL!’

      Victoria’s smile was friendly as she walked into the lounge ahead of Glen, to where little Penelope Craig, or Penny, as she liked to be known, lay on the sofa. Victoria had already had a conversation with Julia, Penny’s mother, in the hallway.

      Usually, two paramedics dressed in green overalls entering a home would be a somewhat nerve-racking sight for a six-year-old, but little Penny was more than used to it.

      ‘Victoria!’

      Even though she was unwell, little Penny sat up a touch on the sofa where she lay, and her huge grey eyes widened in delight. She was clearly pleased that it was her favourite paramedic who was here to take her to Paddington Children’s Hospital, or the Castle as it was more generally known.

      ‘She hoped that it would be you coming to take her,’ Julia said.

      Victoria gave a friendly smile to Julia and then went to sit on the edge of the sofa to chat to her patient. ‘Yes, I was just thinking the other day that I haven’t seen you in a while.’

      ‘She’s been doing really well,’ Julia said.

      There was a three-way conversation going on as Victoria gleaned some history from Julia and also checked Penny.

      Penelope Craig had been born with a rare congenital heart condition and had spent a lot of her life as a patient at the Castle, but for a while she had been doing well. Her dark hair was tied in braids and she was wearing pyjamas. Over the top of them was a little pink tutu that she wore all the time.

      Penny was going to be a ballet dancer one day.

      She told that to everyone.

      ‘Your mum said that you’ve not been feeling very well today?’ Victoria said as she checked Penny’s pulse.

      ‘I’m nauseous and febrile.’

      Whereas most children would say that they felt sick and hot, Penny had spent so much time in medical settings that she knew more than a six-year-old should.

      She was indeed febrile and her little heart was beating rapidly when Victoria checked her vital signs.

      ‘She’s being admitted straight to the cardiac unit,’ Julia said as Victoria checked Penny over. It wasn’t an urgent transfer but, given Penny’s history, a Mobile Intensive Care Unit had been sent and Victoria was thorough in her assessment.

      ‘Though,’ Julia added, ‘they want her to have a chest X-ray first in A&E.’

      Which might prove a problem.

      Accident and Emergency departments didn’t like to be used as an admissions hub, though it was a problem Victoria dealt with regularly. In fact, just three days ago she had had an argument with Dominic MacBride, a paediatric trauma surgeon, about the very same thing.

      Victoria just hoped he wasn’t in A&E this evening, as they tended to clash whenever she brought a patient in.

      Generally though, things were better at Paddington’s than at most hospitals. The staff were very friendly and there was real communication between departments.

      And also, Penny was a little bit of a star!

      They’d just have to see how it went.

      ‘I like your earrings,’ Penny said when Victoria had finished taking her blood pressure.

      ‘Thank you.’

      Usually Victoria wore no jewellery at work. It was impractical, given that she never knew what her day might entail. Her long dark brown hair was tied up in its usual messy bun and, of course, she wore no make-up for work. So yes, her diamond studs stood out a touch.

      The earrings had been a gift from her father and Victoria wore them for special occasions. She had been at a function yesterday and had forgotten to take them out.

      Penny was ready to be transferred to the hospital. For such a little child, often Glen or Victoria would carry them out, the goal being not to upset them. Once though, Victoria had referred to the stretcher as a throne and Penny, who loved anything to do with fairytales, had decided that she rather liked it.

      Penny insisted on moving onto the stretcher herself and Julia took a moment to check that she had all of Penny’s favourite things to bring along. They were very used to a ‘quick trip’ to Paddington’s turning into a longer stay.

      ‘Ready for the off?’ Victoria asked, and Penny gave her regular thumbs up.

      Spring was a little way off just yet, and so even though it was only early in the evening, it was dark outside.

      ‘Are you just starting or finishing?’ Julia asked as Victoria took her seat in the back of the ambulance with them.

      ‘Just finishing,’ Victoria said.

      ‘Have you got anything planned for tonight?’

      ‘Not really,’ Victoria answered, and turned her focus to Penny.

      In fact, Victoria was going out on a date.

      A second one.

      And she was wondering why she’d agreed to it when the first hadn’t been particularly great.

      Oh, that’s right, she and Glen had been chatting and he had suggested that she expected too much from a first date.

      Not that she said any of this to Julia.

      Victoria gave nothing away.

      She was very discerning in her dealings with people. She was confident yet approachable, friendly but not too much.

      The patients didn’t mind; in fact, they liked her professionalism.

      Socially, she did well, though tended to let others talk about themselves.

      Victoria relied on no one.

      She and Glen had worked together for two years and it had taken a long time for Victoria to discuss her private life even a little with him. Glen was a family man, with a big moon face that smiled rather than took offence at Victoria’s sometimes brusque ways, and he loved to talk. He was happily married to Hayley and they had four hundred children.

      Well, four.

      But while Glen chatted away about his wife and children and the little details of his day, Victoria didn’t. Certainly she wasn’t going to open up to her patient’s mother about her love-life.

      Or lack of it.

      Julia, as she often did, told Penny a story as the ambulance made its way through the Friday rush hour traffic. They weren’t using lights and sirens; there was no need to, and Penny was too used to them to want the drama.

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