The Baby Emergency. Carol Marinelli

as he turned to go, the contact tiny but enough to throw her, the sleeve of his white coat new and crisp, the solid bulge of his forearm, even the scent of his aftershave wafting over as he turned to go, all enough to distract her. Shelly fumbled to finish her argument.

      ‘I know it seems petty, but the department has strict guidelines on this. The dental damage—’

      ‘Shelly.’ Ross’s voice was quiet, but his words were very clear as he spoke, his eyes looking right into hers, unblinking, unwavering. ‘Let’s get this little guy through tonight, huh? Lose this battle and tooth decay will be something Angela can only dream about.’

      Shelly’s eyes were wide with surprise as Ross turned and went back to Kane. His words made sense, good sense, and in truth Shelly felt ridiculous arguing about such a tiny detail, but rules were rules…But it wasn’t Ross’s little lecture that had left her reeling.

      The few years in the bush had changed him. That easygoing, eager-to-please guy was gone, and in his place, just as gorgeous, just as stunning, was a rather more confident version, a man who knew what he wanted, and would make sure he got it.

      Heading to the treatment room, Shelly took a while to find the little-used jar.

      ‘The contraband’s arrived,’ Ross said dryly as Shelly joined him at the bedside, Angela looking on anxiously, still dubious that it would work.

      ‘It’s just while he’s sick,’ Shelly said confidently, noting the tiny smile of appreciation on the edge of Ross’s lips as she put aside her own misgivings and beckoned for Angela to come closer. ‘What’s more, it’s something you can do for Kane to help him settle.’

      Her words hit the mark. As Angela took the dummy, Shelly went into greater detail, showing Angela how to open the tent, how she could slip her hands in and even put her head in the cot to cuddle and speak to her child. Thankfully the glycerine worked and after a few goes baby Kane finally took his dummy. With the tent delivering a high dose of concentrated oxygen, he lay back exhausted, his little arms and legs flopping outwards like a washed-up frog as he drifted into a spent sleep.

      ‘How’s he doing?’ Melissa’s knowledgeable eyes scanned the monitors and baby in a moment.

      ‘He’s asleep, his saturations are ninety-two on thirty-five per cent oxygen.’

      ‘Turn it up to forty per cent,’ Melissa said after a moment’s thought. ‘Let’s give him as much help as we can.’

      Ross nodded his approval as Shelly fiddled with the flow meter.

      ‘Come and have a cup of coffee,’ Melissa offered to Angela.

      ‘I’d rather not leave him. Can I have it in here?’

      ‘Sorry, but the last thing you or the staff will be thinking of if Kane gets worse suddenly is a hot cup of coffee balanced on the locker.’

      ‘Fair enough.’ Angela was positively meek now, but even Shelly thought Ross was pushing things with what he said next.

      ‘Go and have a coffee.’ Ross’s voice was assured. ‘And then come back and have a lie-down.’

      ‘I’m not sleeping,’ Angela flared. ‘How can I sleep when he’s this sick? What if he gets worse?’

      ‘He probably is going to get a bit worse.’ Ross’s eyes held Angela’s terrified ones. ‘And then he’s going to start getting better, and when he does he’s going to have you running in circles, feeding him, amusing him, spoiling him rotten…’ He gave a tiny smile and to Shelly’s amazement Angela gave a reluctant one back. ‘You need some rest, you need to try and trust us to look after your baby, and you’re going to be right next to him.’ He gestured to the camp bed, his eyes never leaving Angela’s face. ‘And if anything happens, we’ll wake you.

      ‘I promise,’ he added.

      ‘You’ve got the A team on tonight,’ Melissa broke in, her brisk, efficient voice such a contrast to Ross’s calm one, but somehow the balance worked. ‘Your baby’s in good hands. Now, come and have a coffee with me while we go through the admission forms. I need to know his little ways, what formula he has, how you generally settle him, that type of thing.’ Technically the job was Shelly’s, she was looking after cots tonight so the admission was hers, but Shelly was more than happy to defer to Melissa. They were a team and Melissa was what Angela needed right now—someone a touch more authoritative, less close in age, someone to lean on.

      ‘She’ll be right now,’ Ross said quietly as Melissa led Angela out. ‘That’s why I wanted to just get them up here. The poor woman was beside herself down in Emergency. A slice of Melissa’s cake and a bit of a rest and she’ll be a new woman.’

      He was right, of course. Ross was always right when it came to dealing with women, Shelly mused, fiddling again with the flow meter to get the concentration right now that the cot was zipped up and Kane was quietly resting. Someone must have given Ross a glimpse of the rule book the day he hit puberty, told him how to turn on that winning smile and work that velvet voice to gain maximum impact. Oh, he wasn’t a flirt, he didn’t turn on the charm to beguile people, it was all just so damned effortless with him and it would be so, so easy to let it go to her head.