‘Who’s a sleepyhead?’ she asked. She stroked the baby’s cheek, the one closest to Amy’s breast, and kept on stroking. The baby turned instinctively in the direction of the stroking. Pippa’s fingers moved slightly, steering the baby’s rosebud mouth. The little lips caught the taste of milk, caught Amy’s nipple and started sucking. Though not with gusto.

‘Keep stroking her cheek,’ Pippa told her. ‘No going to sleep, Baby Riley. You have growing to do.’

‘She wouldn’t… for me,’ Amy said, choking back tears.

‘I suspect she’s a bit jaundiced,’ Riley said, watching her suck. ‘Not badly, but it’s enough to make her sleepy.’

‘What’s jaundice?’

Pippa crossed to the basin and moistened a facecloth. She washed Amy’s face as Riley checked out his namesake. The baby was feeding but not with any energy. He checked her palms, then the soles of her tiny feet. Yesterday they’d been pink. Today there were faint traces of yellow.

Mild jaundice. Early days.

Watch and see, he thought. There wasn’t any need for intervention yet.

But watch and see here?

‘What’s wrong?’ Amy asked, breathless with fear, and Riley uncurled the baby’s fist and showed her.

‘See her palm? The faint yellow tinge is the first sign of jaundice. It’s common in babies. As our body’s red blood cells outlive their purpose, our liver gets rid of them. If they can’t, then we get a build-up of these old cells-the build-up’s called bilirubin. Because Baby Riley’s liver is so small, it’s not doing its job properly. It might take a week or so to adjust.’

‘But she’ll be okay?’

‘She’ll definitely be okay. Sunlight helps. We’ll pop her by the window with just a nappy on-that’s often enough to fix it. The way you’re feeding her now is great. It’ll take a little more encouraging on your part and we need to make sure she’s not getting dehydrated. If she gets any sleepier than she is, we’ll pop her under lights like a sunlamp.’

‘Sister Joyce will?’

‘That’s a problem,’ Riley said evenly, as Pippa rinsed the facecloth and bathed her face again. ‘Amy, jaundice usually shows up before this. If I’d thought Baby Riley might develop it, I’d have asked you to stay on in Whale Cove.’ He met Amy’s gaze square on. ‘I’m sorry, Amy, but you need to come back with us.’

‘To… to the hospital?’

‘That would be best.’

‘But I don’t want to.’ It was a wail.

‘Then we can organise for you to stay in a hotel near the hospital. Amy, if you were living in Whale Cove I’d be saying keep doing what you’re doing, give her a little sunbathe each day, call me if you need me. But I’m a long way away to call.’

Amy’s bottom lip trembled. She really was very young, Riley thought. A child herself.

‘Jason’s out mustering,’ she whispered. ‘He’s due back tomorrow. Can I wait until then?’

‘I’m sorry. We need to leave this morning.’

‘I don’t want to go back to hospital. I hate hospital.’ She was crying again, fat tears slipping down her face. She was afraid and alone, Riley thought, and he sent silent invective toward her mother. She hadn’t even been in to see her daughter.

‘Could one of your sisters come with you?’ Pippa asked, diffidently, and he knew Pippa was thinking exactly what he was.

‘Mum won’t let ’em.’

‘Could I talk to your mum?’

She would. He looked at Pippa, in her jeans and her Flight-Aid shirt, her hair bunched back into a loose braid, her face devoid of make-up, and he thought she was just as alone as Amy.

But she had courage in spades. Last night… she’d known what she needed and she’d taken it. She’d taken him.

‘She’d throw something at you,’ Amy was saying, and Pippa blinked.

‘Really?’

‘Yeah. Or set the dogs on you.’

‘Uh-oh,’ Pippa said, and Riley smiled at her expression. A dog-setting, missile-throwing mother… Pippa had the sense to back away. ‘Okay, that was option one,’ she conceded. ‘Option two is that you come back to Whale Cove and stay in the house beside the hospital where I’m staying. Where Doc Riley stays. They tell me it’s okay to invite guests so I’m inviting you. Do you want to come and stay with me and Riley?’

She was… What the…?

Riley practically gaped.

‘Close your mouth, Doctor,’ Pippa said kindly. ‘After all, it’s not like Amy’s a patient any more. This baby’s called Riley Pippa, and that makes her our family. So will you come and stay with us?’

‘But Jason…’ Amy seemed bemused. She’d stopped crying.

‘We’ll leave him a note,’ Pippa said grandly. ‘If he can get to the coast then he can stay, too.’

‘He probably won’t want to.’

‘That’s up to him. Will you come and stay with us?’

‘Yes,’ Amy said, looking down at her drowsy baby, knowing she had no choice. ‘Yes, I will.’

‘Are you out of your mind?’ Riley barely got the door shut behind them before he exploded. ‘What sort of crazy idea is this?’

‘What?’ Pippa asked, turning to face him. She looked innocent and puzzled, as if she had no idea what he was talking about.

‘Inviting Amy to live with me.’

‘With us,’ she said kindly. ‘And not live. Stay.’

‘You don’t live in that house.’

‘I do. Coral says I do. She says I’m to make it my home, so I am.’

‘You’re not due to move there until Sunday.’

‘I’ll need to move in straight away,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘That’s a pity. Roger might even get a refund on his honeymoon suite.’

‘She’s a patient!’

‘She’s your patient. I met her in hospital when I was in the next bed. She’s my friend.’

‘You’re a nurse.’

‘Nurses have friends.’

‘It’s not ethical.’

‘Why isn’t it ethical?’

‘You don’t get involved.’

‘You don’t need to. Coral says you have a big bedroom and you barely use the rest of the house. I know your daughter’s coming but Coral says we have four bedrooms. So how does having Amy staying get you involved?’

‘You’ll need to be involved.’

‘I want to be involved.’

‘Pippa…’

‘Mmm?’ She tilted her chin and met his gaze full on. Her eyes were direct and luminous.

He needed to keep building his anger, he thought. He needed to hold to his knowledge that she’d just overstepped professional boundaries, because suddenly all he could think of was how she’d felt last night.

How he’d held her.

How she’d slept, tucked into the curve of his body.

His boundaries were slipping. He felt them shift, and he didn’t know what to do about it. Revert to anger?

‘She’ll have to go to hospital.’

‘I’ve invited her to stay with us. She’s stopped crying. You want me to go and tell her you’ve changed your mind?’

‘I haven’t changed my mind,’ he said explosively. ‘It’s you…’

‘Maybe you could stay in the honeymoon suite,’ she said, thoughtfully. ‘Though I’m not sure how I’d explain that to Roger. And then there’s Lucy…’

‘Of all the…’

‘You don’t want a honeymoon?’

‘No! Neither do I want people staying in my house.’

‘Coral said it’s the hospital’s house. And you already have Lucy.’ She sighed, suddenly repentant. ‘I’m sorry. I know I should have talked to you before I offered, but I couldn’t bear it. She’s so alone. I know what it’s like to be alone, Riley, and I suspect you do, too, but I’ve never been as alone as Amy is right now. I can fix that. I’ll take care of her.’

‘You’ll be working.’

‘I will be,’ she said, her tone suddenly severe as his objections grew weaker. ‘You think Amy wants me there twenty-four seven? She’ll take what I can give, but that’s a whole lot more than she has now. So… are we heading back to Whale Cove or not?’

‘Pippa…’

‘Yes?’ Her eyes were now expressionless. She was waiting for more anger, he thought. She was expecting more anger.

He didn’t have it in him. Not when he looked at her.

‘Last night…’ he said.

‘Was wonderful,’ she said, quickly, before he could go any further. ‘But you needn’t worry. Yes, I used you to escape from my nightmares and, yes, it was fabulous, but I’m not about to step over the boundaries there either.’

‘That’s not what I was about to say.’

‘Then what were you about to say?’

‘That I thought it was wonderful, too,’ he said, and her face lit in response, softening, her eyes lighting with laughter. She hadn’t expected him to say it. She loved it that he had, he thought, and that felt… excellent.

‘Snap,’ she said, and she stood on tiptoe and kissed him, on the lips but lightly, fleetingly. ‘It was indeed wonderful,’ she said. ‘But it doesn’t mean I’m pushing past your boundaries. I needed you last night and you were there. I’ll always be grateful. And now I intend to be there for Amy. See, we’re both soft touches in our own way.’

‘I didn’t… Last night was more…’

‘I know it was,’ she said, firmly and surely. ‘Like I said, it was fabulous. I’ll remember it for ever. But we both know it was for one night only. We both know we need to love that it happened, and now we need to move on.’

They couldn’t move on, not for a couple of hours. Joyce was waiting for them and cornered them before they reached the veranda.

‘Ear infection,’ she said. ‘Coming in within half an hour. I’ll make you breakfast. And while you’re waiting, I’m concerned about John Thalderson’s feet. He’s cracked his heel,’ she explained to Pippa. ‘He’s diabetic-lousy circulation. I’m dressing it every day but he came in ten minutes ago… Have a look, Riley, while I cook you breakfast.’

They both looked. John Thalderson’s feet were truly appalling. He should be headed for Sydney, Pippa thought, or Whale Cove at the very least, but once again neither he nor Riley seemed to think it was an option.

Riley injected local so he could do a thorough debridement, cleaning up the messy edges. He dressed the wound with care, while Pippa assisted.