The Baby Doctor

by Fiona McArthur

  ‘Excellent. Sit tight. There’s an aircraft not far from you with room on board for one more, and we’ll divert them your way. We’ll have the police find your husband, Mrs Mackay.’

  Eve sucked in a calming breath. ‘Thank you. He’ll be at the Emperial.’ But Maddy could see the strain on Eve’s face and she suspected the pain had begun to escalate in her leg. She looked at her baby in Lily’s arms and glanced around, scanning for something in the laundry they could use for a splint and found it. ‘I’ll use the cricket bat to strap your leg and we’ll prop it up on this drum.’

  ‘Should we move it at all?’

  Maddy had already retrieved the bat. Had unwrapped another bandage. ‘Hanging down it will swell. They’ll raise it in the plane so that you can lie flat. I’ll keep it well below your heart level.’

  She carefully lifted Eve’s leg onto the bat and began to secure it.

  Eve said, ‘How do you know all this?’

  ‘Western Australia has lots of snakes. My brother was bitten.’ She hurried to say, ‘And he’s good.’ She looked at Eve. The words tumbled out in a rush. ‘I read last week that a pregnant woman in Brisbane was bitten recently by a tiger snake. They gave her antivenom and she and her baby are fine.’

  A tear spilled over and ran down Eve’s pale cheek, but a faint, brave smile lifted the corners of her mouth. ‘Nice piece of trivia you’ve stored there, Maddy. Thank you for that. Though they were probably a lot closer to the hospital.’

  Maddy glanced up at a noise as she bandaged the elevated leg onto the flat side of the bat. ‘I can hear a plane. Is that too soon?’

  ‘Yes. It’s probably an airliner. You hear them in the mornings. Would be kilometres high. But the runway light switch is above the phone in the kitchen.’

  Maddy nodded, glanced once more at Lily, who still stood frozen with a sleeping Bee jammed against her chest, and ran up the stairs again. Best to do this part now in case Eve became unconscious. She found the spot and pulled the heavy switch down with a satisfying click.

  When she returned to Eve the older woman had begun to shake and fine beads of sweat lined her face.

  Lily held Bee, quaking with fright as well, and Maddy eased the phone from Eve’s deathlike grip, in case she dropped it. The last thing she needed was a broken telephone.

  Maddy inhaled softly and calmed her voice, emulating Eve from earlier. ‘Try to relax. It’ll be fine. They’re coming and they’ll help you and your baby.’ Please God let that be true. Maddy was way more scared for Eve than she had ever been for herself during Bee’s birth. ‘You need to slow your pulse rate.’

  This was all her fault. Maddy looked down at the woman who had only offered kindness to her. ‘I’m so sorry I caused all this.’

  Maddy watched Eve’s shoulders drop as she fought for a semblance of calm, as if reminding herself that Maddy was right. ‘I’m the midwife, I should know that.’ Then, almost normally, as if glad to not think of the snake bite, she said, ‘You didn’t cause it. He did. Did you find the lights?’

  It was all her fault. She knew that. ‘Yes. It’s a big switch. I’ve turned them on. How do you feel?’

  ‘A little sick, but I don’t want to think about it.’ Eve said almost conversationally, ‘Blanche had the lights installed when Lex went away. Said I needed them especially with Lily here. I’ve been dying to use them.’

  Maddy half laughed and half sobbed. ‘Not happy with your choice of words.’

  Eve grimaced. ‘I keep telling myself I’d feel worse if the snake had dumped a big load of venom.’

  They heard a plane in the distance and all three women glanced up and then deflated because it was a far-off drone not coming any nearer and they were underneath the building so couldn’t see it.

  ‘We’ll take the work truck out to meet them when they fly over the house. That way we’ll know it’s them,’ Eve said.

  Maddy squeezed the phone in her hand. ‘I can’t drive a manual car. I’ve never got my licence.’

  ‘I can,’ Lily said eagerly, visibly relieved to be able to do something to help apart from babysitting. She handed Bee back to Maddy. ‘Take her. I’ll back the ute up to here and as soon as they come we’ll slide you across the back seat with your leg still on the bat.’

  The next hour as they waited for the plane to arrive was the worst in Maddy’s life, and she’d had some bad times. Eve remained conscious, though the pain in her leg seemed to be increasing, along with Eve’s terror for her baby.

  When they finally heard the miraculous sound of a plane flying low over the house, they moved Eve awkwardly into the utility. Lily steered the big truck across the paddock with barely a shudder of gear changes as she avoided pot holes to save Eve from bumping up and down.

  Once at the airstrip – a long paddock with ground lights every fifty feet – they watched the lights of the plane blink reassurance at them and the now discernible bulk of the aircraft in the pre-dawn light grew larger as it came in over the far fence.

  It landed with a small bump and as it sped towards them the sound of the engines grew so loud they couldn’t hear each other over the noise without shouting. At last it stopped beside them, the roar of the propellers shutting down, and after what seemed hours but was probably less than a minute or two, the hatch opened.

  The nurse glided down the steps not seeming to hurry, but strangely, she arrived beside them in a very short space of time.

  ‘Hello, lovelies. What a morning you’ve all had.’ She smiled briefly at them all but her attention encircled Eve like a protective shell. ‘Great bandage. Let’s do some observations before we lift you inside and I’ll pop a cannula in before we leave.’

  Ten very efficient minutes later the nurse was satisfied, the pilot came out and helped Eve to be loaded onto the plane, and after one last fierce hug, all goodbyes were said. The aircraft door shut. The engines started up again like banshees and the noise made the girls put their hands over Bee’s ears.

  The girls huddled together in the early-morning light with Bee between them, eyes glued to the retreating aircraft. Lily sniffed and Maddy felt like joining. Bee snuffled against her mother’s chest, almost ready for her next feed, and Maddy hugged her tight. She and Lily watched the aircraft take off until just a flashing light hung in the pre-dawn sky and grew smaller.

  They climbed wearily into the work truck and Lily started it up and drove them less smoothly back to the empty house.

  ‘The nurse seemed to think she’ll be fine,’ Maddy said, looking for reassurance herself from the words.

  Lily nodded, still stricken, and tried to share the reassurance. ‘Eve said everything would be fine. And the nurse said it, too. When she’s been properly assessed.’

  Eve had made Maddy ring the staff quarters and one of the male jackaroos had come up to the house and was patrolling the grounds as they drove up. The police had phoned to say an officer was coming out and the man would stay on guard with the girls until Blanche or Lex came home.

  As they entered the house through the bottom stairs the phone was ringing and Lily hurried to answer it. Maddy heard her say, ‘Dad!’ and begin to cry.

  Maddy’s shoulders sagged and the guilt rolled over her like a tsunami at the beach until she was gasping with tears herself. She hugged Bee and took her into her room.

  Ten minutes later Lily came and sat on the floor next to her bed. Maddy was on the chair feeding Bee again.

  Lily’s hand reached across and she stroked Bee’s foot as it waved in the air. Her fingers shook. She sniffed again. ‘Dad’s meeting Eve at the hospital. Gran is being flown in to stay with us.’ Then her face crumpled. ‘I’m so scared for Eve, Maddy. Will she be alright?’

  Maddy could feel her own tears far too close again, but she couldn’t break down in front of Lily. Eve would want her to be strong. ‘I know she will be. She did everything right. And they have her now.’

  ‘But what about her baby?’

  Maddy drew a deep breath and repeated convincingly
what she’d read last week about the other lady who’d been bitten. Lily needed something to take her mind off the morning’s events. Then she said, ‘Do you think you could make a cup of tea while I finish Bee’s feed? That would be so good. It’s been a horrible morning and Eve would want us to make the beds and tidy up before your grandmother arrives.’

  Chapter Forty

  Sienna

  Early the next morning, Sienna looked up from where she’d just placed a cup of tea for Alma instead of the other way around. Seeing as how Alma was now staying with her in Douglas’s house, it was the least she could do. The older lady had been coughing through the night, but she seemed almost back to her old self this morning.

  Douglas hesitated at the entry to the room and Sienna patted Alma’s arm as she straightened. ‘Drink your tea and have a rest in bed, madam. About time you chilled after all your adventures.’ She left the room to accompany Douglas into the hallway.

  ‘Is she okay?’

  ‘Yes. Tough as old boots, she said.’ Sienna couldn’t interpret the look he was giving her. She should tell him. But couldn’t. Didn’t know how. She looked away. Seemed to spend a lot of time looking away. Said the first thing that came into her head that wasn’t about the pregnancy. ‘I heard you coughing on the settee last night.’ Of course Douglas had given her his bed and slept in the lounge room.

  ‘I’m fine.’ He was looking at her. She could feel it.

  She stared towards the master bedroom. ‘You should have let me sleep on the lounge.’ Had to turn back eventually. Still she avoided his eyes.

  ‘I’m not fighting with you again.’ His hand came up to catch her chin. ‘Sienna?’

  ‘I’ll make another cup of tea.’

  His fingers stilled her movement. ‘I don’t want one. I want to know why you can’t look at me?’

  She turned her chin free. ‘I might want one.’ She didn’t.

  ‘What is going on here?’

  ‘Later.’

  ‘Now.’

  The phone rang and Douglas swore under his breath, something she’d never heard him do, and turned away to answer it. Sienna bolted for the kitchen.

  The adage be careful what you wish for drifted sardonically through her mind as she stirred her unwanted tea. Well, she had asked to be ensconced in the policeman’s house and she had requested a chaperone. Shame the pub had had to burn down to get her and Alma here. It was not her fault.

  Five minutes later she couldn’t miss the furrowed brow that marred Douglas’s face as he stood at the door. Her stomach sank. Now what? Douglas put his hand on her arm and she placed her own hand over his fingers, suddenly afraid of what he was going to say.

  ‘Eve’s been airlifted to Brisbane. A tiger snake bite.’

  Sienna sucked in a breath as pure cold fear seeped into her, and she swayed until Douglas slipped his arm around her. He drew her head onto his chest and she buried her face for a moment, before lifting it again. ‘How bad?’ Then another thought crashed in. ‘Her pregnancy!’ Eve would be devastated if anything happened to her unborn baby. They all would.

  Guilt brushed sticky fingers over her skin, leaving a residue of shame amidst the shock. Here was her sister naturally terrified about losing her life and her baby and Sienna was in her own little world ruing and fixated on the horror of being pregnant.

  Douglas’s voice broke into her tormented thoughts. ‘She’s stable. They think the dose of venom was small.’ The gentle pressure of Douglas’s fingers grounded her as he stroked her stiff back. ‘They think the snake could have recently envenomed something else, a rat or bandicoot, or was more startled than angry when she trod on it, so it didn’t inject.’

  Her shoulders sagged as sweet relief swept over her. Then, poor Eve. What a shock. ‘My sister the disaster zone,’ she said, frowning. ‘Where was the snake? Not in the house? Are Maddy and the baby okay?’

  He paused. Drew a slow sigh and the foreboding she’d felt before crept back. Was there more?

  ‘The snake was outside under the house near the cars.’ He stepped back so their eyes could meet. His brow was furrowed again and her neck prickled.

  ‘Jacob turned up and they were hiding from him. He threatened to burn Eve’s homestead if Maddy didn’t go with him.’

  Sienna’s hand covered her mouth. Horror trickling ice along her veins. She imagined them hiding from a deranged Jacob and shuddered. ‘I should never have taken her there. This is all my fault. Where was Lex?’

  ‘In Charleville with Blanche. And it is not your fault that Jacob went off the rails. Or that Lex was away. But it’s unfortunate that only Eve, Maddy and Lily were home.’

  Surely Maddy didn’t go with him? Eve wouldn’t have allowed that. The danger to Maddy scared the daylights out of her. ‘She didn’t go with him? Where’s Jacob? What happened?’

  Douglas pulled her against him. ‘Stop upsetting yourself. She didn’t go. Eve let the dogs off and he drove away. A constable from Charleville is on his way out there to interview Maddy today. He’ll suggest she puts an AVO on him. We’ll find him,’ he said grimly.

  ‘If Lex doesn’t find him first.’ She could imagine her brother-in-law scouring the earth in his helicopter. He’d kill him.

  ‘Lex is with Eve.’

  That was a good thing. Jacob had ruined enough lives. ‘I can’t believe he threatened to burn Diamond Lake homestead.’ Her bumbling attempts to help Maddy showed her ignorance of the situation. ‘I should never have taken Maddy there. I caused more trouble than I helped.’ It was hard to meet Douglas’s eyes. ‘This really is all my fault.’

  ‘You couldn’t have known he’d follow her there. It’s a long way. Even here we had no idea he’d burn the pub, let alone drive hours to cause more havoc.’

  Ignorance wasn’t an excuse. She needed to stop interfering in things she didn’t understand and get back to where she knew the way things ran. Where she was in control. She needed to phone Eve. But it would be too soon. How much longer would she have to be here? She wanted to just get in her car and go. Now. Right now. Run. She glanced at the door, as if assessing if she could actually do that.

  ‘What is it?’ he said, and there was a touch of impatience she wasn’t used to. ‘You’re hiding something from me.’

  She looked away. Pulled out of his arms. ‘There’s nothing.’ Just our pregnancy, but she didn’t have the headspace for that at this moment. She had to get away. At least after today she could rule out radiation when the physicist came. She didn’t care what Blanche Mackay offered her future employers – she was never returning to the outback.

  The phone rang again and Douglas sent her one dark look before he turned away to answer it.

  An hour later, Sienna watched the physicist climb out of the non-descript car and stifled her vague disappointment. Well, what had she expected? An all-terrain vehicle with a nuclear symbol emblazoned on the bonnet like the Ghostbusters sign?

  The young man who walked up the path did look like a mad scientist, though. Frizzy hair, wire-framed glasses, incredibly long, thin legs and intense expression.

  ‘Dr Wilson?’

  ‘Sienna. Yes. Mr Stein?’

  He grinned sheepishly. ‘Professor Stein. Art.’

  Sienna laughed. ‘I’m honoured, Professor Stein – Art. Thank you for coming. Come in.’ She watched him stoop to enter the police residence. Not even Douglas stooped to do that. ‘Where’s your Geiger counter?’

  He blinked. ‘I keep forgetting that’s what people expect. Some of the equipment is embedded in the car. For opportunistic scanning. It’s surprising what you pick up. Nothing registered as I came into town, by the way, despite a quick drive around the block before I stopped here. But I have more sensitive equipment for specific areas in my kit.’

  ‘So you could scan somewhere like a waiting room, for example, and tell if something had contaminated it? Scan a truck or a house?’

  ‘Easily. Did you want this house examined?’

  Why? She glanced around the r
esidence and grimaced, thinking of her secret. ‘Absolutely.’

  He laughed.

  ‘So if the area had been contaminated strongly then there should be some residual markers left?’

  ‘Of course that’s dependant on the strength of the radiation emitted, but radioactive residue will embed if the source is reasonably highly radioactive. And it will last for an extended half-life. Although if a source is sealed it will not leave residue. But I don’t see how something highly radioactive could get all the way out here.’

  She said, ‘Hopefully it didn’t.’ He followed her through to her office. ‘So can you refresh my radiation base knowledge? I remember ionising radiation is what atoms release when they have too much energy or mass.’

  ‘Ionising radiation causes apoptotic damage to DNA to cause genetic mutation or even sterility. However, most cell types do not manifest evidence of damage until mitosis occurs, and several divisions may ensue before actual cell death.’

  Sienna looked at him. Blinked as she assimilated. At least he hadn’t gone into the DNA.

  ‘Although some radiation can travel large distances, it can be stopped by a barrier. Like starlight can be stopped by a piece of paper. And like light, ionising radiation travels in straight lines until absorbed or deflected. Which is why we use different absorbing methods for different radiations.’

  Sienna asked the real question, ‘So is it possible some form of radiation has been transported here, accidentally?’

  ‘Our record is pristine,’ he said carefully. ‘There’s been no transport incident in the movement of ANSTO’s materials with significant radiological consequences.’

  Sienna raised a sardonic brow. ‘That’s a mouthful. Did you practise that?’ He just looked at her. ‘So a rare chance?’ she prompted him.

  He conceded and began to, she suspected, recite, ‘ANSTO sends around two thousand packages per month of radioisotopes for medical and industrial uses to destinations around Australia and overseas. Strict international regulations govern the transport of radioactive material to ensure the safety of the public and the environment. The transport of radioactive materials gains significant media and public attention. We maintain robust safety methods.’