She found Lucas exactly where she knew he’d be. She stood at the doorway to the big ward for a moment, watching him speak to one of the doctors that had been on duty through the night. Her cheeks burned as she watched his lips move, remembering how they’d tasted every inch of her the night before.
His whispered words had helped to restore some of her faith in herself—as a woman, at least. Realistically, she knew there was the possibility that Joey had simply become bored of her and it wasn’t anything she’d done. Although, of course, she could’ve judged him completely wrong for the last twelve years, and he was simply a man who wanted to have his cake and eat it too.
She walked through the beds to Lucas’s side, the uneasy feeling hovering that everyone would look at them and guess immediately what they’d done last night.
Frankie listened as the night doctor relayed to Lucas how things had gone through the night for their patients. He’d clearly saved the big news for last.
“Unfortunately, we lost Victoria during the night.”
Frankie swivelled her head in the direction of Victoria’s bed as though Pete had got his names muddled up and Victoria would be sat up in bed feeding her son and all was well.
“What the hell happened?” Lucas’s voice cut through the quiet room. “How could you lose her? She was fine...”
She hadn’t been fine. At least, not mentally. Inwardly, she berated herself for not checking on Victoria one last time after she’d finished work. The conversation they’d shared directly following the aftershock had worried her, but she had been so exhausted that she hadn’t followed through with her concerns. And then she sought out Lucas. She’d failed Victoria.
“I don’t mean lost her as in she passed.” Pete spoke over Lucas. “I mean she left.”
“She did ask me last night if she could leave this morning and I told her she really needed a couple of days but maybe tomorrow would be okay.”
“We’re not exactly sure when, but she was there as the sun came up, we took her a drink, and then she was gone.”
“She took the baby?” Frankie asked. She couldn’t see the crib they’d placed next to Victoria’s bed from her position.
“No.” Pete pointed at the side door where Hettie stood, her back to them. “Hettie has him. I guess we’ll have to get someone to take him over to the orphanage today. He doesn’t need any treatment.”
“No!” Frankie turned to Lucas. “Don’t let them take him there.”
“Pete’s right, Frankie. He doesn’t belong here. We don’t have the staff to look after him on a day-to-day basis if he isn’t sick.”
“And the orphanage does?” Frankie couldn’t stand the idea of the baby she’d helped deliver and carried next to her body the previous day going over to the orphanage. She may well have lived the last twelve years of her life in a Joey-filled bubble but she was aware of what third-world orphanages were like. Rows of cots holding babies and toddlers with too few adults to give them what they needed.
“I know it’s not ideal, Frankie, but we really don’t have any other choice.”
“We do.” Frankie spoke before the idea was fully formed in her head. “I’ll keep him here with me. I can work with him strapped to me like I did yesterday. Hettie can maybe...”
“Hettie’s an old woman. She’s exhausted.” Pete shook his head.
“Then I’ll do it.” She refused to be dissuaded.
“It’s a noble idea, but...”
“It’s not noble.” Frankie couldn’t believe this man she’d shared the night with didn’t understand. “It’s the only answer.”
“Frankie,” Lucas began gently. Frankie bristled against his tone. She wasn’t a stupid child who needed talking to as though she was too young to understand reality. “We had to show you how to feed and change the baby yesterday. You can’t do it.”
“I can so.” She retorted, sounding exactly the way he was treating her—like a petulant child. She sucked in a breath. “I can do it and I’d like to do it. Please let me have a chance.”
Though, really, why she was begging Lucas to let her work at the hospital and care for the baby, she didn’t know. She was a volunteer. She could leave whenever she wanted and, although he was technically her boss, she didn’t have to do everything he told her to.
She might’ve laid on the sand the night before when he’d asked her to, but she hadn’t spent the entire night being compliant to his wishes—she’d issued plenty of her own.
“We’ll see how today goes.” He turned slightly, effectively dismissing her while he continued talking to Pete. “I presume you’ve sent someone out to look for her?”
Frankie hurried over to Hettie.
She ran a hand over the baby’s head. “How’s he doing?”
“He’s a good boy. But too much for me to cope with. I’m too old to be spending my nights with a newborn.” Hettie took a good look at Frankie. “You look like you’ve spent a sleepless night, too. Though I doubt yours has been with a newborn.”
“I had trouble sleeping,” Frankie lied, not meeting the other woman’s eyes. This was worse than being grilled by her own mother.