Feisty Firefighters Bundle

normal rhythm they’re contracting strongly and pumping the blood out to the rest of the body. Fibrillating means that there’s a very uncoordinated movement in the heart muscle and it’s ineffective for pumping.’

‘Whatever.’ Stick wasn’t interested in improving his anatomical knowledge.

‘How come you got there so fast?’ Bruce asked. ‘I thought you got sent out to some unconscious person.’

‘He was asleep.’ Tim grinned. ‘And rather drunk.’

‘That was lucky,’ Stick told them. ‘You guys were awesome at the fire from what we heard. Jase hasn’t stopped talking about it.’

‘It was just the first time I’ve hung around to watch.’ Jason’s ears had gone pink enough for Laura to realise he was embarrassed. ‘It was pretty impressive.’ He was avoiding Laura’s gaze and she dropped her own to her coffee-mug. Heavens, had he been impressed by her?

‘It was more than that,’ Bruce said. ‘You should have seen him, Laura. He was standing there, all misty-eyed, watching you drive the kid off to the hospital.’

‘I was not,’ Jason protested. Then he gazed down at Megan and adjusted the tilt of the bottle he was holding. ‘OK,’ he admitted. His ears were an even brighter shade of pink now. ‘It did get to me. Dunno why.’

‘It’s because it was a kid,’ Bruce suggested.

‘I’ve rescued kids before.’

‘It’s because you’re a dad now,’ Cliff stated. ‘It changes things.’

‘Nah. Why should it?’

‘It’s true.’ Laura nodded at Cliff. ‘I’ve seen the way friends change once they’ve had a baby. It changes your whole perspective.’

‘Sure does. You get a connection to other people that makes you more…human, I guess. Or less selfish or something.’

‘Less selfish is good.’ Jason was glaring at Bruce. ‘I hope you’re not really intending to eat that last muffin. You’ve had two already.’

‘What about the rest of the family?’ Cliff asked Laura. ‘Were they all OK?’

‘They all needed treatment for smoke inhalation and they’re keeping Vicky in for observation, but I imagine they’ll all be able to be discharged tomorrow.’

‘Did they say anything about what might have caused the fire?’ Bruce looked at the last muffin, looked at Jason and then sighed in defeat. ‘I didn’t get a chance to interview the mother.’

‘Apparently the older boy was trying to make breakfast. The toaster jammed and the curtains caught fire. His mother had taken the baby back to bed to feed him and she’d fallen asleep again. It was the neighbour who raised the alarm and woke her up.’

‘Where was the father?’

‘Who knows?’ Tim responded. ‘He walked out when the last baby was born ten months ago.’

‘Bastard.’

There was a tiny silence after Jason’s expletive. Then Bruce raised an eyebrow. ‘So you wouldn’t walk out on your kid, then, Jase?’

‘No, I bloody wouldn’t.’

‘So are you going to go back to England with this Shelley, then?’ Stick sounded worried.

‘No. Of course not.’

‘Maybe she’ll want to stay here,’ Stick suggested morosely. ‘Maybe she’ll want to marry her kid’s father.’

‘Would you do that, Jase?’ Cliff gave his younger colleague a speculative glance.

‘Hey, I’m not going to marry someone I don’t love. I’m not that stupid. But I’m not going to desert my kid either.’

Laura wasn’t the only one to sense the internal conflict but she was quite sure she was more bothered than anyone else in the room. What if Mrs McKendry’s impressions had been wrong and this Shelley was intending to come back? Whatever intentions Megan’s mother had, she had laid a very solid base by leaving the baby in Jason’s care. It had been a clever move. Jason was a very decent bloke. He was starting to care about Megan, whether he realised it or not. His daughter could prove to be a very powerful bargaining tool if this Shelley Bates was planning to manipulate him into doing more than babysitting.

‘Maybe you should go for custody, then,’ Bruce advised.

Laura bit her lip. If Jason did that, he would need someone to help-full time. An even wilder thought occurred. If Jason married her, he would be safe from whatever manipulative plans Megan’s mother might have. She shook her head imperceptibly to chase the thought back to where it belonged, which was precisely nowhere. As if!

‘Yeah.’ Cliff was backing Bruce up. ‘She’s already proved herself to be an unfit mother by dumping the kid on a doorstep. You’d be in with a good chance of winning, mate.’

Jason was looking positively alarmed. ‘I didn’t say I wanted to keep it,’ he said hurriedly. ‘Her,’ he amended just as hastily.

They all heard the disapproving sniff that came from the kitchen.

‘I’ll pay maintenance,’ Jason said defensively. ‘And send her birthday presents and stuff. If she is living overseas, she can come and visit me for holidays when she’s a bit older.’

‘Like in ten years’ time?’ Stick offered.

Jason’s wide grin was relieved. ‘Works for me, mate.’

The sniff was at much closer range this time. ‘Has that bairn finished her bottle?’

Jason held it up. ‘Every drop, Mackie. See?’

‘Time you changed her nappy, then.’

Jason caught Laura’s eye at the same instant her pager sounded. She grinned. ‘Sorry, buddy. You’re on your own this time.’

Tempted to grab that last muffin on her way out the door, Laura was pleased when she managed to dismiss the urge. Whether it was the lack of sleep or the stress of caring for a baby that was doing it, her clothes felt slightly looser than they had four days ago. It wasn’t a huge difference but she rather liked the sensation of comfort it gave her.

The call was a priority one response to a ‘shortness of breath’ case.

‘What do you reckon?’ Tim queried as they cleared the garage. ‘Asthma, pneumonia or heart failure?’

Laura flicked the switch to start the beacons flashing. Her finger was poised over the control for the siren but the road was quiet enough for it not to be necessary yet. ‘Could be an acute myocardial infarction,’ she offered. ‘That can make you a bit short of breath.’

‘So can smoke inhalation.’ Tim pulled the map from the pocket between the gear shift and the dashboard. ‘We were lucky with that kid this morning, weren’t we?’

‘I’ll say.’ Laura smiled. A job like that always reminded her how much she loved this career. It more than made up for all the time and effort spent on less than genuine cases.

Like the one they were dispatched to as their final call for the day. The ‘traumatic injury’ turned out to be back pain that the grossly overweight, middle-aged woman had been suffering from for ten years.

‘Has it got any worse suddenly today?’ Laura asked.

‘No. And it hasn’t got any better either.’

‘Who called for the ambulance?’ A thin, tired-looking man had opened the door to them and Laura was assuming he was their patient’s husband.

‘I did,’ the woman said belligerently. ‘What am I supposed to have done? The doctor’s bloody useless. I rang him and he said to take some pills. I’m a bloody walking pharmacy as it is. I rattle when I walk. I’m fed up to the back teeth with taking bloody pills.’

‘What medications are you on?’ Laura was beginning to understand why the man was so quiet and weary. She’d only been in the room for two minutes and she was more than ready to escape. Tim was having trouble getting the Velcro on the extra-large size of blood-pressure cuff to meet around her upper arm. He was also carefully avoiding Laura’s eye and she suspected he was having difficulty keeping a straight face.

‘Ow!’ The oversized arm was moved enough to displace the disc of Tim’s stethoscope. ‘That hurts.’

‘It’ll only be tight for a few seconds,’ Tim responded patiently. ‘Try and keep still.’