‘Sounds good. Talk to you then.’
Dave hung up the phone and relayed the information to Spencer. ‘Need to ID him,’ he finished with.
‘So she didn’t come up with that barcode I was hoping for?’
‘Apparently not.’
‘Shit,’ Spencer complained, then seemed to gather himself. ‘Better get out to the airport and see if you can get a match that way.’
Chapter 14
Melinda smiled broadly and held out her hand to her new boss, Patricia Adams.
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘Thank you very much. When would you like me to start?’
Patricia smiled. ‘Right now. I’ll get the forms you need to fill out and hopefully we can have you on the floor in a couple of hours.’ She stopped and smiled. ‘I’ve got to tell you, Mel, you’re a godsend. I didn’t think I was going to fill the position. Community nurses are hard to find out here.’
Melinda ignored the shortening of her name and touched Patricia’s arm instead. ‘You might be my godsend,’ she said truthfully.
‘Call me Patti,’ Patricia said and indicated she follow her down the hall. ‘Patricia sounds so formal, and you’ve probably worked out by now that no one in Barrabine is formal. We’ll shorten or lengthen any name. Anything to make a nickname!’
‘I’ve noticed everyone’s pretty laid-back. My husband used to wear a tie to work; everyone did in Perth. It was expected. Today’s the first time he’s worn one since his first day and I’ll bet he’s the only one in the office wearing a tie.’
Patti gave a bark of laughter. ‘Yep, you’d be right there. I know Spencer and I don’t remember him ever wearing a tie. In fact, I bet he doesn’t even own one.’
‘You’re probably right,’ Melinda agreed, looking around and taking in her new workplace. The walls were lined with posters imploring mums and dads not to smoke or drink. The heavy black writing shouted about passive smoking in cars and showed photos of babies and young children stuck inside with the windows up and smoke filling the vehicles. Others encouraged healthy eating and exercise or stressed the importance of immunisation.
‘I’m sure you understand I’ll have to put you on a three-month trial,’ Patti said, breaking into Melinda’s thoughts.
‘Um…’ She didn’t get to ask why because Patti continued talking.
‘Yeah, the government has just brought it in: mandatory three-month trial. I’m sure you won’t need it, though. It’s not a hard job. I guess you’d say it’s more of an early childhood nurse rather than a community nurse. You’ll need to weigh the babies and track their growth. Talk to the mums and make sure they’re managing okay. Not suffering depression or baby blues.
‘You’ll be able to make referrals to other professionals if you think there’s something developmentally wrong with the baby.’ Patti walked fast and Melinda almost had to jog to keep up with her. ‘Just last week I recommended a two-year-old see a speech pathologist. The child wasn’t showing any signs of forming words, but I knew she could understand what I was saying to her. I’m more than aware children develop at different stages, but by eighteen months they should have a couple of words.
‘The grandmother had come in with the mother and said she felt there was something not quite right with the toddler. Of course that upset the mother, and within moments the whole appointment had deteriorated into a sobbing mum, screaming child and a grandmother trying to talk over the top of it all.’ She shook her head. ‘God, it was awful.’ She stopped at the entrance to a small office and indicated Melinda should go in.
‘What did you do?’ Melinda asked, finding a chair and sitting down.
‘First thing was to get rid of the grandmother. She wasn’t being at all helpful. I think the mothers and mothers-in-law often forget how frightening it can be to be a new mum, and when they keep telling them what to do or that they’re doing something wrong, it makes the mums anxious.
‘The grandmothers are all bravado and full of advice, which,’ she turned and looked at Melinda with her eyebrows raised, ‘I must say, is not always the best guidance. We’ve moved on from thirty years ago. And, as much as they’re trying to help their daughters, they’re not always the best person for the job.’
‘Sounds like it can be tricky.’ Melinda felt a tremor of uncertainty run through her. She was used to following protocols or instruction from doctors. From what Patti was saying, in this role she would be expected to trust her own instincts and make her own decisions.
Her thoughts must have shown on her face because Patti turned from the filing cabinet and said, ‘Oh now, don’t you be worrying about what I’m saying. If you get stuck or aren’t sure of anything—any tiny little thing—you come and get me and I’ll check the mum or bub out. In fact,’ she handed over the employment forms that needed filling out, ‘if you like, I’ll sit in on the first few appointments. Would that make you more comfortable?’
‘That would be great,’ Melinda said, relief filling her.
‘Hello,’ Melinda greeted her first client in the waiting room. ‘You must be Rachael.’ She flashed a large and what she hoped was a comforting smile at the new mum. ‘And who do we have here?’
Melinda peered into the pram to see a tiny baby dressed in a pink sleeveless jumpsuit staring at a moving toy, her arms and legs flailing about gently. When Melinda popped her head into view, the baby took her eyes off the toy and cooed at her.
The young woman stood up quickly and smiled. ‘Yeah, hi, I’m Rachael. This is Taylor.’ She grabbed hold of the handles and started to push the pram towards the weighing
