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Libby nodded and shifted the child into a more comfortable position, careful not to hurt her injured legs.
‘I’ll take her up, then,’ she said quietly, and Andreas nodded.
‘I just want to get an update on the parents and then I’ll join you with this little one. It won’t hurt to have her in overnight, given the fall she suffered, and we can’t exactly discharge her anyway until we know what’s happening with the parents.’
Libby nodded and left him to it, carrying little Jenny the short distance to the paediatric ward.
Bev was waiting for them, the room all ready, clucking with sympathy when she saw the child. ‘Oh, the poor mite—how are her parents?’
Libby shook her head. ‘We don’t know yet. Andreas is talking to Jago now.’
Bev sighed and pulled out a chair so that Libby could sit down. ‘It looks as though you’re going to be occupied for the rest of the shift so I’ll reallocate the rest of your patients. Luckily we’re not that pushed today so it shouldn’t be too difficult.’
‘Thanks, Bev.’ Libby cuddled Jenny closer. Like the ward sister, she knew that staying with the child was the most important thing she could do at the moment. ‘What are we going to do with the baby?’
‘We’ve got a spare cot in with Rachel,’ Bev said, hooking Jenny’s infusion up to a drip stand. ‘I thought we’d put her in there for now.’
‘Good idea.’
Libby cuddled Jenny close, talking to her quietly until she fell asleep, her soft hair brushing against Libby’s cheek.
‘I’m glad she’s asleep.’ Andreas spoke from the doorway and Libby looked up to find him leaning against the door-frame, watching them, his handsome face inscrutable. ‘You look good with a child on your lap, Libby.’
She blushed and changed the subject. ‘How are her parents?’
Andreas pulled a face. ‘Not good. Her mother is in Theatre now—she fractured both femurs in the fall so she’s going to be in hospital for a good while.’
‘Poor lady.’ Libby considered the implications of his words. The woman had two young children. How was she going to manage? ‘Did she suffer burns?’
‘Apparently not.’ Andreas shook his head. ‘She jumped out of the bedroom window with the baby to get away from the smoke. How is the baby, by the way?’
‘Seems fine.’ Libby spoke softly, careful not to wake Jenny who was still dozing, snuggled against her chest. ‘Bev’s made up a cot in Rachel’s room and put her there for now. I suppose we’ll need to find out if there are any other family members to care for her. What about the father? How’s he?’
‘Suffering smoke inhalation and quite severe burns to his hands where he tried to remove Jenny’s pyjamas.’ Andreas ran a hand through his dark hair, his expression suddenly weary. ‘He certainly isn’t going to be in a position to care for a baby on his own for some time.’
Libby sighed. ‘Have we managed to contact any other family? Do the neighbours know of anyone?’
‘The police are looking into it,’ Andreas told her, his eyes resting on Jenny. ‘Poor little thing. She looks exhausted.’
‘It’s all that crying,’ Libby murmured, bending her head and dropping a light kiss on the little one’s head. ‘It’s hardly surprising she was upset. The one person you want when you’re hurt is your mummy and hers wasn’t around.’
Andreas lifted his gaze. ‘But she seems to have bonded with you.’ His voice was deep and the look in his eyes was extremely unsettling. ‘You have a very special gift with children, Libby. They love you.’
Her heart thudded in her chest and breathing was suddenly difficult. ‘Better with children than adults,’ she said lightly, dragging her gaze away from his. ‘Children don’t let you down.’
‘Neither do most adults,’ he responded quietly. ‘You’ve just been unlucky. And we have a conversation to finish, Libby.’
She didn’t even pretend that she didn’t know what he meant.
He wanted to talk about the possibility that she could be pregnant.
But there was no way she was going to take the morning-after pill and she didn’t want him to try and talk her into it.
‘It’s fine, Andreas,’ she said softly, lifting her eyes to his. ‘It’s not your concern.’
He frowned. ‘If you’re pregnant then it’s my concern.’
She blushed, slightly embarrassed by the intimacy of the discussion and desperately hoping that no one was in the corridor, listening to the conversation. She wondered briefly what had happened to her notion of discretion since she’d met Andreas. First they’d made love in the open air where anyone could have discovered them and now they were discussing the consequences in the middle of a busy hospital ward.
