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He listened to every word that she said. Watching her commitment and honesty made him realise the decision he’d made last night was the right one. Things had to be this way.
As the workmen made the finishing touches some invited members of the press started to arrive. Arissa had finished speaking and did her best to fade into the background. That little act still made his insides twist. Every now and then he caught her looking at him. He couldn’t work out if she was annoyed with him, or was preparing for her time in Corinez to be over. What he really wanted to do was to go over and put his arms around her. But that wouldn’t exactly help her stay incognito. And what Arissa wanted was his first priority.
The captain waved him over as the press settled into their seats. He bent forward and spoke quietly in Philippe’s ear. ‘I like her,’ he said.
Philippe straightened up. The words were unexpected.
‘What?’
The captain nodded in Arissa’s direction. ‘In fact, I more than like her. She’s fantastic.’ He looked Philippe up and down—in a way that only someone who’d known him all his life could. ‘And what’s more, I think she’s the best thing that could happen to you.’
Philippe’s stomach gave a flip. Did he know what Philippe was about to do?
He took a deep breath and looked the captain straight in the eye, a man that knew him better than most. There was a swell of pride in his chest that had been crowded out these last few hours with the fear of letting others down. He took his responsibilities seriously. He looked at the captain’s twinkling grey eyes. ‘Thank you,’ he said proudly. ‘I think that too.’ He glanced across the busy room towards Arissa. She had her hands folded across her chest as one of the other crew members was talking to her. He had no idea how she’d react to what he was about to do.
But every part of it felt right. He was nervous—and that was unusual for Philippe—but nerves and uncertainty went hand in hand with something new.
Something good.
There was a wave from the front of the room and someone clapped their hands to bring the noise down to a rumble.
Philippe took a deep breath and made his way to the front of the room. His speech was in his pocket—but he didn’t need to bring it out. He’d spent most of last night saying it over and over in his head.
He waited until the press members finally stopped talking. He was aware of the inquisitive glances being shot at him. If he gave the press members gathered here today more than half a chance they would bombard him with questions about Arissa.
This was his opportunity to make sure he said what he needed to.
He started quickly. ‘Members of the press, I want to thank you for attending today.’ He cleared his throat and kept his voice steady. ‘You know why I’ve invited you here today. Over the last few years in Corinez we’ve had several occasions where an infant—usually a newborn—has been left alone in a public place. Sadly, you all know what happened to the last baby who was left alone, and it’s our absolute pledge today to ensure the same thing doesn’t happen again. But we also recognise that we have never had services organised to allow a mother to surrender her baby in a safe and anonymous environment.’
He looked up again at the faces fixed on his. ‘You all know that I’m a doctor. My greatest wish is that no mother feels as if they have no option but to give up their baby. But I respect an individual’s right to choose. Things have changed in the last few years in Corinez, times are hard, and a good friend of mine—’ he didn’t mention Arissa’s name ‘—enlightened me to the safe haven cot scheme in their country. This scheme is adopted by many countries around the world. France, the USA, Italy, Hungary, Russia, Japan, Switzerland, the Philippines and Temur Sapora in Malaysia, to name but a few. They all run on the same principles that a woman can surrender her baby, no questions asked, with no fear of prosecution.’
He took a few moments as he scanned the faces in the room. ‘I wish that we didn’t have to do this. But—’ he took another breath ‘—the fact of the matter is, we do.’ He held out his hand. ‘And we decided that here, at the fire and rescue centre, was the best place to do this.’
