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Arissa didn’t hang around. She was out of the door in a flash. For the briefest of seconds he’d felt as if he’d had to convince her to let him work alongside her. He still wasn’t entirely sure she had agreed to it. What was it about him that put her hackles up?
For another few seconds there he’d thought she was almost smiling at him. But, it had vanished in an instant. And she was already climbing into the old-style Jeep that sat outside the clinic. He didn’t hesitate. He climbed in next to her.
‘Where are we going?’
She didn’t answer as she started the car and pulled out onto the road, glancing at her watch.
He looked around him. ‘Do we have any supplies?’ If they were heading to some kind of accident they’d want a minimum amount of supplies.
She pressed her lips together. ‘There’s an emergency kit in the back. Hopefully we won’t need it.’
He leaned back into the seat, still trying to work out what was going on. The streets of Temur Sapora blurred past. Arissa kept glancing at her watch, going around a few corners practically on two wheels. Philippe gripped the handle on the inside of the door. Wherever it was they were going, she wanted to get there quickly.
He frowned as they pulled up outside a fire and rescue centre. The front door was down, the rescue truck visible through the upper windows. It didn’t look as if it was going anywhere. Whatever they were doing it didn’t involve other emergency services.
Arissa jumped out of the car and ran over to the wall. A few seconds later another black car pulled up alongside them. A fire and rescue guy jumped out too; he nodded at her. ‘Arissa.’ His footsteps slowed. ‘Let’s see what we’ve got.’
Philippe was more confused by the second. ‘What on earth are we doing here?’
Arissa looked over her shoulder towards him. ‘Lim, this is Dr Aronaz. My temporary workmate for the next two weeks.’ She pulled a key from her pocket. ‘Okay?’
Lim gave a nod and stood alongside Philippe, staring at the red panel on the brick wall expectantly.
There was a noise. Something he didn’t expect. His stomach clenched. Was that a baby crying? Lim glanced at him, realising his confusion.
He pointed to the pager on his belt, then gestured towards the red panel that Arissa unlocked and pulled towards her.
‘This is our safe haven. A place that someone can come and leave their baby. No questions asked. As soon as a baby is left, our pagers go off. We aim to get here within five minutes.’
Philippe couldn’t move. He was fascinated. Arissa slowly pulled out the red panel in the wall, and he realised it was a carefully constructed shelf. Inside was a squirming baby, wrapped in a thin cotton blanket. Arissa lifted the baby out gently. ‘Hello, honey,’ she said quietly, gathering the baby in her arms, and stroking its head with one light finger. The baby instinctively turned its head towards her finger—rooting. Trying to find food. This baby was hungry.
Philippe stepped forward, his curiosity too much for him. Arissa nodded. ‘Get me a pack,’ she said to Lim, who disappeared and grabbed something from the boot of the Jeep.
Arissa carried the baby over to the Jeep and laid it down gently in the back, opening the blanket and giving the baby a quick visual check. The umbilical cord was tied with a piece of string and the baby was still smeared in some vernix. ‘It’s practically a newborn,’ Philippe said, looking over her shoulder.
‘Do you have much experience with newborns?’ she asked.
He gave a little shrug. ‘I’ve delivered three babies in the ER.’
She zipped open a tiny pack, pulling out a tympanic thermometer, a collection of wipes, and a tiny finger probe. ‘Give me a hand,’ she said quickly.
The baby started to squirm. Lim stood back and let Philippe move forward. He pulled a pen torch from his back pocket—it was amazing the things you kept on you when you were a doctor—and leaned forward, doing a quick check of the baby’s pupils. They had no idea how this baby had been delivered, or if there had been any trauma. ‘Both pupils equal and reactive,’ he said, doing a manual APGAR score in his head. The skin colour was good, muscles reactive, the baby kicking as he examined it. He slipped on the finger probe and glanced at the screen for a reading. ‘Do you have a stethoscope?’ he asked Arissa. She smiled and pulled a bright pink stethoscope from her pocket.
