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Hope drove back to The Anchorage replaying the conversation with Mitchell. Her emotions were in a chaotic, convoluted mess.
After he’d gone outside to work on the deck, she’d showered and dressed and left his place totally confused. The talk of a long-term relationship, of settling down and having babies and of putting down roots freaked her out.
Mitch was being patient and kind with her and the more he gently tugged her towards him, the more she felt herself letting go of her resistance. She wanted to be with him and couldn’t imagine ever being with anyone else, but she feared giving him her whole heart again. Not because she didn’t trust him with it—she did—but because she didn’t trust herself. She was terrified if she said yes to Mitch and settled down like he wanted, that she might feel trapped. She knew it was irrational, but she had no idea how to make the fear go away. The only times in her life she’d found herself planted in the one place, it had been awful. First there was the time they’d stayed in Melbourne after her cancer, the second was Brett.
Whenever she spent too long somewhere she was filled with incessant pangs of wanting to be somewhere else. It was hard to explain to people and other than her parents, few understood how hard it was for her to consider putting down roots.
When Hope got home, there was no sign of Margot, Courtney or the babies, and she remembered Courtney had said she had another doctor’s appointment. Borrowing Margot’s car again, Hope headed down to the beach to go for a run. She needed respite from her swirling thoughts and running was the best way to clear her head. Plus, she needed to train for the fun run.
There was genuinely no better feeling than running along the beach front. Living in Melbourne, she didn’t get to do that. Most of her runs were around the streets or the Tan, the track that wound its way around the Botanic Gardens. There was something about the tranquillity of the deserted beach and the feeling of being one with nature that was both powerful and uplifting.
An hour and a half later she arrived back at the car, puffed, flushed and feeling great, even if she was still confused. She was stretching her legs when she heard barking, and she turned to see Mitchell pulling up in his car with Indy in the passenger seat, her head out the window, tongue lolling.
She smiled, but it disappeared the moment she saw Mitchell’s face. Something was wrong.
‘Courtney’s been trying to reach you.’
Ice slipped through Hope’s veins. She’d left her phone in the car while she ran. Had something happened to Margot or one of the babies?
‘It’s Ollie,’ Mitchell said. ‘He’s struggling to breathe.’
Her chest tightened.
‘Has she called Jordan again?’ she asked. Courtney had taken Ollie to see Jordan three times in the past week and each time he’d assured her Oliver’s annoying cough was nothing more than a virus. Hope hadn’t been convinced, but she trusted Jordan’s clinical judgment and as each day passed and Ollie didn’t deteriorate, she’d relaxed. But if he was having trouble breathing, it was more than a virus.
‘He told her to call an ambulance.’
‘What about Lachie? Where is he?’ she asked.
‘Court can’t get hold of him. He’s in surgery.’
‘I need to get home.’
‘Jump in. I’ll drive you.’
‘I have Margot’s car.’ She pointed the key fob at the car and unlocked the door.
‘I’ll follow you there.’
Back at The Anchorage Hope jumped out of the car almost before she’d come to a complete stop. Margot met her at the front door.
‘How is he?’ Hope asked, breathlessly.
Tears filled Margot’s eyes as she hugged Hope tight. ‘Oh, darling, he’s not good.’
‘Mitchell said Courtney called the ambulance?’
Margot nodded. ‘They’re on the way.’
‘Where’s Court now?’
‘In her room with Ollie.’
‘And the girls?’
‘I’m looking after them in here.’ Margot pointed to the lounge room. Hope glimpsed two bundles of pink side by side on a rug on the floor near the fire. Relief swept through her. Thank God they were okay. Hope had heard them coughing once or twice, but neither of them as badly as Oliver.
Hope hurried down the hallway towards the back of the house to Lachie and Courtney’s bedroom. She found Courtney perched on the edge of the bed holding Oliver upright. Even from the doorway, Hope could see how much he was struggling to breathe. He was coughing relentlessly and using all his accessory muscles.
Dread radiated down Hope’s back.
Whooping cough.
Why hadn’t she seen the signs earlier? He was deteriorating every second and they needed to get him to hospital, fast. Kids coped only so long, then they crashed.
Inhaling slowly, she slipped into professional mode and entered the room. She squeezed Courtney’s shoulder gently, to let her know she was there.
Courtney looked up at her, eyes full of panic. ‘He can’t breathe, Hope.’
Hope rubbed Courtney’s back. ‘He’ll be okay. The ambulance is on its way.’
Tears streamed down Courtney’s cheeks. Oliver started coughing again, so hard his lips turned blue. Hope wished she was in hospital with him and had all the monitoring equipment they needed to make a proper assessment. She didn’t even have a stethoscope to listen to his chest.
‘Sit him upright again,’ Hope said. ‘Rub his back.’
She palpated Oliver’s pulse. Too slow and thready. She counted his breaths. Shallow and difficult to count. His skin was cool to touch. Sinister signs. She checked the time. How long had it been since the ambulance was called?
‘What’s wrong with him?’ Mitchell asked softly from the doorway.
She glanced across at him. ‘He’s had a cough on and on for the past two weeks. Jordan thought it was probably viral.’
‘It was always worse after his feeds,’ Courtney said, ‘so I put it down to reflux. But the other night I had to pick him up and pat his back when he started coughing because he couldn’t stop, and it sounded like he was choking. And at least he’s not crying now.’ She pressed a kiss to Oliver’s forehead.
The fact he wasn’t crying was a bad sign, but Courtney didn’t need to know that. Hope was furious with herself. She should have realised Oliver was sicker than Jordan thought. She’d seen kids like this. She should have known.
‘What do you think’s wrong with him?’ Mitchell asked.
‘Whooping cough,’ Hope said.
Courtney’s eyes widened. ‘But how? I was immunised in my final trimester and we asked all our friends to get immunised before we let them see the babies. Even Mum had her booster shot.’
Hope shrugged. ‘It could have been anyone. Someone in the community not fully covered.’
‘But I’ve hardly left the house.’
‘Beth,’ Mitchell said.
They turned to look at him.
‘What do you mean?’ Hope asked.
Mitchell’s face was pale. ‘You saw Beth. She told me she ran into you at the Book Barn.’
Hope nodded.
‘She’s been sick for weeks. Had a cough that wouldn’t go,’ Mitchell explained.
Courtney put her hand to her mouth.
‘Let’s not go blaming Beth,’ Hope said quickly. ‘It could have been anyone.’
‘But if it was Beth and she knew she’d caused this, it would kill her,’ Mitchell said.
‘We’re all jumping to conclusions and none of it will help Ollie,’ Hope said. She turned to Mitchell. ‘Can you call triple 0 again? I need them to know we need lights and sirens.’
They also needed the PIPER crew—the Paediatric, Infant, Perinatal, Emergency Retrieval team based at the Royal Children’s—but she wasn’t going to alarm Courtney any further by telling her that. The way Oliver looked, he’d potentially need to ne intubated and flown to Melbourne. It would take hours to get him there by road.
Oliver started another round of relentless coughing. When he finally stopped, he lay immobile in Courtney’s arms for a short time before taking a deep breath which caused another round of coughing. At one point he coughed so hard and for so long Hope found herself holding her own breath and begging Oliver to breathe. She dreaded to think what his oxygen saturation levels were.
‘What about Piper and Charlotte?’ Mitchell asked. ‘Are they okay?’
‘For now.’ Hope resisted the urge to go down the hallway to check on the girls.
Courtney put Oliver on her shoulder and patted his back, trying to soothe him. Her face was wet from her tears, but she didn’t stop to brush them away as she cooed softly in Oliver’s ear, imploring him to keep breathing.
Hope checked her phone for the time. Come on, hurry up, she begged silently.
‘This is scaring the hell out of me,’ Mitchell admitted softly to Hope. ‘I’m used to dealing with sick pets, not kids.’
‘I’m used to dealing with sick kids and to be honest, it’s scaring the crap out of me.’
Margot stuck her head in the room. ‘Two ambulances just pulled up,’ she said breathlessly.
Hope and Mitchell exhaled in unison. ‘Thank God.’
Relief washed over Hope when the paramedics calmly walked in. The men appeared to be in their early to mid-fifties which meant they’d have years of experience between them.
‘G’day, I’m George.’
‘Hope Rossi.’
She shook George’s blue-gloved hand. His grip was strong, his smile warm and the eyes that met hers behind his black-rimmed glasses were reassuring. The knot in her chest loosened. Everything would be okay.
‘And I’m Alistair.’
She shook the other paramedic’s hand.
‘Who do we have here?’ George crouched down beside Courtney and stroked Oliver’s head while Alistair got down on his knees and put a stethoscope to Oliver’s chest.
‘This is Ollie,’ Courtney said. ‘I’m Courtney. My husband isn’t here. He’s in theatre somewhere. I don’t even know which hospital he’s working at today. He’s an anaesthetist.’
‘It’s alright, Court, I’ll find him and let him know,’ Hope said.
‘Looks like this little fella is having some problems breathing,’ George said.
Courtney nodded. ‘Hope thinks he has whooping cough.’
Alistair gave her a questioning look.
‘I’m a nurse,’ Hope explained. ‘I work at the Children’s in Melbourne.’
‘How long’s he been like this?’ George asked.
‘A week or so. Worse the last twenty-four hours. Last night was pretty bad.’
‘We need to get him loaded,’ Alistair said softly. ‘Sats are low, chest sounds crap.’
He’d already applied an oxygen mask to Oliver’s face and cardiac monitoring to his tiny chest. Oliver started coughing again, so hard that tears streamed down his cheeks. He coughed and hacked and cried at the same time before finally drawing in a breath.
Courtney rubbed his back and kissed him before handing him over to George. ‘Please look after my baby.’
Alistair put out his hand to help Courtney stand. ‘You can come in the truck with us to the hospital.’
‘I’ve packed a bag for you, darling,’ Margot said, and handed her an overnight bag.
‘I need to kiss the girls goodbye,’ Courtney said, her voice catching in a sob.
‘Go and do that. They’re both asleep. I promise I’ll take good care of them.’
‘There’s plenty of expressed breast milk in the freezer.’
‘I know,’ Margot assured her. ‘They’ll be fine. I’ll get things sorted here then Hope and I will drive to the hospital.’
‘Where are you heading?’ Hope asked Alister.
‘Warrnambool. They’re expecting us.’
‘What about PIPER?’ she asked.
George shot Alistair a look.
‘We’ll call them,’ Alistair confirmed, ‘once we’ve loaded.’
‘Will they transfer him straight up to Melbourne?’ Hope asked.
‘I’d say so.’
‘Do you think he needs to be tubed?’
‘Yeah, probably, but we won’t do it unless it’s absolutely necessary and if we do, I’d prefer to have a paediatrician with us.’
Hope hugged Courtney tight. ‘Everything’s going to be okay. I’ll help your mum and we’ll get to the hospital as soon as we can.’
‘And Lachie?’
‘I’ll find him and let him know,’ Hope promised.
‘I’ll do it,’ Mitchell said.
Hope flashed him a grateful smile as she followed George and Alistair outside to the waiting ambulance.
Mitchell handed his car keys to her. ‘I’ll look after Margot and the girls. You follow the ambulance and be there for Courtney.’
Hope took his keys and ran outside.
*
Twenty-five minutes later Hope pulled up outside the hospital, parked her car, and raced inside. Thankfully, although the waiting room was half full, there was no queue at the desk. She approached the receptionist with a smile.
‘Hi. I’m Hope Rossi. My cousin Courtney was brought in with her baby. I’m a nurse.’
The receptionist glanced at the computer screen. ‘What’s the baby’s name?’
‘Ollie. Oliver Benson.’
‘I can see they’ve arrived, but they’re still being triaged. You’ll need to wait.’ The receptionist pointed to a row of chairs.
Hope sat, jiggling her leg. Five minutes later she couldn’t tamp down her impatience any longer. She wanted to push open the doors and go straight into the resuscitation cubicle and offer to help. She stood and went to the desk again.
The receptionist glanced up with a wearied expression. ‘Yes?’
‘I’d really like to see my cousin, please.’
‘Hold on.’ She picked up the phone, dialled a number and put it to her ear. ‘I have a relative here for Oliver Benson...she said she’s a nurse...yeah...oh...’ She glanced at Hope. ‘Oh. Okay.’ She put the phone back in its cradle, pressed a button and smiled contritely. ‘You can go through. They’re in resus. Do you know where that is?’
Hope shook her head. ‘No. But I’ll find it.’ She didn’t want to wait a second longer.
Pushing open the door, she stepped into the unfamiliar department. It didn’t take her long to find the sign for the resuscitation cubicle, and she headed past curtained off areas filled with patients on trolleys. It was busy.
Oliver had already been moved from the ambulance stretcher and placed onto the neonatal resuscitation cot and was in the process of being hooked up to the hospital’s monitoring system. George was on the phone and Alistair was on his laptop. Courtney sat on a chair close to the cot, one hand resting on Oliver’s foot. A team of doctors and nurses hovered around Oliver.
‘How’re you doing, Court?’
Courtney glanced up. ‘Better now you’re here. Did you get hold of Lachie?’
‘Mitch was going to call him. I haven’t heard anything.’ Hope pulled out her phone and checked it in case she’d missed a call. Nothing. ‘I’m sure he’ll be here or call you as soon as Mitch finds him.’
Fresh tears filled Courtney’s eyes. ‘Is Ollie going to die?’
‘No!’ Hope smoothed her cousin’s hair. ‘He’s in good hands, I promise.’ She looked around. The doctor in charge was giving his instructions clearly and calmly.
‘Can you help them?’ Courtney asked.
‘It’s probably best if I don’t.’
‘Please Hope, look after my baby.’
Hope approached one of the nurses and checked her name badge. Jane.
‘Hi. I’m Hope Rossi. I’m a paediatric nurse up at the Children’s. I’m Critical Care trained too. I don’t want to get in the way, but if there’s anything I can do to help...’ She left her sentence hanging.
Jane gave a tight smile. ‘Thanks. At this stage I don’t think so, but I’ll be sure to ask if I need a hand.’ She dashed off.
Hope turned back to Courtney and shrugged. Courtney’s eyes pleaded with her. Hope stepped up to the side of the cot and smiled at the doctor and repeated her introduction.
‘Nice to meet you, Hope. I’m John Daley. We’re okay for now, thanks, but if we need to intubate, we might need your help.’
‘I’ve been working in Oncology for years, but I’m critical care trained.’
‘Where’s the father.’
‘We’re not sure.’
John glanced at her.
‘He’s an anaesthetist,’ Hope explained, ‘and he was called in to do an emergency case this morning. We haven’t been able to get hold of him yet.’
Jane rushed in, face flushed. ‘I’ve called the paediatrician and she’s on her way. And we have an anaesthetist and an anaesthetic nurse on standby in the hospital in case you get into difficulties tubing.’
‘Perfect. Good. We’re okay for now, but if he has another seizure, I want to get him sedated and tubed.’
John turned his attention back to finding a tiny vein to get a second IV access. Hope watched, itching to help. She wanted to suggest they use an intra-osseous device but perhaps they didn’t have one.
‘Has someone drawn up the drugs?’ she asked. ‘I could do that.’
John glanced at one of the nurses, a young girl who looked clearly uncomfortable. ‘Hayley’s a grad. She doesn’t have much experience. Jane knows what she’s doing, but we don’t see that many babies in here.’
‘Or babies this sick,’ Hope concluded.
‘No.’
Hope stayed quiet, willing John to find a vein. When she saw the flashback, she gave a silent cheer. ‘Do you want to take off some blood?’
‘Yeah, we’ll take off some more. I’m not sure we got enough before and they’ve probably haemolysed.’
Hope handed him a syringe with a blunt tipped needle attached. He passed it back and she handed him the primed IV tubing. While he screwed on the line, she put blood into the pathology tubes and set them aside.
‘Are PIPER on their way?’ she asked as she handed John a dressing and the tapes he needed to secure the IV line in Oliver’s hand.
‘Yes. They should be here soon. I’d prefer to wait for them before we tube, but if we have to, we’ll do it here.’
Hope glanced at Oliver. He had a non-rebreather oxygen mask over his face, but despite that, his saturation levels were still low. ‘What about high flow oxygen?’ she asked.
‘I’ve asked Jane to get that set up. We can CPAP if we need to.’
‘You can put nasal prongs on him too,’ Hope said. ‘Turn up the O2 flow on both the non-rebreather and the prongs as high as it will go.’
‘Good plan.’ John pointed to a large trolley. ‘Top drawer has all the airway equipment.’
Hope went to the trolley, pulled out nasal prongs and handed them to John before gathering the rest of the equipment he’d need for intubation. Oliver was stable for now, but Hope would feel much better when he was intubated and in Intensive Care in Melbourne.
Hope’s phone rang. Mitchell. She stepped into the hallway to take the call.
‘Have you got hold of Lachie?’ she asked before he had a chance to speak.
‘He’s on his way.’
‘Where is he?’
‘He’s already at the hospital,’ Mitchell said. ‘After the emergency case, he was called in to do an ortho case. Took me ages to track him down but he’s going to shower and change and get down to the Emergency Department as soon as he can.’
‘Thank God.’.
‘Where are you now?’ Mitchell asked.
‘Still in ED.’
‘How’s Oliver?’
‘No change. But Lachie needs to be here.’
‘He can’t be far away.’
‘How’s Margot?’ Hope asked.
‘She’s fine. We’ve fed Charlotte and Piper, and Margot is on the phone organising somewhere to stay in Melbourne.’
‘What will you do?’ Hope asked. ‘Will you drive here?’
‘I think it’s best if I drive Margot and the girls straight to the hospital in Melbourne and meet you there.’
Hope rubbed her forehead. ‘Okay. That makes sense. The PIPER team are on their way and I reckon they’ll end up airlifting him to Melbourne.’
‘Call me as soon as you know what’s happening.’
‘I will.’
‘And Hope?’
‘Yeah?’
‘You’re doing a great job.’
‘Thanks, Mitch, so are you. Thank you for being here.’
As she disconnected, she heard Lachie’s voice. She stepped into the hallway and went to him, arms open.
He hugged her briefly. ‘How’s Ollie?’
She almost had to jog to keep up with his long strides as he walked towards the resuscitation cubicle.
‘They called me and told me to be on standby in case they needed to help tube a neonate, but I had no idea...’
Hope put a hand on his arm. ‘He’s stable for now. I think they want to leave tubing him up to the PIPER crew.’
Lachie entered resus, automatically squirted alcohol rub into his hands and went straight to Oliver’s cot. Courtney burst into tears.
‘It’s okay, sweetheart,’ he stroked her cheek. ‘It’s okay. He’s okay.’
‘They want to put a tube in to help his breathing,’ Courtney said. ‘I don’t want him to die.’
‘He’s not going to die,’ Lachie said.
‘But babies die from whooping cough. Remember that little boy in Western Australia? Riley. It was because of him I knew we had to be immunised.’ She faltered as more tears fell. ‘Why did this happen to our Ollie?’
Lachie clenched and unclenched his jaw before running a hand over the stubble on his chin. His face was pale, and he looked exhausted. ‘I don’t know, I really don’t, but he’s a fighter, Court. He’ll be alright.’
Hope stared down at Oliver. Lachlan was right. He was a fighter. The youngest and smallest of the triplets at birth, he’d nearly caught up to his sisters in size. She stood between Courtney and Lachlan in silence, watching the rise and fall of Oliver’s chest. She was used to seeing sick children, but when it was someone she knew, someone she was related to, it was too real, too frightening.
Hope slipped an arm around Courtney’s waist. ‘Stay positive.’
‘I’m trying,’ she whispered.
‘Everything’s okay now. Lachie’s here. Mitchell and your Mum have the girls and they’re going to meet you in Melbourne. Ollie will be fine.’
Moments later, as the PIPER team arrived, Oliver coughed so hard he vomited, then his tiny body stiffened, and he had another seizure. Everyone flew into action and with Lachie looking over their shoulder, Oliver was swiftly sedated and intubated.
As he was wheeled out of the hospital in the plastic humidicrib, looking a dusky colour, Hope’s peace shattered.
Everything was far from okay.
For the next six hours Hope sat on a chair in the corner of the room while Courtney and Lachie stood vigil, one on either side of the cot, watching the lifting and caving in of Oliver’s chest, cocooned by a darkness broken only by the digital readout of the monitors that surrounded him.
None of them left the room except to go to the bathroom, make another cup of instant coffee or take phone calls from Margot who was still in Macarthur Point with the Mitchell and the girls and absolutely beside herself with worry.
Fear breathed down everyone’s neck: hot, hard, and relentless and there was nothing anyone could do but wait, hope and pray.
Lachie slipped his arm around Courtney, and she rested against him. ‘We have to keep believing he’ll be okay,’ he said quietly. ‘The staff here are awesome. They know what they’re doing.’
‘I’m trying,’ Courtney whispered. ‘But it’s so hard.’
Lachie laid his chin on Courtney’s head. ‘That’s all you can do, darling. Hold on tight. He’s going to make it, I promise.’
When Courtney touched Oliver’s face again, a tear ran down Hope’s cheek and she brushed it away.
He had to make it.
*
On the morning of Oliver’s third day in hospital, Hope woke up at the Airbnb she and Margot were staying in with the girls just around the corner from the hospital. Mitchell had rented the house because it was close to the hospital and slept ten people. The cost was exorbitant, but he’d handed over his credit card without hesitation and refused Hope’s offer to at least pay for herself. Courtney and Lachlan had been offered a room at Ronald McDonald house, but they’d wanted to be together with Margot and Hope and the girls.
Hope had expected Mitchell would stay too, but after dropping Margot and the girls in Melbourne, he’d apologised that he’d had to get back to Macarthur Point to the clinic. They hadn’t spoken to each other except via text and even then, the messages were short with Mitchell asking how Oliver was doing and Hope passing on updates.
She knew they needed to talk about the future, but it was clear it was the last thing on both of their minds.
Hope skipped breakfast and headed straight to the hospital, getting to the ICU just after eight. There was no sign of Courtney or Lachlan.
‘You just missed them. They’ve gone for coffee,’ a nurse said when he saw Hope looking around the unit for them.
‘How’s Oliver doing?’ Hope asked.
‘Turned a corner. We lightened his sedation and he’s breathing on his only with only a smidge of support.’
Hope grinned.
Twenty four hours earlier she’d overheard one of the nurses saying Ollie might need ECMO—Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation—a life-saving piece of equipment that acted as an artificial heart and lungs, mimicking the natural function of those organs, allowing a patient to rest while their organs healed. Thankfully that wasn’t going to be necessary.
Also, thankfully, neither Charlotte nor Piper had gotten sick and they were back at the house being cared for by Margot and Hope. Because the house was so close to the hospital, Courtney was able to go backwards and forwards so that she could continue to breastfeed the girls.
‘Amazing. Such great news. Is it okay if I go and sit with him?’
‘Go for it,’ the nurse replied.
She went over and sat beside his crib. Oliver lay on his back, fast asleep, his tiny arms above his head, an IV line in each. There was a line in each of his little legs too, pushed into a frog-like position by his nappy.
The rash on his legs and arms was still evident but it was nowhere near as ugly as it had been the day before. For the first time since Saturday, Hope relaxed.
She stayed by his side until Courtney and Lachlan returned, bearing take away coffees for everyone and wearing smiles. For two people who had cat-napped in chairs at Oliver’s bedside, they looked remarkably good.
‘He’s turned the corner,’ Courtney said, greeting Hope with a hug.
‘I can see that. He doesn’t look like he’s struggling to breathe.’
‘The nurse said once the doctors come around this morning they’ll possibly take out the breathing tube.’
Hope hugged Courtney again. ‘He’s going to be fine.’
Courtney exhaled heavily. ‘I don’t know how I would have coped if he wasn’t.’
They chatted for a few minutes until the nurse interrupted.
‘The doctors are on their way now.’
Hope stood. ‘I’ll go. Call me as soon as you know what’s happening.’
After hugging them both, she exited the unit.
She was heading to the lifts when a voice called her name. She turned to see Sean, her former boss, striding towards her.
‘Hope Rossi, please tell me the reason you’re here is because you’re on your way to see me to tell me you’re coming back to work,’ Sean said.
Hope shook her head. ‘My cousin’s son is in PICU.’
Sean’s face fell. ‘Is he okay?’
‘He will be.’
‘What’s wrong with him?’
‘Whooping cough.’
‘Not another one.’
She nodded. One of the nurses in ICU had said there had been two other babies admitted with whooping cough in the last month.
‘How old is he?’
‘A little over four months. But he was prem. He’s a triplet and was the smallest of them.’
‘Did they have to tube him?’
‘Yeah, he’s still tubed but they doctors are hopeful they can extubate later today. He turned a corner last night and he’s only getting a few assisted breaths from the vent.’
‘Great news.’
‘What are you doing up on this floor?’ she asked. Oncology was on level two.
‘Meeting. We’re so short-staffed they called an emergency meeting. I can offer you your job back on the spot if you can start tomorrow.’
‘It’s tempting. I didn’t realise how much I missed it until I was back in the building.’
‘But?’
‘I’m not sure I’m ready to come back. The reason I left was I needed time out.’ Sean knew about her split with Brett, so she didn’t need to elaborate.
‘It’s been six weeks, Hope. Isn’t that long enough?’
‘I don’t know. I’d need to check with my cousin first to see if she still needs help. I heard her husband saying he was going to take long service leave, so maybe they won’t need me.’
The last thing she wanted to do was get in the way even though Courtney and Lachlan had assured her countless times that she could stay as long as she wanted.
Sean put a hand on Hope’s arm. ‘Come back. I need you. Please, Hope, please. I know I’m begging.’
Hope chuckled. ‘When do you need an answer?’
‘Before the end of today.’
She frowned. ‘That soon?’
Sean nodded. ‘Like I said. I’m desperate and management are screaming for answers. Our budget has been blown with all the agency staff I’ve been using.’
‘I’ll need to think about it. Can I call you tomorrow?’
‘As long as the answer is yes, you can call me anytime.’ He dashed off with a wave and Hope got in the lift, more confused than ever. She knew Mitchell wanted her to stay in Macarthur Point, but she also knew if she said yes to him, she was saying yes to forever, and she wasn’t sure she was ready for that.
She headed outside. First, she needed to go for a long walk to clear her head. Then she needed to talk to Mitch.