“How can they tell?” Paula stared at her son. She had been the one there for every second he was inside her. How could they decide now that he was older than predicted?

“He’s a good size and doing fairly well breathing on his own. Are you going to feed him again?”

“Not yet. He gets too tired.”

“He’s got a good strong heart, though. They reckon they’ll only leave the monitor on overnight.”

Paula looked at the patch that rose and fell with the baby’s chest. They couldn’t take it off. What if his heart wasn’t working properly?

“He’ll probably have that probe attached around his foot for a bit longer to check his oxygen level. The nurse explained it all. He’s doing so well that it shouldn’t be needed for much longer. Hey, little mate?” Dan reached in to the crib and stroked the baby’s arm. “You’re a fine strong baby. What are we going to call him? The nurses are asking and your family will want to know. Have you rung them yet?”

“Stop!” Paula felt the word come from deep inside her.

“What’s the matter?”

“Stop talking as if you know everything. You weren’t there when I went into labour. Your bloody aunt had to be the one to drive me to town.” Paula could see the shock on Dan’s face but she couldn’t stop herself. “You weren’t there when they told me I was about to have a baby, that according to all the doctors was five weeks early, but now suddenly he’s not premature.”

“I didn’t say he wasn’t early, just not as early as we thought.”

“You’ve been here for five minutes and you think you know everything. I was the one who had to watch him take every breath on the helicopter ride here. I was the one who watched them connect his little body up to machines. You didn’t want to think of a name for him and now you want me to come up with one.”

The nurse stepped around the crib and put a glass of water beside the chair. “Sit down and have a drink, Paula. You’ve got to look after yourself. It’s nearly time to feed your baby again and you need to be calm.”

Paula lowered herself carefully onto the chair and took the glass with a trembling hand.

“Mr Woodcroft, have you eaten yet? Now might be a good time to take a break. It’s been a long day for all of you. You can come back later.”

“Do you want me to go, Paula?”

She clutched the glass with two hands. Her body ached and her mind was numb. What did she want? Paula had no idea.

“I’ll make some calls and come back later.” She felt his lips brush her cheek. “I love you,” he murmured.