The next half-hour saw them stabilise Jock and load him, still on the spine board they kept for medical emergencies, still sedated, back into the station utility, with Poddy driving. This time, Zac and the doctor rode in the back tray with Jock for the slow and careful drive out to the aircraft, and Hana, in Stella’s car with the nurse, was driven out by Ava and accompanied by Mim.

Stella stood watching them leave the house, Lorenzo’s arm around her, her face a mask. When he came back, Poddy would drive into Alice to be there for Hana until the others arrived.

Stella watched the tail-lights fade and shivered. She was so, so cold.

‘They will be well, cara amica.’ Lorenzo’s deep voice seemed to come from a long way off and she blinked several times to break the stare she had fixed on the receding red glow. The ice seemed to be spreading through her body and she shivered again. His arm tightened around her, and she slowly turned her head to look at him.

She was being weak, leaning into this man, who she barely knew yet felt she did. If he hadn’t been here the house would be empty while she waited for Ava and Mim to return, and she’d be left with the detritus of a field hospital and the crushing worry all by herself. She thought perhaps she might have lost herself in the emptiness if he hadn’t been with her.

‘I’m sure they will.’ All of them. The words sounded hollow and unconvincing even to her, but Jock was alive, and Zac had said he’d get the best care. Stella wanted to shriek to the sky. She would defer it until later. For now, she tried to calm herself.

Please, God, let Hana and the baby be fine. She couldn’t cope with another lost baby like Ava’s Amelia. But Ava had said there’d been no bleeding. And if the contractions didn’t stop, Hana would be in the right place to get the necessary care. But thirty-one weeks?

Hana should stay in Alice now until the baby was born. She’d tell them both.

Zac and Ava had been incredible. Especially Zac. He’d intubated Jock, sedated him, kept him stable until he could hand him over. Zac. A few days ago, she’d wished he’d go home so Ava could recover. Because Stella herself had decided that her daughter would be unhappy and lose her way like her mother had. How foolish she’d been. Life was too short not to grab happiness when you could.

Life could end. But not like this. Never like this. There’d been too many funerals in her life already.

She felt herself pulled into strong arms more securely. ‘Come. We will drink your tea and all your bambini will be well.’