Hana lay in her bed in the antenatal ward of Alice Springs Hospital with her hand resting on the mound of her tummy. The machine they’d strapped to her stomach beat out the clopping heart sounds of her baby in a steady, reassuring rhythm and showed no contractions. Inside her belly, below her fingers, a tiny jiggle of movement dragged a small smile onto her pinched face. ‘Thank you, baby, for being a warrior, and staying in there. Now we just have to sort out your father.’

A noise at the door turned her head and she saw Ava, holding a pot of tea and two cups, and Hana waved her in. Thank God for Ava and the whole of Jock’s family. Though Poddy had been a star to drive through the night and be here for her first.

Her sister-in-law put the pot and mugs down on the bedside table and leaned over to give Hana a kiss on the cheek.

‘You okay?’ The words were quiet because it was too early for visiting hours. The perks of working here, she guessed.

Hana thought about the question. Was she okay? She settled for ‘As good as could be expected.’

Ava nodded. ‘Baby?’

‘Jiggling.’ Hana patted her belly and Ava smiled.

‘Contractions?’

‘Stopped.’ Thank goodness. Part two of the world’s most frightening night flight. A flight to save her husband and as an added bonus the worry that she’d have a premature birth or lose her baby.

‘Good.’ Ava nodded again and sat down. ‘Zac’s spoken to the psychiatrist on duty, and they’ll keep Jock sedated for another twelve hours. His neurological signs are good, no fits, no obvious signs of brain damage. The intubation meant he could breathe until the swelling subsided. The rest is recovery. They’ve had consistently good outcomes from that scenario. You got him down quickly.’

Hana flinched. ‘I dropped him.’

‘Good.’ The two women looked at each other and both sets of eyes filled with tears. Ava’s hand snaked out and held Hana’s. ‘Thank you for saving my brother.’

‘It was too close.’

Ava’s eyes narrowed. ‘Maybe it needed to be close to wake him up.’

‘You don’t mean that,’ Hana whispered in horror.

‘No.’ Ava sighed. ‘No, I don’t. Nobody will be sorrier that this happened than Jock. I should have seen how unwell he was.’ Her eyes met Hana’s and there was a fierce intensity Hana hadn’t heard before in her sister-in-law’s voice. ‘That wasn’t Jock who tried to die. That was an illness, an illness that got away from all of us, that we should have seen and treated. We won’t miss it again.’

‘He hid it.’

Ava shook her head again, no doubt in the movement. ‘The illness is devious. Jock is not.’