Jock stood stock-still in awe, watching, and Zac didn’t miss the glint of tears bumping down the man’s unshaven cheek. Emotion stung his own throat as he looked at him. Poor bloke. He’d had the wildest few weeks of his life, but hopefully this would be the start of a new chapter for them.

Ava was hugging her brother now. ‘I’m so excited for you all. We’ll push the bed straight to the special-care nursery and she’ll stay toasty warm on Hana’s skin until the paeds can check her out again up there.’

Hana said something he missed and Ava responded. ‘India, that’s beautiful. After Mim’s middle name? How fabulous.’

Then Jock said something and Ava shook her head. ‘No. India’s breathing fine. She’s a fighter like her mum. You were amazing, Hana. Congratulations.’ He could hear the quiet joy in Ava’s voice as he stood back from them, rightly, on the outside of a family he was nothing to.

It seemed Ava had wrangled it so Hana could keep hold of her baby for the transfer upstairs. Skin to skin. One of Ava’s pet crusades. He remembered that too, now.

Of course she was far too busy to look at him as they moved. Zac glanced back at the paed, a friendly face in all the drama, who smiled at him and said, ‘Nice delivery.’

With a half-smile that he couldn’t contain, he indicated Ava with a nod of his head. ‘I had a good teacher.’

‘You’re a good student,’ the paed said as she hurried away to follow the bed.

Zac moved sideways from the bed to elbow on the taps at the sink and stripped off his gloves. Silently, he rinsed and soaped his hands. The rhythmic washing of his wrists gave him the privacy to allow the memories to wash over him. The crash, the tumbling, the stop, and the sight of Ava injured. He’d thought she’d died. Or worse, had been rendered brain dead. He breathed deeply to clear the swirl of images in his head. The horror to end all horrors.

Now it was all there. Right from the start.

Being in the aircraft with Ava’s laughing face next to his, the crazy ride in the taxi and the wild, uninhibited, explosive night when they’d made love until all hours of the morning.

And the next four days.

He remembered the ring.

He remembered Yulara.

The ring made so much sense now. He could remember his euphoria when he’d bought it. How could the memory of how much he loved Ava have been buried so deep? It was unbelievable, really.

Lord, he remembered Yulara and the emotion and joy and anticipation as they’d headed out to the perfect spot for him to properly propose.