Paula picked up Ava from Brooke’s lap and held her high on her shoulder, letting the baby grumble and snuffle into her neck. Paula inhaled the smell—breastmilk sweetness mixed with the scent of the child’s delicate skin. Ava did a small burp and quickly settled.

Brooke hauled herself slowly to her feet and shuffled towards the bedside table. Meanwhile, Paula placed Ava on the koala blanket and swaddled her into a tight little parcel, the baby relaxing the way newborns often did when they were enveloped.

‘You’re good at that,’ Brooke observed. ‘Bet you’re good at gift wrapping.’

Paula smiled. ‘I always like it when my patients bring tiny babies into the surgery. It’s one of my favourite parts of the job.’

Paula wondered if she’d been too reticent a moment ago, if she’d missed her chance to coax the young woman into talking about her situation. Now Brooke seemed keen to change the subject, trying to sound light-hearted.

‘I feel a bit embarrassed about scoring this fancy private room,’ she said, as she poured herself another glass of water. ‘It’s only because I had a blood transfusion. Because I had a—um …’ She swirled her hand over her belly, searching for the word.

‘An abruption?’ Paula offered.

‘That’s the one. Turns out the trick is: bleed enough and you score a private room.’

‘Do they know what caused the abruption?’

‘Oh … I got—I landed against a table pretty hard. A couple of times—well, three times. Anyway, the doctor reckons I’ve recovered really well. And my baby wasn’t affected in the end and that’s all I really care about.’

Paula kept her mouth shut. She couldn’t appear too nosey. And she shouldn’t launch into a lecture on coercion and abuse.

As Paula gently lay baby Ava in the crib, Brooke eased herself back into bed, worn out by pain. But she smiled as she gazed at her daughter’s face through the side of the clear plastic crib.

‘I’m really glad I had a girl,’ she said. ‘Even if she’s got Johnny’s genes in her, there’s less chance she’ll turn out like him—because she’s a girl. If that makes sense.’

Paula decided to pick up on this chance. ‘Brooke, I don’t want to pry, but are you afraid of this man, the baby’s father? Did he hurt you?’

Brooke shrugged and her face crumpled into tears.

Paula plucked a couple of tissues from the box and handed them to her. ‘You shouldn’t have to be hurt or afraid. No one should. There are people who can help you. The police can help you take out an AVO, for one thing.’