I nodded. “Just a touch of the sniffles.”

Lie.

Taylor frowned. “You shouldn’t have a busy mornin’ so you can be miserable here in peace. Rooms one and two are occupied and the women are only three and four centimetres dilated. I already noted their bloody pressure, temperature and pulse ten minutes ago so you’re solid on that for another hour before you have to check them again. Both are teenagers, so they should keep occupied with chattin’ until the others get here.”

I grinned. “I bet in an hour five or six women from the holdin’ wards will go into active labour and I’ll have me hands full.”

Taylor stood up and bumped her hip with mine. “That’s the job.”

“Aye,” I agreed.

“Is Ash on shift with you today?” she casually asked as she gathered her belongings.

I took her place on the chair behind the nurses station.

“Yeah, he should be here now,” I said as I seated myself. “We’re always on together, I can’t remember the last time I was workin’ and he wasn’t here.”

Taylor sighed, dreamingly. “I’m so jealous, he is gorgeous and so bloody funny.”

“Who is gorgeous and so bloody funny?”

I looked up when Ash spoke from behind Taylor and laughed when she spun around and almost knocked him out when her bag went airborne. Ash reacted faster than what seemed humanly possible and grabbed hold of Taylor’s bag before it hit the floor. He straightened himself then handed it back to her with a bright smile. I could see the tip of Taylor’s ears were red, so I could only imagine how flushed her cheeks were.

“We were talkin’ about Ryan Reynolds,” I said to Ash. “You know the actor who is the star of the new Deadpool film?”

Ash looked from Taylor to me and he nodded. “I know him, good actor.”

My lips twitched. “He’s gorgeous, and so bloody funny.”

Taylor turned to face me and her eyes were bugged out making me laugh. Ash looked between us, confusion marring his handsome face, but he shook his head and decided against saying whatever question was on his mind. He was a smart cookie.

“I’m gonna head off,” Taylor mumbled, avoiding eye contact with Ash who went into the break room to put his things away in his locker.

I grinned. “That amused me greatly.”

“I’m so feckin’ mortified,” she whispered, her cheeks still flushed. “Do you think he knew I was talkin’ about ‘im?”

I shook my head. “Nah, he wasn’t payin’ attention I’m sure.”

Taylor exhaled a relieved breath. “Okay, I’m gonna go before I say somethin’ else that makes me want the ground to open up and swallow me whole.”

I laughed. “See you.”

Taylor pulled a face then scurried off the ward. I got up and brought my bag and coat into the break room and placed them into my locker. I attached my phone to the clip on my trousers then I glanced at Ash who was leaning against the small kitchen counter with his arms folded across his chest and a smug grin on his face.

I raised my brows. “What’re you lookin’ at me like that for?”

“I know Taylor was talking about me, I was paying attention.”

I feigned annoyance. “You eavesdropper!”

Ash devilishly smirked. “So I’m gorgeous and so bloody funny, huh?”

I shrugged. “She thinks so.”

“And you?” he pressed. “Do you agree?”

I pretended to think about it and it caused Ash to scowl which only made me laugh louder than before. “I think you’re funny... so bloody funny,” I teased.

Ash gripped his chest. “And not gorgeous?”

I playfully rolled my eyes. “You’re alright.”

He sobered up and waggled his brows. “I’m a bit of alright?”

“Yeah,” I snorted. “You’re a bit of alright.”

“I’ll take it!” He cheered.

I cringed. “You’re too energetic for this hour of the mornin’.”

Ash pointed at the kettle. “You want a cuppa to wake you up?”

I nodded. “Yes, please.”

He got to work and made me a cup of tea that had me humming as I swallowed it down. We settled behind the nurses station and greeted three other co-workers who would be working the day shift with us. Shannon, Katie, and Jada. I relaxed as they checked on the two patients that were currently on the ward.

“Anything exciting going on this month for you?” Ash asked as we flipped through the files of the two patients on the ward.

I shrugged. “Bronagh turns twenty-three on the tenth, I’m sure we’ll be doin’ somethin’ for that. You, of course, are invited to come along.”

Ash chuckled. “Thanks, but I haven’t met Ryder or his brothers yet, and from the sounds of things, I’d want to do that when everyone is sober.”

My lips twitched. “They’re all harmless. Most of the time. To us girls... maybe you shouldn’t come now that I think of it.”

Ash belly laughed, and it caused me to smile, but the smile was instantly wiped from my face when an unholy scream came from down the hallway and the buzzer for code red sounded. Both Ash and I jumped to our feet. He took off in the direction of the room that signalled the emergency along with our other colleagues while I dove for the phone.

“OR,” a male voice answered on the second ring.

“Clear an OR, stat!” I breathed. “Code red on the delivery ward. Get Doctor Harris or the actin’ chief on shift prepared for an emergency C-section. Now.”

“Damn,” the man on the phone hissed. “I’m on it.”

The line went dead so I hung up the phone and rushed down to room two, the room that the red light was flashing above. I instantly felt sick and scared. In my four years at the hospital, I’d been on shift for seven code reds, and it never got easier. A code red on the delivery ward in my hospital meant a baby or mother flat lined—there was no trace of a heartbeat. The mother gets hooked up to a machine that tracks her and her baby’s heartbeat, a code red meant the machine triggered the alarm attached to the machine.

When either mother or baby flat line we had only a matter of minutes to perform a C-section to get the baby out before we could work on either of them. I knew it was the baby who flat lined as I neared the room because I could hear the mother’s screams and pleas for help. I entered the room and found who I guessed to be the father with his hands on the sides of his head and tears in his eyes, while Ash and another midwife, Jada, were holding down the mother-to-be.

I muscled my way into her view and grabbed hold of her cheeks. I had memorised her personal information from when I read her file at the nurses’ station and roughly said, “Samantha, listen to me right now!”

She could barely contain herself, but her eyes locked on mine and I knew I had her attention for a just a few moments before she went off the hinges again.

“We’re movin’ you down to the OR for an emergency caesarean section. We’re goin’ to get your son out and into the world within the next few minutes to try and save ‘im, and we can’t do that without you, okay? We need you to be strong for us. Can you do that for me, honey?”

“Okay,” she cried. “Just please save ‘im. Promise me you will. Please.”

I nodded, because I couldn’t say the words aloud in case they turned out to be a devastating lie.

Everything passed by in a blur as myself, Ash and the father of the baby rushed Samantha down to floor two of the hospital and checked her into the OR where Doctor Harris and his team were ready and waiting.

“Ninety-one seconds since code red was activated. Well done, Branna,” Doctor Harris said and patted my shoulder. “Good time from you and your team.”

I nodded and released Samantha into their care. I stood like a statue and watched as the double doors to the OR swung shut. I heard Doctor Harris bark orders for a catheter and IV lines to be placed on Samantha, and for her abdomen to be cleaned with disinfectant. I held my breath seconds later as he announced he was administrating anaesthesia. As it was an emergency, Samantha would be out under general anaesthesia in a matter of seconds and would not be awake to witness the birth of her son.