off. Their desire had been building all afternoon until it had reached fever pitch and they had almost sprinted to her room and spent the rest of the evening making love, stopping only briefly to shower and grab some food before they’d gone back to her room. Luci knew they must have looked like they had been having frenzied sex but she hadn’t cared any more. It hadn’t been like home. She could behave as she pleased out here and it pleased her to misbehave with Seb.
She smiled to herself as she thought about what they’d got up to, until she realised that the preschoolers sitting at the table with her weren’t going to give her time to daydream.
She was spending the afternoon in the child-care centre and kindergarten attached to the community health clinic. The work was pretty much the same, assessing the development of the children, but the approach was different. Instead of a formal appointment, Luci played with the children in the kindergarten environment, doing surreptitious development checks. Sitting with the kids while they drew pictures or constructed masterpieces out of cardboard rolls, boxes, egg cartons and metres of sticky tape gave her a chance to assess their hearing, speech and fine motor skills. Later she’d play outside with them in the sandpit and on the climbing equipment, observing their balance, co-ordination and gross motor skills.
If she noticed any issues she could then make referrals to the visiting therapists but, again, making appointments didn’t necessarily work. Appointment times were not generally considered fixed and Luci had been told that a lot of the time the health-care staff just had to hope that some of the kids were in attendance at playgroup when the visiting therapists were in town.
Luci was writing a child’s name on the cardboard robot that he’d made when she noticed Nadine and Byron coming into the centre.
Nadine looked tired today, definitely not as fresh as yesterday. The circles under her eyes had darkened and Luci thought her face looked a little pinched and drawn, as if she was in pain. Luci stood up. ‘Nadine, hello. Are you on your way to Dubbo?’
Nadine nodded. ‘I thought I’d drop Byron here while I went for my appointment, if that’s okay. He knows this kindy.’
Budgee was about halfway between Frog Hollow and Dubbo. Nadine had had to pass through town in order to reach Dubbo.
‘Sure,’ Luci replied as Byron ran off to play. ‘Are you feeling all right?’
‘I didn’t sleep well and my back is a bit sore. I think I might have pulled a muscle when I picked Byron up this morning.’
‘Have you got time for a cup of tea or water? Why don’t you sit down and I’ll get you something to drink?’ Luci offered. But before she could usher her to a chair Nadine clutched her stomach and looked as if she was about to burst into tears.
‘What is it?’ Luci asked.
But Nadine didn’t answer, she just looked down at the floor. Luci followed her gaze.
Nadine was standing in a pool of water.
‘THAT’S NOT GOOD,’ Nadine said.
Luci agreed but at least Nadine was in town, and Seb was only metres away in the building next door.
But before Luci had a chance to say anything further Nadine gasped and doubled over.
‘Contraction?’ Luci asked.
She looked up at Luci and her dark brown eyes were filled with fear. She nodded and said, ‘It’s too early.’
Luci knew that Nadine was unsure of her dates and today’s appointment had been an opportunity to narrow them down, but there was the distinct possibility that it was far too early. In some cases labour could be delayed, even if the membranes had ruptured, but that was a clinical decision and once the contractions had started Luci knew there was very little they could do.
‘Dr Hollingsworth is just next door,’ Luci said, trying to sound calm and reassuring even as she fought back her own concerns. ‘Do you think you can walk or shall I fetch a wheelchair?’
‘I can walk if I can lean on you.’
Jenny, the child-care director, had seen what was happening and she came across the room, carrying an armful of old towels. Being a centre filled with preschoolers, they were well equipped for dealing with accidents similar to this.
‘Jenny, we need to leave Byron here,’ Luci said as Jenny dropped the towels on the floor.
‘Of course.’ She squatted down to mop up the mess. ‘What about your older children?’ she asked Nadine.
‘They’ll go home on the school bus,’ Nadine managed to say, before another contraction swamped her. She gripped tightly onto Luci’s arm. The contractions were close together and strong. Luci didn’t like the look of this at all. She needed to get Nadine next door to Seb. And quickly.
Byron was engrossed with a big box of building blocks and trucks and didn’t look up as Luci ushered his mother out of the centre.
‘Heather, can you call Seb, please?’ Luci started speaking to the receptionist in the community health clinic as soon as she and Nadine walked through the clinic doors. ‘And an ambulance. Nadine is in labour.’
Heather stood up from behind the desk. ‘Take her through here,’ she said, directing Luci into one of the old hospital rooms. She wheeled a trolley over to the bed and handed Luci a hospital gown. ‘There are gloves, scissors and basic clinical supplies on here. I’ll call Seb and the ambulance and then check back to see if there’s anything else you need. We’re not fully equipped any more but I’ll do my best.’
Luci nodded her thanks. ‘You’d better phone ahead to Dubbo and warn them too. Nadine was on her way there for an antenatal appointment,’ she added as Heather left the room. She turned back to Nadine, who was still clinging to her arm. ‘Let’s get you into this gown so that Dr Hollingsworth can examine you when he gets here.’
‘Can you stop the labour? It’s too early.’
Luci shook her head. ‘Once your waters have broken there’s nothing much we can do. These babies are on their way.’ The best they could hope for was that the ambulance arrived before the babies did.
Seb hurried in just as Luci had finished helping Nadine to change.
‘Nadine! I wasn’t expecting to see you today. What’s going on?’ He sounded cool, calm and collected but there was no doubt he’d come at a run.
Luci handed him a paper hospital gown and he slipped his arms into the sleeves and waited as Luci tied the strings before he repeated the process for her. He washed his hands and pulled on a pair of surgical gloves as Luci wrapped a BP cuff around Nadine’s arm.
‘Let’s see what’s happening,’ he said, as he positioned himself at the foot of the bed and got Nadine to lie back and bend her knees. ‘Eight centimetres dilated,’ he said.
There wasn’t going to be much time to spare. But just as Luci was praying that the ambulance was close by Heather came into the room and dashed her hopes.
‘The ambulance is forty-five
