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‘I thought that changing and feeding her would help. They’re the first things you’re supposed to try.’
‘They didn’t work, though, did they?’ Jason said accusingly.
‘Obviously not,’ Laura snapped. ‘Thanks, Einstein.’
‘What do we do now, then?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘What? You must have some ideas.’
‘Where are your ideas?’ Laura shot back. ‘This is your baby, Jason Halliday. It’s your problem. Why am I supposed to be an expert? I’ve never had a baby and, what’s more, I don’t intend to have one until I’m with someone who’s going to be of some help as a partner.’
‘I didn’t intend to have a baby!’ Jason’s voice rose to something very close to a shout and Megan raised her own volume to compete.
‘Jeez, Laura. I don’t need this. I don’t even want a bloody baby.’ He turned abruptly, as though intending to walk out. ‘This is a nightmare!’
Laura saw him stop after only a couple of steps, his fists clenched tightly by his sides, and she sighed heavily.
‘I could ring Mrs Mack,’ she offered more quietly. ‘She might have some ideas.’
Jason turned. ‘But then all the guys at the station will know what it’s like here. They’ll know I’m incompetent and I can’t even babysit my own kid for a couple of days. I’ll never hear the end of it.’
His look was beseeching enough to prompt another sigh from Laura. ‘Have you got a thermometer in the house?’
‘No. Why?’
‘She feels hot. She might be running a bit of a temperature.’
Jason closed the space between them swiftly. ‘I thought that, too.’ He crouched down to peer at Megan. ‘She’s sick, isn’t she?’
‘I’m not sure. It’s not an obvious fever. She just feels a bit warmer than I would have expected.’
‘But you’re a medic. You know about this stuff.’
‘Babies are tricky. Usually, by the time we get called, either the baby is obviously sick or the parents have noticed enough to be worried, so even if the baby looks fine we still transport it to hospital.’
‘I’m a parent,’ Jason said. ‘And I’m worried. The kid’s all red. It’s crying all the time and it’s hot.’
‘It’s not a colicky cry and she’s not pulling her legs up, so it’s not likely to be tummy pain. She hasn’t been sick, she’s not coughing and she hasn’t got a runny nose. Any baby is going to go red and get hot when it’s crying this much.’
Laura laid her hand gently on Megan’s fontanelle where it was easy to feel a pulse. She was watching the tiny chest at the same time but it was difficult to count respirations due to the hiccupping sobs. The crying was mercifully softer now. Just an ongoing sound of tired misery.
‘Her breathing’s fine,’ Laura reported a minute later. ‘Her heart rate is a little fast but that could also be because she’s upset.’ She shook her head. ‘What bothers me is that this is the first time she hasn’t accepted her bottle and calmed down. Did you mix the formula the same as last time?’
‘Of course I did. This isn’t my fault.’
‘It’s not my fault either.’
They glared at each other and Laura winced at a fresh wail from Megan. This was turning to custard. So much for that little fantasy about revealing her attractive personality to Jason.
‘Let’s take her to a doctor,’ she suggested finally. ‘At least that way we can get her temperature checked accurately.’
* * *
They spoke very little to each other during the time it took to find the local GP clinic in the phone book, make an appointment and get ready. They exchanged only the bare necessities of communication as they sat in a crowded waiting room full of sniffling toddlers and fragile-looking older people who stared accusingly at anyone making too much noise. They glared in Megan’s direction on a consistent basis.
Conversation with the GP they finally saw was somewhat stilted due to the on-the-spot fabrication that Jason had agreed in advance to mind his daughter for a few days while his ex-partner had a holiday in New Zealand. It wasn’t until they were home again nearly three hours later that the tension finally evaporated.
