But Nadia didn’t want to let Lena go. ‘I’m coming with you.’
‘There’s no need.’ Bess was used to getting out of the airbase pronto, and as they talked, she was already heading in the same direction as Vik had gone.
‘There’s room for me; weight-wise, we’re set.’ Nadia knew how it worked. The aircraft had strict rules every time it took to the skies and one of those rules was to do with calculating fuel and how much weight they were carrying on board. The patient this time wasn’t an adult, not even a teen, but a baby that by her estimate couldn’t weigh more than a few kilograms.
‘I’ll see you both out there.’ Noah, the other critical care paramedic with the red team, put his helmet and jacket on ready for the mission, because he’d need to be on board should the crew get called to another job after they transported the baby. It didn’t matter to him or Bess that they’d finished their shift; they went above and beyond the call of duty whenever it was required. He’d already retrieved the bloods and the drugs that weren’t always kept on the aircraft, and he set off towards the helicopter.
Bess shrugged on her heavy-duty jacket, picked up her helmet and held out her arms again. ‘Give her to me while you put the spare helmet and jacket on.’
Lena seemed happy enough to be passed between them.
Hudson appeared in the hangar next. ‘How is she doing? It’s a good job we answered that door when we did.’
‘Ain’t that the truth,’ said Bess.
Nadia gave her summation to Hudson, who would most likely write the report as she put her arm into the other sleeve of the jacket. ‘Her nappy wasn’t full but not dry either so she seems hydrated. There are no obvious marks on her torso or elsewhere; she’s content. It seems as though she’s been well looked after.’ Her words felt clinical but looking at Lena, this felt like anything but.
The sound of the aircraft’s blades whipping against the air on the helipad grew louder as if to remind them of their mission.
Hudson reached for the spare helmet. They all knew the score with flying in the air ambulance even if you weren’t part of the crew that regularly took to the skies. It was safety first. He put it on Nadia’s head, fastened the strap beneath her chin. She looked into his eyes, closer in proximity than they’d ever been before.
And then the moment was over as she took Lena from Bess and they headed out towards the aircraft.
Hudson walked alongside Bess and Nadia, shouting over the din of the helicopter. ‘I’ll take a look outside, all around the airbase and surrounding fields. Whoever left her might not have got far after they rang the bell.’
‘Okay.’ The downwash from Hilda took Nadia’s words away and she held Lena, who had started to grizzle, closer to her chest as they climbed into the aircraft.
Noah slid the side door to the helicopter shut. He and Nadia were sitting in the back with the baby and would communicate with Bess and Maya in the front via the headsets on their helmets.
With Lena secure in her special seat and wearing a tiny pair of ear defenders to protect her sensitive ears, Noah gave the go-ahead that they were ready.
‘Clear on the left,’ came Bess’s voice over the headset.
‘All clear for take-off,’ Vik confirmed.
Lena began to scream the second Hilda lifted into the air. Nadia longed to take her in her arms but she was in the safest place possible so instead, she reached over and placed a hand against Lena’s chest, just softly, giving her the assurance that she wasn’t alone any more; someone was here for her.
The journey wasn’t a long one. Vik announced an expected arrival time of three minutes almost as soon as they were up in the skies and flying over the beautiful town of Whistlestop River, the town Nadia had made her home in for the last eight years. But she was too preoccupied watching Lena, shushing her even though the baby wouldn’t be able to hear the soothing sounds, to look out of the window and appreciate the river below, winding, curving, glistening in the sunshine.
She wondered whether Hudson had found anyone or anything outside the airbase: perhaps a hint as to who had left the box there. But there hadn’t been an update over the radio; she expected whoever was responsible had fled.
At first, Nadia had wondered who could ever do such a thing, but as Hilda soared through the skies en route to the hospital, her thoughts turned to concern for the person – a mother, most likely, in a highly emotional state, perhaps with physical or mental health issues. The baby couldn’t be more than a week or two old but thankfully, she appeared remarkably unscathed.
As soon as they touched down on the hospital’s helipad, Nadia told Bess and Noah that she’d take it from here. ‘You will be available for another job should you get a call or you can all head back to base. You’ve already done a full shift.’
A nurse met them and ushered them inside the lift that took them down to the appropriate floor. They followed the winding labyrinth of the hospital until they came to paediatrics, all the while Lena nestled contentedly in Nadia’s arms.
Nadia had known this baby less than an hour and already she felt attached, like she never wanted to let her go.
She knew Lena wasn’t hers; she had no claim on her. But as she handed her to the nurse once they reached the paediatric department, the tug at her heart, that feeling she’d never forgotten, was right back, stabbing at her emotions and twisting them around and around every time she looked at the infant.
It was the same pain she’d felt when she lost her own baby, not once, but twice.
3
Hudson was due to pick up the kids from their grandparents but because of the drama unfolding with baby Lena, he wanted to get up to the hospital, find out what was going on.
He was lucky. His parents lived locally in Whistlestop River and they always stepped up to help him out, tonight being no exception. He wasn’t sure where he would’ve been without them. They had known for a while what his ex-wife Lucinda was like – unreliable when it came to sticking to timescales, at least out of the office environment – and were never surprised when Hudson called them last minute to ask that they mind three-year-old Carys because Lucinda had had something come up at the last minute. Fifteen-year-old Beau was past the age of needing them to watch him but he often went to their house simply because he liked their company. In fact, Hudson was pretty sure Beau preferred being with them to him. He supposed he should be grateful. At least Beau let some family into his teenage world.
