‘Amy needs a midwife.’

‘I know she does,’ Riley said. ‘We’re short-staffed. There isn’t one.’

‘Then someone else.’

‘Believe me, if I could then I’d find someone. I’d stay here myself. I can’t.’

She believed him. She thought, fast.

This guy had saved her life. This hospital had been here for her. And more… Amy was a child.

‘Then use me,’ she said.

‘You…’

‘I know there’s still water on my lungs,’ she said. ‘And I know I need to stay here until it clears. But my breathing’s okay. I’m here for observation more than care, and if you can find me something more respectable than this appalling hospital gown, I’ll sit by Amy until she needs to push. Then I’ll call you.’

He looked at her like she’d grown two heads. ‘There’s no need-’

‘Yes, there is,’ Jancey said, looking panicked. ‘Hubert needs help now.’

‘We can’t ask-’

‘Then don’t ask,’ Pippa said. ‘And don’t worry. You can go back to your toes and asthma. I’ll call for help when I need it, either for myself or for Amy. And I do know enough to call. I may be a twit when it comes to night swimming, but in my other life I’m a qualified nurse. Good basic qualifications, plus theatre training, plus intensive care, and guess what? Midwifery. You want to phone my old hospital and check?’

She grabbed the clipboard and pen Jancey was carrying and wrote the name of her hospital and her boss’s name. ‘Hospitals work round the clock. Checking my references is easy. Ring them fast, or trust me to take care of Amy while you two save the world. Or at least Hubert’s toe. Off you go, and Amy and I will get on with delivering Amy’s baby. We can do this, Amy. You and me… women are awesome. Together there’s nothing we can’t do.’

‘You want me to ring and check she’s who she says she is?’ Jancey asked, dubious. He and Jancey needed to head in different directions, fast. Neither of them liked leaving Pippa and Amy together.