Remembering the kisses they’d shared on the veranda, he guessed she was as desperate as he was to sort something out.
Yet he’d shied away from the kiss he’d planned for the camellia bush.
Afraid he might be pushing things too fast?
Afraid—
What was he afraid of?
He couldn’t answer that thought, although he realised that, somewhere in his head, he’d written off their marriage—had decided it was over.
He’d hurt the woman he loved with his cruel words, could still hurt her if their conversation in the park was anything to go by.
For a long time it seemed that every word he’d spoken had been a brick in the wall he’d—they’d?—built between them, and he had no idea how to break it down.
Had he stopped loving her?
Andy shook his head as much to clear it as by way of an answer.
Because he knew the answer, and had probably known it all along.
A resounding no!
Ellie was in his blood, and bones, as much a part of him as a limb...
He loved her with every fibre of his being, yet somehow they’d pummelled each other with words until they’d had to part before the damage to both of them became more severe.
But now?
He banged his hand on the desk, causing the piles of paperwork to flutter into an untidy mess. The bang had been one of frustration at not being able to see a clear path ahead for the two of them, but the fluttering had reminded him of what he should be doing, which was some of the never-ending paperwork that came with the job.
A call from Becky, on duty in the ED, saved him from both useless thoughts and paperwork. There had been a traffic accident at a crossing ten kilometres out of town, and the ambulance was already on its way.
Aware they’d send a status report as soon as they’d summed up the situation, Andy went through to the ED to ensure they were prepared for a number of casualties.
He’d barely walked in when the information came clearly from their radio.
Two vehicles, a sedan and a ute, with three injured and a second ambulance on its way. The police were in attendance.
* * *
‘This is Ted Buckley, the ute driver,’ the ambo said, when Andy met the ambulance to help wheel the patient in. ‘He was conscious when we reached him, and he’s fretting about his dog. Chris has the dog safe in the police car if he asks again.’
Something in the man’s voice made Andy ask, ‘And is the dog safe?’
‘It might have a broken leg. I gave him something to keep him comfortable.’
They’d moved Ted into the ED and onto an examination bed as they’d talked, Andy aware the ambulance would be needed back at the scene.
‘Where’s Rudi?’ Ted demanded, opening his eyes as Andy ran his fingers over the old man’s bald head.
‘Rudi?’ Becky echoed, although Andy guessed he was the dog.
‘Me dog!’
‘Rudi’s fine. Chris is looking after him in the police car.’
‘Well, don’t let anyone take Rudi,’ Ted said. ‘Some of the neighbours have been after him for years. Best dog in the area. One of them gets hold of him I’ll never get him back.’
The old man lapsed into silence again.
‘We’ll X-ray his skull just to be sure, but I can’t feel any damage. He’d been wearing his seatbelt because there’s just the beginning of bruising diagonally across his chest.’
‘And driving at about ten kilometres an hour, knowing Ted,’ Becky said. ‘If anyone’s badly injured, the other car must have been speeding.’
And if anyone was badly injured he’d probably need to get Ellie back in again.
An image of her as she’d lain in bed the previous night flashed into Andy’s head, and remembering the thoughts he’d had then spread warmth through his body. He had to win Ellie back and somehow make their marriage work—no, more than that, make them one again.
They’d have to talk, but this time openly, honestly and carefully so as not to make things worse. If he could explain about the baby, how he felt...
Andy had already spoken to a counselling service and was hoping to find someone he could speak to regularly. He had to sort himself out before he could really sort out his marriage...
The other accident victims arrived, thankfully having sustained little injury.
The driver had a high ankle injury, probably to the syndesmosis tendon, a tear that would require him walking around in a moon boot for a month but not needing plaster, while the passenger beside him had escaped with nothing more than cuts and bruises. Andy decided to keep them both in hospital under observation in case there was anything more serious.
But there was another victim that had everyone excited, the female nurses particularly. A fine baby girl, maybe five or six months old, kept safe by her state-of-the-art car seat, was looking around the ED with huge blue eyes, apparently up for any adventure that came her way.
‘Well, she’s the last thing you’d expect those two larrikins to be travelling with,’ Becky said. ‘I doubt she belongs to either of them.’
‘The car seat is top of the range, and her clothing looks expensive, too. Do any of you know the two lads?’
There were head shakes all round, though Becky, who’d lifted the baby from her car seat and was giving her a cuddle, said, ‘I agree about the young men’s scruffy clothes.’
They all stared at the baby girl, who smiled obligingly at them all, reaching out to grasp some tinsel that hung from the reception desk and drag it towards her mouth before Becky removed it firmly from her grasp.
‘She’s gorgeous, isn’t she?’ Andy said, aware that the small mortal was already winning a way into hearts normally hardened by the stresses and sights of the ED.
‘She needs changing. There are boxes of nappies in the storeroom at the back of the building,’ Becky said, and one of the aides hurried off to find them.
But Andy was transfixed by the child.
She’s been in an accident, you should be examining her, a voice in his head was insisting, and although he knew the voice was right, he just knew that she was fine.
Although as Becky began to change her nappy, he finally stepped forward.
‘We’d better take a look at her,’ he said, and helped Becky peel off the jumpsuit she was wearing.
But the little body was unmarked, no sign of the accident at all.
But as Becky started to dress her again, something struck Andy.
‘I know baby skin needs protection but isn’t that jumpsuit too hot for her to be wearing on a summer’s day? It’s more like something she might wear on a cool night.’
Becky stared at their young charge, lying on the now discarded piece of clothing.
‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘It was cool last night, even out here. Maybe the mother’s ill and those lads are taking her to stay with relatives?’
She sounded so doubtful Andy knew she didn’t believe that particular scenario for one instant.
‘See if you can find a light top for her—even a singlet—then turn on the local radio, see if there’s a report about a missing baby,’ Andy suggested. ‘I’ll go and speak to the lads.’
But he had the same reaction from both of them.
‘What baby? We don’t know anything about a baby! It must have been the old fellow’s.’
Realising it was pointless pushing them further, he phoned Chris, who confirmed the baby had come out of the lads’ car and it had puzzled him as well.
‘They’re denying she was in their car, let alone had anything to do with them,’ Andy told him, and heard Chris sigh.
‘Well, someone called Lydia Francks is the registered owner of the car, but we can’t contact her at the address she gave for her licence. I’ll send someone up to question the lads, not that they�
��d get far out of town without a vehicle. Don’t let them go until someone gets there.’
Andy smiled.
‘I doubt they’ll want to go,’ he said. ‘We stripped off their clothes to examine them properly and they’re both wearing very fetching hospital nightgowns.’
He heard Chris’s answering laugh.
‘I do hope they’re the ones that are open all down the back.’
But as Andy made his way back to the two newest admissions to check their clothing had been removed from their rooms, his mind was on the baby.
Someone had to be missing her.
And she must have been in a car somewhere, given that she was still in her car seat...
Surely she couldn’t have been left in a car park? At this time of the year, even a short time in a locked car could kill a young child, the summer heat baking the interior to over fifty degrees centigrade.
She was happy so she was presumably not hungry. Had they fed her something or had she been fed just before they had taken her?
He checked the young men’s clothes had been bagged and passed to the ward secretary, not back to the owners. And much as he’d have liked to question the two himself, he knew that Chris or one of his men would have far more expertise in that area than he had, even though questions were a huge part of his job.
He had appointments in Outpatients, yet was drawn back to the ED, where Becky was now cuddling the baby as she fed her a bottle.
‘Good thing we keep baby formula in stock,’ she said, as the baby broke off her noisy guzzling to bestow a milky smile on Andy.
It made his heart hurt and he hurried away.
No more. Never again.
The words were like a mantra as he strode through the hospital on his way to the people waiting for him.
CHAPTER SEVEN
ZEKE BROUGHT THE dog to Ellie’s surgery during what would normally be her lunch hour.
‘They’re busy at the hospital with the three accident victims and the baby, so I thought you might be able to take a look at Rudi. Ted just adores this dog, and he’d hate anything to happen to him.’
He was carrying the mildly sedated dog gently in his arms, and while Maureen scolded about hygiene and being a doctor’s surgery, not a vet’s, Ellie ran her fingers over the dog. With no vet in town, she’d known she might come up against injured pets, but this dog was her first. She’d grown up with dogs, so had a fair knowledge of broken limbs and battered heads, but Rudi, as far as she could see and feel, was fine.
Until she pressed his left rear foot, and he snatched it away with a yelp. Lifting it more gently this time, she examined the pad for a tear or a foreign object lodged in it, but could find no damage. Was it the joint?
Tentatively, she moved the foot, and this time Rudi had recovered enough to growl at her.
‘I think I’ll just bind it reasonably tightly and we’ll see if he can put weight on it. Can you hold him while I do it?’
She was pleased when Zeke nodded, because she really didn’t fancy putting Rudi on her examination couch, no matter how many sheets of paper she’d spread beneath him.
‘Tell me about the baby,’ she said to Zeke, as she worked to stabilise the ankle.
Zeke shrugged his shoulders.
‘She was in the back of the sedan that ran into Ted. Two young lads—the driver and a passenger—both denying any knowledge of a baby in a very smart safety seat in their vehicle. They’re lying, of course. From the baby stuff we found in the car—bottles and formula—at least one of them had enough gumption to realise she’d need to be fed.’
‘A car theft and they didn’t realise the baby was there until it was too late?’ Ellie guessed. ‘But someone must be missing her.’
Ellie led the way outside so they could try Rudi on his legs.
‘You’d think so,’ Zeke told her, as he gently put Rudi on the ground, keeping a firm hold on his collar in case he took off.
Rudi moved cautiously, but within minutes was using all four feet.
‘Now, what do we do with him?’ Zeke asked.
‘Well, we don’t have a proper fence here so maybe he could go in one of your nice cells, just until his master is sorted at the hospital.’
Zeke smiled at her, and bent to gather the dog into his arms again, carrying him over to the police car and strapping him into the back seat.
‘Thanks!’ he said, then seemed to hover by the car, eventually coming out with what was bothering him.
‘Does Andy want any older players on his soccer team, or perhaps someone to help with things?’
Ellie beamed at him.
‘I’m sure he’d be delighted to have you. As far as I can see, it’s a kind of “the more the merrier” situation.’
Ellie stood there as he drove away. Was his interest in soccer or Chelsea?
Not that it mattered, but she’d keep an eye on things.
She was turning to go into the house when a council truck pulled up across the street, men and ladders tumbling out of it.
‘It can’t be that close to Christmas!’ she wailed as she watched the men begin their decorating.
But looking further down the street, she saw that Christmas decorations were already up, all the way to town—and hadn’t she seen some at the hospital?
Christmas had sneaked up on her without her realising it. One year ago, they had spent the day with her family, a boisterous reunion of siblings, aunts, uncles and her one remaining grandparent.
She had been due to start IVF in the New Year, and was imagining another Christmas—the next one—perhaps with them as a family of three...
She had to stop thinking about it, and the memories that caused so much pain. Yet weren’t the memories what kept Andy and her together? Weren’t they the reason she knew she wanted to put things right between them again?
Logan had thought money might bring his mother home for Christmas, but wasn’t it love that cemented a marriage and kept it strong?
And she knew she still loved Andy and was almost certain he loved her, so how could they bridge the gap between them?
At least they were getting closer, holding hands, kissing even...
And as memories of that last kiss they’d shared sent shivers down her spine she knew that, come what may, they had to heal the rift.
She knew she’d started the argument that had led to the final straw for Andy with the suggestion of one last go at IVF, but why had it escalated?
Had she been too stubborn about it?
Was she still aching to hold her own child in her arms?
Ellie tried to push the thought away but a spark of it must have remained that she finally walked up the stairs and into the house, rubbing at the frown line she knew was on her forehead.
But if she wanted Andy—and she knew now just how much she did want him—then she had to accept that it would never be.
She had to kill that spark of hope that still nestled deep inside her, and get on with her life.
She’d reached the veranda before she realised she was supposed to be at work, so back down the stairs she went, dead-heating at the door with Andy, who was holding a beautiful baby in his arms.
Was this the baby Zeke had mentioned?
‘I’ve admitted two cases of measles to the hospital this morning so she can’t stay there,’ Andy was saying as he handed her the baby. ‘Do you think that you and Maureen could keep an eye on her? Chris’s wife went down to Croxton for last-minute Christmas shopping and there’s really no one else even semi-official. I’ll just get her car seat.’
The baby girl was sound asleep, as angelic as only sleeping children could be.
‘But—’ Ellie began, and realised she was speaking to space as Andy had dropped the car seat and a bag containing nappies, bottles, and formula on the floor and was already gone.
‘Can w
e cope?’ she said to Maureen, the weight and warmth of the infant feeling so right, Ellie knew that killing that spark of hope she’d been thinking about only minutes earlier might prove impossible.
‘While she sleeps, I suppose we can,’ Maureen replied a trifle tautly.
‘Well, Chelsea will be home from school before long, so I guess we can manage until then.’
* * *
Andy drove back to the hospital in the police car he’d borrowed to deliver the baby. His chest felt tight and his stomach knotted. The sight of Ellie with the baby in her arms had awoken all the stuff he’d been desperately trying to put behind him.
She’d looked so right, and natural.
He tamped down the panic that thought brought with it, and the pain that he’d thought he’d conquered. He closed his eyes and tried to see ahead to their future, his and Ellie’s, when they were back together again.
He remembered the kisses they’d shared. The passion they’d known was still there, he knew that much, he just had to—
What?
Tell her how he’d felt? How much it had hurt? Still hurt?
Did he blame her for not knowing—not seeing it for herself?
Hardly, when she’d been so grief-stricken and racked with blame that hadn’t been hers at all...
But now things were easing between them, maybe they could talk about that time without the emotion that had ripped them apart.
If only they could talk, and touch, and ease their way back into the love he knew was still there between them...
Chris’s voice came through the vehicle’s radio. There was still no lost baby alert, and no idea as to who she could be.
But the baby wasn’t Andy’s problem. Chris could deal with that. His focus, apart from work, had to be on Ellie, and their future.
He’d just pulled into the hospital car park when his phone rang. It was Ellie.
* * *
Chris brought the news that the baby had been identified. Her nanny had been found and had admitted she’d put the baby in the car to drive her around for a while to get her to sleep, then stopped at a corner store for cigarettes, leaving not only the baby but the keys in the car.
The Doctors' Christmas Reunion Page 10
