The Consultant's Surprise Child

by Joanna Neil

  'You had enough confidence in him to let him go ahead and renovate the old stable block, and you even bought some of his window-boxes and planters for your house in Buckinghamshire. I don't know what happened to make you turn against him. Did you find some fault with his work?'

  His mouth straightened. 'That wasn't ever a problem. You must know that...after all, you invested some of your own money in the business, didn't you?'

  'I had faith in him. I still do. I'm just not sure why you lost confidence in him.'

  'Perhaps you should ask Nick to explain that.'

  Allison's brows made a straight line. 'He doesn't know the reason.'

  'I doubt that's true.' He turned his attention to the road ahead. They were approaching the Putney Bridge, crossing over the River Thames, and Allison looked out of the window to see the tranquil embankment and a line of trees in the distance.

  Taylor briefly followed the direction of her gaze. 'That's where the annual Oxford and Cambridge boat race starts,' he said, and she wondered if he was making a deliberate change of tack. 'Have you ever watched the race from the bank?'

  It was becoming clear to her that she was going to get nowhere if she tried to pursue the reasons behind the men's disagreement. 'No, I haven't, but I suppose I might one day, now that I'm settled in London.'

  She didn't make any further comment. She was still put out by his unwillingness to enlighten her, and deep down she was worried in case the incident they were attending might have any repercussions for her brother.

  'You didn't say what happened at the unit we're heading for,' she remarked now. 'It isn't another fire, is it?'

  'No. Apparently a forklift truck driver was trying to move a load of boxed tiles when he suddenly collapsed. It sounds as though the truck careered into someone who was in the loading bay at the time, but I don't know the extent of the injuries as yet.'

  It didn't sound as though it was going to be anything very pleasant, and Allison tried to prepare herself for whatever they might find.

  They passed by St George's Park, a green oasis in the middle of a built-up area, bordered by a river to the east, and she caught a glimpse of tennis courts through the trees. She had brought Connor here one day after they had been to visit her brother, and he had run about excitedly exploring the children's playground and exclaiming in delight when they'd seen the animals in the pets' corner.

  'This is it,' Taylor said a minute or two later. 'Let's see what we have to deal with.'

  They hurried past the ambulance that was parked in the forecourt and went into the red-brick building. The warehouse was in chaos, with tumbled boxes littering the floor and smashed tiles spilling out from them, covering the floor with shards of pottery and mirrored glass.

  A paramedic quickly outlined what had happened. 'We have two injured men. One of them saw that there was a problem with the driver of the forklift, and he went to see if he could do anything to help. Unfortunately, the driver collapsed, and must have fallen against a mechanism that caused part of the truck to swivel, so that the load forks trapped the other man between the truck and the boxes. We've managed to free him, and he's fully conscious. There are no signs of any external wounds, but he's shocked and complaining of abdominal pain.'

  'Will you go and take a look at him, Allison, while I see to the driver?' Taylor asked.

  She nodded. The driver, a man in his fifties, didn't appear to be in a very good state, and she heard the paramedic say, 'He's conscious, but confused, and he's having some problems with his speech. There's also some weakness in his limbs. His blood pressure is high, too.'

  Her own patient appeared to be lucid enough, but his blood pressure was low, along with his heart rate, and she was concerned that he might have suffered internal injuries of some sort.

  'Hello, James. I'm Dr Matthews. I just want to examine you to see if there's any damage to your abdomen, if that's all right with you?'

  He nodded and said through gritted teeth, 'Just don't press too hard. It hurts like—well, it hurts, OK?'

  She nodded. 'I'll be careful.'

  When she had finished her examination, she was more concerned than ever that all wasn't well. She decided to put in an intravenous line, so that she could give James painkilling medication and administer saline. He looked as though he was about to pass out with the pain, and it was becoming obvious that his condition was deteriorating. She wasn't at all sure that they would get to the hospital before he lost consciousness.

  'What's the verdict?' Taylor asked, coming over to her.

  'I think there's a build-up of blood in the abdomen,' she said in a low voice, 'and I'm afraid that he might have ruptured his intestine. If that has happened, he's in trouble. I'm worried that he might go into shock and his circulation will close down.'

  'Then we need to alert a surgeon, and make sure that there's a theatre on standby. You'd better start him on prophylactic antibiotics and be ready to resuscitate him if necessary.' He looked at her steadily. 'Are you prepared for that, or do you want me to go in the ambulance in your place? You haven't seemed to be quite yourself today.'

  'No, I'll manage.' Perhaps he thought she was still on edge about her brother, but that didn't mean that she wasn't able to do her job.

  'All right, then, let's get both patients into the ambulance.'

  He went outside with the ambulance crew, supervising the transfer of the men, and Allison called the hospital and alerted them to be on standby. As she ended the call, she glanced around and saw that a small group of people had gathered, presumably coming out from the surrounding industrial units in order to see what had happened.

  'Allison?'

  She turned as she recognised that familiar voice, and her heart lifted when she saw his long, lanky figure. 'Nick.. .it's good to see you.' She drank in his features, her gaze skimming over his sun-bleached hair. 'I was worried when we had the callout in case it was you that was hurt. I'm so glad that it turned out not to be the case.'

  'You know me.. .I'm very careful.' Nick smiled at her. 'Is everything going all right? I know some, of the people who work over here, and I'd hate to think that any one of them is badly hurt.'

  'We won't know exactly what's wrong until we get them back to the hospital and do scans and tests,' she told him. 'For the moment, they're both doing as well as we can hope for in the circumstances.' She looked back at the ambulance, checking on the progress of the transfer. 'I'll have to go,' she said. 'I need to be in the ambulance with them.'

  Nick gave a quick nod. 'I saw that it was you when the ambulance car arrived, so I rushed into the office to pick this up for you—it's just a toy I've been working on for Connor. I've been meaning to bring it over to you these last couple of weeks, but we've been trying to finish off a special order and it's meant that we've been on the go the whole time.' He handed her a package and she gave him a swift hug.

  'Come over and see us as soon as you have some free time,' she said. 'Connor loves being with you.'

  'I will.'

  Taylor walked over to the ambulance car. 'Nick.' He inclined his head towards her brother in a noncommittal greeting.

  'Taylor.' Nick was very still for a moment, and then his mouth compressed before he turned away and walked back into his workshop.

  Allison's heart was heavy as she stepped into the ambulance. Would these two men never resolve their differences? Being older than she was, her brother had always looked out for her, but now it looked as though the tables were turning, and it was she who needed to be supportive of him.

  The ambulance driver made good speed on the way to the hospital, but by the time they arrived at their destination her patient had slipped into unconsciousness. Hurriedly she secured his airway with an endotracheal tube, making sure that he was receiving a high level of oxygen.

  Taylor's patient, Dave, was less of a worry. He was becoming more aware of what was going on around him, and he was asking what had happened, though some of his words were muddled and she guessed the disturbed flow of b
lood to his brain had caused some damage.

  'You passed out for a while,' she told him. 'We don't know why it happened, but we're taking you to the hospital for tests. It may be that your blood vessels have narrowed, causing small clots to form and cause a blockage in the arteries that supply blood to the brain. Or it could be that small cells in your blood have become sticky and are causing problems.'

  He frowned, and tried to say something, and she guessed that he wanted to know how they would find out what had gone wrong.

  'We'll do blood tests, a chest X-ray and a tracing of your heart activity. None of that is anything to worry about. Once we have a clearer picture of what we're dealing with, we can start treatment.'

  Taylor was on hand as soon as they arrived back at A and E, and he quickly gave instructions to the team about the tests he wanted done. Then he went with Allison to the resuscitation room to supervise James's treatment.

  'We'll do a peritoneal lavage,' he said, once they had the scan results. 'The scan doesn't show us what we need to know, but from his symptoms we know there's something bad going on in the abdomen. I'm going to run in 500 ccs of normal saline through a catheter into the abdominal cavity and siphon it out.'

  She worked with him on that, and while the procedure was going on, the surgeon came into the room.

  He noted the cloudiness of the siphoned liquid and said, 'There must be a tear somewhere. We need to take him up to Theatre so that I can repair it.'

  'You did well to pick up on that,' Taylor said, sometime later as she was writing up her notes. 'It isn't always easy to diagnose abdominal injury.'

  'What do you think his chances will be?' Allison was afraid that things might not go too well for their patient. She wanted to stay around and wait for the results, but she was conscious that it was nearing the end of her shift, and she needed to be home for Connor.

  'The surgeon is a good man. He knows what he's doing, and we discovered the problem in quick time. The biggest worry for James is that an infection could start up and overwhelm him, but you've started antibiotics, and everything possible is being done to put things right.'

  'That's true.' She sent him a fleeting glance. 'Are you going to check up on the other man now? I'd like to come with you to see how he's doing. I don't think he suffered a complete stroke, but I'm interested to know what happened to him.'

  'Of course.' He returned her gaze. 'It must have been good for you to see your brother this morning.'

  'I think the world of Nick. It's been a struggle for him to build up the business, but he's never given up on the idea, and I want things to go well for him. He had such great plans. I just wish that he could find a girl to share his dreams, but he always says that living with Mum and Dad made him wary of letting anyone get close.'

  Taylor's eyes darkened a fraction. 'I know that he was always very protective of you. He said that you would both hide away, listening to your parents argue, and you would hunch up and flinch at every raised voice.'

  Allison nodded. 'We were very young when the marriage broke down, and we were afraid that they would split up and our cosy world would disintegrate. Of course, that's exactly what happened. We spent our teenage years going from one parent to the other, and there was never any security, any feeling of well-being. I suppose that's why Nick and I have always been so close to one another.'

  It was also one of the reasons why she, like Nick, was guarded about letting anyone into her life. Nothing was permanent, nothing was guaranteed to be for ever, and she had learned that it was safer to keep away from situations that could draw her into any kind of involvement. It was better for her child, too, because she had learned that children were often hurt when relationships failed.

  They walked over to the treatment bay where Dave was resting in bed, propped up against pillows. He looked very much better than he had done earlier, but he was a little agitated.

  'I remember that my workmate, James, was coming towards me just before I passed out,' he said, looking at Allison. 'I heard him shout out. Is he all right?'

  Allison hesitated before she answered him. She was pleased that he had recovered his speech, although he still stumbled over one or two words, but she was unhappy at what she had to tell him.

  'He was pinned back against the storage boxes by the load forks and the body of the truck,' she told him. 'It caused some injury to his abdomen, and he's having surgery at the moment. As soon as I have any news, I'll come and let you know.'

  Dave made a low groan and closed his eyes. 'I'm so sorry. I wasn't sure what went on. Everything happened so quickly.'

  'It wasn't your fault,' Taylor murmured, glancing up from a folder of papers. 'You were taken ill, and you couldn't prevent what happened. People should know to stand clear when a forklift is in motion.'

  'Even so. He's my friend, and he tried to help me.'

  'Let's concentrate on your health for the moment,' Taylor said. 'I've been going through your test results, and it looks as though several things have combined to cause your problem. There seem to be a number of factors, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, so I think we'll work to change those things, and in the meantime we'll start you on low-dose aspirin. I'm going to get in touch with your general practitioner, and outline the treatment plan that we need to follow.'

  Taylor and Allison spoke to Dave for a few minutes longer, and when they had reassured themselves that he was feeling a little calmer, they left him in the care of the nurse.

  They walked towards the central desk, and Allison went to collect her bag from a locker nearby. 'I expect that I'll see you on Monday,' she said.

  Taylor glanced at the gold watch on his wrist, and she absently noted the light bronze of his skin and the smattering of dark hair that disappeared beneath his cuff. A flash of memory surged through her, of hands that were strong and capable, of his touch that was light as gossamer, his fingers gentle, trailing a fiery path over the softness of her flesh. Heat ricocheted through her, and she closed her eyes briefly, trying to shut out the vision.

  'Are you going off duty now?' he said, shooting her a quick look.

  She recovered herself. 'Yes, why? Was there something you wanted me to do?'

  He shook his head. 'No. It's just that, when we came from the ambulance, I saw you leave a parcel behind the desk, and I thought you might have forgotten that it was there.' He frowned. 'Perhaps you didn't mean to take it home with you.'

  'Oh.. .no, you're right. It had slipped my mind.' She went to retrieve the box, and when she came back towards Taylor, she put it on the desk in front of her and pulled in a deep breath.

  She said, 'Nick gave this to me.' Carefully, she removed the lid from the box to reveal a small wooden horse, cleverly designed, with limbs that moved independently of each other. It was beautiful in its simplicity, and she lifted it out and said, 'We were talking about this kind of toy a little while ago, me and Nick. You put the horse on a slope and it walks downhill by itself.'

  Taylor ran a finger over the carved wood. 'He's a marvellous craftsman, your brother.' He studied her thoughtfully. 'Is it a piece of nostalgia from your childhood, or did he make it for someone else? I know that Rhea has a little girl. Is it meant for her?'

  'No.' She hesitated. 'Actually, he made it for my little boy.' She looked at him directly, her green eyes troubled. 'You see, I have a son. His name's Connor.'

  Taylor stared at her. For a long while he said nothing, and then his jaw lifted and he seemed to gather himself together.

  'How old is he?'

  'He's just four. He started nursery school just a couple of months ago.' In fact, he was a few months over four years old, but she wasn't going to go into details about that. She didn't want him to start working out the relevant dates.

  His gaze ran over her, as though he was seeing her for the first time. 'I ought to have realised that things wouldn't stand still. I always knew that you had a thing going with Nick's partner.' His mouth straightened. 'I suppose he must be the father. You an
d Ben were always together, and I wondered if that's why you were so interested in having a part in the business, albeit just a monetary one.'

  He glanced at her left hand. 'I see that you're not wearing a ring. Does that mean that you're not together any more?'

  'We're just friends,' she said, and Taylor frowned.

  'Does he live with you?'

  'No.' She wasn't sure what to make of his assumption that Ben was the father. That one time that she and Taylor had come together, he had tried to ensure that she would not become pregnant, and they had both relied on the fact that she had been taking a contraceptive pill to regulate her body's hormones. Perhaps now he believed that she had been taking it because of a relationship with Ben.

  At the time, it hadn't occurred to her that the Pill might fail to protect her, but she had been ill for a brief time previously and had taken antibiotics. Taylor didn't know that, and maybe that made it impossible for him to imagine that the child might be his.

  Ought to she to tell him the truth? So far, Connor hadn't asked any questions about his daddy, but he needed a father, she was very much aware of that, and as he grew up, he would feel the loss more and more.

  But hadn't Greg said that very morning that Taylor wouldn't be staying around for long? What effect would that have on Connor, to get to know his father and then to lose him again? Maybe it was enough for the moment that Taylor managed to come to terms with the fact that she had a child. She would try to deal with the rest of her problems later.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Taylor was busy treating a patient for a suspected brain haemorrhage when Allison went into work on Monday morning, but he glanced at her as she passed by the resuscitation bay and inclined his head in a brief greeting. His mouth made a grim line, and that could have been because he was concerned for his patient, but Allison wasn't sure about that.

  She didn't get to talk to him from then onwards, even though she saw him from time to time, dealing with a steady stream of patients, and she began to wonder whether he was making a deliberate effort to stay away from her. Was he still brooding over the fact that she had a child? He had seemed to be shaken by her news, and she wasn't sure quite why it would have affected him that way.