‘I’m going straight now, Ez,’ her mother said. ‘I haven’t touched a drop for three days.’
Erin rolled her eyes. ‘And what about Bob or Bill or Brad, or whatever his name is? Is he going straight too?’
‘Just because you can’t pull a man doesn’t give you the right to slag me off. If you would just tart yourself up a bit you wouldn’t be living all alone with just a stupid cat for company.’
Erin felt anger rising in her like the froth of a soda poured too rapidly, threatening to overflow the glass of her control. She had to fight her temper back, knowing from experience it never worked with her mother. There was no hope of a rational conversation with someone in the grip of addiction. She had learned that earlier than any child should have to learn. Some people loved their fix more than their children. Leah Taylor was one of them. The drink and the drugs would always come first, her unsavoury boyfriends a close second. ‘Mum, I’m going to hang up now, OK?’ she said in a cool, calm voice. ‘I’ll call you in a couple of days.’
‘How can you turn your back on your own mother?’ Leah asked in a whining tone.
Erin closed her eyes as she thought of all the times her mother had abandoned her, leaving her to fend for herself until the authorities had finally stepped in. Years of being shunted from one foster home to another, with short periods of being reunited with her mother in some of Leah’s all-too-brief periods of sobriety. Yes, Erin could easily turn her back on her mother. It was either that or get hurt all over again. ‘I’ll call you later, Mum,’ she said again.
‘Selfish little cow,’ Leah snapped. ‘You’re just like your father.’
‘And that would be…?’ Erin asked pointedly.
Her mother slammed the phone down.
CHAPTER THREE
ERIN wasn’t sure why she went to that particular movie at that particular cinema, but at the time she had figured it was much better than spending the evening alone with her demons. The film was an art-house foreign-language one she had read a review about in one of the weekend papers. She took her seat and sipped at a diet soda; she barely read the subtitles, she just looked at the images flashing across the screen while her thoughts drifted elsewhere.
When she came out of the cinema the streets were crowded with people on their way home from dinner, or on their way to nightclubs for drinking and dancing. The noisy chatter and laughter of everyone having a good time as they enjoyed the balmy autumn evening made Erin wish she hadn’t come out after all.
She had never felt more alone in her life.
Eamon picked up his takeaway meal from his favourite restaurant, thrilled that the same people were still running it since he had left to work in the UK a couple of years ago. Right now he could think of nothing better than a cold beer and a madras curry, maybe watching some cricket on television or catching up on some current affairs on the Net.
He suddenly noticed a slight figure in the small crowd that was milling out of the local cinema, her shiny chestnut hair loose about her face instead of tightly pulled back. She was wearing jeans and a loose shirt over a camisole top, with ballet flats on her feet. Her eyes were downcast as she weaved her way through the knots of people, as if she didn’t want to be noticed.
Eamon was on his way to her when he saw a boisterous couple coming the other way jostle against her, almost knocking her over.
‘Hey, watch where you’re going,’ the young male half of the couple said belligerently.
Eamon quickly broke through the crowd and put his arm around Erin’s waist, pulling her close to his side. ‘Sorry I’m late, sweetheart,’ he said. Then, turning to look at the obstreperous pair, he gave them the full force of his commanding gaze. ‘Is there a problem here?’
The couple exchanged a glance, the young man eventually giving a shrug. ‘It’s cool, mate. I guess I wasn’t watching where I was going.’
‘That’s what I thought,’ Eamon said, and stood with his arm still around Erin’s waist until they had moved on.
Erin felt the nerves beneath her skin tingle with feelings she had never felt before. The weight of his arm was unfamiliar, but not in any way unpleasant. With him standing so close to her she could smell his light citrus-based aftershave; she could even see the individual points of stubble on his jaw. The most primal feelings swept over her. No one had ever sprung to protect her before. It awakened such deep yearnings she had trouble disguising how affected she was. To cover her vulnerability, she stepped out of his embrace and dusted herself off, as if his touch had contaminated her in some way. ‘Thanks,’ she mumbled. ‘But the sweetheart thing was a bit over-the-top, don’t you think?’
His mouth curved upwards in a smile. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘It worked, didn’t it?’
Erin found her lips wanting to return his smile, but she controlled them by biting the inside of her mouth.
‘So, where’s your date?’ he asked, looking up and down the street before returning his gaze to hers.
‘What date? Oh…’ She felt her face colour again. ‘Um…they couldn’t make it at the last minute.’
‘Another doctor, huh?’
‘Um…’ She looked away. ‘No. Just a… Someone who couldn’t make it.’
‘Story of my life,’ he said with a hint of wryness.
Erin looked at him. ‘You got stood up?’ Her voice came out slightly incredulous.
‘You didn’t turn up for the first ward-round,’ he said, skewering her with his gaze.
Erin bit her lip and turned away. ‘I know. I’m sorry, I had a tough case to deal with. I lost track of time.’
‘I realise it won’t always be possible to attend each one, but the plan overall is to improve continuity of care,’ he said. ‘Today’s round showed up a few holes in the system, so it will be good to work on those. I can fill you in on what went on so you don’t feel out of the loop.’
Erin had always felt out of the loop, but she didn’t tell him so. She hadn’t gone to the right school, and she certainly hadn’t come from the right family. She didn’t mix with the high-flyers; she just got on with her job, hoping to make a difference where she could. ‘You seem pretty sure this set-up will work,’ she said. ‘Is this new system something you experienced overseas?’
‘Yes and no,’ he said. ‘I’ve worked in several A&E departments now, and I’ve seen a lot of avoidable problems occur because communication with the medical staff in A&E stopped the moment the patient was rolled out the door of the department—problems that would have been avoided with a structured follow-through plan involving the staff who did the primary assessment.’
Erin suddenly noticed the takeaway bag he was carrying. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t realise I was holding you up from your dinner.’
‘You’re not holding me up,’ he said. ‘I was just on my way home. Did you drive or walk?’
‘I walked,’ she said. ‘Parking is always a pain down here at this time of night.’
‘Like most cities,’ he agreed. ‘I’ll walk back with you. Have you had dinner? I’ve got enough to share if you’d like to join me.’
Erin felt her cheeks flush. ‘Oh no…I wouldn’t want to intrude.’
‘You’re not intruding. Besides, I can tell you how the ward-round went while we eat.’
Erin wanted to refuse but the thought of the rest of the evening alone was suddenly not as welcome as it had been earlier. She told herself she should at least be polite to Eamon after he had come to her rescue so gallantly. Surely she owed him an hour or two of her time? ‘Thanks, that would be nice,’ she said, glancing at him shyly.
Following the short walk back, Eamon activated the security pass to the apartment block and waited for her to precede him. The elevator ride was swift but to Erin it felt as if it was taking for ever. She didn’t know what to say; she didn’t even know where to stand. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, half-leaning, half-standing against the bare wall of the elevator. She felt awkward, gauche and out of place, certain he was wondering what was
wrong with her. He was probably used to the most sophisticated of women, wining and dining them in world-class restaurants. No doubt he bedded them as well, taking pleasure where he found it, almost certainly giving it back one-hundredfold. She kept her arms folded across her chest but even so she could still feel where his arm had been about her waist.
She began to imagine what it would feel like to have his touch on other parts of her body—her mouth, for instance. His mouth was a sensual one, the lower lip fuller than the top one, making her lips start to tingle in anticipation of feeling its firmness against hers. Would he kiss softly or firmly? Would he cup her face or hold her by the shoulders? Would he…?
The doors of the elevator opening catapulted her out of her wayward thoughts. With her colour still high, she moved past Eamon as he held the doors open with the strong band of his arm, her heart doing little skips in her chest as she breathed in his scent once more. She felt ashamed of her reaction, and hoped to God he wasn’t picking up on it. How foolish of her to be so taken in by good looks and easy charm. He was her boss, for goodness’ sake! What sort of a fool would she be to compromise her professionalism by becoming involved with a colleague? In any case, given her background, how soon would he stay interested in her? She could hardly take him home to meet her mother and her latest junkie boyfriend. Men like Eamon Chapman dated women from the right side of the tracks, not trailer-park misfits.
‘I’m sorry the place is still a bit of a mess,’ Eamon said as he opened his apartment door. ‘I should be an expert at unpacking by now; I’ve done it enough times.’
Not as many times as me, Erin thought as she followed him inside. ‘Can I do anything to help?’ she asked.
‘No, just take a seat and I’ll get some plates,’ he said. ‘Would you like a glass of wine? I’ve got red and white, or beer if you’d prefer.’
‘I’m not much of a drinker, so don’t open anything specially.’
‘One glass of wine won’t hurt you,’ he said, taking a bottle of chilled white wine from the fridge. ‘It’ll help you relax.’
Erin pulled at her bottom lip with her teeth. ‘Is it that obvious?’
He gave her a reassuring smile. ‘Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself. That drunken jerk would have frightened most people. He was probably pretty harmless, but these days you never can tell.’
Erin hadn’t given the inebriated young man another thought. It was the stone-cold sober, gorgeous one standing in front of her right now that was her real concern. ‘I guess I should think about taking some self-defence classes,’ she said, taking the glass of wine he handed her.
‘Not a bad idea,’ he said. ‘You’re so tiny it wouldn’t take much to knock you off your feet.’
Erin felt a shivery feeling move down her spine. How could one casual, throwaway comment make her feel so utterly feminine? She buried her nose in her glass, keeping her gaze averted from his while her heart did funny little somersaults behind her ribcage.
Eamon found plates and cutlery and soon had the food dished up and placed on the kitchen table. ‘There you go,’ he said, handing her a napkin.
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘This is very good of you. I was going to have cheese on toast.’
‘It’s a good standby, I’ll grant you,’ he said. ‘But it’ll hardly give you the energy for the sort of hours we work.’
‘No, I guess not.’
Eamon watched as she picked delicately at the food. She seemed ill at ease but he couldn’t quite decide if it was his company or the experience on the street earlier. He couldn’t help comparing her to his three boisterous, extroverted sisters who each sailed through life making numerous friends as they went. Erin Taylor had a guarded air about her, as if she didn’t warm to people easily, nor expect them to warm to her. ‘So, what did you think of the film?’ he asked.
She glanced up from her plate, blinking at him for a moment. ‘Film?’
He offered her more curry but she shook her head. He served himself some more as he said, ‘The French film you went to see. I saw you amongst the crowd coming out of the cinema. What was it like?’
‘Oh…’ She put down her fork and dabbed at her mouth with her napkin, not quite meeting his eyes. ‘It was…OK.’
‘Worth seeing?’
She put her napkin down and briefly met his eyes. ‘The cinematography was wonderful.’
‘And the storyline?’
She gnawed at her lip in an engaging, little-girl-lost manner. ‘Um…it was…it was…’
Eamon laughed. ‘It’s all right; I get the picture—literally.’
‘Oh no,’ she said, looking a little shocked. ‘I didn’t mean to imply it was not worth seeing. It’s just that I had other things on my mind…’ She gave a little sigh that seemed to come from deep inside her. ‘Look, I’m really sorry I didn’t make it to the ward-round. I know you probably think I deliberately missed it but something came up and I thought I should attend to it.’
‘It’s cool, Erin,’ he said, watching as she blushed when he spoke her name for the first time.
Her gaze fell away from his. ‘I…I guess I should get going,’ she said, pushing back her chair. ‘Thanks for the meal, it was lovely.’
‘You don’t have to rush off, surely?’ he said, suddenly realising how much he wanted her to stay. ‘I’ll put the kettle on for coffee.’
She appeared to hesitate, making him wonder if she was as reluctant to leave as he was for her to go. The thought secretly thrilled him. They were two single adults with time on their hands. Sure, they worked together, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t keep their professional lives separate from their private ones. He’d had relationships with colleagues before; it took a little juggling at times, but he was at a time in his life when he was looking for more. He wasn’t entirely sure Erin Taylor was the one to give him the whole package, but she had certainly spiked his interest with her shy, almost gauche manner. She intrigued him, and not a lot of women did that any more. He saw through the flirty come-and-get-me wiles too easily, having witnessed his sisters bring too many men to their knees. No, Erin Taylor was something else—something he was starting to realise was worth investigating a little further.
‘One coffee, then,’ she said, getting up to help clear the dishes.
Eamon took the plates from her, and their hands met briefly. He saw the way her pupils flared, as if he had sent a current straight from his body to hers. He felt the same current fire through him, lighting a fire in his groin that flickered and then roared. His eyes went to her mouth, the soft cushion of it tempting him to lean forward to taste it. She had not once in the whole time he had known her smiled at him. Suddenly it seemed imperative that she did. ‘Has anyone told you what lovely brown eyes you have?’ he asked.
She suddenly stepped back. ‘I’ve changed my mind about that coffee,’ she said tightly. ‘I need to feed Molly.’
Eamon bit back a curse as she stalked to the door. He had never been rejected for a cat before and it stung—badly. ‘Erin…’ He raked his hand through his hair, feeling as if he had time-travelled back to his hormone-raging teens. ‘I didn’t mean to offend you. I was just—’
She turned at the door, fixing him with a cold, hard stare. ‘You didn’t,’ she said. ‘I just have other priorities right now.’ And with that she left.
‘Are you sure you want to work a full week of nights?’ the nursing supervisor in charge of the rosters asked Erin the next morning. ‘I thought you hated night duty.’
‘I do, but then who doesn’t?’ Erin said. ‘I just thought I’d get them all over with at once for a change.’
‘This doesn’t have anything to do with the new director, does it?’ Gwen asked, narrowing her gaze playfully. ‘I heard he’s turning everything upside down in the department.’
Erin felt her cheeks heating. ‘I am sure he’s well intentioned,’ she said, keeping her voice flat with disinterest.
‘He’s rather gorgeous looking,’ Gwen said. ‘If I was twenty
years younger, I would be making sure I was doing mirror shifts with him.’
Erin took her duty roster from the printer, keeping her expression blank. ‘I’d better get going. The waiting room was empty when I left, but who knows how long that will last?’
It lasted all of ten minutes. By the time Erin got back there was a line-up at the door and she didn’t surface from assessing, treating and admitting until it was mid-afternoon.
She was on her way to the doctors’ room on the third floor when she ran into one of the senior surgeons, Arthur Gourlay. She mentally rolled her eyes and forced her face into a polite mask. ‘Good afternoon, Mr Gourlay,’ she said.
‘What’s the meaning of sending me patients without adequate pain-relief?’ he blustered without preamble. ‘I’ve had the family on my back for the last hour.’
Erin frowned. ‘Which patient are you referring to?’
‘That woman you admitted late this morning,’ he said. ‘The elderly one with bowel obstruction, Mrs Pappas.’
Erin clearly remembered ordering pethidine for the woman in question; she had signed for it, as per hospital regulations, although in this case the nurse on duty had administered it as Erin had been called to another emergency. ‘Mr Gourlay, Mrs Pappas had pethidine in A&E and soon after was sent up to Surg B. If she was still in pain, I was unaware of it, as she ceased to be my responsibility once she was admitted to the ward.’
‘This is not the first time this has happened,’ Arthur Gourlay said. ‘I’m going to have a word to the director about it. He’s got a point about this follow-through thing. It seems once a patient is out of A&E they cease to exist.’
Erin felt her back stiffen. ‘That’s not true. It’s just that A&E was full all morning. Mrs Pappas was properly assessed and given pain-relief as per my instructions. You can check my notes if you don’t believe me.’
‘What seems to be the problem?’ Eamon Chapman asked from behind her.
Emergency Doctor and Cinderella Page 4
