Josh followed her home. ‘I wanted to make sure you and Katie were safe on these icy roads,’ he said.
‘You are so sweet,’ Katie murmured, sliding out of the passenger seat as he held open the car door for her. ‘But the truth is you wanted to be with Alison, isn’t that right?’ She gave him a long, thoughtful stare. ‘She’s been hurt before, you know. Play with her feelings and you have to answer to us.’
Alison nudged her in the ribs. ‘I can take care of myself, Katie. Now, scoot into the house and tell Taylor and Sam to clear up the mess they made last night. I have to go and check on Fraser and the children.’
‘How do you know they made a mess?’
‘When don’t they?’
‘True.’ Katie nodded and went into the house, leaving Alison to park the car in the garage and head next door.
‘Come in and I’ll make some soup,’ Alison said, gesturing to Josh to follow. ‘I doubt Fraser will have thought to make something hot for the children. He can run to sandwiches, or maybe even toast, but his culinary skills don’t extend much further than that.’
Fraser was already in the kitchen, but he looked pale and anxious, and Chaser was whining—a pathetic, mournful sound that grated on the ears. In the corner of the kitchen a scattering of broken wood pieces surrounded the wicker bed that Martha had managed to obtain for him, and there were teeth marks all around the edges of the bed. Chaser had been busy.
Josh went over to the dog, stroking his head and tickling him behind the ears.
Alison knew something was wrong. Despite his problems, Fraser was usually outgoing and full of life.
‘What’s the matter?’ she asked. A shiver of fear clutched her chest. ‘Is it Gran? Has something happened to her? Has she had a relapse of some sort?’
Fraser shook his head, almost as though he couldn’t bring himself to speak. ‘No,’ he managed finally. ‘Nothing like that.’
‘What is it then?’ She gazed around the kitchen and peered into the sitting room. There was no noise—no sound of children’s voices. ‘Where are Jason and Rachel?’ she asked. ‘Did you pick them up from school?’
He nodded and tried to speak, but his voice was strained and no sound would come out. He tried again. ‘I’ve lost them. I’m useless. I gave them milk and biscuits and said they should go and play in their bedrooms while I finished off some work I was doing. Then Dad rang, and I spoke to him for…what…? fifteen minutes…no more than that, I swear. When I went to check on them, they’d disappeared.’
‘Have you looked outside?’ Josh was already peering out into the darkness of the garden.
‘Of course I have. There aren’t even any footprints because the snow has covered everything.’
‘You’ve shouted? Called their names?’ Alison was concerned, her conscious mind telling her that nothing major could have happened to them, but her subconscious was working overtime.
‘Yes…yes, I’ve done all that. I’ve looked all through the house. I’ve checked every nook and cranny in case they were playing hide and seek. I don’t know where they are. I’ve even told Chaser to go through all the rooms, but they’re not in the house.’
Josh was thoughtful. ‘There’s only one thing to be done, then. We’ll let Chaser loose outside and see if he can find them.’
‘We’d better put him on the lead,’ Alison said. ‘I don’t want to have to tell Tom and Martha we lost him, too.’
Despite the seriousness of the occasion, Josh gave her a look of wry amusement. ‘I’m not so sure Tom wouldn’t be inclined to thank you for that.’
Alison hooked the lead on Chaser’s collar and opened the back door. The dog raced outside like an animal starved of all the good things in life and, nose down, followed a zigzag path all over the garden. Then, confused, he followed his tail for a while, before taking off once more and hurtling in the direction of the shed. There he stood, barking and whining and causing so much commotion that Katie, Taylor and Sam came out to see what was going on.
Fraser opened the shed door and peered into the darkness. ‘It’s pitch-black in here,’ he said. ‘I can’t see a thing.’
Chaser dashed inside, sending brooms and spades and garden tools crashing to the floor. They heard a child’s muted shriek, and then Rachel’s voice said, ‘Get off, Chaser. Stop slobbering over me.’
‘Now you’ve given the game away,’ Jason said crossly. ‘And I bet it’s your fault they found us. I told you to keep the torch switched off. Now they’ll take us away and make us live in a children’s home. It’s all your fault, Rachel. Why couldn’t you keep quiet? Ouch. Chaser—get off me.’
Alison let out a huge sigh of relief. She let go of the dog’s lead and turned towards Josh, who obligingly held her tight and let her cry out her feelings all over his leather jacket.
They all trooped back towards the house. Reassured, now that the children had been found safe and well, Alison remembered that Fraser had said he’d spoken to their father on the phone.
‘Did Dad call for a special reason?’ she asked him as they went into the kitchen. ‘Or was it just for a chat? You said Gran was all right?’
‘She’s fine—healing up nicely, he said.’ Fraser relaxed for the first time since she’d arrived home. ‘He called to tell me that he spoke to the Dean about me being sent down from university, and apparently between them they worked out a solution. The Dean’s going to put it to the committee that I acted with the best of intentions, and they’re going to look into the possibility of changing the rules on internet use. He seemed to accept that I hadn’t been cheating in any way, and he says he’s sure I’ll be allowed back there next term.’
Alison laid a gentle hand on his arm. ‘That’s wonderful news. You must be really pleased.’
He nodded. ‘It’s been a worry. It didn’t occur to me that Dad would talk to the Dean, but I’m glad he did.’
They concentrated on looking after the children after that, with Alison making hot soup while Josh and Fraser did what they could to warm the children and make sure they’d suffered no ill effects from their time in the shed.
Later, when they were seated around the kitchen table, enjoying soup and crusty rolls along with hot jacket potatoes, and the dog had been treated to extra rations for finding them, Alison explained to the children that there was no chance of them being taken to a children’s home.
‘But that’s what the Year Six children said at school,’ Rachel protested. ‘They said if your parents aren’t there for you you have to be taken away.’
‘They said you don’t get the chance to say you don’t want to go. They just come and take you anyway.’ Jason added his piece.
‘That’s not going to happen,’ Alison said. ‘We’re going to look after you—Fraser and me—until your parents come home.’
‘Really?’
‘Really.’
There was a short silence. ‘Will they be back for Christmas?’ Jason asked. ‘Will we still get our presents?’
Rachel glared at him. ‘That’s not important,’ she said.
‘Yes, it is. Why are you looking at me like that? I didn’t do anything wrong.’
Fraser cut into the argument. ‘Tell you what,’ he said, ‘if you two go upstairs and get ready for bed, I promise you that tomorrow we’ll put up some Christmas decorations and make the place ready for when your mum and dad come home.’
‘Yes!’ Jason said, making a victory salute.
‘Chaser ate the top of the tree,’ Rachel said, looking doubtful.
‘I know.’ Fraser pulled a face. ‘We’ll sort something out.’
An hour later the children were fast asleep in bed, and Fraser went next door to listen to music through his headphones.
Alison sank down on the settee, exhausted by the day’s events. Josh came and sat down beside her, sliding an arm around her.
‘Everything’s turned out for the best, hasn’t it?’ he said. ‘The children are happy now, and I’ve arranged to operate on Tom’s knee the day
after tomorrow. Both he and Martha will be out of hospital in time for Christmas…But you still look sad. Do you want to tell me about it?’
She snuggled up against him. How could she tell him that she wanted him to stay with her for ever and a day? With him by her side she could face pretty much anything.
‘I’m fine,’ she said. ‘I suppose I’m feeling a little strange because nothing has gone quite the way I planned. It’ll be Christmas in a few days, and usually it follows a lovely, comfortable pattern. I’m unsettled, a bit worried about how things will turn out. But that can’t compare with a fraction of what you go through every year.’
She gazed up at him. ‘What are you going to do about Christmas?’ she asked softly. ‘Have you made up your mind? If you haven’t, you could come with me and spend Christmas with my family. My parents are going to stay over at my grandparents’ house, but I know they would all welcome you. I’d like you to be there…but of course I understand if you’ve already made arrangements to go home.’
More than anything she wanted him to spend the time with her, but she wasn’t going to be selfish and ask him to upset his mother’s plans, or his father’s, or even his own.
‘Thank you for that.’ He dropped a kiss on her forehead. ‘You know, I haven’t given it much thought over these last few weeks. I’ve been trying to push it to the back of my mind for a long while now.’ He flashed her a rueful smile. ‘Like you, I’ll be working on Christmas morning—my mother knows that, so she’s keeping that in mind. She’ll have a houseful, with Michelle and the rest of the brood.’ He ran his fingers idly through her hair and seemed to be preoccupied. ‘What’s Fraser going to do about Christmas?’
‘I think he’s planning to go home on the train on Christmas Eve.’
‘That’s good.’
He changed the subject, starting to talk of Fraser’s good news about university. Alison commented here and there, simply glad to have him near, but as she curled into his arms she gave an inward sigh.
Without Josh the holiday season would seem empty. But he hadn’t taken up her invitation, had he? He wasn’t offering to spend Christmas with her.
Chapter Ten
THE bells rang out at the first stroke of midnight. Alison stood very still and listened as Christmas Eve turned into Christmas Day, and the sound of carols being sung at Midnight Mass floated on the air throughout the emergency department.
Then the music was drowned out by the sudden bleeping of monitors, and Alison hurried into the treatment room where Josh was examining a patient. The man had complained of tightness in his chest, and difficulty in catching his breath.
She could see straight away that he was very ill, in a lot of pain, and his skin was clammy and pale. His ECG reading was erratic.
‘I believe you’re having a heart attack, Martyn,’ Josh said quietly, adjusting the oxygen mask over the man’s nose and mouth. ‘The paramedic who brought you in here gave you aspirin to help thin your blood, but now we’re going to give you medication through a tube in your arm. It will help to break up any clots that might be blocking your circulation.’
Alison was already preparing an infusion of thrombolytic drugs, along with painkilling diamorphine and something to prevent sickness.
‘We’ll add a beta-blocker to help widen the blood vessels,’ Josh said, glancing at Alison, ‘and then, once he’s stabilised, we’ll run some tests.’
They worked with the man for some time, monitoring him and making sure that his distress was eased. Alison was conscious that his wife and young children were anxiously waiting for news in another room, but he was too ill for them to be allowed to see him. It would have been far too upsetting for the children, a boy and girl.
Josh waited until it was clear that Martyn was feeling more comfortable, and appeared to be free from pain and breathing more easily, before he told the nurse she could bring his family in.
‘I’ll do a nuclear scan of the heart and blood vessels,’ Josh said, as he walked with Alison away from the treatment room and into the central area of the department. ‘The tracer will pick up any signs of abnormality, and we can decide what to do from there.’
‘Poor man. He’ll definitely be spending the next few days in hospital.’ Alison made a face. ‘It must be very hard for his children.’ She thought about it for a moment or two, but then her expression lightened. ‘It makes me feel so much better to know that Tom and his family are at home together…and all thanks to you.’
‘It wasn’t just down to me.’ He began to walk towards the annexe. ‘The team that helped me with the operation deserve some recognition, don’t you think? But it was an operation well worth doing. If he sticks to his physiotherapy he’ll be back at work within a matter of weeks. His boss will be pleased about that, at any rate. The supervisor thinks it was sheer bad luck, the way things happened.’
‘But in the end everything’s turned out well because of you.’ She went over to the worktop where the percolator was steaming, and started to pour coffee into two mugs. ‘I was wrong about private medicine. I take back everything I said.’
He raised his brows at that, and her mouth quirked into a crooked shape. ‘Perhaps my opinion was soured by the way my ex-boyfriend behaved. What began as a feeling that the situation was a bit unfair turned into a distaste for practices in medicine that were money-orientated. Perhaps I was simply acting out my unhappiness and frustration for the way Rob treated me. I don’t know what I ever saw in him.’
She offered him a cup of coffee, a smile hovering on her lips. ‘I realise that you’re not at all what I expected of doctors who work in the private sector.’
‘So you don’t think too badly of me after all?’ he murmured, looking at her over the rim of his cup as he sipped the hot liquid. ‘There’s a chance for me to redeem myself? I’m no longer a lost cause?’
‘You know what I think of you,’ she said huskily. ‘I was full of preconceived ideas, and you’ve turned all of them on their heads. You’re a wonderful man—the best—and I just wish that I could help you to change the way you feel about family and relationships in general.’
He frowned. ‘I love my family. And I told you once before, I do care about people. I just think relationships become skewed somewhere along the way.’
‘Not all of them.’ She smiled. ‘I spent the evening with Tom and his family, and despite their injuries they are so happy together.’
She had hoped that Josh would come and join them for the evening, but he had disappeared after finishing his shift and hadn’t answered his phone when she rang him.
Perhaps his feelings for her were as he had said in the beginning…light with no strings, just a fun arrangement.
She tried to shake off the thought. ‘Jason and Rachel were tucked up in bed, dreaming of dolls and fire trucks and happy family gatherings, I imagine. The whole house was filled with the joy of the Christmas season, though I dare say a lot of that was down to Fraser’s handiwork. He decorated it with beautiful Christmas bells, and mobiles that catch the light, and he even managed to rescue the tree. It’s covered in baubles—in a bit of a haphazard fashion, because the children did most of it and one or two of the baubles had to be thrown away after Chaser tried to get in on the act—but Fraser stuck a huge star on the top, and it makes the whole thing look perfect, somehow.’
Josh smiled. ‘I’m glad everything’s worked out well for them. You’re right. They’re a lovely example of how things can be within a family, aren’t they?’ His expression changed, becoming darker. ‘It’s very much like that with the family who are here with us today. They seem to be a strong family unit. I just hope we can pull Martyn through and give him the chance to enjoy being part of it for a lot longer.’
Alison would have answered, but a nurse came to the annexe then, saying, ‘You’re needed in Resus, Josh. There’s a woman suffering an asthma attack.’ She turned to Alison. ‘And someone in the treatment room needs stitches to his arm.’
And so it was for the next
few hours. Alison hardly had time to think about the fact that it was actually Christmas Day. If it hadn’t been for one of the nurses setting up a nativity scene in Reception—a wooden stable, with a manger filled with straw and the baby Jesus in his mother’s arms, Joseph looking on—she might even have missed the significance of the day.
That same nurse seemed to sprinkle a liberal helping of Christmas cheer around the department. ‘There’s someone to see you, Alison,’ she said. ‘He’s in the waiting room.’
Who did she know from around here that would make a point of coming to see her? Her curiosity aroused, Alison went to see who it was, and when she opened the door and saw Rees standing there her heart gave a little flip. But he wasn’t alone. Her friend Jack was with him, along with a woman Alison guessed must be Rees’s mother.
‘Rees—Jack. I’m so pleased to see you,’ Alison said. She nodded a greeting towards the woman, who smiled back at her.
‘I just came to say hello, Happy Christmas, and thanks for putting me in touch with Jack,’ Rees said. ‘Everything’s changed since I talked to you, and Jack has helped me to sort things out.’ He put an arm around the woman, holding her in a warm embrace. ‘This is my mother,’ he said. ‘She was hurt, but now she’s so much better, and we’re going to make a fresh start—thanks to Jack.’
‘I’m so glad for you,’ Alison said. ‘I knew things would work out if you told Jack what was going on.’
Jack came and gave her a hug. ‘I’ve managed to find them a house to rent, and the police are dealing with Rees’s stepdad. He won’t be causing them any more trouble, and I’ll be there to keep an eye on them, make sure they’re all right.’ He smiled. ‘In fact we’re all having Christmas dinner together at the house, so I’m hoping things are looking up all round.’
‘That’s great news.’ Alison looked at Rees’s mother. ‘I’m pleased you have somewhere to stay. Jack’s a good man. I knew he would help you.’
The woman nodded, her lips curving. ‘Yes, he is.’ She reached out and took Alison’s hand in hers. ‘I wanted to say thank you for looking after my son. We both appreciate it—very much.’
Hot-Shot Doc, Christmas Bride / Christmas At Rivercut Manor Page 14
