by Lucy Clark
‘What are you laughing at?’ he asked as she took the turnoff to Appleton.
‘Nothing. I’m just…I’m happy.’
His smile melted her insides and the quick squeeze he gave her leg sent spirals of desire shooting throughout her body. She quickly returned her attention to the road, especially as it was now beginning to wind and curve.
Jackson marvelled at the scenery, the large evergreen trees topped with ivy which were so natural, so untouched. He glanced at Susie, the smile still on her face as she concentrated on negotiating the curves and hairpin bends.
Today he felt as though he could breathe, and he was loving it. They’d called a truce, happy and content to be with each other. When she’d told him she was happy, a warmth had spread through him. He had made her happy. Being with him was making her happy and if he owned the truth, he felt the same way.
He marvelled once again at how different everything was between Susie and himself. The way they’d met, the instant attraction, the desire that neither had been able to control. This was so primal, so necessary. Everything was so different from the ways he’d courted in the past—even with Alison.
Alison. He shook his head and pushed the thought away, ignoring the stab of guilt as he tucked his wife into a far corner of his mind. Today wasn’t about Alison. Today wasn’t about decisions. Today was about spending time with Susie.
‘Here we are,’ she announced, bringing him back to reality. She pulled into a driveway and switched off the engine.
They climbed out and walked to the front door. Susie rang the doorbell and looked across at Jackson. He took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. Moments later the loud thumping sounds of children’s shoes on wooden floors could be heard before the door was swung open.
‘Susie!’ Rebekah squealed as she unlocked the screen door.
‘Hello,’ Edward chimed in, then looked up at Jackson. ‘Who are you?’
‘I’m Jackson,’ he said. ‘A friend of Susie’s.’
Nick and Mallory’s housekeeper, Arlene, came down the corridor, wiping her hands on her apron as Rebekah led them into the house. ‘Hi, Susie. Welcome, Professor Myers.’
‘Jackson, please,’ he insisted, and offered his hand in greeting.
Arlene frowned. ‘I’m afraid Nicholas and Mallory aren’t here, Susie, but your arrival couldn’t have been more timely.’
‘Come and have a look at my cars,’ Edward was saying as he tugged on Susie’s arm.
‘Just a minute, sweetheart,’ she said as she scooped him up for a quick cuddle.
‘They can’t stay,’ Rebekah told her three-year-old brother. ‘They have to go to the hospital. Remember?’
‘Oh.’ Edward wriggled down.
‘Becka’s right.’ Arlene turned her attention to the children. ‘Why don’t you two go and play for now? Go on,’ she said, shooing them with her hands. ‘I’ll be there in a minute.’
Both children reluctantly walked back up the corridor. ‘Bye, Susie,’ Rebekah said and Edward copied her. ‘Come back next weekend.’
‘I’ll try,’ she said, blowing them kisses.
‘There’s been an emergency,’ Arlene said once the children were out of earshot. ‘A car accident. A young local woman, Annabel Dexter, and her son, Brayden.’ Arlene lowered her voice. ‘He’s three and a good friend of Eddie’s. Apparently she lost control and the car hit a tree.’
‘When did it happen?’ Jackson asked.
‘A while ago now. Mallory and Nick are both on the retrieval team,’ she explained to Jackson, ‘but Nick was hoping you’d go to the hospital so you’re ready for when the patients arrive.’
Susie nodded. ‘I know the drill. Thanks, Arlene.’ She turned and headed back through the door.
‘I’m so sorry your visit has to be cut short.’
‘I’m glad we’re here to help,’ Jackson told her. When they were in the car and on their way to the hospital, Jackson asked, ‘Do you often come here to help out?’
‘Sure. Several staff do. Our orthopaedic department supports a clinic here and I’m on the rotation. We also help out in emergencies so I know my way around.’
‘Good.’ He watched her for a second, concern drawing his brows together. ‘There’s something else bothering you,’ he stated.
Susie parked the car outside the hospital and turned to look at him, surprised that he’d picked up on her emotions. ‘What makes you say that?’
‘Your body is tense and you’re frowning in concern.’
‘Oh. Well, yes, I am concerned…about Mallory. Years ago she was involved in a terrible accident and says she only survived because of the retrieval team personnel.’
‘So now she does retrieval herself.’ Jackson nodded.
‘Yes, but each time she attends one, she has horrible nightmares. Although, since she married Nick six years ago, she’s said they haven’t been too bad.’
‘We just go on,’ he murmured with a shrug. ‘We face what we have to face and we deal with it.’
‘Yes.’ She sighed.
‘Come here.’ His mouth was warm and comforting when it pressed to hers. Susie closed her eyes, revelling in the bursts of desire that spread through her. The kisses were soft and reassuring, both of them drawing from them extra strength to deal with whatever was about to come their way. ‘Ready?’ Jackson gazed down into her eyes, holding firmly to his self-control, knowing that if he stared for too long he’d lose himself completely and now certainly wasn’t the time.
‘Let’s go.’
When they entered the hospital, Susie was welcomed like an old friend. Everyone was friendly and professional, just as he’d experienced in every other hospital he’d been in during the past year. The difference here was that he was just a colleague of Susie’s. She hadn’t introduced him as Professor but merely Jackson Myers. He liked it. He liked the feeling of being incognito, of not being questioned about techniques or differences in methods. Instead, he was allowed to do his job—that of helping out in an emergency.
Fifteen minutes later they received information that both patients were out of the wreck and on their way. A list of injuries were presented and Susie and Jackson discussed how best to deal with them. They notified Brisbane General as well as contacting the children’s hospital. The helicopter was ready, the theatre and radiology staff were waiting to go and, as the orthopaedic surgeon in charge, Susie was starting to get impatient for the patients to arrive.
Annabel Dexter’s list of injuries was long. Both legs were fractured—the left and right femur as well as the right tibia and fibula. Her right shoulder was dislocated and her right humerus had sustained a break. She had concussion but had regained consciousness during the rescue.
She also had internal injuries, which Nick would be required to stabilise, and as he was heading back in the ambulance with the patient, they’d decided that Jackson and Nick should start on Annabel.
The report on her son, Brayden, wasn’t so bad. He’d hit his head so they’d need to check that out, but he didn’t appear to be suffering from concussion. His left leg was broken, as was his right arm. The shock the child had endured was what tugged at Susie’s heart strings.
She’d almost specialised in paediatric orthopaedics but had found that she hadn’t been able to bear the suffering children went through. She had been more of an emotional wreck than the child. She’d get Brayden sorted out and send him off to Brisbane in the helicopter to let the experts take care of him.
When the first ambulance finally arrived, the entire A and E was buzzing with activity.
They had a look at the patient and ordered X-rays, and while the pictures were being taken Nick crossed to Susie’s side and hugged her.
‘Thanks for being here.’
‘Good timing,’ she murmured, before introducing Jackson.
The two men shook hands. ‘Sorry to be meeting under such circumstances,’ Nick said, ‘but at least an emergency will be a bit of a change for you.’
Jackson nodd
ed. ‘You’re not wrong there.’
‘The second ambulance should be here any minute now.’ Nick was clearly in control. After all, this was his hospital. ‘Susie, you’ll be checking Brayden out. I presume the chopper’s ready to go to Brisbane?’
‘Yes,’ they answered in unison, and smiled at each other.
‘Excellent.’
‘Where’s Mallory?’
Nick shook his head and raked his hand frustratedly through his hair. ‘She was squeezing herself out of the wrecked car when I left.’
‘What was she—?’ Susie asked, but Nick cut her off.
‘Oh, you know Mal. We couldn’t get to Brayden so she squeezes herself into the car and manages to pass him out. Only problem was that once Brayden was out, a branch fell onto the car and trapped her.’
Jackson’s eyes widened. ‘Your wife is trapped in a car?’
‘Yeah. Pretty typical stunt of Mallory’s,’ Nick growled. ‘The rest of the crews are there, getting her out.’
‘She couldn’t wait for them to cut the roof off the car?’ Jackson asked, watching the other man’s expression closely. Here was a man who loved his wife completely, yet he was still able to let her be herself.
‘Well, she will now.’
‘I’d be livid if my wife did something like that,’ Jackson commented.
Susie felt as though he’d slapped her. She knew it was an idle comment but his wife hadn’t been a popular topic of conversation between them during the past week. And, besides, she found his statement to be rather chauvinistic. Was Jackson really that dominating?
‘I am livid,’ Nick replied. ‘But I also accept that Mallory has a life of her own—and a will as strong as iron, I might add. Although on this occasion I have to say that I agreed with her. Brayden was becoming far too distressed with the situation. We couldn’t wait for the emergency crew with the jaws of life to arrive to cut the poor kid out. We know Brayden. He comes to our house to play and I could just see Mallory thinking what if Edward had been in the car?’
‘First lot of X-rays are coming out of the processor,’ the radiologist informed them.
‘Thanks. Jackson, come and take a look with me. Susie, you stay and wait for Brayden.’ Nick checked his watch. ‘I expected him to be here by now.’
‘Sure.’ She watched the two of them go, mulling over what she’d learned. Was Jackson a domineering man? Would a woman lose herself if she were with him? Had Alison? Perhaps Alison had been the type of woman who’d wanted a dominant husband. Someone who would make decisions for her and protect her.
Certainly there was nothing wrong with that but Susie had learnt what she needed from a long-term relationship the hard way. Twice she had almost lost herself. First with Walter and then with Greg. Both men had wanted her to change, to fit in with their plans, not willing to support her in what she wanted to do.
Surely Jackson wasn’t the same? Oh, he’d been domineering with his staff but that was different. She herself had put her foot down once or twice. Generally, though, she was a peace-maker, but that didn’t mean she was going to be walked all over—again!
His words repeated themselves in her mind. ‘I’d be livid if my wife did something like that.’ Did he still think of Alison as his wife? Of course he did. She’d only died eighteen months ago and for some people falling in love once was all they wanted. Was Jackson like that?
Her head was starting to hurt and she knew she had to focus. Brayden would be arriving any minute now and she wouldn’t do him, or his mother, any good if she was stuck in her daydreams about Jackson.
As the ambulance sirens could be heard drawing near, Susie forced all thoughts of Jackson to the back of her mind. She was a professional and many times throughout her career she’d had to switch off what she called her ‘personal brain’ and switch on the ‘doctor brain’. This time, though, it was a lot harder to do and she knew why. Although she’d thought herself in love with both Walter and Greg, her feelings then had been nothing compared to what she felt now. So why did she have so many unanswered questions? If she really loved Jackson, shouldn’t she be able to trust him, too?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
AN HOUR later, Susie was satisfied with Brayden’s condition. It was nowhere near as bad as she’d anticipated. Under a general anaesthetic she’d managed to manipulate and realign the bones, thankful that both his fractures were non-compound, therefore only requiring plaster casts.
He was bruised quite badly, especially across his abdomen where his safety-harness had restrained him, but she could find no other injuries and had left him sleeping off the effects of the general anaesthetic in Recovery.
She’d decided not to transfer him at this stage and requested the nursing staff to notify the children’s hospital in Brisbane. When she’d come out of Theatre, the Dexter family was waiting for news of Brayden. Susie was eager to assist Jackson with Annabel’s surgery but it wasn’t professional to ignore them.
She spent ten minutes giving them a run-down of the injuries before excusing herself and heading to Theatre. When she arrived, Nick had finished repairing Annabel’s internal rupture of her large intestine, as well as her bladder.
‘Good timing, Susie,’ he said from behind his mask. ‘I’ll leave you and Jackson to continue. Has Mallory returned yet?’
‘Not yet,’ she replied, keeping her tone neutral. She had been getting a little worried, too.
‘I’ll go check.’
‘Let us know when she arrives,’ Susie called over her shoulder as Nick left the room. She looked at Jackson over the top of her mask. ‘Femurs?’
‘I’ve stabilised the bleeding but the fractures still need open reduction and internal fixation.’
‘How about you lead on the lower limb injuries and I’ll lead on the upper?’ she suggested, and saw the twinkle in his eyes. Her heart lurched but she forced it under control. She wasn’t in Theatre to flirt with him, she was here to work.
‘Sounds like a plan,’ he responded, and they concentrated on debriding the wound before fixing the comminuted fracture back together. They worked together in a companionable silence for the next few hours, both giving clear instructions to staff they weren’t used to working with.
There was no fracture of the shoulder so Susie was able to relocate the neck of humerus into place. The humerus was a comminuted fracture which required Susie to piece together the bony fragments with plates and interfragmentary screws.
‘It’s a pleasure to watch you work, Dr Monahan,’ Jackson commented as she closed the wound in layers.
‘Why, thank you,’ she replied, her eyes gleaming over the top of her mask. When they were both satisfied with Annabel’s condition, they finished off and handed her over to the care of the nursing staff.
‘Still no word about Mallory,’ Susie mused as she de-gowned. She checked the clock. They’d been in Theatre for quite some time—almost three and a half hours. ‘Surely Nick would have called through.’
‘Perhaps they’ve been caught up with the family,’ Jackson reasoned. ‘After all, they are close friends.’
‘Susie?’
She turned around to see one of the theatre nurses looking at her with a stunned expression. ‘What’s wrong?’ Instinct had always played a big part in Susie’s life—especially on the medical side—and right now she knew there was something wrong.
‘It’s—’
‘Mallory,’ Susie and the nurse said at the same time. ‘What’s happened?’
‘Triage Sister called and said Mallory’s broken her leg. She was trapped in the car, and just as they were about to get her out another branch fell, squashing her leg.’
Susie looked at Jackson, glad to have a lower-limb specialist with her. ‘When is she due?’
‘Any time now.’
‘Thanks.’ Susie tossed the word over her shoulder as she and Jackson hot-footed it back to A and E, only to find Nick pacing around anxiously, his eyes filled with anguish and pain. ‘Nick.’
He spun around a
nd glared at her with eyes of steel. ‘You’ve got to fix her up, Susie.’
‘I’m sure it’s not as bad as it seems.’
‘Susie, you’re on staff here so I’ll hand over to you. I’m going to—’ He broke off as the ambulance sirens wailed. ‘She’s here,’ he whispered, and rushed out.
Susie turned to Jackson. ‘You wanted emergencies—here’s your next patient.’
He gave an ironic laugh. ‘Half my luck.’ He placed his arm about her shoulders and gave a little squeeze. ‘Will you be all right assisting me? I mean, she is your friend.’
Susie took a deep breath and sighed. ‘I’ll be fine.’
‘That’s what I like to hear.’ He squeezed her shoulder again then let go, and Susie experienced a momentary sense of loss. The man only had to brush his fingertips lightly over her skin and she was all but panting for him. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts as the barouche was wheeled in. Nick was by his wife’s side, firmly holding her hand.
‘Hey, Mallory.’ Susie smiled at her friend. ‘Nice to see you again.’
Mallory chuckled and then groaned. ‘Ow.’
‘What’s wrong, honey?’
Jackson noted that Nick was no longer a doctor but an anxious husband. It was clear his wife meant everything to him. Had he behaved in a similar way when he’d arrived at the hospital after Alison’s accident? No. He’d been calm and in control. It had only been later, much later, that the numbness had started to set in.
‘Nice to meet you, Mallory,’ Jackson said. ‘Let’s get her into an examination cubicle so we can take a better look at that leg.’ Jackson stepped aside, waiting for the barouche to be wheeled through before following. Susie placed a hand on his arm.
‘Go easy on Nick,’ she said compassionately, and he nodded. Mallory’s pain relief was under control and, after having a good look at the wound site, Jackson wrote up the X-ray request form.
‘Let’s get some pictures of your leg and get you into Theatre.’
‘Does she need a CT scan?’ Nick asked anxiously.
‘Nick!’ It was Mallory who spoke her husband’s name. ‘Just relax. I couldn’t be with a finer surgeon if I’d planned this.’ Her voice was soft and she tugged her husband’s arm, urging him closer. Susie watched as Mallory kissed her husband. She sighed and looked away, not wanting to meet Jackson’s gaze. This was what she wanted—so desperately—and she wanted it with Jackson.
