by Joanna Neil
Rebecca made a face. ‘I don’t really have a choice, do I? I need to stay near my aunt, and I’ve worked with children for a long time, so I dare say I’m best suited to that, skill-wise. I’ll go along and talk with the consultant.’
‘Good. I’m glad about that. I think you’ve made a wise decision.’
A few minutes later they arrived at the ferry terminal, and he drove the car into the holding bay.
Craig’s mobile phone began to ring as they climbed out of the car. He checked the name of the caller. ‘You go on ahead,’ he said. ‘I’ll just answer this and then we’ll sit out on the upper deck, if you like.’
She nodded, and slowly started for the stairs. ‘Cheryl,’ she heard him say, ‘I didn’t know that you were back in Scotland. I thought you were supposed to be in Yorkshire until Saturday week?’
Rebecca didn’t hear the reply, but she recognised the instant when his voice lowered in tone and became husky and affectionate. ‘It’s all right,’ he said. ‘There’s no need for you to worry. Everything’s fine. How did the meeting go? Will you be going back there again?’
There was a momentary silence while he listened, and then his voice dropped once again. ‘You don’t have to do that. It’s going to be fine, sweetheart, believe me.’
Rebecca realised that he had dropped behind and that he was no longer following her up the stairs. His tone was gentle and coaxing, and it was gradually fading as she made her way to the upper deck.
Who was on the other end of the line? Clearly, it was a woman, and someone he seemed to care for very much. He had called her sweetheart.
Rebecca’s heart began to set up a heavy thud, thud, beating like a sorrowful drum. Why did it bother her so much that he was stopping to have a private chat with a woman who obviously meant a great deal to him?
But she knew the answer to that already, didn’t she? She had only known him for a short time, but it had been time enough for her to lose her heart to him. She was a fool, an idiot. Would she never learn?
CHAPTER NINE
‘I’M WORRIED about this baby,’ Rebecca said with a frown, glancing at the nurse who was assisting her. ‘She was born prematurely, and that has caused quite a few problems already. Now it looks as though the pressure’s rising within the blood vessels of her heart. She’s very weak.’
She ran the cup of her stethoscope over the infant’s chest, listening intently for a while. ‘I can hear a heart murmur, and together with the bluish tinge around her mouth and the fast rate of her breathing, things aren’t looking too good.’ Her voice took on a thread of urgency. ‘We need to get the paediatric cardiologist down here so that he can take a look at her.’
Helen nodded. ‘I’ll give him a call right away, but I know he’s with another patient just now, so it may be a while before he’s able to come down here. I’ll keep our Dr Bradshaw informed in the meantime. He’s in charge of the day-to-day running of the A and E department at the moment.’
‘OK…just so long as we’ve set things in motion. I’m going to order an echocardiograph so that we can see the heart in action, and we’ll get an X-ray, too.’ She frowned. JOANNA NEIL 129 ‘I’ve a feeling that this infant is going to need surgery fairly soon. We can use medication to help her along in the meantime, but I don’t think that it’s going to be enough.’
‘If it’s a question of surgery,’ Helen said, ‘she may have to be transferred to the Royal. They have all the facilities for specialist treatment over there.’ She paused, thinking things through. ‘I’ll break it to the mother as gently as I can. She must know that her child has a heart condition, but perhaps she wasn’t aware of quite how serious it is. This is going to come as a shock.’
Rebecca nodded. ‘I’ll come along with you to speak to her, if you like. I might be able to answer some of the questions she’s bound to ask.’
‘Thanks. That would be good.’ Helen made a small adjustment to the oxygen delivery equipment and then straightened up. ‘It’s great to have you working here with us, Rebecca. I’m really glad that Craig persuaded you to join us. We’ve been struggling along here short-handed for quite a while, and you’re perfect for the unit. I’m just sorry that your post is only temporary. You’re really good with the children.’ Helen frowned. ‘Craig said he wasn’t sure that you would go for it.’
Rebecca gave her a brief smile. ‘I was working in paediatrics in my last position, and that’s probably why Craig thought of me in the first place. It’s just that I was looking for something different…In my last job I found the work could be more upsetting at times than I expected.’
‘That’s true enough.’ Helen was serious for a moment. ‘Any work with sick children can be heartbreaking at times, but I suppose I comfort myself by thinking about the little ones we manage to save…and there are lots and lots of those. It’s always good to see them recover and flourish.’
Rebecca nodded. ‘And we’ll do all that we can for this little one.’ She looked down at the tiny infant and reached out with a finger to stroke her small hand. The baby’s fingers curled around hers as though she recognised a friend and protector, and Rebecca smiled softly. ‘I’m here, baby. We’ll do our very best to see you through this, I promise.’
Helen went to make the phone call and came back a moment or two later, saying, ‘Dr Bradshaw will be down as soon as he can make it. He said to monitor Chloe on a regular basis and consult with Craig if there are any problems in the meantime.’
‘I’ll do that.’ Rebecca frowned. ‘Do we know where Craig is right now? Is he actually on the premises?’
Helen nodded. ‘I saw him in the office earlier. He said he had to call Cheryl to make sure she was coping all right with the move to her new place, and then he was going to be spending some time in the trauma unit.’
‘Oh, I see.’ Rebecca’s stomach made an uncomfortable twist. Cheryl. After the boat trip from Islay, it had taken her some time to get over the shock of hearing Craig speaking to the unknown woman with such affection. How deeply was he involved with her?
‘I’ve heard him talking on the phone to someone called Cheryl,’ Rebecca murmured. ‘Is she a girlfriend, perhaps, or a relative?’ She chided herself inwardly for asking, but the question had been tormenting her for several days now. Craig hadn’t volunteered any information.
‘A girlfriend, I think. At any rate, they’ve known each other for a long time and they seem to be very close. When she found out that he’d been involved in a helicopter crash she called here to try to find out what had happened to him. She was distraught and we did our best to comfort her, but it was difficult because we weren’t sure what was happening ourselves.’
‘That must have been terrible for all of you.’
Helen nodded. ‘It was. We all think the world of him. I don’t know how we would have gone on if he had been hurt, or worse.’
‘He’s resourceful, to say the least,’ Rebecca told her. ‘If anyone was going to come through it, he was.’
She was still trying to take in the fact that the woman Cheryl was dear to Craig. Just how close were they? Craig hadn’t said a word on the subject, and why should he, after all? What business was it of hers, anyway? Cheryl had been an established part of his life way before she had come along, hadn’t she?
Rebecca had no claim on him. And there was no point in arguing that Craig had kissed her, and made her feel as though she was special, because she had partly been to blame for what had gone on between them. She was the one who had turned to him. He was a man, with primal instincts, and who would have blamed him for acting on them?
Tormenting herself this way was doing her no good at all. She tried to push those thoughts out of her head and said quietly, ‘So he isn’t out with the emergency service?’
Helen shook her head. ‘He alternates with the helicopter service and A and E. Usually he spends three or four weeks with us and then a week out on call. I think he prefers it that way because it means he gets variety in the job.’
‘
I can see how he would choose that.’ Rebecca stiffened her shoulders. ‘I’ll go and find him and let him know what’s happening. If the infant has to go to another hospital, he’ll need to know the arrangements.’
As things turned out, though, it was Dr Bradshaw who set up the transfer. ‘I’ve spoken with the team at the Royal,’ he said, looking from Craig to Rebecca, ‘and they’ll be standing by to receive the infant into their neonatal unit.’ His mouth twisted a fraction. ‘Of course, it would have been better all round if we could have waited until the baby was stronger before she underwent surgery, but her condition will only deteriorate if it’s left. It’s just a question now of arranging transport.’
He sent Rebecca an enquiring glance. ‘She’ll need to be accompanied on the journey, and since you’ve been taking care of her, you would be the logical choice to stay with her. Would you be prepared to do that?’
‘Of course.’ Rebecca nodded, and then pulled herself up. ‘We are talking ambulance transport, aren’t we? She won’t be going by helicopter, will she?’
Dr Bradshaw frowned. ‘I suppose the helicopter would be quicker.’ He glanced at Craig. ‘I don’t know how you feel about that, given what happened. But you’re not on call this week, are you?’
Craig shook his head. ‘I’m not, but I had a word with the pilot earlier on and it looks as though his schedule is pretty full right now.’ He sent Rebecca a thoughtful glance. ‘Going by road will probably be the smoothest course of action. We can use one of the dedicated neonatal ambulances.’
‘That’s what we’ll do, then,’ Dr Bradshaw said, and Rebecca gave a silent sigh of relief. It wouldn’t have been a good start if she’d refused an assignment at the very beginning of her time here, would it? Dr Bradshaw appeared to be an understanding kind of man, but all the same she didn’t want to seem as though she was lacking in confidence.
She glanced at Craig. Had he deliberately stepped in to rescue her? She sent him a look of gratitude, and he must have read her thoughts because he smiled in return.
‘I’ll help get things organised,’ he said. ‘We’ll check up on the breathing and monitoring equipment and set up a communications link with both hospitals. Since this is Rebecca’s first transport with our hospital, it would probably be as well if I go along with her and go over all the details of the special equipment carried on board.’ He checked his watch. ‘I’m off duty as of five minutes ago, so it won’t cause a problem back here.’
Dr Bradshaw nodded. ‘That sounds like a good idea. I’ll let the ambulance staff know what’s happening.’ He smiled briefly. ‘I’ll leave you both to get on with it, then. Perhaps you should stay long enough over there to advise the team on any issues that might crop up. It could be practical to follow the course of the operation and report back to us here, as we’ll be following up on her after-care.’
‘OK.’ Rebecca made a quick check of the infant’s chart. ‘I’ve explained to the mother that Chloe is going to have surgery to close the ductus arteriosus, and that will hopefully improve the circulation of her blood and make sure that her lungs receive adequate oxygen.’
‘She’s very young, and still a touch underweight, so she’ll more than likely need intensive care for a while afterwards,’ Craig remarked. ‘The Royal is probably the best place for that initially, but it’s a shame that the mother and child have to be separated this way.’
Rebecca nodded agreement as she began to gather together all the paperwork that she would need for the journey. ‘This was never going to be a good situation.’ She felt better, knowing that Craig would be going along with her, but it wasn’t because she didn’t feel able to cope with the demands of the job. It was simply that having him around gave a lift to her spirits.
‘How is your aunt getting on?’ Craig asked when Dr Bradshaw had moved away. ‘The last time we had a chance to talk, you said she had recovered some of the feeling in her leg.’
‘That’s right, she has.’ She started to prepare Chloe for the transfer, collecting together all the equipment they would need and making sure that everything was in place. ‘It was a wonderful moment, and it gave us hope that things will turn out all right. Heather was a bit tearful, but clearly happy and relieved.’
‘I’ll call in and see her when I’m on a lunch-break,’ Craig said. ‘She seems a plucky character. It’s always a good sign when you get some recovery in the first few weeks after a stroke. The first six months especially are crucial, and this initial development has to be good news.’
‘Yes, it is. I think she’ll still need to be in hospital for some time to come, though, and that means I’ll have to stay close by her for several weeks yet.’
She frowned. Living in Craig’s home had been a lifeline for her up to now, but it wasn’t going to be an option for much longer, was it? He was a thoughtful and considerate man, a wonderful person to be with, but with every moment that she spent with him she found herself becoming more deeply drawn to him.
It wouldn’t do. She was far too conscious of him already and each day that passed found her wanting something more from her tenuous relationship with him, a deeper, stronger bond that would perhaps bind them together.
It was a reckless longing, and her survival instincts weren’t kicking in. They had let her down before, and she ought to know that no good could come of her involvement with him. Why should this be an exception to the rule?
‘I’ll start looking for a place of my own just as soon as I get some time off,’ she said. ‘With starting this new job and spending time with Connor and Heather, I haven’t had a chance to get myself together yet.’
He walked with her to the ambulance bay. ‘You don’t have to move out of my home,’ he said. ‘Things have been working out all right so far, haven’t they?’
‘Yes, they have.’ All too well, she reflected. ‘But I need my independence. I need to feel that I’m in charge of my own destiny.’
He frowned. ‘I’m not altogether sure that I understand what you’re getting at, but you have to know I don’t see a problem with you staying. My home is yours for as long as you need it.’
She made a soft smile. ‘Thanks. You’re too generous by half, and if you’re not careful, women will be queuing up to take advantage of your good nature.’
His eyes widened, his brows making an exaggerated upward lift. ‘Really? Do you think so? That sounds altogether promising. I must look into that.’
She gave him a playful punch. ‘Let’s get on with it.’
‘Yes, ma’am. Lead the way.’
He stayed close by her in the ambulance, watching over the infant and generally checking that there were no adverse signs.
‘She’s tiny, isn’t she, such a fragile little human being?’
Rebecca nodded. ‘She hasn’t been feeding well. I’ve tried a few times to bottle-feed her, but it’s a long job.’ She smiled. ‘Not that I mind at all. It’s lovely to be able to hold her and give her a cuddle while she drinks her milk.’
Craig’s gaze moved over her. ‘Would you like a family of your own someday?’
‘Yes, I think I would.’ Her mouth straightened. ‘I don’t see it happening any time soon, though.’
‘Why is that?’
Rebecca gave an awkward shrug. ‘Perhaps because I haven’t met anyone who I could rely on to be there for me through thick and thin, and somehow I don’t think it’s ever going to happen. I’d have to be sure that I had met the right man, and I’m not convinced that he exists.’
That wasn’t strictly true, of course. The one man she would consider a perfect choice to be the father of her children was sitting right beside her, but he was accounted for, wasn’t he?
Craig was silent for a moment or two. Then he said soberly, ‘You’ve been hurt in the past. It will take time for you to get over that.’
‘Maybe.’ She frowned as one of the monitors started bleeping, and she saw that the baby was becoming restless. ‘Her heart rate is up,’ she said quickly, ‘and her breathing is lab
oured. It looks as though her lungs are congested.’
‘Another dose of diuretic would help to clear some of the fluid.’
‘And a bronchodilator would be useful, too.’ Rebecca started to administer the medication, adding softly, ‘We can at least keep her condition stable until she has the surgery.’
‘If that isn’t enough, you could always try giving her an inhaled steroid. A small dose wouldn’t do any harm and could make a lot of difference.’
‘I’ll keep it in mind.’ Rebecca sighed, watching the child closely. ‘You hang on in there, little one,’ she murmured. ‘There’s not long for you to wait now. We’ll be there soon.’
She was right, and just a short time later the ambulance pulled up in the bay outside the Royal. A team was waiting to receive the infant, and within minutes she was being whisked into the treatment room in preparation for her trip to the operating theatre.
‘It’s going to be a while before we have any news of how she’s doing,’ Craig said some time later when the baby was ready for surgery. ‘Shall we go and have some lunch and then maybe take a slow walk by the river? It would be better than hanging around, waiting. I’ve left my mobile phone number with the sister in charge, so that she can stay in touch with us.’
‘OK. That sounds like a good idea.’
They ate a light lunch in the hospital restaurant and then set off for the river that flowed through a nearby park. It was a beautiful summer’s day, with not a cloud in the sky, and Rebecca appreciated the chance to breathe in the fresh air and gaze at the colourful rhododendrons that flowered in profusion. They wandered along the riverbank, watching the water drift gently by, and she even managed to glimpse an occasional fish darting about in the shallows.
‘You must have been here before,’ she murmured, watching Craig as he headed towards the bridge. ‘You seem to know your way around pretty well.’
