The Nurse's Special Delivery

by Louisa George

  ‘And I’m in charge of this shift now that Shane’s indisposed, so finally, just one last thing: you need to get a hot drink inside of you and something to eat before you do anything else. We need to debrief before the next call if possible. Definitely time for a break. Paramedic’s orders.’

  ‘I’m fine.’

  ‘You usually have blue fingers?’

  Looking first at him then back at her hands, she realised there was no point in arguing. He was, in fact, right. She was still freezing and hadn’t had a drink in hours. She’d be no use to anyone like this. But she wasn’t letting him know that. And, if she was absolutely honest, she wanted a couple more minutes with him—it had been a strange day and debriefing was a great idea. With a theatrical sigh she rolled her eyes. ‘Definitely an older sib.’

  * * *

  Could have done a lot better. Cal looked at the inexpertly applied gauze on her forehead and inwardly cringed. It looked as if it had been stuck on by a kindergarten kid.

  It was because he was cold; that was what he was telling himself, anyway. And not because there was anything going on here—like attraction. Given he was heading out of town soon, attraction was a spectacularly bad idea.

  Because of her wound, her bobble hat was pushed back, so more tufts of dark, coffee-coloured hair stuck out around her face. She looked as if she’d been...well, as if she’d been on the top of a mountain in a hurricane. It was lucky she’d been there as an extra pair of hands—albeit damaged in the process. She’d coped well, but his heart had only just about started to beat normally again. The SARS training had given him confidence he’d have been able to deal with anything up there, but he hadn’t wanted to test it.

  He paid for the flat white and handed it to her, wondering what this urge to chat with her was all about. He didn’t usually buy Shane a cuppa and debrief. Yeah, right...great chat-up line; that’d have them all laughing back at base. The closest they ever got to debriefing for real was a quick chat on the ride to the next emergency, scoffing a lukewarm pie and bad coffee from the petrol station.

  They steered through the busy cafeteria and found an empty table. Once they’d settled in, he broke up his bar of chocolate and offered some to her. ‘Eat; you’ll be better with something inside you to bring up the blood sugar.’

  She blinked. ‘You really do do a lot of bossing around.’

  ‘Sorry. Bad habit of mine. You’re not the first person to tell me that. It’s a kind of misguided attempt to look after you.’ Instead of analysing his faults—he was aware he had a few, because Finn made it his personal mission to highlight every single one of his brother’s shortcomings—he went for a change of subject. ‘So, you had a baptism of fire up there. You handled it all very well, though. Not bad for a newbie.’

  Underneath the huge jacket, she bristled. ‘I’ve been a nurse for a long time. I’m just new at ED, that’s all. Well, I’ve been here a few months. But it’s a big learning curve, right?’

  ‘When you’re out in the field, yes. You don’t know what’s going to be thrown at you.’

  She took a sip and seemed to settle a little. ‘I haven’t seen you here before, though.’

  ‘Different shifts probably, and I’ve been out at Wanaka a lot and with the SARS team. I’ve only been in New Zealand a couple of months all up.’ Which reminded him that spending what little time he had left talking to women he could never see again was pretty pointless. Although very nice. Actually, more than nice.

  ‘And you’re from...Scotland? Is that right?’

  ‘Aye.’ The familiar tug of responsibility tightened in his gut. He needed to get back there. Wasting another month here felt as if he were killing time. Time he could be using to sort Finn out. But, he’d promised to get as much training as he could and he didn’t want to go back unqualified, or to seem ungrateful to everyone who’d pushed him to come here in the first place. ‘Another month then I’m gone.’

  She nodded before blowing on the steaming drink. ‘Of course you are.’

  An odd reply. ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘The majority of people working in Queenstown are just passing through, so I’m not surprised you’ll be going, too. Where next? Aussie? Asia? The big OE we call it. Overseas Experience. A gap year?’

  ‘At twenty-nine, I’m a bit too old for a gap year. Honestly. No travelling, I’m going straight back home.’

  She looked surprised. ‘So you did all your travelling before coming here?’

  ‘No. I’m not travelling. I came to do specialist search and rescue training. For my job. I have...’ And here was the thing—he was suddenly torn. The minute he’d been needed he’d pledged to spend the rest of his life looking after his brother. This trip had been the first glimpse of how life could have been, but nothing was going to stop him going back. Finn needed him. ‘I have responsibilities back home.’

  Was he dreaming or did she look at his hand? For a wedding ring? Laughable. He had enough to do without taking on someone else. ‘Well, they’ll be glad to have you back, I’m sure.’

  He smiled. She didn’t know the half of it. ‘I doubt it. But I’m going anyway. What about you? Obviously a Kiwi...?’

  She smiled right back. Looked straight into his eyes, and he got a warm sensation swimming through him. ‘I’ve lived in Queenstown my whole life. Been out of the country a few times for holidays, but always came straight back here. It’s where my family is.’

  ‘You’re not one of those New Zealanders who has the travel bug, then?’

  ‘No. I need to stay here.’ At his raised eyebrows she continued, ‘Responsibilities too.’

  ‘Oh—?’ But of course. He’d noticed the wedding ring on her finger before. That was okay. He could do platonic. Yeah, platonic was good. Maybe then he wouldn’t be so mesmerised by her.

  Odd, but she quickly drained her coffee and looked at something behind him, her eyes darting and dancing, kind of nervous, kind of sad. ‘Oh-oh, caught in the act. My boss is heading over. I’ve got to go.’

  ‘Hey, Cal.’ It was Steph from ED. ‘Abbie, sorry to disturb you. I heard you did well today. Awesome job.’

  ‘Thanks. It was...’ She caught Cal’s eye and smiled. A shared day, shared joke, shared rescue. There was always a bit of a connection after that. ‘Interesting.’

  ‘You left this on the desk, I thought you might want to keep it safe.’ Steph handed her an ultrasound picture. He was no expert, but it looked like an antenatal one. Yep—even from here he could make out the shape of a baby.

  She’s having a baby.

  ‘Thank you. Yes. Oh, goodness. My scan.’ Abbie’s eyes were filled with pride that gave Cal a strange jolt in his gut.

  Steph ambled on chatting as white noise filled his head. ‘Thought of any names yet? Did you ask about the gender?’

  ‘No. We’re going to wait. It’s exciting, though. I can’t believe that by Christmas there’s going to be a baby here.

  She’s having a baby.

  A bairn.

  His overprotective gene fired into action. Finn would have laughed as usual and told him to back right off, but Cal couldn’t help it. This was serious. He waited until Steph had gone, then, ‘You didn’t tell me you were pregnant. Up there. In the snow. You fell over. I let you carry a heavy weight. Why did you let me think you were okay?’

  ‘I am okay. I’m fine, actually. Honestly.’ She didn’t even look a little contrite. What a dangerous game she’d been playing. And he shouldn’t care, not at all, but for some reason he was firing on all protection cylinders today.

  Maybe he was missing Finn. Missing the opportunity to care and be useful. To fuss and smother, as Finn would say.

  ‘You carried that scoop, which would have put a strain on your whole body, and you hurt your side. You were wincing and it’s obvious you still have some pain.’


  She shook her head. ‘It’s nothing, just a pulled muscle. Really, I’m fine.’

  Yeah, he’d heard that before. When his brother wanted him to believe everything was okay. It hadn’t been. It had been far from okay. He wasn’t buying it. He stood up. ‘I want you to get looked over. I’m not listening to any excuses...you need to be checked out. An ultrasound or something.’

  ‘Who are you? My mother?’ But she was smiling. Smiling and moving and dancing. Really? He knew she was committed to someone else. Married, for God’s sake. He needed his head looking at.

  ‘I’m just concerned, Abbie. You could have hurt—’

  ‘My baby?’ she cut in, laughing. ‘Don’t worry, Callum. My baby is...’ she nodded towards a pregnant woman walking towards them ‘...over there.’

  What?

  He did the maths, joined the dots, put all the jigsaw pieces into place.

  Ah.

  How could he have got it so wrong? His gay radar wasn’t working today. ‘Oh. I see. Your partner’s having your baby... Your wife?’

  She rubbed her fingers over her wedding ring and laughed. ‘You really have got it so wrong, I can’t begin to tell you. But I’ve got to go. I’ve a very important coffee date. Thanks for warming me up.’ Then she paused, blushed, her eyes meeting his in a very heterosexual kind of way. He could see something there that was just for him—a softening, a little bit of playfulness, a very timid flirt. Or was there? Was he going mad? There was definitely a connection here he just did not understand. She shook her head, dragging her gaze from his. ‘I mean... Well...thanks.’

  CHAPTER THREE

  COULD I HAVE been any more tongue-tied? Eurgh.

  It had been three days since she’d had that strange afternoon with Callum, and every time Abbie thought about it she cringed and blushed. Even when she was on her own.

  She should have been upfront with him but she’d been cold and tired and excited about the baby and...flustered.

  The man made her flustered.

  Which was why she’d decided to go for a run—to purge those feelings, all of them, from her system. God knew she had enough on her mind without trying to work out why a man was making her lost for words.

  It was the shoulder season, but in Queenstown that still meant a lot of visitors filling the buzzing town centre. A coach pulled up lakeside, spilling passengers for the TSS Earnslaw steamship cruise. The tourists, all rugged up in matching waterproofs and chattering excitedly, weren’t looking where they were going, so Abbie had to zigzag round them.

  ‘On your left,’ she called out, hoping they’d move for a slightly uncoordinated runner. She could hardly blame them for being excited, though; the sun was out in the cloudless sky and it finally felt like spring. Although, that could easily change.

  Not accidentally photo-bombing or running into the crowds was difficult and Abbie craved some quiet thinking time, so she headed along past the gardens and out onto the lakeside bike trail.

  For a few kilometres or so she shared the track with cyclists and other runners, but eventually she was on her own, breathing hard and trying not to trip over wayward tree roots and little rocks sticking up at irregular intervals as she navigated through bush.

  Eventually, she found her rhythm, blissfully unaware of anything else but her feet hitting the ground, the rustle of the trees, birdsong. Then, the bit she liked best of all—the trail opening up from bush to a wide track, and the view of the lake, which, as always, took her breath away.

  Up ahead there was a figure sitting on a bench. Great place to smell the roses, if you had the time. Sitting didn’t do a lot for Abbie. Ever since Michael died she’d been running, exercising, anything to get rid of the excess energy that seemed to spiral through her. Anxiety didn’t hang around when her lungs were pumping nineteen to the dozen. Endorphins worked too. Happy hormones—she needed them. Especially now.

  As she closed in she heard talking. Bench Man was on the phone.

  ‘What d’ya mean, you’ve been out on The Cairnwell? For God’s sake, Finn, will you listen to me—? I don’t care if it’s the easiest one. You will not go there again, d’you hear me?’

  Cal?

  Just when she’d thought her heart couldn’t beat any faster it sped up even more. She slowed right down. Even though she was feeling guilty about playing him along, now clearly wasn’t the right time to fix things. He had no clue he was being watched and she felt a worm of discomfort twist in her tummy. If she entered the clearing he’d see her; right now she was camouflaged by the trees. But it felt as if she was eavesdropping on a very private conversation.

  ‘Aye, well, I’m sorry about that. Did you take your meds?’

  He was facing away from her, his back rigid. Shoulder muscles she hadn’t seen the other day due to his hi-vis were well defined...taut. He was wearing sports gear too—a loose-fitting singlet and shorts. Running?

  ‘Why the hell not? Well, you’d better start. Things are going to change when I get back. And how.’

  He flicked his phone into his pocket and stood, staring out across the water, every sinew tense.

  Now she didn’t know what to do. Run? Walk? Say something? Nothing? Turn around and go home? Was he going to come towards her, or race off in front?

  But he bent for a moment, lifting his foot onto the bench and checking his laces. If he turned his head even the tiniest fraction he’d see her. She’d be caught watching him. So not a good idea.

  He looked the other way, along the path.

  Now was her chance. She ducked out from behind the trees and sped along the trail.

  ‘Race you!’ she called as she overtook him.

  What the hell...? Where had that come from? Her mouth had a mind of its own—and it was a little out of control. Damned endorphins must have kicked in early today.

  ‘What?’ He jumped at her voice, did a double take. ‘Do I know—?’

  ‘Come on.’ Then, for some reason she didn’t understand, she turned around and jogged backwards, slowly, until he caught her up. She threw him a gauntlet. ‘Going to the bridge? I can give you a head start if you need it?’

  ‘Abbie?’ His gaze skimmed her body—for the first time ever she felt unbearably underdressed in full-length running tights and a razor-back top. And suddenly very hot. But then, she had been running. His amazing eyes met hers and he grinned. Not the faintest hint of breathlessness anywhere in him. ‘Well, wow. Unexpected. Hello.’

  ‘I can hang back, let you go ahead if you need to.’

  The irritation she’d seen in him while on the phone disappeared and he laughed. ‘Not necessary. Challenge accepted.’

  ‘To the bridge?’

  ‘Seriously?’

  There was a moment when she almost felt sorry for him. ‘You underestimate me at your peril.’

  Then there was no more talking.

  They were evenly matched...at least, at first. She met him stride for stride and only when the path narrowed did she fall behind a little. All the better to get another view of those amazing muscles. He was either a climber, or he worked out. No one had that kind of upper-body strength just by lifting gurneys.

  But when he sensed her close behind him he pulled sharply to the right to let her join him again. The bridge was in sight. She let him think she was going to let the friendly camaraderie continue, then, with fifty metres to go, she sprinted out. Hard. Fast.

  He got there at the same time. Laughing, reaching for the stone wall to tag. ‘Well, you’re fast, that’s for sure.’

  She decided not to tell him her reasons for running these days. Some things should be kept private. Besides, she could barely manage words. She hauled gulp after gulp of air as she bent over, hands on knees. ‘Ran for...Otago. Back...in...the day. School...cross-country champion.’

  ‘What? Like, last y
ear?’

  ‘Over ten years ago.’ She pulled up, hands on hips. ‘I know, I know, everyone always says I look young...but I’m as old as Methuselah really. Twenty-nine. Believe me... I’ve lived a little.’

  ‘Ach, the wild child of Queenstown?’

  Hardly. She’d been married at twenty-three. Felt ancient at twenty-five when she’d unexpectedly hit most of the ageing milestones far too soon—a married woman and then a widow. Sadly, the family bit had passed her by. ‘Not quite. Let’s just say, it’s been an interesting ride.’

  Without discussing where they were headed they started to walk back towards Queenstown centre. Yes, she could easily have run, but she didn’t want to tire the poor thing out. ‘And you? A wild child of...?’

  ‘Duncraggen.’ He tipped his head back and laughed. ‘The only thing that’s wild up there is the weather. Oh, and the sheep.’

  ‘Where’s that? Dun...crabbing?’

  ‘The very tip of Loch Lomond, a tiny wee village near Inverarnan. Not a lot about it, really.’

  ‘So Queenstown must be the big scary metropolis, then?’

  ‘I did live in Edinburgh for a while. And I have travelled a fair bit...in my youth.’ He made a creaking sound. ‘But now, young whippersnapper, I’m over the hill.’

  ‘Oh, don’t be too hard on yourself.’ Where was this coming from? It felt natural to joke with him. ‘You don’t look a day over seventy.’

  ‘Cheeky.’ He threw her a sideways look and she could see laughter in his eyes. It was so nice to see that. A man who didn’t take himself too seriously.

  But then she remembered the untruth she’d let him believe. Not quite a lie, because he hadn’t outright asked her, but not the truth either.

  ‘Look, I’ve got a confession to make. I let you think that I’m...that I’m married to Emma.’ If her cheeks could have got any redder they would have. As it was, she was puce from running and the cold wind on her face but having to put things straight was more than a little embarrassing. ‘Thing is... It’s, well...’