by Joanna Neil
‘Oh, how exciting! Yes, of course that’s okay. It’ll be so interesting to see our home on the television, won’t it? I wonder what they’ll make of it? Oh, I can’t wait!’
Caitlin chuckled. ‘I thought you’d be all right with it. David’s asked if we’ll be extras and take part in the filming—Brodie and me—along with some of the villagers. Brodie’s a bit wary but apparently the villagers are all really keen to get in on the act.’
‘I’ll bet they are...’ Her mother started to cough, overcome with anticipation, and Caitlin frowned. She was looking better and it was all too easy to forget how ill her mother had been.
‘Don’t try to talk,’ she said now. ‘Just rest. I’ll fill you in on what’s been going on.’
‘Yes...’ Interested to know what was going on, her mother ignored her suggestion not to speak. ‘Tell me about the dog you found. How is she?’
‘She’s doing fine. Rosie’s mother drops by whenever she can while I’m at work to make sure she’s okay. She and Rosie are helping to take her for walks.’
‘Isn’t she about due to give birth?’
Caitlin nodded. ‘Could be today, according to the vet, so Rosie said she’d keep a special eye on her. I’m not sure what to look for, except the vet said something about temperature changes—she’ll get a rise in temperature and then it will drop when she’s about to go into labour.’
‘You’ll know when she’s ready.’ Her mother paused, getting her breath. ‘She’ll probably be restless.’
‘I’ll look out for that. I hope she’s okay.’ She glanced at her mother, making sure she was all right. ‘She’s such a sweet-natured dog. Here, I took a picture of her on my phone...’ She showed her the photo of the shaggy, golden-haired terrier and told her how the vet had said to feed her on puppy food because it was higher in nutrients and therefore good for her while she was pregnant.
‘Brodie comes over every day to see her and she follows him everywhere. At least, I think it’s Daisy he comes to see.’ She couldn’t be altogether sure. They’d taken to sharing the occasional snack supper together of an evening, alternating between the two houses. He’d not pushed anything when it came to starting any kind of relationship with her but she had the feeling he was finding it hard to stay away. She was glad about that. She liked having him around.
A wave of heat ran through her at the direction her thoughts were taking and she quickly forced her mind back to the dog.
‘She’s fixated on him ever since he tucked the blanket around her and offered her a pull toy and a biscuit. I think she would up sticks and go and live with him if she could.’ She made a mock-peeved expression. ‘I’m not certain how I feel about that—I think I’m quite put out about it.’
Her mother laughed. ‘He always did have a way with the girls.’
‘True.’ Caitlin didn’t want to go too deeply into that. Despite her misgivings she’d come closer to him in these last few days than ever before and it invoked all sorts of exhilarating and tummy-tingling sensations inside her that she’d never experienced before—not even with Matt. But falling for Brodie was definitely not on the cards, was it?
‘Are you and he getting on all right?’ her mother asked.
‘Yes, fine.’ She sent her a guarded look. ‘Why wouldn’t we?’
Her mother shrugged lightly. ‘I know how he used to look at you and how you kept putting up barriers—you didn’t want to get involved with someone who kicked against the establishment and who seemed happy to play the field. I doubt he’s changed that much. He doesn’t go with the crowd or let the grass grow under his feet. He has his own ideas and likes to follow through.’
She paused, pulling air into her lungs. ‘As to the rest, I’ve seen him with the nurses when he’s come to visit me... They all think the world of him and the single ones are ripe for the picking. I really like him but I don’t want to see you get hurt.’
A quick stab of jealousy lanced through Caitlin at the mention of the nurses, but just then a bout of coughing caught her mother out. Caitlin stood up and quickly handed her the oxygen mask that was connected to the wall-mounted delivery system close by.
‘Here, breathe in slowly, steadily. Take your time.’
After a few minutes her mother was feeling better and she put the mask aside. ‘I’m fine now,’ she said. ‘I just need to rest for a bit.’
Caitlin nodded, giving her an assessing look. ‘Okay. I should be getting back to work, anyway. I’ve a new patient coming in and I need to look her over.’ She gently squeezed her hand. ‘I’ll be back to see you later.’
She went back to the children’s unit, pleased to see that a trio of small children who were able to get out of bed for short periods had gathered around the brand-new aquarium tank that Brodie had introduced to the ward. They were pointing, talking and smiling a lot.
‘I see your tropical fish tank is a hit with the youngsters,’ she told Brodie at the desk as she read through her patient’s file.
He smiled. ‘Yes, I noticed one or two of them going up to the glass and watching what was going on. They seem to like the shipwreck and submerged treasure chest, and the fish are colourful.’ He brought up some CT scans on the computer screen. ‘The next step for me, I think, is to develop a rehab garden outside so that children like Jason and maybe Sammy, who are recovering, can get their strength back by walking about outside on good days.’
‘That sounds like an interesting idea.’ She looked at him curiously. ‘What did you have in mind?’
‘Different levels. Nothing too high but raised flower beds, pathways, short flights of wide steps—providing the children have physiotherapists or parents with them to help them negotiate the obstacles. I thought maybe scented flowers and herbs, or different colours and textures, would go down well.’
‘Something to attract wildlife, like birds and squirrels, would be good,’ she said. ‘So maybe you could put up a bird table and plant a variety of shrubs that have the right kind of berries.’ She broke off, studying him once more. ‘I think you have some great ideas, but where’s the funding coming from?’
‘There are hospital charities keen on helping out,’ he answered. ‘And I’ll think about putting some of my own money into it. It all depends if I decide to stay here for the long term.’
She frowned at that. Was he really thinking of moving on?
He brought up X-ray films on to the screen of his computer then he frowned and pointed to the images. ‘Have you seen these?’
‘No. Whose are they?’
‘They’re films we had done recently to check Sammy’s progress. Along with the results of his DNA and collagen tests, I think we finally have an answer. We’re dealing with a specific bone disease—osteogenesis imperfecta.’
She winced. ‘Poor Sammy,’ she said softly. The diagnosis, otherwise known as brittle bone disease, meant that his body didn’t make enough collagen—the main protein building block of bone—so his bones and connective tissue, such as tendons and ligaments would suffer as a result. ‘So his bones are thin and liable to break more easily than others.’ She studied the films on screen carefully. ‘It’s difficult to detect from the X-rays alone.’
‘But the bones are definitely thinner than normal—perhaps his case is mild and he’s been unfortunate up to now.’
‘Well, let’s hope so. The physiotherapist is working with him because of the fracture but it’ll be good for him to have ongoing therapy to help him regain his strength and mobility—safe exercise and activity to develop his muscle control.’
He nodded. ‘His parents will need advice on nutrition—we can’t replace the collagen, but we can make sure his muscles and bones are as strong as possible. Bisphosphonates are the mainstay of drug treatment as far as that goes.’
‘I’ll get things organised.’ She gave a faint smile. ‘The one good thing to come out of the diagnosis is that it means the parents are off the hook. It’s going to be difficult for them to take it on board—a bittersweet experie
nce.’
‘But they’ll have an answer at last and so will Social Services and the police.’
‘Yes.’ Caitlin hurried away to make several phone calls and to get the next phase of Sammy’s treatment started. This was a case where she didn’t want to waste any time. The parents had been weighed down by doubt, uncertainty and recriminations for long enough; perhaps now Sammy would truly start to make a recovery. It was hardly any wonder the child was quiet and withdrawn.
The rest of the day passed quickly. A little girl, Janine, was admitted with an infection and Caitlin ordered tests to find out what they were dealing with. ‘I’ll prescribe a broad-spectrum antibiotic,’ she told the staff nurse. ‘But when we get the results back from the lab we can prescribe a more specific drug.’
‘Okay, I’ll see to it,’ the staff nurse said.
‘Thanks.’
When her shift ended Caitlin was more anxious than usual to get home. Brodie came out of one of the bays where he had been examining a child and sent her a quick glance as she went to collect her jacket. ‘You’re off home, then? You look anxious. Are you worried about Daisy?’
She nodded. ‘I am, a bit. Rosie’s mother phoned to say Daisy was quite restless, so I’m expecting things to kick off any time soon.’
‘I’ll come and join you as soon as I finish here. I could pick up a Chinese takeaway on my way home, if you want? I know you like it and that’ll be one less chore.’
‘Ah, my favourite food...’ she said with a smile. ‘Beef and green peppers in black bean sauce—yum—and sweet-and-sour chicken. Oh, I’m hungry already at the thought of it.’
‘Me too.’ He said it softly, his gaze moving over her, lingering; somehow she had the feeling his mind wasn’t simply dwelling on the prospect of food.
It was only after she’d left the hospital and was driving home along the country lanes that she wondered about the wisdom of spending too many of her evenings with him, especially this evening, when they were planning to share a mutual treat. It was one thing to throw a sandwich together out of expediency—quite another to make a date. Because that was what it seemed like, all at once. Things were moving too fast. It wasn’t too long ago that she’d been looking forward to spending her free time with Matt and look where that had left her. She frowned. What was it about Matt that had made her think he was the one for her, when he so obviously wasn’t?
Brodie turned up at the house a couple of hours later as dusk was falling. Caitlin had been watering the plants in the kitchen garden but now she turned off the tap and put the hose away.
‘How is Daisy?’ Brodie asked. ‘Is anything happening with her?’
Caitlin nodded. ‘She’s definitely not herself. She’s a bit agitated, so I brought her into the house—she’s in the utility room. Her bed fits in there nicely under the worktop, and it’s shaded from the sun during the daytime. She seems to like it there, anyway, so I’ll probably let her stay. I left her rearranging her blanket. Come and see.’
She led the way into the house and Brodie put his packages down on the kitchen table. The appetising smell of Chinese food wafted on the air.
She hastily set plates to warm in the oven and then they looked in on Daisy. She looked up at them from her bed, panting, her tongue lolling eagerly.
‘She looks happy enough, anyway,’ Brodie commented, stroking the dog’s head then heading back towards the kitchen. He washed his hands at the sink then helped Caitlin to set out the food.
‘Has David said anything more about the filming?’ Caitlin asked a while later as she nibbled on a hot spring roll.
He nodded. ‘It’s all going to start in a couple of days—they have the weekend marked up for it. He’s even roped Dad in. Heaven knows how he managed it, but he’s going to be kitted out as a farm worker, by all accounts.’
‘You’re kidding?’ It was hard to believe that Colin Driscoll would ever have agreed to it. ‘How do you feel about that?’
He lifted his shoulders briefly. ‘I’m not sure. I suppose anything that gets us together is a good thing. We’re both adults now and it’s about time we sorted out our differences. He may not have wanted me around, but he brought me up from when I was a baby, so you’d think he’d have found some feelings for me along the way.’
He frowned. ‘But then things happened... I started acting up, and after I turned eighteen I stayed away, just coming back to see David whenever I could. It seemed for the best.’ He raised his dark brows a fraction. ‘Maybe, after all this time, Dad might be able to come to terms with the circumstances and finally find acceptance, though I think that’s a tall order—for both of us.’
Caitlin mused on that. ‘He was never the easiest man to get along with. Not in later years, anyway. He’d come over here to buy produce from my mother, but he was often brusque, and wouldn’t want to stay and chat.’ She dipped her fork into delicious fried rice and said thoughtfully, ‘Have you tried to find your real father?’
He nodded. ‘There’s no father named on my birth certificate. Dad said he was a Londoner, someone who was setting up his own business, but he didn’t know his surname or very much about him. I think he and Mum made some kind of pact not to talk about him. So finding him has always seemed like a non-starter.’
‘I’m sorry. I can’t imagine what that must be like, not knowing your parents.’
‘You learn to live with it.’ He speared a tender shoot of broccoli and rolled it around in the spicy sauce. ‘There’s always a part of you that’s missing; when you do something or think something odd or slightly different from usual, you wonder if that’s come from your absent parent. Genetics suddenly seem ultra-important, but there’s not a thing you can do to find out the truth, so you have no choice but to bury the frustration inside.’
‘David says you can’t settle and you can’t move on—perhaps, like your dad, you need to find acceptance of some sort.’
He gave a short laugh. ‘That’s easy to say but not so easy to do in practice. David knows who he is, where he comes from. He’s content with his life as it is. It’s reasonably orderly and he doesn’t need to think too deeply about what he wants from life. He assumes he’ll have a great time now and settle down when he finds the right person. He seems to be fairly certain that will happen some day; I’m glad for him.’
‘But you’re not so clear about that for yourself?’
He shook his head. ‘I’ve seen how people mess things up—I’m a direct result of that—and I don’t want to be part of causing it to happen to anyone else. Perhaps I don’t believe in the happy-ever-after. I wish I did. I wish it was possible.’ He sent her a quick, almost regretful glance. ‘For myself, I think I prefer to live in the here and now, and take things as I find them. If I can have fun along the way, that’s great, but I don’t make any long-term plans because I don’t know what’s around the corner.’
‘That’s what you were trying to tell me the other day, isn’t it? I shouldn’t look for anything more from you.’ She studied him, her grey eyes solemn. ‘I’m sorry about that—I can’t help thinking it’s a pity you can’t put as much meaning into your personal life as you do into your work.’
He gave her a rueful smile. ‘You’re right. I do concentrate most of my energy in my work. That’s important to me.’ He frowned. ‘I can’t seem to help myself, Caitlin. Maybe I don’t want to think too deeply about anything else.’
‘I thought that might be the reason.’ Her mouth turned downwards briefly. ‘But I suppose all the hard work is paying dividends. I’ve seen what you’ve managed to achieve at the hospital. The patients are well looked after, the parents are fully involved in their care and the staff are focused. I’m not surprised you’ve become head of a unit so early in your career.’ She sent him a quizzical glance. ‘This won’t be your last stop, will it? You’ll do what you need to do here and then move on to improve things at some other hospital.’
His blue gaze meshed with hers. ‘I don’t know about that. Right now I’m concentratin
g on the job here.’
* * *
They finished their meal and went to check on Daisy. There had been no sound coming from the utility room but now, as they looked in on the dog, they heard soft licking noises.
‘Oh, my word, look at that!’ Caitlin gasped as she saw two wriggling, sleek little puppies suckling at their mother’s teats. Too busy to notice that she had visitors, Daisy was intent on licking them clean and only stopped when a third pup began to put in an appearance.
‘Well, who’s a clever girl?’ Brodie grinned as he knelt down beside the dog bed. ‘Look at you—you’ve managed it all by yourself.’ Caitlin crouched down beside him and he put his arm around her, drawing her close. ‘She’s a natural,’ he said. ‘And there was me thinking we might have to help out, or call the vet if she got into difficulties.’
Caitlin was overwhelmed as she watched Daisy deliver a fourth then a fifth puppy, all perfect, all hungry and vying for a place where they could suckle. ‘It’s wonderful,’ she said, thrilled to bits to see that they were all healthy and strong looking. She turned her head to look at Brodie and he smiled back at her.
‘It is,’ he agreed. He moved closer to her so that his lips were just a breath away from hers—then he kissed her, hard and fast, a thorough, satisfying kiss. She was so taken by surprise and caught up in the joy of everything that was going on that she kissed him back, loving the feel of his arms around her, loving the fact that they’d shared this momentous occasion together.
They kissed and held on to each other for what seemed like a blissful eternity, until there was a sharp rapping at the kitchen door and David was calling out, ‘Anyone at home? Caitlin? Brodie?’
They broke away from one another as they heard the outer door open; David stepped inside the kitchen and came looking for them. Sure that her cheeks were flushed with heat, Caitlin looked back at the dog and her wriggling pups.
