by Lucy Clark
He opened up a drawer and took out some paracetamol. He swallowed them down without water and stood from his desk. He glared down at the offensive piece of paper that had started this train of thought. If he’d known it was going to be there, he wouldn’t have come up here—not alone in the department on the weekend when there was no noise around to distract him and help keep his thoughts on track.
He scribbled a note on a sticky memo pad and stuck it to the request before tossing it into his out-basket. If that very competent registrar wanted a reference, Zac wanted to talk with him face to face first to ensure he knew exactly what he was up against.
Zac walked to the door, deciding to return to A and E where there was at least a bit of noise to help drive away the intrusive thoughts. War zones weren’t good places to work in, and of that he had first-hand knowledge. There had been days when Zac hadn’t been sure whether or not he’d live to see the next sunrise.
He pushed open the door to A and E and looked around for Julia. Surely she was here by now.
‘Ah, Julia,’ he said as he walked into the tearoom. ‘You’re here. Perfect timing. You’ve saved me from some paperwork.’
‘Ugh. Anything but paperwork.’
Zac laughed, trying not to notice how his entire mood had picked up at the mere sight of her. She was gorgeous, even though she looked exhausted.
‘What’s happening with the patients?’ she asked.
‘I don’t know. Why don’t we go and see the triage sister?’
‘They’re held up in Radiology,’ Sister explained. ‘One of the processing machines has broken down. Shouldn’t be too much longer.’
‘Let us know when you’re ready,’ Zac said. ‘We’ll be in the tearoom.’ They returned to the tearoom.
‘Why don’t you tell me what you know about the patients?’ Julia asked.
‘All right. They’re both nineteen, both competing in the same karate competition this afternoon. First patient is Lucas Carter. He was attempting to break seven tiles and sustained a hand injury. Then Philip Gregg attempted the same feat and also sustained a hand injury.’
Julia raised her eyebrows in surprise, her lips twitching with amusement. ‘Did either of them win?’
‘I don’t know. We’ll have to ask them.’ Zac matched Julia’s smile and for a split second she knew that being friends would definitely work—for now. It was controlling their animalistic attraction to each other that would require restraint!
The atmosphere around them started to grow with intensity. Zac was so handsome and the way he was smiling at her now turned her insides to mush. She cleared her throat nervously and licked her lips.
‘Right. I might go and get changed into theatre scrubs.’ She had to get away from him—get control of her emotions.
Zac raised his eyebrows, the smile still on his lips. ‘You’ve always looked gorgeous in baggy green cotton.’
‘Why, thank you, Dr Carmichael.’ She matched his teasing mood. ‘You say the sweetest things.’ Julia turned and headed towards the changing rooms. The truth was that his teasing smile had caused her heart rate to increase and her palms to sweat. Would she ever get used to the effect Zachary Carmichael had on her? She doubted it.
After she had changed, Julia went to Emergency Theatres to check and double-check the instrumentation. Just as she was finishing, her pager sounded. She checked the message. It was from her mother, asking her to call home. She checked the clock. Five-thirty. Edward would be getting ready for his bath and, no doubt, kicking up a fuss.
She didn’t know where the phones were around the A and E department so went into the tearoom where she’d seen a phone earlier. She dialled an outside line before punching in her number. ‘Hi, it’s me,’ she said, and could hear her son wailing in the background. ‘What’s wrong?’ She couldn’t hide the instant alarm that sprang into her tone.
‘He’s all right,’ her mother said. ‘He’s just very tired and wants you.’
‘Put him on,’ she said, and took a deep breath.
‘Mummy,’ Edward sniffled. ‘I want Mummy,’ he said stubbornly.
‘Hi, sweetie. What’s wrong, darling?’
‘I want you, Mummy. I want you.’
‘Oh, honey, I know,’ she said, feeling for him. This was the part of her job that she hated. The part that took her away from her boy! ‘Mummy has to go and help some sick people. You be a good boy for Grandma and go to sleep, and then in the morning you can come and wake me up and we’ll have a really, really big pillow fight. How does that sound?’
‘An’ play I pie?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ she promised with a smile. ‘We’ll play I Spy as well.’
‘Oh-tay,’ he said, still sad, but at least his crying had stopped.
‘Good. I love you, darling.’
‘I love you, too, Mummy,’ he said, and blew a big kiss down the receiver. Julia waited a moment before her mother came back on the line.
‘Thanks. He just needed to hear your voice.’
‘I know. I’ll be home as soon as I can.’
‘All right, dear. Bye.’
‘Bye,’ she said softly, and hung up. Julia sighed and shook her head before turning around. She froze when she spotted Zac leaning against the doorframe, his face concerned.
‘Everything all right?’
‘Yes.’ She nodded for emphasis. ‘That was my mother.’ She pointed to the phone. ‘Edward’s a little overtired. Jeffrey and Mona came for lunch today and brought a new remote-control car for him. He always gets over-excited when Jeffrey comes.’ Julia smiled, her tone not in the least severe or reproving.
‘That doesn’t bother you?’
‘Someone has to get him over-excited about boy things like cars. Mummy and Grandma don’t know diddly-squat about them.’
‘Oh, you don’t do too bad. You surely impressed young Timmy on the ward last week.’
‘I’ve figured out how to tell one car from another. The name and make are written underneath them.’
‘Ah, so that’s your secret.’
Julia was amazed that Zac was standing there, talking to her about her son. Every other time she’d mentioned Edward during the week she’d received ‘the mask’ from him. Now he seemed…interested.
‘So a few words from Mummy and he’s as right as rain, eh?’
Julia smiled. ‘Something like that.’
He hesitated and Julia held her breath. He was about to say something important and she didn’t want to put him off.
‘Vanessa gets back in a few days’ time,’ he said conversationally.
‘Oh. Have you spoken to her?’
He nodded. ‘Last night. When I told her you were here, she was so excited she squealed down the phone. She hasn’t done that since she was a teenager. My ear is still recovering,’ he jested, rubbing the ear in question.
Julia laughed. ‘Sounds like Vanessa.’
‘Anyway, as next weekend is our weekend off, she suggested we drive to their place in Brisbane and stay for the night.’
Julia’s smile slowly turned into a polite one. ‘Thanks for the offer, Zac, but I couldn’t possibly—’
‘Not just you, Julia. Edward and your mother are invited as well,’ he clarified.
‘Oh.’ She was surprised but then reasoned that Vanessa would invite the whole family. ‘All right, then. I’ll talk it over with Mum and see what she says. She might actually be glad to have a weekend away.’
‘Good. Let me know, then.’
Theatre Sister stopped in the tearoom doorway. ‘There you both are. The patients are back,’ she informed them.
‘Thanks.’ Zac turned to Julia. ‘You take Lucas, I’ll take Philip and let’s see if we can’t get out of here sooner rather than later.’
Julia nodded as they both headed over to their patients.
‘Hi, Lucas. I’m Dr Bolton,’ Julia said as she entered treatment room one. ‘Sounds as though you’ve had quite a night,’ she ventured, but Lucas just sulked. Fair enough, she tho
ught as she switched on a lamp by the bed and angled it so she could get a closer look at Lucas’s hand. The nurse who was attending to Lucas held out the case-notes to Julia. She read them quickly before crossing to the sink to wash her hands.
‘All right, now,’ she said as she dried her hands and pulled on a pair of gloves. ‘Let’s take a look at your radiographs and see what’s going on.’ Julia took the X-rays out of the packet and held them up to the light.
‘Have a look here,’ she said to Lucas, but he simply turned his head away.
‘No.’
‘OK. Well, these X-rays show me that the fourth and fifth metacarpals—they’re the bones on top of your hand—are broken as well as all three sections of the fourth and fifth phalanges—they’re your fingers.’ As she was talking, she saw Lucas’s head shift slightly so she pointed to the bones in question.
Julia lowered the films and placed them back in the packet. ‘Now, if I can just have a look at your fingers, we’ll be all done.’
‘Why can’t you just read the ambulance report and be done with it?’ Lucas demanded, still cradling his injured hand in his good one. ‘They’ve already poked and prodded it. Said I broke a couple of fingers. Then I had those X-ray people touchin’ me. I’m just fed up with everything,’ he said, his voice cracking slightly.
Julia remained silent, hoping he’d continue. It was better for him to get things out in the open rather than bottling them up.
‘If I made it through this round, I was going to Brisbane for the finals. Now I’m out of it. At least Philip didn’t win.’ His voice was laced with bad sportsmanship and Julia now had the answer to her earlier question. Neither of them had won.
She could understand Lucas’s sour-grapes attitude but at the moment she didn’t have a lot of reserved patience for dealing with him. After being called to the hospital last night, spending an exhausting day with her son and now having to tread carefully with her uncooperative patient, Julia had just about had enough. Still, she was a professional.
‘I realise you’re not feeling up to this, Lucas, and I know the paramedics have already poked and prodded you but I’m sorry to tell you it doesn’t end there. Lucas, I’m the surgeon who’s going to be treating you, and just by reading their report and looking at the X-rays I can already tell that you’re going to need surgery. Now, as I’ll be the person performing the surgery, I think it’s best if I can have a good look at them so I know exactly what I have to fix.’ Her speech was delivered quietly and calmly and she waited for Lucas to digest her words.
‘All right, then,’ he said reluctantly.
Julia reached out and drew his arm closer to her. ‘Thank you,’ she replied. She gently tested the range of motion, only to have Lucas yell out in pain.
‘That hurts. That’s enough.’ He snatched his hand back.
‘Thank you.’ She’d seen enough for the moment. She turned her attention to the paperwork the nurse had set out for her and after writing her comments she said, ‘I’ll see you after your pre-med.’
Returning to the tearoom, she encountered Zac. ‘Fourth and fifth metacarpals and phalanges?’ he asked, and she nodded.
He chuckled and shook his head. ‘Exactly the same injury.’
‘And neither of them won.’
‘Actually, Philip didn’t say. He was just glad his hand is going to be all right. He said he’d only taken up the sport for a bit of fun and this would be another story he could tell his grandchildren.’
‘Sounds as though you have the patient from heaven.’
‘Why? You don’t?’ Zac smiled at her.
‘You could say that. Hopefully Lucas will have a better outlook once he’s had the surgery and is on the road to recovery.’ Julia dropped wearily into a chair at the table and slumped forward. ‘A difficult patient is the last thing I need right now. I’m just so tired,’ she moaned to herself.
‘What?’
She raised her head and looked at him. ‘I’m tired, Zac. I was in Theatre early this morning, didn’t get home until just after five and then Edward woke me up at six-thirty.’ She buried her head in her hands and mumbled, ‘I know I just need to find my pace but, with moving across the country, starting a new job and trying to get Edward settled into a routine again, it’s all very draining.’
‘I think I caught most of that,’ she heard Zac say from behind her, and jerked her head upright when she felt the warm pressure of his hands on her shoulders. ‘Try and relax,’ he said softly. ‘At least for a few minutes.’
Julia sat up a bit straighter to allow his massaging hands access to her shoulders. She closed her eyes. ‘Mmm,’ she groaned, and breathed in deeply. ‘I remember those magic hands.’ Two seconds after the words were out, she tensed again and opened her eyes. ‘I mean, you’ve always been good at massaging,’ she corrected, just in case he should interpret her words another way. ‘Shoulders,’ she added quickly. ‘Massaging shoulders.’
His deep chuckle washed over her with delight. ‘I know what you meant, Julia. Now, help me out by relaxing so I can try and unknot your shoulders with my magic hands.’
Julia smiled at his words, closed her eyes and tried hard to relax—which was easier said than done as whenever Zac touched her, her entire body came to life. She tried hard not to focus on the warmth of his fingers, she tried hard not to focus on his close proximity, she tried hard not to focus on the scent of his cologne, but rather on how he was easing the tension in her shoulders. It wasn’t easy but slowly she managed it, and as Zac’s hands continued to move in rhythmic strokes over her shoulders and neck, Julia slowly felt the tension start to ease out of her.
‘How does that feel?’
The question was whispered close to her ear as his deep voice rumbled through her. Julia’s eyes snapped open and she shivered involuntarily.
Slowly she turned her head to look at him and was amazed to read desire in his blue eyes. ‘Zac?’ she whispered, her lips parting as her breathing increased. They stared at each other for one heart-stopping moment before Zac pressed his mouth firmly to her own.
Julia sighed into the kiss as their lips met with a burning mutual need. Her blood was pumping furiously around her body, zinging with excitement as Zac’s tongue slipped between her lips. She matched the intensity of his passion, giving everything she had to the man she was falling for all over again.
He groaned and hoisted her out of the chair and into his arms in one swift movement. Julia heard the chair hit the ground behind her but couldn’t be bothered picking it up. She was caught up in the charm that was Zachary Carmichael. The way he made her feel, the way she hoped she made him feel. It was too powerful to ignore yet that’s what they’d both been trying to do.
She allowed her fingers the luxury of sinking themselves into his hair, ensuring that he wasn’t about to break the sweet torture his mouth was evoking on her senses. She gave all of herself to the kiss, letting him know how much she’d missed this more intimate contact and how much she loved it. She was simply enjoying being in Zac’s arms, with his mouth on hers, his body pressed close. Eventually she pulled back, her breathing erratic as she gasped for air. He kissed her briefly a few more times before she rested her head against his chest. ‘Baggy green cotton will do it every time,’ she jested, referring to his earlier remark about the theatre garb they were both wearing.
Zac chuckled and she rejoiced at the sound. Taking a deep breath, her pulse slowly returned to normal and almost reluctantly Zac let her go. She slid her arms from around him and hugged herself tightly, feeling deprived. ‘We should really be more careful.’ He pointed to the open tearoom door.
What did that imply? That they were going to continue kissing but it should be done in private? Julia shook her head. No. If they were going to be just friends then they shouldn’t be kissing at all!
Should she remind him of that? Julia glanced surreptitiously up at Zac to see him run a not-so-steady hand through his hair.
‘You know, Zac…’ Julia hesitated f
or a moment but decided it was best to continue with what she’d been about to say. One of them would say it and she would rather it was her. ‘It’s going to take every ounce of strength from both of us to make this friendship thing work.’
He nodded, rubbing his hand along the back of his neck. ‘You’re right.’ He smiled crookedly and shrugged his shoulders. ‘There just seem to be times when I find it impossible to keep my hands off you.’
‘Ditto,’ she agreed, noticing the flash of desire in his eyes again. ‘Inner strength. We both need to find some.’
He chuckled without humour. ‘It won’t be easy.’
‘No,’ she agreed. ‘It won’t but, nevertheless, we’re two professionals who work well together and should be able to deal with seeing each other socially—’
‘Without succumbing to the temptation to be in each other’s arms,’ he finished.
They both nodded again. Their gazes locked, sending underlying messages of suppressed passion. Zac cleared his throat and looked away.
‘I’m sorry I kissed you, Julia. I do like you, but we can only be friends. Happy families aren’t for me. I won’t go through it again.’
Julia frowned. ‘Again?’ she whispered, as she instinctively took a step away from him. What was he talking about? Another step and…Julia found herself falling backwards, the legs of the upended chair digging into her.
‘Whoa!’ She tumbled over, arms and legs flailing in the air before her arm connected with the side of the chair and her backside with the floor. ‘Ouch!’ she groaned, and winced in pain.
‘Jules, are you all right?’ Zac was instantly by her side, helping her to her feet, his previous defensiveness gone. ‘Julia?’
‘Ugh,’ she complained as she rubbed the side of her arm. ‘I’m so embarrassed.’
‘Hey—it’s just me. No need to be embarrassed.’ He held her arm tenderly and rubbed his thumb over the red mark that was beginning to appear.
‘It’s…f-fine.’ Julia took a step away from him. Moments ago he’d been wanting to keep his distance simply because she had a child.
