Saving Baby Amy

by Annie Claydon

  Jon was looking around, trying to catch the attention of one of the nurses but they were all busy. When he saw Chloe he spoke to the woman.

  ‘Ah. Here’s someone who might know...’ He turned his blue eyes up to meet hers. ‘There’s a little boy, three years old. He’s just been admitted.’

  ‘Through here.’ Chloe indicated the ward, and Jon nodded a thank-you, wheeling the woman through.

  ‘Nicky...’ The woman’s voice was hoarse and cracked. She stretched out her hand towards the boy in the bed and tried to get out of the wheelchair but Jon laid his hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

  ‘Stay there, Kathy. He’s all right.’

  ‘His hands...’ Kathy wouldn’t stop reaching, and Chloe saw that one of Nicky’s hands was still blackened by smoke.

  ‘It’s all right. His hands aren’t burned, I cleaned him up and checked. He must have picked that bit of soot up when I took his pyjamas off.’ Jon’s reassurance calmed Kathy a little.

  ‘He’s not burned at all?’

  ‘Nothing. Your husband did a good job, Kathy, he got him out of the house without a scratch on him. It’s just the smoke inhalation. We need to watch him carefully for a little while, just the same as we need to watch you.’

  ‘I’m all right.’ Kathy didn’t take her eyes off her son.

  ‘Well, we need to make sure. I sprang you out of observation on the strict condition that I made sure you stayed in the chair and breathed through your nose. You’re not getting the full benefit of the oxygen if you breathe through your mouth.’

  Jon gave Kathy a look of gentle reproof and she closed her mouth, her chest moving as she took a deep breath through her nose.

  ‘Better. Thank you.’ Jon grinned at her and she managed a smile. Chloe stepped forward, taking Kathy’s hand.

  ‘I’m Chloe. That’s my niece over there, but I’m a doctor too. Would you like me to clean Nicky’s hand?’ It made little difference whether the boy’s hand was clean or dirty at the moment, but it was all that Chloe could think of to make Kathy feel better.

  Kathy nodded, giving her a tight smile.

  Chloe fetched some warm water and carefully wiped and dried Nicky’s hand. Jon had stepped away from them and was talking quietly on his phone, and Chloe pushed the wheelchair a little closer to the bed so that Kathy could touch her son.

  ‘Is there anyone we can call for you? A friend or relative?’

  ‘Dr Lambert’s calling my sister. He’s so kind...’ A tear rolled down Kathy’s cheek.

  ‘Yes, he is. He’s a very good doctor as well, and Nicky’s in good hands here.’ Chloe put her arm around Kathy’s shoulders. ‘Don’t cry, now. Just breathe.’

  Jon was still on the phone, talking intently. He saw Chloe watching him, and before she could avert her eyes he flashed her a smile and ended the call.

  ‘Your sister’s coming, she’ll be here in an hour. She’s going to get the children to school and then come straight here.’ He bent down, squatting on his heels in front of Kathy. ‘I called down to see how your husband’s doing—’

  ‘Is he all right?’ Kathy’s hand flew to her mouth.

  ‘He’s comfortable and in no danger. He needs care, he has smoke inhalation and burns to his arm, but they’ll heal.’

  ‘Thank you... Thank you...’

  That smile again. The one that would have calmed a charging rhino. Or made a stone feel something. ‘I hear your husband was a hero.’

  Tears rolled down Kathy’s cheeks. ‘He told me to go downstairs. He went to fetch Nicky and rolled him up in a blanket...’

  ‘The doctor said that you could see him for ten minutes. I can take you down, and bring you straight back here to be with Nicky.’

  Kathy’s gaze moved to her son and then back to Jon, in a dilemma. Nicky was lying quietly at the moment, but he was going to need his mother’s comfort when the trauma of the last few hours started to sink in.

  ‘Will you let me watch Nicky for you while you’re gone? I’ll call you if there’s any change or if he becomes distressed.’ Chloe spoke up.

  ‘Would you...?’ Kathy was still uncertain.

  ‘I’ll stay right here, by his bed. I can call Jon, and he’ll bring you straight back here.’

  Jon nodded, taking his phone from the trouser pocket of his scrubs and putting it in Kathy’s hand. ‘Here. Hang onto it for me.’

  Kathy nodded. ‘I’d like to see him. I want to tell him—’

  Jon got to his feet, smiling. ‘He’ll be wanting to hear it. And Chloe will keep a good eye on Nicky. If we all share the load, we can cover everything.’

  * * *

  Chloe had been wondering whether that last comment had been aimed at her. Jon’s glance had flipped momentarily towards her when he’d said it, and she’d pretended not to notice.

  He took Kathy away, and brought her back again twenty minutes later. Even though his shift had ended almost an hour ago, he waited until Kathy’s sister arrived, taking ten minutes to change out of his scrubs and then returning to the ward. This time Chloe couldn’t help a little thrill of excitement because he was quite obviously here just for her.

  ‘Breakfast?’

  ‘Shouldn’t you be getting home for some sleep?’ Her treacherous heart hoped that he wouldn’t go.

  ‘I’m not quite tired enough yet.’

  They left Amy playing quietly and walked down to the canteen. Jon piled a plate full of all the breakfast items on the menu and Chloe rummaged in her handbag for the small sachet of teabags.

  ‘Hot water? Or can I tempt you to something else?’ He gestured towards the pile of flapjacks.

  ‘No, that’s okay. I’ll watch you eat.’

  They found a table in a quiet corner and Jon attacked his food like a man who hadn’t eaten in the last week. She waited until he slowed a little, sipping her tea.

  ‘So how’s Kathy’s husband?’

  ‘Second-and third-degree burns on the top of his arm and shoulder. He could well need skin grafts.’

  ‘But he’ll be okay.’

  ‘Yes. Apparently he was pretty lucky to escape with just that.’

  ‘He knew Kathy was there?’

  Jon’s face broke into a smile. ‘He was drowsy from the pain relief but he knew all right. Brave man.’

  ‘Going to fetch Nicky like that.’

  ‘Yes. And the way he told Kathy that it all looked worse than it felt, and that she wasn’t to worry about him. He was okay, and she should stay with Nicky.’

  He paused for a moment, looking at Chloe, and then started to eat again. She wondered whether that comment was aimed at her as well. If it was, she didn’t deserve the kind of respect that Kathy’s husband did. She’d just done what she’d had to do, when she’d sent Hannah away to live with James.

  ‘I’ll go down there later. If he can’t have visitors, I can at least take a message from Kathy. Let him know how she and Nicky are doing.’

  ‘That’s nice. I’m sure he’d appreciate it.’

  He finished the last few mouthfuls from his plate and leaned back in his seat with a satisfied sigh. Then he turned to the toast.

  ‘I’ve been thinking...’

  Chloe asked the question that he was clearly waiting for. ‘What about?’

  ‘What are you going to do when Amy comes out of hospital?’

  ‘I’ll take some time off work. She should be coming out on Monday but it won’t be until the afternoon so I’ll speak to my head of department in the morning. When she’s fully well, I’ll make enquiries about getting her into the hospital crèche.’

  He nodded. ‘I could look after her next week.’

  ‘You can’t work nights and look after a baby all day. You’re not that superhuman.’

  ‘Ah, so you think I’m
just a bit superhuman...’ Jon grinned at her. ‘But, no, I wasn’t thinking of doing that. The guy I’m covering for is back from sick leave next week. I’m working on Monday night, but I’m not needed again until the following Sunday. After that I’ve got some more time off arranged before I start work permanently, and I can use that to work on the house.’

  It was tempting. Very tempting, in more ways than just the practical. Chloe stared at him, trying to frame a polite but firm refusal.

  ‘What?’ He didn’t wait for her answer. ‘Come on, you know Amy will be safe with me. And a week off with her might be relaxing.’

  ‘You think so?’

  Jon shrugged. ‘Well, a change is as good as a rest. Amy can’t frame a sensible sentence about either medicine or building materials.’

  He seemed so sure. And although it was difficult to fault his logic, his absolute commitment to the idea didn’t make any sense.

  ‘This is my responsibility, Jon. Why won’t you take no for an answer?’

  * * *

  It was a fair enough question. If he were in Chloe’s shoes, he’d be asking the same thing. Avoiding her like the plague and then suddenly jumping in with both feet might not be a very good basis for trust, but he’d just have to use a bit of persuasion.

  ‘When do you think Hannah’s going to be able to take full-time responsibility for Amy?’ He avoided the question with one of his own.

  She sighed. ‘I spoke with James last night. We both agreed to take things slowly.’

  ‘Then you’re going to need to pace yourself. Save your leave for when you really need it.’

  ‘That’s true, and it’s a very good point. You haven’t answered my question, though.’

  So he wasn’t getting off the hook that easily. ‘Families are important.’

  ‘That’s true too.’ She was circling the rim of her empty cup with her finger. Jon could practically hear the next question forming and he didn’t want to answer that one either.

  ‘Look, James will tell you that I’m not close to my family. I speak with my sister regularly, once a fortnight. I mark it in my diary to remind me.’

  She looked up at him thoughtfully, obviously trying to comprehend an arrangement that was so different from the way she kept in touch with James and Hannah, just picking up the phone whenever she had something to say. Never needing to remember to do it, because her brother and sister were a part of her life.

  ‘Do you say much?’

  ‘Yeah, we say quite a bit. We’ve learned not to say anything that really matters, because that’s likely to get us into trouble. It’s a long story. But you and James and Hannah...you have something special. It’s worth taking care of.’

  ‘When our parents died, all we had was each other.’ She pointed to his empty cup. ‘Do you want a refill?’

  ‘There’s still another cup in the pot.’ Jon picked up the small, stainless-steel coffee pot and poured the rest of its contents into his cup. ‘Am I going to need this?’

  ‘I’m not sure. You said it was a long story.’

  Suddenly he wanted everything out in the open. He wanted to let Chloe know where he stood, and then they could forget about these games and get on with the practical.

  ‘Right...’ Jon wondered where to start, and decided that the very beginning was probably best. ‘Well...boy meets girl, I guess...’

  Her eyes widened suddenly. For one delicious moment Jon let the misunderstanding hang in the air between them.

  ‘I met my ex-wife at the Freshers’ Ball at medical school.’

  ‘Ah. Yes, of course.’ She found another teabag from the seemingly endless supply in her bag and put it into her cup, splashing hot water onto it. ‘And...then you got married?’

  ‘Yes, we did, after we’d both qualified. Everyone pretty much expected we would, we had the same interests, the same goals in life...our families got on so well that Helen’s parents and mine used to go on weekend breaks together.’

  Chloe’s hand flew to her mouth, stifling the inevitable comment. Jon couldn’t help smiling, even though there wasn’t a great deal to smile about in all of this.

  ‘Yeah, I know. When the in-laws start planning Christmas together there’s a certain amount of expectation involved. But we didn’t let them down, we got a nice house together, both of us had good jobs that we loved. We were very happy.’

  Chloe didn’t look convinced about any of this. Maybe she was smarter than he’d been. He’d thought then that love was something he could catch and keep, but now he knew better.

  ‘I got a promotion, and Helen started working nights. We saw less and less of each other, and when we did there were more and more arguments. We became like strangers living in the same house.’

  Even now, the quiet hopelessness, the feeling that if this was all there was to life it had somehow fallen short of what he’d wanted, reverberated through Jon’s heart. He’d never smelled Helen’s soap, the way he had Chloe’s. Never checked the sell-by dates of her food in the fridge. Maybe if he had, things would have been different, but it was too late to think about that now.

  ‘In the end, Helen asked me to leave. When we told our families that we were splitting up, the crash of broken expectations was deafening. Everyone was looking for a reason, why the perfect marriage should no longer be so perfect, and I couldn’t give them one. My parents talked to Helen’s, and then came to me and demanded to know whether I’d had an affair. I hadn’t...’

  ‘And you set them straight?’ It was warming to find that Chloe’s first reaction was one of belief, and not the disbelief that his parents had voiced.

  ‘I tried to.’ Jon shrugged. ‘They were always very fond of Helen, though. And she was ready to believe anything that anyone said about me at that point. The whole thing blew up in our faces and became very bitter. Helen’s solicitor drew up the divorce papers, and when I got them they cited adultery.’

  ‘But...if that wasn’t true...’ Chloe’s brow was creased with thought. ‘I mean, they’re legal papers. Wouldn’t they be null and void? You’d still be married.’

  Maybe it was the odd twist of logic. Or maybe just that Chloe was basing that logic on such an unquestioning belief. Jon couldn’t help laughing.

  ‘I’ve no idea. I wouldn’t sign them, I held out for irreconcilable differences. There was no doubt at all about that one. My mother was furious with me, and that was when James came to the rescue and offered me a place to stay. I moved out of my parents’ house...’

  He shrugged. The softness in Chloe’s eyes said all that there was left to say. The stupid, needless conflict, which had broken his family apart and driven him away because he’d been unable to handle all the back-biting.

  ‘So, you see, I know how easily families can break. And I know how hard you and James have fought for yours and that’s special. Call it meddling, but if I can help you now...’

  He didn’t know what he was hoping for. Maybe Chloe did. Jon reached forward, taking her hand, curling his fingers around hers.

  ‘If you can help me now, it won’t make anything right for you.’

  Jon was used to people taking his help without question. Without even thinking about what it might mean to him. That was okay, it was his job and it was what he’d chosen to do, but Chloe... Chloe was different from anyone he’d ever met, and each time she showed that, it touched him.

  ‘I know. I’m past caring about that now, and I concentrate on what I’m good at, my job and my friendships. I’ve given up on everything else, but you won’t give up on Hannah, and that means something.’

  Suddenly she looked up at him, her eyes as soft as honey. ‘So...do you really think you’re prepared for this? Amy can be quite a handful.’

  ‘I doubt it, but I’ll give it a go. What can go wrong?’

  She smiled suddenly. ‘I don’t
know. I dare say Amy will come up with something.’

  CHAPTER FIVE

  IN A WORLD full of imperfect relationships, Jon had bucked the trend and got himself something perfect. And it had broken and then descended into a chaos of hard feelings and lies. No wonder he didn’t want to go back there again.

  And that suited Chloe. Promises to stay for ever hadn’t meant much when her parents had died, and even less when Jake had left. Even Hannah couldn’t stay with Amy right now. But Jon had made it clear that there was a limit to what he could promise, and that was oddly reassuring.

  But the silence in the house when she opened the front door wasn’t. Amy had been released from hospital on Monday, and when Jon had got home from work on Tuesday morning, Chloe had left her niece in his care. She’d resisted the temptation to phone him any more than a couple of times during the day to ask if everything was all right, and left work at five-thirty on the dot.

  She closed the front door. Maybe he’d taken Amy out for a while. But the car seat was still in the hall. Chloe walked into the sitting room and found Jon sprawled on the sofa, with Amy lying fast asleep on his chest.

  It was odd, but every time she saw him he seemed a little more deliciously handsome. Perhaps it was Amy’s tiny hands, clutching at his shirt as she slept, his own arms providing a safe enclosure for her. Who could resist that?

  Amy stirred and he opened his eyes immediately, his hand moving to spread protectively across her back. Then he caught sight of Chloe and she stepped back instinctively, aware that she’d been caught watching him.

  ‘Hi...’ She smiled foolishly as he sat up, bringing Amy with him. ‘Good day?’

  ‘Yeah.’ He surveyed the toys, scattered across the floor. ‘I’m afraid I didn’t get much time to tidy up, though...’

  ‘Amy’s okay?’

  ‘Yes, she’s been fine.’

  Chloe grinned. ‘That’s your mission for the day sorted, then.’ She picked up a few of the toys, piling them up in the corner of the room, and then sat down next to him.

  ‘How was your day?’

  ‘Good.’ She leaned over towards Amy, who was waking up in his arms. ‘I missed you, Amy.’