A Mother for His Twins

by Lucy Clark

  ‘Yeah. Then Mum would have been really mad.’ Christopher headed out, leaving Jasper standing there watching Jennifer.

  ‘Cute kid,’ she said as she signed her name to his notes and closed the file. ‘Now, Jasper, what can I do for you?’

  He held out an X-ray packet. ‘Just wanted a second opinion on these.’

  Jennifer stood and took the packet from him, pulling down Christopher’s X-rays and putting them away before hooking up the ones Jasper had brought in. ‘Lovely dislocation of the shoulder.’

  ‘Does that look like a hairline fracture?’ He pointed to the neck of humerus and Jennifer peered closer, squinting a little.

  ‘Do you have another view?’

  ‘Yes but it doesn’t show up as clearly as this. I don’t want to relocate the shoulder if it requires further stabilisation.’ He paused, then said, ‘You know that young boy probably has a crush on you.’

  ‘Hmm? Oh, Christopher?’ She looked up at Jasper and laughed. ‘I doubt it. I’m far too old for him.’

  ‘Nevertheless, he was looking at you as though he wanted to be your own personal superhero.’

  Jennifer’s face lit up with humour and the effect of her eyes and her hundred-watt smile were enough to make Jasper feel as though he’d been hit in the solar plexus.

  ‘He reminded me of Arturo.’

  ‘He looked like Arturo?’

  ‘No.’ She shook her head quickly. ‘His love of life. Skateboarding at three o’clock in the morning is something Art would definitely have done—cape and all.’

  ‘Crazy.’

  ‘Oh, undoubtedly, and totally stupid as well but, still, that boy has a love of life, and when you think about it, it’s not something we get to see all that often.’

  ‘No. We get to see the after-effects.’

  ‘Ooh. Grumpy Eddie, today, eh? Perhaps you need another coffee?’

  ‘I am not grumpy,’ he protested. He was secretly pleased Jennifer was teasing him in such a manner and also that she was opening up about Arturo. After their deep and meaningful discussion he’d wondered if she’d treat him any differently at work. At first it had appeared the ice-queen was in residence as they’d done ward round together but later on when they’d been in clinic she’d smiled at him. Why he’d felt as though the sun had come out from behind a cloud he wasn’t sure, but that was the way he’d felt for the past two weeks. When she smiled at him, as she was doing now, he couldn’t help but enjoy it. Unfortunately, they’d been too busy to spend any quality time together, something he’d planned on doing. After all, he’d told himself several times, friends were allowed to spend time together. Weren’t they? Still, he had two tickets to a concert that evening, burning a hole in his pocket. He hadn’t said anything to her about it, unsure of emergencies, but if it turned out they were both free tonight, he was definitely going to try and persuade her to accompany him. He’d already primed the girls and his mother not to expect him back for dinner. He glanced at her…hoping things turned out his way.

  ‘No. Just sounding old,’ she countered.

  ‘Thank you very much.’

  Jennifer laughed again and placed a hand on his arm. ‘I didn’t mean it like that. You’re only two years older than I am so it wouldn’t do me much good to rib you about your age.’

  ‘No, it wouldn’t.’ He looked down at where her hand rested on his arm, feeling the warmth, her humour and her natural ability to care. Jennifer was the type of person who didn’t want anything to be misconstrued if she could help it. Jasper had also realised that not many people got to see this side of her yet she was allowing him to. It made him feel quite privileged.

  As though she realised she was touching him, she quickly removed her hand, hoping he didn’t think she was making a pass at him or leading him on in some way. Slowly, she raised her eyes to meet his and found him smiling. Letting out the small breath she’d been holding, she watched as he crossed his muscled arms over his chest, the fabric of his cotton shirt pulling taut over his biceps.

  ‘Who told you my age?’

  Jennifer, trying desperately to ignore the way her body responded to his, opened her mouth to answer, but he’d already figured it out.

  ‘Sara,’ he continued.

  ‘Well, yes, but it’s also in your personnel file.’ Her eyes widened as she realised he might take that the wrong way.

  ‘Been checking on my academic transcript, boss?’

  Jennifer lifted her chin slightly and Jasper couldn’t help but smile. He was coming to love it when she did that.

  ‘I’ve been checking up on all my staff, if you must know.’ But she wouldn’t tell him she’d pored over every aspect of his for quite some time. It was as though she was becoming obsessed with him, with wanting to know everything about him, thinking about him…dreaming about him. ‘It’s not uncommon for a new head of unit to want to know the capabilities of the staff, both practically and academically.’

  ‘No. Not uncommon at all.’ He was still smiling and he sounded as though he didn’t believe her one little bit but, thankfully, it appeared he was going to let her get away with it. They stood there, looking at each other, the atmosphere intensifying. She needed to break the moment. She knew that but the signals her brain was sending to her limbs, particularly her legs, that they should move were being interrupted by the hypnotic way Jasper was looking at her.

  ‘Uh…Jen.’ He cleared his throat, surprised to find he was a little nervous about asking her out.

  ‘Mmm?’

  ‘Are you free this evening?’

  Her eyebrows raised. ‘Free?’

  ‘Not busy? And I’m not talking about paperwork. That is not a valid excuse.’

  ‘What would be a valid excuse, then?’

  ‘An emergency.’

  She waited for him to give her other options but none were forthcoming. ‘That’s it? An emergency is my only form of excuse?’

  ‘Yes.’ He smiled, feeling more sure of himself. ‘Anyway, I have tickets.’ He dug into his trouser pocket and pulled out two tickets, showing her. ‘It’s for a concert tonight at the Sydney Opera House and I just thought that if you weren’t…’

  Jennifer took a ticket from him and examined it more closely. ‘Rock ’n’ roll classics?’

  ‘It’s not opera or anything like that. It’s just different well-known Australian bands playing their favourite rock ’n’ roll classics. Given that you like that period of music so well, I just thought…’ he shrugged ‘…that you might like to go.’

  Jennifer looked at the ticket and then back at Jasper. ‘You bought tickets?’

  ‘Obviously.’

  ‘When?’

  ‘Two days ago. I wasn’t sure what the rosters would be, given people were off sick.’

  ‘Fair enough.’

  ‘So?’ he prompted, when she didn’t say anything else, still staring at the ticket as though she couldn’t quite believe it. ‘Would you like to go?’

  Jennifer nodded, excited by not only the prospect of going to a concert—something she hadn’t done since she’d been a med student—but of going with Jasper. ‘Yes, please.’

  Jasper couldn’t believe the relief he felt at her answer. ‘Great. Excellent.’ He indicated the ticket in her hand. ‘Do you want to hold onto that or would you like me to keep it for you?’

  ‘Keep them together.’ She handed it back. ‘They’re a pair.’

  He grinned at her words. ‘Yes, they are.’ Was that an indication that she was ready to take their own relationship up another step? To be a pair? He certainly hoped so. ‘I’ll start praying for no big emergencies tonight.’

  ‘You do that because there are some fantastic bands in that line-up.’

  Jasper shook his head. ‘You really are quite a surprising woman, Dr Thorngate.’

  ‘Thanks. I think.’ She looked up at him, the distance between them still the same as before but she knew in accepting this invitation from him she’d just raised the bar on their friendship…and she was
actually quite happy about it. ‘Do you want to meet for dinner before the show?’

  ‘I was just about to ask that. Sure. That would be great.’

  ‘OK. First, though, I’d suggest we get through the rest of this day, and the first step will be getting your patient X-rayed again.’ She turned and walked back to her desk, needing to put some distance between them because whenever she found herself close to Jasper like that it was becoming far more difficult not to reach out and slip her arms about his waist. She had a date with him tonight. A real live date and she couldn’t wait.

  ‘That was my thought but, again, as head of unit I didn’t know whether that would be considered as not adhering to cost-effective means.’

  His words helped bring her mind back onto the right track. ‘If the patient requires further X-ray then they should be entitled to it. Better to spend the money doing that rather than risk a lawsuit for ineffective treatment—or, worse, the wrong treatment.’

  He looked at her for a moment, pleased with what he was hearing. ‘Agreed.’

  ‘Then why do you seem so surprised at my recommendation? Was my predecessor a penny-pincher?’

  ‘You could say that.’

  ‘Ah, well, no wonder I have a fan club.’ And he was president. She tried not to smile at the thought. ‘Wait a minute. Why is someone presenting to clinic with a dislocated shoulder?’

  ‘They didn’t. It was an A and E call requiring an orthopaedic consult.’

  ‘But you’re not on call. Louise is.’

  ‘Louise isn’t feeling too well and was only just managing to cope with clinic. When the call came in, I took it.’

  ‘No wonder you needed coffee. Keep me informed on Louise’s health, if you wouldn’t mind.’

  Jasper shook his head and tut-tutted. ‘You’re never going to keep up your ice-queen persona if you keep caring about your staff in this way.’

  ‘I’m a doctor. It’s my job to care.’

  ‘Yes, but you’re also the department administrator. It’s your job to squeeze the most out of your staff and protect all unnecessary expenditure.’

  ‘And after one whole month of being here, I’m well under budget—but don’t let that get around.’

  Jasper pretended to zip his lips. ‘My lips are sealed,’ he mumbled, making her laugh. He was delighted at the sound.

  ‘Besides, if you act as my go-between guy, then I can keep my ice-queen image as well as surreptitiously caring for my staff.’

  ‘You want me to spy for you?’

  ‘Only on the important things.’

  ‘Such as…’

  ‘The need for a coffee-machine in the clinic, but more prominent would be the health of our colleagues.’ When he raised an eyebrow, she pressed on. ‘They hardly know me, Jasper and I’m just not good with the nitty-gritty personal stuff. Yes, I care if people are sick and suggest they actually take the sick leave they’ve no doubt accrued to get better. The department will manage as best as it can. No one is indispensable and I truly believe that’s the biggest flaw most of us doctors have. We always think we’re totally irreplaceable and therefore refuse to take a day off to actually get better. Instead, we come to work, spread our germs around to all and sundry and then wonder why we’re not getting any better. Yet if we simply followed the advice we give to our patients—i.e. go home, rest and drink plenty of fluids—we’d be back at work in no time.’

  ‘Whew! Don’t hold back, Jen. Tell me what you really think.’

  Jennifer smiled at his words. ‘Sorry. The head of unit I worked under in Melbourne was a bully, in my opinion, for not allowing his staff days off despite the fact they were ready to drop from total exhaustion. That is not effective management, neither is it effective medicine, and it’s that type of defective management that leads to lawsuits.’

  ‘You have a real thing about avoiding lawsuits.’

  ‘I do and personally I think it’s a good trait for an administrator to have. If staff are healthy and alert—’

  ‘Translate—take days off and drink coffee when working…Continue.’

  ‘Then the department will run more smoothly. Patients will receive the care they need and everyone’s happy.’

  ‘Except for the lawyers. You’re leaving them with nothing to do.’

  Jennifer smiled up at him and once more Jasper took a hit to his solar plexus. The woman was starting to really consume his thoughts. In the mornings he’d wonder what she was going to wear to work. At lunch he’d listen to his colleagues sing her praises, all of them totally surprised at how brilliant she was. In the evening he would wonder what she looked like as she dressed for bed, with her dark locks flowing loosely around her shoulders, softening the gorgeous structure of her face. Then he’d dream of her. Dream of kissing her. No woman had consumed him so much since he’d first met Elisha.

  Jasper belatedly realised he was staring and turned away, collecting the X-rays and putting them back into the packet. ‘Um…’ He paused at the door. ‘Are you going tomorrow?’

  ‘Tomorrow?’

  ‘To Sara’s mid-winter barbecue.’

  ‘Oh, that. Yes. I’m going. Are you?’ She’d been wondering if she’d see him there or, more to the point, she’d been hoping she’d see him there.

  ‘Yes. The girls are very excited about it.’

  ‘No doubt.’

  ‘My parents will be there too, and Megan, if she can make it.’

  ‘Great. I’m looking forward to meeting your sister. How are the wedding plans going?’

  ‘Frantic, from what Mum says. I haven’t had the courage to even broach the subject with my little sis. Besides, she has enough stress on her plate.’

  ‘Did the girls’ dresses show up?’

  ‘Yes. They’ve had their final fitting and look like adorable little angels.’

  ‘I’m sure they do. Do the dresses come complete with halos?’

  Jasper chuckled. ‘No, thank goodness, or those halos would definitely be slipping a bit on my two girls.’

  ‘They’re adorable, Jasper, and you know it.’

  ‘Adorable? Yes. A handful? Yes. Able to walk slowly down the aisle? No.’

  ‘They’re four. What do you expect?’

  ‘I expect Megan’s beginning to regret asking them.’

  ‘It will all be fine on the day.’

  ‘You think so?’ He exhaled and fiddled with his tie, smoothing it down. ‘I hope so. I don’t want to disappoint Megan.’

  ‘Well, it’s not your fault if you have two adorable but unruly children. Oh, wait a minute, it is,’ she joked, and Jasper merely rolled his eyes and shook his head. ‘How about if we have a practice tomorrow at Sara’s place? I’m sure Sara and I can explain it to them, how they need to be perfect young ladies and walk like princesses.’

  ‘Good luck.’

  ‘It’ll be fine,’ she repeated. ‘You’re just struggling because you don’t know how to speak female.’

  ‘Thank goodness you’re fluent in it.’

  ‘Yes.’ There was a knock on the consulting-room door and the clinic sister poked her head in.

  ‘There the two of you are. There are patients everywhere and you’re standing around gas-bagging. Get back to work.’

  ‘Yes, Sister,’ they both replied, dutifully chastised. As the sister headed off, Jasper and Jennifer smiled at each other, no words needed as they communicated they were glad they’d had these few minutes alone.

  ‘Action stations,’ Jasper said, and winked at her before he left. Jennifer stood where she was for a second, waiting for her heart rate to return to normal, unable to believe the way he affected her. When she felt the lub-dub of her heart was more sedate, she headed to the waiting room to call her next patient through and realised her energy was completely restored. Five minutes in Jasper’s company had done more than all the coffee she’d drunk so far that morning and she was starting to believe he was the healthier option.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  DINNER had been lovely. The c
oncert had been amazing and as they walked to Jennifer’s car, she was bouncing with life.

  ‘That was…so incredibly brilliant.’

  ‘It was,’ Jasper agreed. He’d taken her hand as they’d headed out of the venue, not wanting to lose her in the throng of people making their way down the steps of the Sydney Opera House…and he hadn’t let go. It also appeared that Jennifer was more than happy for him to continue holding her hand.

  They were both dressed casually in jeans and jumpers, their coats now around them to protect from the cool evening wind. Jennifer hadn’t worn her hair loose, as he’d hoped, but it wasn’t in her usual bun either. Instead, she’d pulled it back into a French braid, keeping it tidy and out of the way.

  ‘That guitarist—the one who came running through the audience and then jumped up on the small stage at the back and did his guitar solo…’ She squeezed his hand tight and even wrapped her other hand about his arm, drawing him even closer. ‘Wow. It was just…Wow.’

  He laughed and decided it was the perfect opportunity to let go of her hand, but only to slip his arm around her shoulders. She didn’t stop him, instead sliding her own arm around his waist.

  ‘Thank you so much for bringing me, Jasper.’

  ‘It was my pleasure.’ He looked down and winked at her as they continued to the car park. ‘Although I have to say I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this animated before.’

  ‘That’s because I haven’t felt this alive in years, and I mean years, Jasper. I knew coming back to Parramatta would help with the healing, but I hadn’t expected to find this.’ She hugged him close.

  ‘This?’

  ‘This bond we seem to be forging. It was the nicest thing in the world for you to get the tickets, to invite me when you knew I liked classic rock ’n’ roll. It was so thoughtful. So caring.’ She stopped walking in the middle of the footpath, pulling him to a halt before leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek. ‘Thank you.’

  Jasper put his other arm around her, pulling her closer, both of them uncaring of other people who were now having to walk around them. ‘Jennifer.’ He’d wanted this moment for so long, to be holding her close like this, to feel her breath mingling with his, and now that it was here he wanted to savour it, to memorise it. ‘I’m not sure whether—’