In slow motion she took the phone from her ear and looked at it. This couldn’t be happening. She put the phone back to her ear and her hand was shaking. ‘Is Max going to be all right?’
The voice was sympathetic but pragmatic. ‘I suggest you ask his doctors that question, Mrs Beresford.’
‘I will. Newcastle, you said.’
‘That is correct, madam. His vehicle was destroyed in the descent but managed to protect him enough for the rescue crews to be able to transfer him to hospital alive.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Good morning, Mrs Beresford.’
Georgia dropped the phone on the seat beside her and lowered her head onto the steering-wheel.
Max. In an accident and critical. For a moment she couldn’t think of the direction she needed to take to head north. She didn’t know where to start.
Sol’s whereabouts were the last thing she had to worry about now. She needed to get to Max.
Her phone rang again and she snatched it off the seat. ‘Yes?’
‘Mrs Beresford?’
‘Mrs White?’
There was a pause then, ‘Thank God I’ve been able to contact you.’ Georgia could hear the tears in Mrs White’s voice and her own throat closed. ‘The doctor is dangerously ill.’
Georgia tried to keep her own voice steady. ‘I know. The police just rang me. I’m in Sydney but will drive to Newcastle as soon as I hang up.’
‘I’m at the hospital but he’s still in Theatre. Has been all night. They won’t give me any information because I’m not the next of kin.’
Poor Mrs White. She loved Max like a son. ‘I’ll be there in an hour. We’ll wait together with Elsa. Did you drive down last night?’
‘They rang for you at eight and I left soon after that when I couldn’t get you on the phone. I thought you would go to the hospital as soon as you heard and would need me there.’
‘Thank you, Mrs White. It’s good to know I have someone to share the waiting with. I’ll see you soon.’ Georgia ended the call and put the phone down.
She looked at Elsa strapped in the back and started the car. She concentrated resolutely on her driving. She couldn’t allow negative thoughts to take her concentration. Max needed them to get there safely.
Deep down, inside her, along with the ball of fear in case she was too late, she knew that Max needed her.
When Georgia arrived at Newcastle Hospital she was directed to a waiting room outside the intensive care unit. Mrs White was there with mascara-stained tissues spread around her.
‘I’d been trying to ring you all night since they rang me.’ Mrs White’s big panda eyes were smeared from crying.
‘I know. I’m sorry.’ Georgia gave her a hug and Mrs White hugged her back.
‘How is he?’
‘He came out of Theatre about half an hour ago and they took him straight into Intensive Care. I said you would be here soon and they said to ring the bell as soon as you arrived.’
Georgia took a deep breath and stepped across to the door to push the bell. ‘I’ll take the baby.’ Mrs White held out her hands and Elsa glared at her mother as she was handed over.
‘Mummy will be back soon,’ Mrs White said to Elsa. ‘She needs to make sure Daddy is all right.’
Georgia heard the housekeeper’s words as she opened the door and tears stung her eyes. Mrs White was right. Max was Elsa’s daddy in all the important ways and she vowed that if Max made it they would be the family she had come to realise they had both always wanted.
Stepping into Intensive Care was like stepping into a nightmare.
Georgia knew what the equipment did, she knew the sounds and smells, but she’d never had someone she loved totally dependent on the machines and personnel in this unit.
‘I’m Mrs Beresford. I’d like to see my husband, Max, please. I understand he has just come out of Theatre.’
The intensive care nurse nodded sympathetically. ‘I’ll just get the registrar to see you before you go in, Mrs Beresford.’
The registrar was tall and gangly and he looked far too young to be in charge of Max’s survival.
‘I’m Dr Blaxland, Mrs Beresford. This all must be a horrible shock for you. It is for us, too. Max is well liked and respected in this hospital and we will do everything we can.’
He may have looked young but intelligence shone from his eyes, along with warm empathy, and Georgia revised her opinion.
‘How is he?’ Georgia didn’t like the sound of ‘everything we can’. ‘I understand he is lucky to be alive.’
‘He’s been in Theatre most of the night. The surgeons had problems with severe internal bleeding as well as a blow to the head. Luckily there doesn’t seem to be any spinal involvement.’
‘He will live?’
‘Dr Beresford has a tenacious hold on life and is breathing for himself, yes. He’s critical but stable at the moment. Our main concern is his lack of consciousness since his return from Theatre but cerebral oedema would account for that and hopefully will resolve over the next few hours or days. Thankfully the CAT scan doesn’t show any cerebral bleeding.’
Georgia couldn’t take it all in because she needed to see for herself that Max was alive. ‘Can I see him?’
‘Of course. This way.’
Dr Blaxland showed Georgia into a single room. When Georgia first saw Max it was hard to see the man she loved beneath all the equipment. The blinds were drawn so it was dim but the beeping of the cardiac monitor proved that Max was alive. Thank God.
A young nurse stood up from the chair beside the bed and Dr Blaxland introduced her. ‘This is Ellie. She’s one of our brightest stars in ICU. Your husband is in good hands.’
‘Mrs Beresford.’ Ellie smiled and indicated for Georgia to take the chair she had vacated. ‘He’s not responding at the moment but that doesn’t mean he can’t hear your voice. I’ll just step outside for a moment to give you privacy but I’ll be watching the monitors at the desk.’
‘Thank you, Ellie. And for your care of Max.’
‘Dr Beresford was very good to me when I did my obstetric rotation in my training. It’s a privilege.’
The young woman left and Georgia sat down.
She picked up Max’s hand and pressed it to her cheek, careful not to entangle any of the intravenous lines. He felt warm and that in itself was reassuring.
‘Oh, Max. Why didn’t I tell you I loved you when I had the chance?’
The heart-rate monitor continued its steady beat and she could see the gentle rise and fall of his chest. He was alive and there was hope.
Lots of hope.
Max was going to make it and they would start again.
In the face of this Sol was nothing, and somehow she knew he would never be a problem again.
Georgia stayed with Max for an hour and then she left to allow Mrs White to go in.
Sitting in the waiting room with a sleeping Elsa beside her on the lounge, Georgia could do nothing but stare at the walls.
She remembered the tape recorder in her shirt and pulled it out. She’d left it on by mistake. Voice activated, it had recorded what she had to say to Max. She sat and listened to the doctor’s words again.
When she came to the part where she told Max that she loved him the tears flowed down her cheeks and she turned the playback off and slid it back into her pocket to put it away.
The man at the door paused as he saw her. Slowly he smiled. ‘Don’t cry. I’m still here for you.’
Georgia turned her head slowly and her eyes narrowed. Sol. Here. The last place he was wanted.
How had he known?
Her fingers curled into fists and she felt for the recorder and activated record.
‘What are you doing here, Sol?’
‘I’ve come to claim what is rightfully mine. To bring you and my daughter home.’
Suddenly it all became clear that she had been the one who had allowed Sol’s control over her to continue. From this moment and this place it wou
ld never happen again. Not in a million years.
‘Go away, Sol.’
‘I’m not leaving.’ He was so confident. She could see it in his conceited face. He was a despicable bully and a fool and finally she was immune.
She stood up and faced him and all the love she held for Max rose inside her like the walls of a fortress.
‘I’m not afraid of you any more, Sol.’ She raised her chin and cold contempt dripped from her voice.
‘The man I love is in a critical condition through those doors and if I find out that you have done anything to harm him I will take you and your high-profile job apart piece by piece.’
Sol raised his eyebrows and shrugged. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
Georgia’s eyes narrowed. ‘I remember when you threatened to discredit Denise at Lower Mountains. I know you have acquired papers to attempt something similar to Max at Meeandah.’
He smiled down at her and then at the sleeping Elsa and Georgia’s skin crawled with contempt. She felt like snatching Elsa up and walking away but she wanted him properly hung and this was her chance.
Sol went on conversationally. ‘If you and our daughter come with me, he’ll be safe.’
‘What are you saying and what are you planning, Sol?’
He smirked. ‘Just a little medication review. But if he doesn’t wake up, that won’t be necessary.’ It was as she’d thought. Then his last words sank in.
‘What do you know about Max’s accident?’
He shook his head but he couldn’t help his smile. ‘Had a little brake problem with his fabulous Hummer, did he?’
Georgia felt the nausea rise in her throat and her hand tightened over the can of mace in her pocket.
Her voice hardened to steel and she felt as though she were ten times his size.
Small, insignificant, despicable little man that he was. ‘Leave now, Sol, and be very, very frightened. Because I am going to drum you out of this country, if not into gaol, and you will never work again. I should have done it a year ago but I will do it now. I have the proof and I will use it.’
She smiled at him through her teeth. ‘Don’t ever come near myself or my daughter or anyone in my family again.’
He took a step back from the implacability in her face and she stared him down.
‘Get out.’ She said it with finality and he went.
When he left there was no jaunty spring in his step and she forgot him as soon as he was out of her sight because Mrs White had returned.
She didn’t see the policeman step up to him and take his arm and march him away. She had other more important things to worry about.
‘They said for you to come back in.’ Mrs White looked down at Elsa who woke up as the door shut with a clang. She bent to lift Elsa but Georgia stayed her arm.
‘I’ll take Elsa in to her daddy this time.’
Mrs White bit her lip and nodded.
‘I’ll be back soon,’ Georgia said, and pushed open the doors with her daughter in her arms.
‘You’re not supposed to bring children in here,’ Ellie said quietly, but she didn’t try to stop Georgia.
Georgia smiled. ‘I know. But I want Elsa to see her father for a few minutes and then I’ll take her out.’
‘That’s fine. I’ll be just outside.’
Georgia sat down in the chair with Elsa on her lap and Elsa crowed when she saw Max.
‘Yes, darling. Here’s your daddy and when he is well, we will all go home together.’
Tears stung her eyes. Max had to get better. Elsa needed her dad and she needed her man.
‘My past is over, Max. Sol can’t frighten me any more. He will never intrude on us again and I need you to wake up so we can start our lives together.
‘Elsa needs her daddy and I need the man I love to come back to me. I want to deliver babies with you. I want to be a grandparent with you when Elsa grows up. Please, Max. I love you so much.’
Max’s eyelids flickered and Georgia held her breath.
His tongue moved to moisten his lips and she lifted his hand again and kissed it. ‘I’m here, Max, darling. Elsa and I are both here. We love you, Max, and you need to get better to be with us.’
Max opened his eyes and stared at the woman he loved. She was here and she’d said she loved him. His gaze travelled to the baby girl frowning fiercely at him and his lips twitched in a smile.
‘Hello, family,’ he said croakily, and went back to sleep.
CHAPTER TWELVE
THREE months later the chapel floated like a snowflake against the backdrop of the lush Hunter Valley Gardens and an old-fashioned organ, not a string quartet, delivered soaring notes out over the waiting guests.
Max Beresford stood tall and straight at the front of the church and knew without doubt he was doing the right thing.
Winton had been charged with attempted murder and Georgia’s recording made at the hospital had helped convict her ex-husband, along with the testimony of more people than they’d realised he’d affected, and the results of Max’s own investigations.
Winton had signed adoption papers and Georgia and Elsa were safe—just as Max had promised in the beginning—but now it was a new beginning.
When Georgia, the woman who had been his wife but never his bride, paused at the door of the church, Max’s heart swelled with the music and everything else left his mind except the fact that this woman would share his destiny for ever.
Georgia looked radiant in a long simple cream dress with the tiniest cream veil holding back her glorious hair. This time was for real and he smiled at the tiny feather she’d tucked into her veil to tease him.
Georgia walked slowly but confidently towards him on her uncle’s arm and her eyes shone with the love he’d been humbled to realise was truly his.
When he took Georgia’s hand he cradled her fingers against his cheek for a moment and she smiled shyly up at him.
‘Hello my bride.’
‘Hello, Max.’
They both looked across the congregation to Elsa, who glared at them both from Mrs White’s arms. Georgia shook her head at Elsa’s quivering lip.
Max glanced at the minister and said something quietly to the man then held out his arms. Mrs White brought the little girl across and Max tucked her onto his hip before they proceeded.
He smiled down at Georgia. ‘She should be here with us,’ Max said. ‘After all, she introduced us.’
ISBN: 978-1-4603-5625-8
THE MIDWIFE’S BABY
First published in Great Britain 2008
© Fiona McArthur 2008
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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