The Honourable Maverick / The Unsung Hero

by Alison Roberts / Kate Hardy

  Which he found himself doing at rather frequent intervals. Ever since the dramatic change in their relationship the night before last, the atmosphere in Josh’s room had been like being on a different planet. So much of the tension was gone it had become a happy place. Positive. Filled with an intense anticipation of good things to come. Not that he and Sarah had made it back to the on-call room or anywhere else that private but they knew they would. Soon.

  They’d managed a quick coffee together a couple of times and lunch in the cafeteria yesterday, which had been great because when he was away from Josh’s room Rick didn’t have to be careful of how often he looked at her. He could even touch her discreetly. Fingertip to fingertip as their hands lay on the table. A hand on her back that could slide down to that delicious curve of her rump as he ushered her through a doorway. A stolen kiss between floors on an elevator.

  By tacit consent, they were keeping this new development secret because this was between them and neither wanted it to impinge on their relationships with Josh. The reminder of the small boy who had brought them together but was making this new relationship more complicated was always there. Conversations always included him. How he was feeling. What the latest results of tests might mean. What plans they could come up with that might entertain him.

  ‘What happened about the dog?’ Sarah had asked at lunch yesterday. ‘Was he still there in your driveway?’

  Rick had shaken his head sadly. ‘No sign of it. Sorry.’

  He’d seen the sparkle in her eyes fade to disappointment but he hadn’t said anything else. Today he would. Later. He had some work to do first and even that was adding to the satisfaction of this particular day.

  Up in the ICU, Simon was showing a dramatic improvement in his condition.

  ‘He opened his eyes,’ his mother told Rick. ‘He squeezed my hand and—’

  ‘And he said “Mum”,’ his father added, when his wife was too overcome to continue. ‘He recognised her and he can talk. He’s coming out of his coma, isn’t he, Doc?’

  ‘Sure looks like it.’ Rick was only too happy to share the joy. He spent longer than necessary checking his young patient. Simon was deeply asleep again but this was a turning point. It wasn’t going to be easy or quick but they all had reason for genuine hope now that he might recover.

  Rick floated through the rest of his rounds and an outpatient clinic, knowing that the best of this day was still to come. Late that afternoon, he went back to Josh’s room. His son’s eyes widened when he saw what Rick had brought into the room with him.

  ‘What’s that for?’

  ‘You.’ Rick gave the wheelchair a bit of a twirl. ‘Thought you might like to see something other than these four walls.’

  Sarah looked horrified. ‘He can’t go out of here.’

  ‘He’s allowed to,’ Rick assured her. ‘He’ll have to wear a gown and mask and some gloves and we won’t go anywhere there’s a lot of people. He’s been in strict isolation for a while now and something a bit more exciting could be very good. That is, if he feels up to a wee adventure.’ He turned back to Josh. ‘How ‘bout it, buddy?’

  Josh was already starting to climb out of his bed. ‘Where are we going?’

  ‘It’s a surprise.’

  Sarah was looking almost as undecided as the moment before Rick had persuaded her to go to bed with him. He smiled at her, holding her gaze, sending her a message he hoped she would read and accept.

  Trust me.

  She didn’t smile back but she did release the breath she’d been holding and nod faintly. She helped Josh into the wheelchair and found the protective clothing he would need. Rick carefully transferred the bag of IV fluid to the pole attached to the side of the basket on the back of the wheelchair. He also picked up the Polaroid camera and put it into the basket.

  He took them out of the bone-marrow unit, along the corridor and into an elevator that was only for staff use. On the basement floor he propelled the chair along deserted corridors past places like the medical records department and a prosthetic limb workshop.

  ‘Where are we going?’ Josh piped insistently more than once.

  ‘There’s something I want you to see,’ was all Rick said.

  There was an isolated parking area down here that gave access to delivery trucks and vehicles that needed to arrive discreetly. Rick was keeping his fingers crossed that a hearse wasn’t due to make a collection. There were windows that looked out onto the bare concrete at the bottom of a ramp that led to ground level. There was a vehicle there but it was the one Rick was expecting. A grunty four-wheel drive. Max was in the driver’s seat and gave him a thumbs-up before jumping out and going round to the back.

  ‘What on earth.?’ Sarah murmured.

  Max opened the back door of his vehicle and a large shape emerged.

  ‘Oh…’ Josh tried to stand up in the wheelchair and Rick had to steady him with a hand on one of his shoulders. The frailty of the bones he could feel made something twist, deep inside. So did the way Josh’s scalp showed more and more through the little that remained of his hair.

  ‘You said he wasn’t there any more!’ Sarah exclaimed.

  ‘He wasn’t. The dog catcher had taken him to the pound.’

  Josh managed to drag his eyes away from the window and look up at Rick. Sarah was staring at him, too.

  ‘The council knew him well. There’d been complaints about him for weeks, ever since he’d escaped from the pound when they first caught him. Nobody had claimed him then. He’s not registered or microchipped or anything and they were only too happy to let him go to a good home.’

  ‘But…’ There was a flash of alarm in Sarah’s face. ‘How are you going to keep a dog at your place?’

  ‘I’m not. That’s where Max and Ellie come in. They’re happy to look after him for the moment.’ Rick was trying to give Sarah a very reassuring look. He had taken care of every possibility here. But she still looked worried. As if he was presenting her with a major problem of having to find somewhere new to live the moment Josh was released from hospital.

  ‘Max and Ellie think he’s wonderful,’ he added quietly. ‘If things don’t pan out, they’re more than happy to adopt him permanently. Josh could visit any time he wanted.’

  ‘No.’ Josh was staring fiercely out of the window again. Max had come closer and they were only a short distance on the other side of the glass. The dog was sitting, staring back at Josh, his ears flattened and his tail waving madly. ‘He’s my dog.’

  A heartbeat of eye contact between Rick and Sarah said it all. This kind of joy could speed his recovery. And if the worst happened and Josh didn’t make it through this, the dog wasn’t simply being used and discarded. He had a back-up family. Sarah’s smile wobbled and Rick had to look away.

  ‘He hasn’t got a name yet.’ Rick crouched beside the wheelchair, focusing on Josh to give Sarah a moment. ‘Max and I thought you should do the honours.’

  Josh had a dreamy look on his face now. ‘Can I go outside and pat him?’

  ‘Not today, mate. Sorry.’ Rick was busy with the camera now. He took a photo that got Josh and the dog locked in joyous communion through the sheet of glass. ‘He can come and visit again when you’ve got a few good blood cells ready to fight off bugs.’

  ‘I’m getting better,’ Josh said, still fierce. ‘It won’t be long, will it?’

  ‘No.’ Sarah sounded like she was still trying not to cry. She cleared her throat. ‘He looks cleaner than he did last time we saw him.’

  ‘He’s had a bath. Been de-wormed and de-fleaed. He’s a new dog.’

  ‘He’s really hairy.’

  ‘That’s what I’m going to call him,’ Josh said.

  ‘What? Hairy?’

  ‘No. Harry. Like Harry Potter.’

  ‘Hairy Harry.’ Rick grinned. ‘Cool.’

  Max waved apologetically. A laundry truck was at the top of the ramp. He walked back to his car and pointed to the rear hatch. Harry obediently leapt
inside.

  ‘He’s really smart, isn’t he?’ Josh said happily.

  ‘Sure is. Time for him to go home, though, and time for you to get back to bed. It’s almost your dinnertime.’

  But Josh was way too excited to want to eat. He was clutching the photograph and grinning from ear to ear. Sarah eyed the tray of food and looked worried.

  ‘Tell you what.’ Rick was brimming over with inspiration today. ‘I’ll stay with Josh and read him a story or talk dogs or something. He’ll settle down and I’ll get his dinner reheated. Why don’t you go and pamper yourself for an hour or two?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Must be a while since you’ve got out of here properly.’ Rick let his gaze remind her of the most recent, memorable break she’d had and he enjoyed watching the colour rise in her cheeks. ‘You could go shopping maybe?’

  ‘I could pop back to the apartment, I guess. I could do with some different clothes and a soak in a bath.’

  ‘Mmm. Sounds…nice.’ Rick’s drawl was only intended to sound encouraging but it obviously occurred to both of them at the same time that sharing a bath needed to go on the list of future activities.

  Sarah’s colour went up a notch. ‘Well…if it’s OK with Josh.’

  ‘It’s cool.’ Josh sounded offhand. He didn’t look up from the photo. ‘See you later. And can you bring a new battery for my Gameboy?’

  ‘Sure.’

  With Sarah gone, Rick settled down to talk dogs and whatever else took Josh’s fancy. He was happy. More than happy. Today had gone even better than he’d planned. This being a part-time dad thing wasn’t so bad. In fact, how lucky was he? How many guys could get presented with such a great kid who was so easy to make happy? And how many would get the incredible bonus thrown in of a gorgeous woman who also seemed very easy to make happy?

  Josh went from being wide awake and excited to sound asleep within the first pages of the story he’d chosen but Rick was more than content to stay in the armchair and contemplate how good he was feeling. And how much better he would be when he got the chance to make Sarah very happy again.

  Maybe later tonight? He might just make an enquiry as to whether there was a free on-call room. It wasn’t as if they had to worry about getting a babysitter at the last minute. Things might be more complicated once Josh was home again but they’d manage. Of course, it would be nice to whisk Sarah away for a weekend some time but that wasn’t really a goer. They’d have to take Josh with them, which wouldn’t be so bad, but how could they continue where they’d left off with a kid in the next room? That was way too far out of his realm of experience to seem acceptable.

  A sense of urgency sneaked up on him. How much longer would Josh be in here, all going well? Two or three weeks? He released his breath in a sigh. It was a bridge that didn’t need crossing yet. He would just have to make the most of every opportunity he had until then.

  The apartment had a musty, damp, unused feel to it.

  Sarah opened a window or two while she put a load of washing on and sifted through accumulated mail, most of which appeared to be bills. She started a bath running and went to her bedroom to find some fresh clothes to take back to the hospital. Dumping them onto her bed, she went and tipped the remnants of a jar of bath salts into the steaming water and then started to take her clothes off.

  Oh…Lord. Why did this simple action take her straight back to when Rick had been doing it for her? The caress of warm, fragrant water as she sank into the bath was equally sensuous. Sarah gave up fighting it and allowed her mind to float in the same kind of pleasurable space her limbs were currently experiencing. She hadn’t felt this good in. Heavens…she’d never felt this good. Josh was doing well and there was real hope for the future. And there was Rick. The possibilities of what that future might hold had expanded exponentially.

  Did he feel anything like as strongly about her as she did about him? Would he fall in love with her? Imagine if he did…if they ended up being a family. A healthy Josh with maybe some younger siblings. With them all living in a house with a garden for Harry to roam in.

  That would be…perfect.

  By the time Sarah climbed out of the bath she was totally relaxed and buzzing with the joy her fantasies had lured her into. She dried herself, found the prettiest underwear she possessed and then went to pull on the clean jeans from the pile on the bed. She paused with one leg inside them. When had Rick seen her wearing anything other than jeans? That long dress at the wedding didn’t count because that was ancient history now. Before she could even have imagined feeling so. happy.

  She went back to her wardrobe and searched. She found an old knit dress. Long-sleeved, with a deep scoop neckline. It clung to her body until the hips where it flared into soft folds that swirled around her knees when she did a twirl. It was just right. Nothing over the top but it was different and the deep colour made her eyes an astonishing blue.

  Instead of pulling her hair back into the loose braid she usually favoured to keep it under control, Sarah brushed it until it was a sleek, golden river. She made two tiny braids at the front and fastened them at the nape of her neck with a small, diamanté clip. Feeling a little silly, she even put some make-up on.

  ‘Anyone would think you were getting ready for a hot date,’ she admonished her reflection. The secret little smile came from nowhere.

  Maybe she was.

  The effect of the dress was certainly gratifying. Rick’s eyes popped when she arrived back at the hospital and stood by the window, waiting a moment before putting on her gown and mask. Josh was propped up on his pillows, picking at a plate of food. He also stared at Sarah.

  ‘You looked really pretty,’ he said generously, when she went into the room. He eyed Rick. ‘Didn’t she?’

  ‘Yeah…’ Rick’s voice had a gravelly edge that Sarah could feel deep in her belly, like the sparks from the scrape of a match.

  ‘Did you remember the battery?’

  ‘Oh, no! Sorry, Josh, I completely forgot about that. I wonder if the hospital shop is still open?’

  Rick checked his watch. ‘It’s seven-thirty but they do stay open for evening visiting hours. I could go and have a look.’

  Katie came into the room. ‘You finished that dinner yet?’ she asked Josh. She looked at the plate. ‘Hmm. At least you’ve had something. Anyone else hungry?’

  ‘Starving.’ Rick and Sarah spoke at the same time. They looked at each other and smiled.

  Josh was watching them. ‘You could take Sarah somewhere,’ he suggested to Rick. ‘Cos she’s all dressed up.’

  Rick’s gaze slid away from Sarah instantly. He shrugged. ‘You think?’

  Josh nodded.

  ‘But I’ve already been gone for ages,’ Sarah said. ‘Don’t you want some company?’

  ‘I was asleep while you were gone so I didn’t notice.’ Josh smiled winningly at his nurse. ‘You could keep me company, couldn’t you, Katie?’

  His smile had been so similar to one of Rick’s that Sarah’s heart gave an odd little lurch. Would he grow up to be like his dad? She’d love to watch that happen.

  ‘Sure,’ Katie said with a grin. ‘Go on, you two. Go and have some dinner and let me have some time with my boyfriend here.’

  Rick was still being careful not to catch Sarah’s gaze and give anything away but her heart was thumping erratically. Josh wanted her to date Rick?

  That fantasy future she’d conjured up in the bath lost some of its fuzzy edges to take on a more believable shape.

  ‘No worries,’ Rick said to Josh. ‘We’ll see if we can find you a battery along the way.’

  ‘See you later, then, short stuff,’ Sarah hoped he couldn’t hear the tiny tremor in her voice. ‘If you’re still awake, that is.’

  Josh was awake when they finally returned.

  Katie gave them an unmistakably knowing smile as she excused herself but Josh seemed too sleepy to notice anything that might have given them away, like Sarah’s dress being somewhat crumpled
and her eyes glowing like stars. Her hair could do with a brush, too. Rick’s fingers itched to bury themselves in its soft length and comb it into less of a tumble.

  He was feeling a bit rumpled himself. Maybe next time they should make the effort to hang their clothes up instead of leaving them in a pile on the floor of the on-call room where they’d got trampled in their haste to get horizontal.

  Worth it, though. Way better than the first time. Slow and sweet and so good, they’d both forgotten they were hungry for food. The less-than-adequate dinner of sandwiches from a vending machine on the way back downstairs had also been worth it.

  Rick was standing close to Sarah. Close enough to be aware of her warmth and the scent he could quite easily become addicted to. She’d said he didn’t need to come in and say goodnight to Josh because he’d probably be sound asleep but Rick said he wanted to rescue that photo and put it on the corkboard. If Josh slept with it clutched in his hand, it might get wrecked and it could be a while before he could arrange to get another one.

  Josh blinked sleepily at them. He’d obviously made an effort to stay awake till they returned. He smiled.

  ‘Hi, Dad.’

  It was the first time he’d called him that. Rick couldn’t analyse the odd squeeze in his chest. Didn’t want to, anyway.

  ‘Hi, buddy.’

  It was Sarah’s turn next.

  ‘Can I call you Mum?’ Josh asked.

  Sarah’s smile was poignant. ‘Sure, hon. If you want to.’

  ‘I do.’ Josh let his eyes drift shut. ‘I want to have a mum and a dad cos it’s cool. And when I get out of hospital we can all live together.’

  Rick felt his blood draining away from anywhere particularly useful. He felt suddenly chilled. He couldn’t think even.

  There was a moment’s loaded silence and then Josh’s eyes snapped open.

  ‘With Harry,’ he added firmly.

  And that was that. Within seconds, he was asleep. Sarah fussed with his pillows and blankets. She didn’t seem to know what to say and no wonder. Rick sure as hell couldn’t think of anything. His mouth felt dry.