Ailee leaned up and brushed his mouth with hers before nodding.
Already her knees felt weak at his intention, and when his mouth came down Ailee sighed into him. Homecoming. That's what it was like and it was what she'd woken this morning and needed.
It seemed that Fergus needed it, too.
His strength and gentleness created havoc as he slipped her top from her shoulders and left her breasts bare to the coolness in the room.
She needed to feel his skin under her hands and she peeled the shirt from his shoulders. With a final flurry of discarded clothes he pulled her back onto the bed in his arms and rolled on top of her to stare down at her. His gaze swept over her like a blast of heat and she followed his glance down the length of their bodies.
His legs lay on either side of hers as he held his weight off her body, his well-defined biceps and glorious chest so strongly beautiful he took her breath away.
Then he rolled and took her with him to lie on their sides facing each other, and this time when he kissed her there were no other thoughts except the taste and feel of Fergus's mouth on hers. The hunger between them exploded and expanded and she was carried with him into a surging maelstrom that left them both tossed and breathless.
When he finally lifted his lips from hers her eyes were too heavy to open and she arched her neck as he descended her body to pay homage with his hands and mouth until she ached to be possessed.
He paused briefly to protect her before again he knelt above her, and this time she lifted herself towards him.
She opened her eyes as he entered her. She knew this man, this recent stranger, like she knew herself, and she gloried in his possession because he was her destiny. If not now, then some time that had to come in the future.
His possession deepened until her eyes widened further and he stopped, filling her, incredibly hard and hot and what she needed so badly that she wrapped her legs around him and clutched at his back with her fingers.
He buried his face in her hair for a moment and she could feel the heat of his breath on her neck. They stayed at that point for what seemed a lifetime. Then he lifted above her to withdraw.
She felt the breath leave her body as he did. She was weak and yet aching for his return and then the surge of his homecoming rushed the heat to her face and she cried out as he filled her again.
Their rhythm burnt through her body in scalding waves and he murmured her name and whispered how beautiful she was, and the tempo increased, as did her moans and the tension in her fingers. She arched against him with all her strength, clenching with her inner muscles until she could bear it no longer.
Ailee heard his breath catch and then she seemed to shatter into a million tiny lights, pulsing as he shuddered against her, clutching her tightly against him as he followed her over the edge.
Afterwards they lay again on their sides, chests heaving, he still within her, staring at each other. He shook his head softly as he reached out and pulled the sheet over them.
Fergus was in shock. What had just happened? He felt like a survivor from a raging storm.
He'd loved his wife, had never been unfaithful, had never really expected to find love again. But this was no passing fancy.
What Ailee had done to him had touched him and he hoped she felt the same because he would never forget this moment as long as he lived.
He tightened his hands on her shoulders and the thought of his recent possession made him stir again. Her eyes widened and she smiled cheekily at him as he gently began to move.
Afterwards they fell asleep in each other's arms and when they woke up it was lunchtime.
Fergus woke first and he wondered, as he lay on his side and watched this woman wake for the second time in his life, what lay ahead of them. He hoped many more years of watching her wake up. It was a big call but suddenly he was certain.
He grinned crookedly at her as she looked around at the room properly for the first time.
'The room is a little overdone, I know, but the bed is very comfortable,' Fergus said.
Ailee could tell it wasn't the furniture he'd enjoyed.
Enjoyed was too weak a word. She rolled onto her back and avoided his eyes. They'd penetrated each other's souls back there and their intimacy made her blush so deeply her hands came up to cover the heat in her cheeks.
'How on earth did we come to this point with each other so quickly? I can't believe I'm here with you.' She glanced down at the sheet covering her body, 'like this.'
'Neither can I,' he said huskily as he moved closer until his shoulder touched hers again. 'I haven't been alive like this for a very long time.' His gaze swept over her and tingled her skin with his look of possession.
Ailee wanted to believe him. His words fitted the moment perfectly and Fergus was everything she'd dreamed of in a lover and in a man. Gentle, yet powerful, and the way he worshipped her body made her feel as if she was the most beautiful woman in the world.
He kissed her and this time the fire was quick to sweep over them.
'I have so needed you against me,' he murmured as his lips burnt a trail down her neck and Ailee arched into him as his mouth closed over the peak of her breast. She dug her fingers into the strength of his shoulder blades and then down his back, remembering...
'You are so beautiful,' he sighed into the hollow between her breasts, and Ailee held his head and pulled him back towards her, so hungry to feel his mouth she was sure she would go insane if he didn't kiss her.
She slid under him until she was level with his face and found sanity there. Connected, their bodies reunited and the world receded.
Afterwards they lay on their sides again, staring at each other, and Fergus pulled the sheet up and over their heads so that they lay in their own world, holding hands in the white-out. The sun shone through the tree outside the window and dappled their tent as it billowed.
'OK,' he said softly. 'What do you need to tell me?'
Ailee looked at the man beside her, the strong planes of his face carved in relief by shadows, his beautiful mouth that could give so much heat, and his caring eyes that made tears spring to her own. Of course Fergus would understand and support her.
'It's about my brother.'
Fergus nodded.
Before she could say another word, the insistent tone of his pager sounded and the moment was shattered by the outside world.
Fergus closed his eyes for a second and then his lips curved ruefully. 'I'm not on call. Stay here. I'll be back.'
He slid from beneath the sheet and then covered Ailee's shoulder as he sat on the edge of the bed. He picked up the phone and with his other hand he tucked the sheet around her neck.
Ailee watched him, watched his face, listened to his voice and decoded the expressions on his face. He'd have to go and they would postpone this again, but her time would come and everything would be fine. Her doubts had gone.
Fergus replaced the receiver. 'There's a problem. I do have to go.'
'I know.'
He leant across and kissed her forehead. 'Do you want to stay here?'
'No. I'll go home.'
'I'll ring you. There is no doubt we have to talk.' Fergus glanced around at the clothes scattered across the floor and his eyes twinkled. 'We do seem to have trouble keeping our clothes on around each other.'
She blushed but held her head high to meet his teasing. 'It's a lovely failing.'
Ailee slid out of the bed and wrapped the sheet around her body as he moved into the dressing room. She stood up, gathered her clothes and began to dress.
William was late home and when he came in he brushed Ailee's concern off and went straight to bed, complaining of cramps. Fergus rang to ask her out for dinner but Ailee couldn't help the feeling that something was wrong with William and she needed to get to the bottom of it. She couldn't leave William while he was unwell.
Fergus frowned at the phone. 'Your brother is sick?' Ailee sounded quite distracted, which wasn't like her. 'Is there anything I can
do?'
'Not yet, but maybe later.' There was dryness in her tone he didn't appreciate but she didn't need him to push her.
'I'll ring tomorrow, then.'
'Thank you for understanding, Fergus.' He didn't understand anything, except she couldn't talk to him because her brother was sick.
By Sunday William was still unwell, which was unusual after dialysis. Ailee nagged her reluctant brother into a return to the hospital for a check-up.
Her years of renal medicine blurred when William was involved but she suspected her brother's condition could cause more delays for their surgery. He needed to be well by Wednesday's assessment clinic or who knew what Fergus would decide?
That evening saw William admitted to hospital as an emergency and the duty doctor refused to meet Ailee's eyes. He asked her to leave while he carried out the examination.
When the doctor had finished, William looked even more subdued, and Ailee had been fobbed off to see Mr McVicker in the morning.
Ailee's feeling that not all was right with William strengthened.
First thing on Monday morning Ailee heard Jody had been readmitted through Casualty with signs of rejection of her new kidney and pancreas, which meant Ailee had no chance to talk to Fergus.
The ward was on tenterhooks as they waited for their star patient to arrive, and Ailee went about her duties with a dark heart. First William unwell and now Jody.
Ailee met Fergus's eyes as Jody was wheeled into the ward and they both knew she was headed for High Dependency.
Jody lay in the emergency bed and she looked terrible. Her face was flushed and the rigors of her body were shaking the rails on the bed in time to the chattering of her teeth.
'Get some bloods and get another line in,' Fergus said as he reached for the phone. 'Who sent her to the ward? She needs to get to ICU immediately.'
Jody opened her eyes and squinted up a Fergus. 'Don't let me reject my kidney, Mr McVicker. I so want to be well. I don't want to let my donor down.'
'You haven't let anyone down, Jody. We'll do everything we can. Try and rest, sweetheart. Close your eyes and leave it to us.'
The ward round was postponed and, like the emergency with Emma, Ailee itched to be back on the medical team and follow Fergus and Jody up to Intensive Care. The next few hours would be critical. They could lose at least her kidney, if not the pancreas, and if infection set in they could even lose Jody.
In her office, Ailee tried to concentrate on the paperwork essential to the donor-recipient records and even managed to complete the full list of recipients for Marion and John's daughter, Eva, which she would need later in the day.
Ailee was scheduled to meet Eva's parents after lunch. Already she had three thank-you letters to give to them from the families of people whose lives had been enormously changed by Eva's gift.
All through the morning Ailee buried herself in the tasks she needed to complete and when she finally made her way to Intensive Care Jody was on life support and her family was there. Fergus had just left to do a delayed ward round and that meant Ailee couldn't stay. She hugged Jody's mother and hurried back to the ward.
By the time she arrived, Fergus had started the round without her. She came in as Fergus and Lawrence were discussing his discharge.
'If you feel your spirits dropping, you need to contact your support worker,' Fergus said.
Lawrence looked up and smiled at Ailee. 'Hi, Ailee. Have you told Mr McVicker what you've got me doing now?'
Fergus glanced across and gave Ailee a half-smile as if he wasn't willing to broadcast to the world how glad he was to see her.
'I haven't had a chance this morning.' She looked at Fergus. 'Lawrence has enrolled in a correspondence welfare course and is offering to mentor some of the young patients we have with compliance problems as soon as he finishes his course. If they listen to anyone, it will be someone who understands like Lawrence does.'
'Sounds promising. Keep me posted. Well done, both of you.' The entourage moved on and William was next.
'Not been well, William?'
William shook his head and closed lacklustre eyes.
'Let's have a look at you, then.' Rita stepped in and pulled the curtains around Fergus, William and herself.
Ailee sighed and stared at the screens around William and she could hear Fergus murmuring. When the curtains opened she looked up to see the verdict.
'If we can get him a little better, I think we'll be fine for next week. But a lot of that will be up to you, William.'
Ailee sighed with relief and then Fergus went on, 'Contact his donor.' He scanned down the page for the donor's name, and then his expression froze.
'Any relation?' The question ignored everyone else in the room and it seemed time slowed to a frame at a time as Fergus's eyes bored into hers. Ailee felt as though she was on the witness stand but she'd done nothing wrong.
CHAPTER NINE
Ailee licked dry lips. T am the donor.'
'And William?' Fergus's eyes burned into hers.
Ailee looked at William sitting up in bed, pale and listless and watching both of them. 'Is my only brother.'
'I see.' Fergus looked away from her to William and tried to smile. He felt as though all the air had been sucked out of the room and a tight band across his chest wouldn't allow him to breathe in again.
He looked at the boy. William had Ailee's colouring but had missed out on her height. He had a similar smile to his sister, though, and it made it even harder for Fergus to grapple with what he'd just learned. It explained a lot but now wasn't the time to sort it out.
The whole team watched and to strangle Ailee would not be a good look at this moment.
The rest of the group did not give the impression this was startling news so he gathered he'd been the only one in the dark.
Fergus turned to Rita, who was trying valiantly to appear uninterested in the byplay between Ailee and himself. 'Make sure Dr Green has the final blood tests and cross-match attended.' He turned back to William and met his eyes. 'I'll be keeping an eye on your results, too, young man. You'd better stay in hospital tonight as well.'
William was not happy at having to stay in hospital, but could see Fergus would not be interested in negotiation at that moment.
Ailee bit her lip. She'd thought she'd feel better once Fergus knew but she could only regret not having told him earlier. He had been genuinely shocked. She'd have to worry about that later because he was moving on to the next room and she needed to keep up.
Peter and Emma were both doing well and served to redirect the focus.
'How are you, Emma?' Fergus forced himself to smile at the young woman who already had more colour in her cheeks.
'I'm feeling much better. This would have been my dialysis day and I didn't have to go.'
'New kidneys are clever organs.' This time the smile came easier and Fergus glanced through her chart. Good scenarios did happen. 'Everything is perfect. Just get your strength back. You should be able to go home next week if all goes well.'
'What about you, Peter?' The young man looked pale. Fergus concentrated on the donor more than he ever had. From the donor's point of view, they'd done the job and were old news now!
Fergus realised he'd always been concerned that the donor recovered well but his obsession had been the recipient. With the news of Ailee's plan to be a donor that thought process had already suffered a subtle change.
'I'm fine, Mr McVicker. When can I go home?'
Fergus narrowed his eyes. The young man seemed to be quite exhausted and was in obvious discomfort. 'Home at the end of this week if all goes well. Is there a rush?'
Peter smiled weakly. 'Not really. It's just my dad is finding it hard to run the shop and if I even went in and sat in there, I could help a little.'
'You really can't do a lot for a few weeks at the very least, Peter. You have had a major operation and at a guess you're not taking enough pain medication.' Fergus glanced at Rita, who confirmed his suspicion.
'That's right. Take it. Sleep. Recover. That's an order.'
Peter looked sheepishly at Fergus and smiled slightly. 'If you say so.'
Fergus looked at Rita. 'I want him given analgesics on a regular basis. The weight of the world will wait till he's a little better.' He looked at Rita. 'And push those beds together so they can hold hands.' Everybody smiled at Fergus's teasing.
Fergus didn't feel like laughing at all, and as soon as the round was over he intended to have a little chat with Dr Ailee Green.
A few minutes later the group broke up and Fergus took Ailee's arm and steered her into the office. He shut the door to the ward before she knew what was happening. The air in the room seemed to shimmer with his icy calm.
Fergus's eyes chilled her. 'Let's go back to when we spent time together in Singapore.' He waited for a moment, as if she needed time to recall, and then he went on.
'Why didn't you tell me you were booked as a live donor and that was the reason you didn't want to see me in Sydney?'
Ailee flicked a quick glance at the closed door, as if judging the distance, but she knew he deserved to know. She could feel the thudding in her chest but she refused to admit he had her off balance.
She lifted her eyes to his. 'In Singapore, you didn't tell me you were a leading renal specialist.'
Fergus was nowhere near satisfied with that answer. 'Lame. You didn't ask!'
She tilted her chin. 'Lame yourself. You avoided the information. As I did! In Singapore my impending operation wasn't something I discussed with passing strangers.'
Fergus shook his head. 'We were more than strangers!'
Ailee raised her chin higher. 'Passing holiday romance, you mean?'
He looked away and she knew that what she'd said was true. 'I had to be here to support my mother and William, be the strong one and not divert their attention from any effects on me for the next few months. I chose to deal with one issue at a time and if that put paid to a liaison with a man I met on the plane, then so be it.'
'I'm beginning to think you deliberately misled me.'
Fiona McArthur Page 10
