‘No. Frank’s phone won’t work. It was in his trouser pocket when he jumped into the water.’
‘No problem.’ Ryan glanced round when he heard footsteps and felt his heart lift when he saw Eve before he ruthlessly brought it back down to earth. No ringing bells, no shooting stars—just friendship.
‘Can you phone for an ambulance? A boy’s fallen into the river and he isn’t breathing. I’m going to see what I can do to help.’
He turned and jogged down the path, not waiting to see if Eve did as he’d asked. He knew she would, knew too that she would follow and help him. They were certainties like the sun rising each morning and setting each night and he could cope with them. What he couldn’t handle were all the unanswered questions buzzing around inside his head. Could he stick to being Eve’s friend? Or would he end up wanting more than friendship? And if he did, could he resist? Or would he give in?
He ran down the path to the river, ran as though his life depended on him getting there, but no matter how fast he went, he couldn’t outrun the questions.
Did he?
Would he?
Should he?
Could he?
He wished he knew!
CHAPTER FOUR
THEY CARRIED ON trying to resuscitate the boy long after it became clear that it was hopeless. Eve took over again, pumping the child’s thin chest while Ryan breathed into his mouth. She wanted to tell him to stop, wanted to assure him that they’d done everything possible, but she couldn’t seem to find the words. How could she tell him that life was extinct when it was obviously so important to him that they save the boy?
The ambulance arrived at last and it was a relief to let the paramedics take over. Ryan supervised as the crew followed procedure and gave the boy a shot of adrenaline then tried to defibrillate him. They tried twice more but the result was the same: a flat, unwavering line on the screen. The boy was gone and now all that could be done for him was to inform his parents.
Ryan’s face was set as they watched the ambulance quietly drive away. There was no need for flashing lights or sirens now, Eve thought sadly. She forced herself to smile when Maureen came over to them, seeking reassurance.
‘We did everything possible, Maureen. There’s no knowing how long he’d been in the water before your husband saw him, so the odds were against us from the outset.’
‘I know that, love. It’s just so hard when it’s a child, isn’t it?’ Maureen’s face crumpled and tears rolled down her cheeks. ‘Those poor parents. I can’t imagine how awful it’s going to be for them when they find out.’
‘I know,’ Eve agreed sadly. ‘Is he a local child, do you know?’
‘No. Apparently, the family’s here on holiday. They’ve rented a caravan over at Fulbrook Farm,’ Maureen explained, sniffing noisily. Her husband appeared just then, grey-faced with shock, and led her away.
Eve sighed as she turned to Ryan, who had been standing silently to one side. ‘That’s it, then. There’s nothing more we can do.’
She thought he hadn’t heard her at first but then he nodded. Swinging round on his heel, he led the way up the path, pausing briefly to give the police officer who had attended the scene his name and address. Eve gave hers as well, nodding when she was informed that she would be required to make a statement later. It was procedure and she would do what had to be done even though it gave her no pleasure. A young life had been lost and it was a tragedy.
Was that why it had had such an impact on Ryan? Had it reminded him of losing his brother? He had never told her how his twin had died but it could explain why he seemed so deeply affected by what had happened. Eve bit her lip as she followed him into the house. Whilst she didn’t want to become too involved in his affairs, she couldn’t walk away when he needed her. It wouldn’t be fair, especially after the way he had listened to her, listened and not judged her as he’d had every right to do. He had been a good friend in the past and he had been a good friend today too. Talking to him had made her feel so much better.
The thought surprised her, although she didn’t dwell on it. Walking over to the kettle, she switched it on and then turned to him. ‘I could do with a drink. How about you?’
He shrugged. ‘Fine.’
He sat down, his face shuttered, his eyes blank, and Eve knew she was right. This had as much to do with losing his brother as it had with them failing to save the boy’s life. Pulling out a chair, she sat down, feeling a little flutter of alarm in the centre of her chest. If she asked him to tell her about his brother, it would be even harder to keep her distance, but how could she not ask? Not try to help? It would be a mark of cowardice and she refused to be a coward ever again.
‘I hope I’m not speaking out of turn but I can see that this has affected you. Has it brought back memories of your brother?’
‘How did you guess?’ He sighed as he tipped back his chair and stared at the ceiling. Eve had a feeling that he didn’t want her to see just how much it had affected him and felt hurt before she realised how silly it was. Her feelings didn’t matter; it was how Ryan felt that was important.
‘What happened to him?’ she asked, trying to inject a degree of objectivity into her voice that she didn’t feel. She cared that Ryan was hurting and it worried her. She was too emotionally scarred to find the right balance and it would be far too easy to get swept along in a direction she shouldn’t take.
‘He suffered a cardiac arrest. There was no warning. He just dropped down onto the ground and died.’
‘How awful!’ she exclaimed. ‘It must have been a terrible shock for you and your parents.’
‘It was.’ His tone was flat. Eve guessed that it was the only way he could talk about what had happened, by keeping his emotions under control. ‘Scott was always superbly fit. He was a brilliant footballer—he played centre forward for our school—and he took his training really seriously. He wanted to turn professional and he would have made it too. He was actually playing a match when he died. There was a scout there for one of the big league clubs and Scott was just superb, and then all of a sudden he fell to the ground.’
He stopped, his expression so bleak that Eve’s heart ached for him. Reaching out, she touched his hand, unaware of what she was doing. She just wanted to comfort him, to console him, to offer anything she could that might help to ease his pain.
‘I’m so sorry, Ryan. Really I am.’
‘Thank you.’ He dredged up a smile. ‘It’s got easier with time but it still upsets me whenever I think about it.’
‘It’s bound to.’ She withdrew her hand, suddenly realising what she had done. A shiver passed through her, although for some reason she didn’t feel as panic-stricken as she might have expected. She cleared her throat, not wanting to explore that idea either. ‘Do you know what actually happened to him?’
‘Yes. It was long QT syndrome.’
‘That’s a disorder of the heart’s electrical system, isn’t it?’ Eve clarified.
‘That’s right. The QT interval is a measurement on the ECG tracing that reflects the electrical activity in the ventricles. In LQTS the length of time it takes the electrical system to recharge itself after each heartbeat is longer than normal. This can create a very rapid, irregular heart rhythm, which results in no blood being pumped from the heart. If that happens the brain is deprived of oxygen, causing a sudden loss of consciousness or even death.’ He grimaced. ‘Sorry. You must know all that. I’m just so used to explaining it at various fundraising events that it’s second nature to trot out the whole spiel.’
‘It’s fine,’ she assured him. ‘Anyway, it’s good to be reminded of the details. I have to admit that I’ve never dealt with a case of LQTS. It’s quite rare, isn’t it?’
‘Not as rare as you think. It causes between three and four thousand deaths in children and young adults in the United States alone.’
‘Really?’ Eve couldn’t hide her surprise. ‘I had no idea.’
‘I was surprised too. LQTS affects abou
t one person in ten thousand, so it was a shock to discover how many people die as a result of it.’
‘Nobody knew that your brother had it?’
‘No. As I said, Scott was superbly fit. He played a lot of other sports as well as football and was always very active. It was a real bolt from the blue.’
‘It must have been.’ Eve hesitated. Every question she asked would mean that she was that bit more involved and yet she knew that she wanted to know as much as possible if it meant she could help him. ‘It can be hereditary, can’t it?’
‘Yes. Once it was established why Scott had died, we were all tested. A couple of cousins had also died when they were teenagers—one drowned while swimming and another died in his sleep. Taken singly they appeared to be terrible tragedies but they also pointed towards there being a genetic abnormality in the family. Sadly, it turned out to be true.’
‘I see. So are you all right? You said that you and Scott were twins…’ She tailed off, wondering why she felt so fearful at the thought of Ryan suffering the same tragic end as his brother. She took a deep breath and made herself calm down. It wouldn’t help if she let him see how alarmed she felt.
‘I’m fine. I’m not affected by the faulty gene, although a couple of cousins are. They’ve been put on beta blockers and they’re fine, I’m happy to say.’
‘Good job they were tested.’ Eve sighed. ‘It’s just a shame that your brother never showed any sign of illness beforehand.’
‘It is.’ He summoned a smile, although his eyes were bleak. ‘Still, these things happen, don’t they?’
‘They do, although that doesn’t make it any less painful, especially after what happened today.’ She touched his hand again, felt a tiny frisson ripple under her skin, and quickly withdrew. Maybe it wasn’t fear that had prompted it but she wasn’t sure if it was equally dangerous to feel pleasure either.
‘It just got to me, I’m afraid. Normally, I’m able to take a more balanced view but I was already feeling emotional and I don’t think that helped.’
‘Because of what I’d told you?’ she said quietly.
‘Yes.’
He didn’t prevaricate but simply told the truth and Eve was grateful for that. She would hate him to think that he had to lie to spare her feelings. Honesty was something that had been in short supply during her time with Damien. She had lied to her friends, lied to her parents and lied to her colleagues too. That Damien had told even more lies than her was another factor. It made her value Ryan’s honesty all the more.
‘I’m sorry, Ryan. I never meant to upset you.’
‘I know you didn’t. And no matter how much it upset me to hear what you’ve been through, I wouldn’t have it any other way.’
He looked into her eyes and she shivered when she saw the expression his held. There was so much tenderness, so much concern, so much…everything that her heart began to race. It had been ages since anyone had looked at her this way. Looked at her as though she was precious, special; looked at her not because they wanted something from her but because they wanted to do something for her. It made her feel different inside, less alone, less isolated, and it was a strange feeling after the years she’d spent mentally and physically segregated from the world.
‘It helped to tell you,’ she admitted, needing to repay his honesty with the truth. ‘I feel less alone, I suppose.’
‘I’m glad.’
He smiled at her, his face lighting up in the way that she’d always found so attractive in the past. That she found it very attractive these days too was clear and the thought alarmed her. Pushing back her chair, she stood up.
‘Right. I’d better go. I’ve a load of jobs that need doing.’
She hurried to the door, hearing the scrape of chair legs as Ryan got up as well. She’d told him more than she had told anyone else and whilst it was true that it had helped, she found herself wondering if she had gone too far. It would be that much harder to maintain her distance now, to keep him at arm’s length where he had to remain. The fact was that she had nothing to offer him. Nothing worth sharing.
‘If you need me, Eve, you know where I am.’
Ryan stopped by the bottom of the stairs as she opened the front door. Did he understand how she felt? Eve wondered, glancing back. Understand that she was afraid of getting involved? She sensed it was true and for some reason it made her feel better. Ryan wouldn’t push her into doing anything she didn’t want to do.
‘Thank you.’ She smiled at him. ‘I appreciate that, Ryan, more than you can imagine.’
He gave a brief nod but didn’t say anything else as she stepped out of the door. She hurried down the path, crossing the road so she could take the same route home that they had taken to get there. She was still finding her way around the town and she didn’t want to get lost, although she could always phone Ryan and ask him to come and rescue her if that happened.
Eve sighed. She mustn’t start to see Ryan as her knight in shining armour—it wouldn’t be fair. She could end up as a liability to him and that was something she refused to be. Ryan shouldn’t have to pick up the pieces and put her back together. She had to do that herself.
If she could.
* * *
Ryan went to the police station on Sunday morning and gave a statement. He half expected to see Eve there and was relieved when there was no sign of her. Once the formalities were completed, he went home and changed into his running clothes, taking a different route this time rather than run the risk of bumping into her again.
He sighed as he toiled up the hill. He couldn’t keep avoiding her, especially when they worked together. However, he needed breathing space, time to get his emotions in hand. What she had told him had had a big effect and he needed to put everything into perspective. If he didn’t do so, he would become even more involved and that was something he couldn’t afford. He had nothing to offer Eve, nothing to offer any woman. He had to remember that and not be seduced by all these unfamiliar emotions running riot inside him.
Monday rolled around and it was a relief to go into work. At least while he was working he would be able to forget about Eve, he reasoned as he made his way to Paediatrics. He sighed as he pushed open the office door and saw her sitting behind the desk. Who was he kidding? He couldn’t forget about Eve in or out of work!
‘You’re early. Getting a head start, are you?’
‘Something like that.’
She looked up and smiled but Ryan saw the wariness in her eyes and realised that she’d been having as tough a time as him. Eve was finding it equally hard to put him out of her mind and the thought was the last thing he needed. How in heaven’s name was he going to keep his distance when he knew she was struggling as well?
‘Anything I need to know?’ he asked, trying his best to get his thoughts back on track and keep them there.
‘We had an admission in the early hours of the morning that you need to take a look at.’ She turned her attention to the monitor and Ryan knew—he just knew!—that she, too, was redirecting her thoughts along a safer route.
‘Ten-year-old boy called George Porter. He’s been complaining of headaches for the past few days. He also had a temperature so Mum thought he probably had a bug and has been dosing him with paracetamol to keep his temperature down. Last night he seemed much worse, though, and she brought him into A and E.’
‘What did they say?’ Ryan queried.
‘They decided it was some sort of viral infection and told the mother to carry on with what she’d been doing and sent him home.’ She sighed. ‘Anyway, he woke up in the early hours, screaming, and told his mum that his head was bursting, so she called an ambulance.’
‘I see. We’d better take a look at him, then.’
Ryan led the way into the ward, waiting for Eve to point him in the right direction. George was in the end bay and he was obviously a very sick little boy. His mother was with him and Ryan smiled at her as he introduced himself. ‘Hello, Mrs Porter. I’m Ryan Sullivan
, the senior registrar. Dr Pascoe has filled me in on what’s happened so let’s see if we can get George sorted out, shall we?’
‘I hope so, Dr Sullivan,’ Andrea Porter replied anxiously.
Ryan bent over the child, taking his time as he examined him. With symptoms like these, there could be any number of things causing the problem. He checked the boy’s reaction to light, which was normal, then felt around the base of his neck, frowning when he discovered a definite rigidity in the muscles. ‘Feel his neck,’ he said quietly, glancing at Eve.
He moved aside so she could take his place, sucking in his breath when her arm brushed his as she bent over the bed. He could feel his skin tingling, tiny ripples of sensation, light as snowflakes, dancing across its surface. It was an effort not to show how alarmed he felt as he waited for her to finish because he didn’t do this sort of thing, didn’t react this way when a woman touched him. It made him see just how deep he was in and he bit back a groan.
Maybe he didn’t want to get too involved but he might not have a choice!
CHAPTER FIVE
‘THERE’S A DEFINITE stiffness about the neck.’
Eve smoothed her face into what she hoped was a noncommittal expression before she looked up. She could feel flurries of sensation rippling through her body and fought to ignore them. So what if she had touched Ryan? It had been an accident, unlike yesterday when she had deliberately laid her hand on his arm in an attempt to comfort him.
The thought wasn’t the best she could have come up with, certainly not the ideal one to calm her down, so it was a relief to discover that Ryan wasn’t looking at her. He bent over the child again, rolling up George’s pyjama legs and frowning when he saw the blotchy red rash on the boy’s shins.
‘When did this rash appear?’ he demanded, glancing at Eve.
‘I’ve no idea. It definitely wasn’t there when I examined him earlier,’ she explained. ‘Is it what I think it might be?’
‘Yes. It looks very much like the rash you’d expect to see in cases of meningococcal meningitis.’ He ignored Mrs Porter’s horrified gasp as he reached for a drinking glass off the bedside locker. Pressing it against the rash, he nodded. ‘See. The rash doesn’t disappear when I press this glass against it. It’s meningitis all right and we need to get it sorted out a.s.a.p.’
Mr. Right All Along Page 4
