‘But... I have to... I can’t stay here.’
Zac saw the way Olivia’s gaze raked the area—as if she was afraid she might see her father again at any moment. It was just as well the person coming in from the corridor was Debbie.
‘Shayna’s asking for you,’ she told Mike. ‘And she wants to know when her mum is getting here.’ Her voice trailed off as she stared at Olivia.
Everybody was staring at Olivia and Zac felt the sudden need to protect her. Of course she didn’t want to be here. He’d had the privilege of getting to know this woman on a very intimate level last night and he knew that she was a very different person from the one he’d thought he’d been leaving that voicemail for. Olivia Donaldson had an intelligence to match her beauty and she was passionate and generous but had an edge of vulnerability that he guessed had its roots in what must have been a difficult childhood. He’d been judgemental without knowing the truth. He owed her more than an apology for his assumptions.
He stepped closer to Olivia and caught her gaze, trying to convey the silent message that he was going to make this awkward situation better for her if it was at all possible. Then he turned to the other people around them.
‘This is Olivia Donaldson,’ he told them. ‘Another Dr Donaldson—and, yes, she’s our Dr Donaldson’s daughter but that’s none of our business. Through no fault of her own, she’s stuck here until the road’s open again so let’s make her feel welcome. Debbie, perhaps you could find Olivia a set of scrubs, please?’
‘Of course. Come with me, Dr Donaldson.’
Zac lowered his voice as he leaned closer to Olivia. ‘Sorry about this but there’s really nothing we can do other than make the best of it, yes?’
As if to applaud his attitude, there was another huge crack of thunder outside and then the lights flickered and went out around them. Even though it was daytime, it felt as if they’d been plunged into late evening.
‘Oh, no... Shayna...’ Debbie turned towards the doors. ‘I’d better get back to her.’
‘It’s okay,’ Zac said. ‘The generator will kick in very soon.’
Mike looked torn. ‘I need to get to the fire station,’ he said. ‘But I don’t want to leave Shayna until her mum gets here.’
‘We’ll look after her,’ Zac promised. ‘And you know what? It’s actually a real stroke of luck that Dr Donaldson’s been trapped here with us.’
‘Why’s that?’ Mike sounded even more suspicious than Olivia was looking.
‘Olivia’s a plastic surgeon,’ Zac told him. ‘She has the perfect qualifications to tell us the best way to manage Shayna’s injury.’ He turned back to Olivia. ‘We’ve got a young girl with a serious facial laceration,’ he explained. ‘Could I trouble you for a specialist consultation, please?’
He liked the way he could see Olivia straighten her back. She was standing in possibly the last place in the world she wanted to be and she was being forced to stay here by circumstances that she couldn’t possibly control. She was also dishevelled and dirty, which was obviously not the way she would want to present herself anywhere, but here she was drawing on some inner strength and turning into a professional person before his very eyes. A person who was confident of the skills she might have to offer. Proud of them, in fact.
‘Certainly, Dr Cameron.’ She nodded. ‘Just show me where to find those scrubs and give me five minutes to clean up.’
Zac’s smile of appreciation barely had time to touch his lips before the front doors of the hospital slid open beside them to let in a blast of icy wind and rain.
‘Oh...no...’ Olivia’s barely audible reaction was so heartfelt that Zac took a step closer. As he turned, he could feel his shoulder touching Olivia’s and it felt as if she was glad of the contact. As if she was leaning closer rather than moving away.
Her father had just come in, his arm supporting a much older woman. The umbrella he had in his hand had turned inside out and he looked windblown and damp. He also looked completely shocked to see Olivia.
‘You’re still here?’
Zac could feel the tension in Olivia’s body increase and it felt like she was still tapping into whatever professional mode she had accessed when he’d asked her for a consultation. She intended to cope with this situation, no matter how difficult it might be, and Zac... Well, he was proud of her, that’s what he was.
* * *
The older woman was small and plump. She peered over her glasses at the people in front of her.
‘Well...’ she said. ‘This is a turn-up for the books, isn’t it?’ She nodded at Zac. ‘Don insisted I come in with him,’ she apologised. ‘I had a bit of a fall, trying to get away from my broken window. He seems to think I might need an X-ray of my wrist.’
Olivia’s father had an odd look on his face. It was obvious that Olivia was the last person he had expected—or wanted—to see but he didn’t look angry. He looked nervous, she thought. Scared, even?
‘No problem, Mabel,’ Zac said. ‘I’ll look after that for you very soon.’
She gave him a bright smile and then turned her head, her gaze zeroing in on Olivia with such focus it sent a shiver down her spine.
‘You must be Olivia,’ she said. ‘I heard you’d been in town and I’m so happy you haven’t left just yet.’
‘Oh?’ Olivia felt an urge to step back as the elderly woman walked towards her but she found she couldn’t move. There were creases in this Mabel’s face that had nothing to do with age lines. They suggested a warmth that came from smiling often and they deepened visibly as she smiled at Olivia. She really was happy to see her.
‘I’m Mabel Donaldson. I’m your grandmother.’
CHAPTER SIX
THE LIGHTS FLICKERED back into life around them as Mabel Donaldson reached up to touch Olivia’s cheek.
‘I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to meet you, darling. And I can’t wait for us to have a proper chat.’
It was a total surprise to find she had another member of her family in Cutler’s Creek. Her grandfather had died so long ago that it hadn’t occurred to Olivia that his wife might still be here decades later. To feel as if finally meeting her was the best thing that could have happened for her grandmother was just as astonishing. Nobody had ever called Olivia “darling”. Not her parents. Not even Patrick.
The phone on Jill’s desk was ringing. ‘Cutler’s Creek Community Hospital,’ she said when she answered the call. ‘How can I help you?’ She held out the phone a few seconds later.
‘It’s for you, Dr Donaldson,’ she said.
Don Donaldson moved towards the desk but Jill shook her head. ‘No...the other Dr Donaldson. It’s someone called Simon Ellis.’
‘Who the heck is Simon Ellis?’ Zac asked.
Olivia swallowed. ‘My boss.’ She was a little nervous about speaking to Simon. She suspected he would have been disappointed that she’d chosen not to go to that gala. Now she had to tell him that she wasn’t even going to be at work anytime soon. But he didn’t sound angry.
‘Thank goodness you’re all right,’ he said. ‘I’ve been trying to call you all morning.’
‘Sorry. I didn’t bring my charger. I wasn’t expecting to have to stay but there was an accident—’
‘I know... I saw you on the news. Way to go, Olivia. I’ve made sure that the media knows you’re employed by the Plastic Surgery Institute. It’s great publicity for us. Plastic surgeons are real doctors, too. Pure gold.’
Olivia could hear an approving smile in his voice but found it disturbing. Would he be so happy if she hadn’t inadvertently given the private clinic some free publicity? Having a spotlight on her that was better than being seen at some charity event?
‘I’m stuck here now because of the storm,’ she told him. ‘The airports are closed. So’s the road.’
‘Don’t worry about a thing. We’ve got all your patient
s covered. It’s not a problem.’
‘Thanks, Simon. I appreciate that.’
People were moving around her. Mike the fireman was leaving, going out the front doors. Her father and grandmother were heading in the opposite direction, into the hospital—the direction that the nurse, Debbie, had taken when the power had cut out. Zac was still here, though. Watching her. She could feel that gaze on her skin like a physical touch...
‘I’ve got to go,’ she said. ‘I’ve got a patient waiting for me.’
‘What? You don’t need to go overboard, you know. Don’t take on something that might turn into a problem.’
And cause adverse publicity? Olivia gave her head a tiny shake. ‘I’ll be in touch, Simon, when I know where I am.’
Zac had clearly been waiting for her to finish the call. ‘I’ll show you our storage area and bathroom,’ he said. ‘And where to find me when you’re ready for action.’
His smile was barely there but Olivia could feel a warmth that felt almost as welcoming as her grandmother’s and that lilt in his voice seemed even more charming after listening to Simon’s crisply enunciated vowels. She actually wanted to be here, Olivia realised as she changed into the scrubs Zac had provided and used the bathroom facilities to clean up and tidy her hair. Much more than she wanted to be in Auckland. And, okay, she wouldn’t have chosen to be here and her father certainly wasn’t happy that she hadn’t disappeared yet but... Zac wanted her to be here. Plus, she had a grandmother who had been genuinely delighted to see her.
Who had called her “darling”.
It wasn’t just how long the storm would take to blow over that would enable Olivia to tell Simon where she was in terms of returning to her work and her normal life. It felt like the foundations of her world were still shifting beneath her feet and this time she couldn’t run away. She would have to face everything head on. Starting with a young girl who might need her help if she wasn’t going to end up being scarred for life. She had been shown the direction to take to find the minor procedures room but Olivia found an obstacle around the first corner.
A human obstacle.
And her father still looked, inexplicably, nervous.
‘Ah... Lib—Olivia. Could I have a word?’
He was standing right in front of her. She could step around him, given that there was no one else in sight, but Olivia’s feet had stopped without any conscious direction.
‘I...um... I think I should apologise. I was rather rude yesterday.’
Olivia couldn’t argue with that. She said nothing and, for a long moment, they simply stared at each other.
Don cleared his throat. ‘I didn’t expect you to still be here.’
‘No. I didn’t expect it, either.’ That feeling of having old wounds opened up increased. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be leaving as soon as I can.’
‘My mother...your grandmother is going to want to talk to you.’
‘So it seems.’ And part of Olivia wanted that. She hadn’t had any grandparents on her mother’s side. Or not that she knew of, but there were doubts waiting to surface about all sorts of things concerning her mother now, weren’t there?
‘She doesn’t know.’ There was an urgent note in her father’s voice. ‘About me. About...about the cancer and...and I’d be grateful if you didn’t say anything.’
Olivia could feel her jaw dropping. He wasn’t going to tell his own mother that he was dying?
‘It’s just that it’s her ninetieth birthday in a couple of weeks. The whole community is planning to celebrate and I really don’t want to spoil that for her. I’ll tell her afterwards but...it would be better for everybody if that party wasn’t spoiled in any way.’
At least he cared about his mother, Olivia thought, but she could feel a wash of bitterness lacing itself into the pain of those old wounds.
‘As you said yourself,’ she muttered, ‘it’s not really any of my business, is it?’ But it felt like it was. Or that she wanted it to be.
‘Thank you. And I...’ He seemed to catch his breath as a look of pain crossed his face. ‘I’m...sorry. For everything.’
Was that physical or emotional pain he was experiencing? It certainly looked real and Olivia felt a beat of concern. But that apology?
‘You think that makes everything all right? That you can just say sorry for everything you did? Or should that be everything you didn’t do?’
‘You don’t know what I tried—and unfortunately failed—to do.’
‘I know that you failed to be a good husband. Or a good father.’
‘Marriages fail, Olivia. Sometimes people just want different things from life. And they want them so badly that they are prepared to hurt others to make sure they get what they want.’
‘What are you talking about? That you wanted to come back here so much that your family didn’t matter any more?’
‘I was always going to come back here. Your mother said she was happy about that but she was a city girl through and through and she had no idea what she was signing up for. In the end, she couldn’t do it. And she wasn’t going to let you be taken to live in a place like this. She said it had nothing to offer you and she was going to make sure you only got the best of everything.’
Olivia had to brush away an echo of that memory of her mother telling her that Cutler’s Creek didn’t even have a proper school. And Zac’s voice telling her that she was such a city girl, but he didn’t know her, did he? She hadn’t thought of herself as being like her mother and she was less sure than she had been, even a day or two ago, that she wanted to be focused on her career more than anything else in life.
But surely that wasn’t entirely her mother’s fault?
‘You couldn’t make the effort to stay in touch,’ she accused her father. ‘Have you any idea what that was like for me?’
Again, Don closed his eyes tightly and seemed to be holding his breath, waiting for a wave of pain to pass. When he spoke, his voice was ragged. ‘I know an apology will never be enough but that’s all I’ve got to offer.’
No. It could never be enough. Except that Olivia’s gaze was locked on her father’s face. On dark blue eyes that were a mirror image of her own and she could see something very genuine in those eyes. Worse, she caught a whiff of the aftershave he was wearing and it was like she’d stepped into a time machine. She hadn’t invented those memories of what her father had once been like. They were all real and she was a child again and all she wanted to do was hurl herself into her daddy’s arms and feel them folding her into a bear hug. She wanted that apology to be enough. For there to be a way back...
‘Liv?’
Zac’s call was more than welcome. It offered an escape from a confusion that Olivia didn’t want anything to do with. She could even forgive him for using the short version of her name that her friends used because, right now, he felt like a friend. He was rescuing her from the emotional minefield that being with her father represented.
‘I’m ready.’ Olivia turned her back on her father and moved swiftly. ‘Let’s see what we’ve got and whether there’s anything I can do to help.’
It was an enormous relief to have something clinical to focus on and satisfying to know that she had the skills to make a real difference. Zac took her aside to discuss the case after her assessment, leaving Debbie keeping Shayna company for a minute. Debbie was also a midwife, Olivia had learned, and both she and Shayna had been easy to find a rapport with as she’d told them all about the foal’s delivery while she had examined her patient carefully.
‘So what do you think?’ Zac was trusting her judgement here. That felt good, too.
‘The frontal branch of the facial nerve is intact but it’s a deep wound and the capillary refill at the edges isn’t great. If it’s just stitched as it is, it could leave a scar that will need more surgery in the future.’
‘Can you manage it
?’
‘Of course, but how well I can do depends what you’ve got available. A magnifying headset with a light? Good range of sutures and surgical instruments?’
‘Yes. I’m sure we have everything you could need. Your dad has always had enormous community support to ensure we’re very well equipped.’
‘I can use a supraorbital nerve block for anaesthesia without the tissue distortion that injecting local could create but, given how anxious Shayna is, I think she’ll need a good level of sedation. Ideally, I’d want to do this under a general anaesthetic but I don’t suppose that’s an option here?’
‘We do actually have an operating theatre and all the gear but it’s been many years since it was used. It would have to be a life-or-death emergency to justify the risk.’
‘Sedation it is, then. But I’ll need you to monitor her.’
‘I’m all yours.’ Zac’s smile was warm. ‘Thanks, Liv. I really appreciate this.’
This time, the short version of her name sounded perfectly natural coming from Zac. As if they’d been friends forever. His smile felt equally familiar and it had the effect of making something deep inside Olivia feel like it was melting.
But she couldn’t allow herself to acknowledge that reaction, let alone wonder what it meant. She had a job to do. Zac might have been in charge at the accident scene yesterday but the spotlight was firmly on her this time and she was going to do her absolute best.
For Shayna.
And for Zac.
* * *
Wow...
Just wow...
Zac had been watching Olivia Donaldson very closely for some minutes and he was blown away by her skills. And her confidence. He was learning stuff here. They were alone in the room with Shayna because her mother had arrived and Debbie had gone to make her a cup of tea and keep her company while the stitching was being done.
‘See that blue tinge?’ She had pressed the edges of the wound with a haemostat. ‘No capillary refill. That tissue’s not going to make it.’
Melting the Trauma Doc's Heart Page 8
