He straightened the mirror on the wall, stood back and studied himself briefly and gave a tiny nod. He’d do.
Hefting his keys in his hand, he let himself out of his new front door—which was sticking; he’d have to do something about that, and the leaky shower hose and a few hundred other things—and set off for the hospital.
It was a mile, by his calculations, so would take him fifteen or twenty minutes. That was fine. Perfect, in fact. Enough to get his body moving, not so far he’d be tempted to take the car unless the weather was horrendous, which it wasn’t.
It was an unseasonably gorgeous day, the sun shining down on him, birds twittering in the trees and hedges of the gardens he passed, the traffic very light on the quiet residential streets that led to the hospital.
So much better than fighting for a space on the Underground, jostling on the pavements, dodging through crowds on his daily commute in London. And if he breathed in deeply, he could smell the sea.
It was going to be good living here, he could feel it already. So long as Laura was all right.
Please let her be all right...
* * *
‘Laura, I hate to do this but can I ask you a massive favour?’
‘Depends what it is,’ she said, her heart sinking because the date was etched on her psyche and she hadn’t slept a wink, so she knew what was coming.
So did James, because his smile was wry and a little harassed. ‘Tom starts today, and Sam’s tied up in Resus, I’ve got a meeting I can’t get out of, and with Andy off I just can’t spare the time. If you could take him under your wing, that would be a huge help.’
Great. It wasn’t enough that he’d stolen her job. Now she had to babysit him, show him how to do the job she’d been doing, the job she’d wanted, and all the time the memories of that night were going to be right there in her face.
Great. Just great. And on April Fool’s Day, of all days. Someone was having a laugh at her expense.
‘Sure,’ she said calmly. ‘No worries.’ Just a whole bunch more angst. ‘What time does he start?’
‘Eight. He’s done HR and all that stuff yesterday, so it’s just a case of settling in. I don’t want to throw him in at the deep end on his first day.’
She would have been quite happy to do that. She was torn between aching to see him again and running a mile, neither of which would get the job done.
‘Don’t worry, James, I’ll look after him. I’m sure he’ll be fine. And talk of the devil,’ she added, glancing past James and meeting those beautiful eyes across the central work station.
Tom smiled at her, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes, and she didn’t imagine hers did, either. She had no idea how he was going to react to her still being there, and she had a horrible feeling it was going to be even more awkward than before. Especially if her heart kept leaping about like this every time she caught sight of him.
James turned, his smile far more spontaneous and welcoming. ‘Tom! Good to see you! Look, I’m really sorry, I’m going to have to abandon you, but Laura’s promised to look after you and I’ll be back as soon as I can. It’s all a bit crazy today.’
‘When isn’t it?’ Tom said drily, his smile relaxing a little, and after a few seconds of chat James headed off and left them alone together and Tom turned back to meet her eyes.
‘Hello, Laura.’
Her heart slammed against her ribs and then lodged in her throat, and she swallowed hard. ‘Hi. Are you all set?’
He nodded, his eyes searching her face. ‘You’re still here. I wasn’t sure if you would be.’
She tried to smile. ‘Nor was I, but it seems I am, at least for now. Shall we go? There’s a patient in Resus with Sam, and unless I’m mistaken that’s the red phone ringing, so we’ll have another incoming in a minute.’
His eyes searched hers thoughtfully, but he just nodded and followed her without a word. They passed Livvy, who met her eyes, obviously worried, and she threw her a reassuring smile and pushed open the door to Resus. The team already in there glanced up and greeted him with smiles of welcome, and she turned to look at Tom.
‘OK, so this is Resus. We have four beds in here, all fully equipped for anything we might need, and we also have Paeds Resus next door but we don’t tend to get involved with that. I’m sure the kit is all pretty standard.’
‘Yes, it looks it. Better give me a quick tour so I can hit the ground running.’
She did that, all the while so conscious of his body close to hers, waiting for the Tannoy to free her. She showed him where all the scrubs and other PPE were, and then the speaker burst into life as she’d expected.
‘Adult trauma call, five minutes. Paediatric Trauma call, five minutes.’
‘Parent and child?’ he asked softly, and she shrugged.
‘Better go and find out. Here, take these scrubs. It could get messy. The locker room’s at the end of the corridor on the left. Come back as soon as you’re done. I’ll brief the team.’
* * *
He was right, it was a mother and child with leg injuries, both knocked down by a car on the school run, and the mother was beside herself despite a very serious open fracture of her lower leg.
‘I want to see my son—he’ll need me!’ she sobbed, clutching at Laura, and she took her hand and held it tight.
‘Rory’s in good hands, Sarah,’ she said calmly, ‘and your husband’s on his way in, but we need to get your leg sorted out and check the rest of you over. My name’s Laura, and this is Tom. We’re both doctors. Tom, do you want to lead?’
‘Sure. If I do the primary survey can you take a look at that foot, please and get some X-rays? Better draw up some ketamine ready. And can we fast bleep the orthopaedic reg?’
‘Done it. They’re on their way.’
‘Thanks. Hi, Sarah, my name’s Tom. Mind if I have a look at you?’
He started the primary survey while Laura moved to examine Sarah’s leg, and after a moment she began to relax. He was good. Very good. Kind, gentle, patient, thorough—the sort of doctor she’d want looking after her under those circumstances. And he was good with the team, too.
She glanced up and met Sam’s eyes, and he smiled and nodded in silent agreement. Good. He was confident in Tom’s ability, and so he should be.
Gone was the cocky young man who’d treated life as a playground. In his place was a calm, measured professional, capable and sympathetic without shirking the tough stuff. He needed to be, because Sarah’s ankle was a mess and the X-ray did nothing to reassure Laura.
‘Cap refill?’ he asked, still working his way down her body, and she shook her head.
‘No pedal pulse. We can’t really wait for Ortho,’ she murmured softly, and he glanced at the X-ray, nodded and bent over their patient so she could see his face.
‘OK, Sarah, we’ve got a bit of a problem here. You’ve got quite a nasty fracture just above your ankle, and your foot’s not in the right position so we need to do something to straighten it. We’re going to give you something to make you drowsy first, then once we’ve sorted it we can get you to Theatre so they can fix it properly. Can someone called the orthopaedic registrar again, please? This is going to need surgery promptly. And can someone get the plaster ready, please?’ He picked up the ketamine syringe. ‘Right, Sarah, this is going to make you really sleepy so you won’t feel a thing. Can I have someone on the airway?’
He gave her the ketamine, and the moment she was under Tom took hold of her foot. ‘Ready?’
Laura nodded and held her knee, and he pulled, steadily and firmly, and the bones slid back into place.
‘Pulse check?’ he said without letting go, and she threaded her fingers between his on Sarah’s foot and nodded.
‘Pedal pulse. It’s not massive, but it’s there, and cap refill’s three seconds and it’s pinking up. Well done.’
He flashed her a grin and looked at the nurse waiting for instructions, the wadding in her hands.
‘Right, let’s get that on please while I’m holding this in position, and is there any word from Ortho?’
‘I’m here,’ the orthopaedic registrar said, coming in behind him, and she took a look at what he’d done and smiled. ‘Good job. Want to work in Orthopaedics?’
He grinned at her and shook his head. ‘Not particularly. Would you like to get some gloves on and take this over from me while it sets?’
‘Sure. We need X-rays, and let’s get her some fluids on board and then we can take her straight up to Theatre.’
He stepped back and left her to it, then turned to Laura.
‘Can you see if there’s any news on the son? It would be nice to be able to reassure her.’
‘Sure. I’ll go and have a look.’
She left him and went through to Paeds Resus, and found Ed Shackleton, one of the consultant paediatricians, working on a small boy of about five who was crying for his mother.
‘Is that Rory?’
‘Yes—how’s mum?’
‘Off to Theatre soon for surgery to her leg but otherwise OK. How’s he?’
‘Sore and scraped, but remarkably unscathed. He’s been lucky, I would say.’
‘What, lucky for somebody who’s been hit by a car?’ she said with wry grin, and he chuckled.
‘Yeah, that kind of lucky. Hey, Rory, Laura’s been looking after your mummy. Do you want to talk to her?’
He nodded and sniffled, and she took his hand gently. ‘Mummy’s going to be OK, Rory. She’s hurt her leg, too, but she’s going to be OK. The doctors are looking after her now.’
‘I want Mummy,’ he sobbed, and she smoothed the hair back from his forehead.
‘I know you do, sweetheart, and we’ll fix that as soon as we can. He’s got a bruise on his head,’ she added over her shoulder, and Ed nodded.
‘He’s got bruises all over. We’re going to admit him for observation. Dad’s on the way in to see him.’
‘Don’t let him hang about, then, the ortho’s already here and they’re taking her to Theatre very soon.’
She went back and found Sarah was still there with her husband now, so she had a chance to reassure them both.
Sarah’s eyes filled at the news. ‘Thank you...’
‘Yes, thank you,’ her husband echoed, his shoulders sagging in relief, and he kissed Sarah goodbye as she was wheeled off to Theatre, and then he turned to Laura. ‘I need to see my son,’ he said, shaking visibly, and she smiled.
‘Of course you do. If you come with me I’ll take you to him.’
‘Thank you—and thank you all so much for looking after Sarah.’
She smiled. ‘It’s what we’re here for,’ she said softly, and took him through to Paeds.
CHAPTER FOUR
IT FELT LIKE the longest day of her life.
James didn’t reappear until nearly twelve, so she had four hours of babysitting Tom—which was fine while they were busy, but then suddenly there’d be a lull, and there it was again, the elephant in the room.
Another elephant this time, not the ‘why did you change your mind’ one, but the ‘we finally gave in and had the most amazing sex ever’ one, trumpeting its head off every time she caught his eye. So much for closure.
Had she known—had she had the slightest inkling—that they’d end up working together, she would have run a mile that night. More. But she hadn’t. She’d assumed it would be the end of it, that one or other of them would be there, but not both. Never both.
Working alongside him was going to be so hard when all she wanted was to be with him, the last person in the world she needed in her life, another self-confessed free spirit like her mother... And then, just to turn the screw, there was Livvy’s job waiting for her in the wings, a permanent SpR job just a grade under Tom’s, the sort of job she’d had before she’d had to drop everything and come to look after Grumps. The only downside was that she’d have to work alongside Tom, and she wasn’t sure she’d ever be OK with that.
Oh, Grumps, where are you when I need you to talk some sense into me?
‘Sorry? Were you talking to me?’
Had she really said that? ‘No, I was thinking out loud. Look, why don’t you go and grab a coffee?’
Or just go, really. Anywhere would do until she could sort her head out.
‘I don’t need a coffee.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Positive.’ He tipped his head on one side and eyed her thoughtfully. ‘Is this going to be difficult?’ he murmured.
And there it was again, loud and proud, and this time the elephant had a voice. She didn’t bother to ask what he meant.
She met his eyes again and found—sympathy?
‘No,’ she said, and realised it was true. The working thing anyway. She already knew that was fine. ‘It’s just...’
‘Awkward.’
That word again. Like at the interview, but with bells on.
‘Yes, frankly. It is. I don’t have a choice, I have to work, but I wasn’t expecting we’d be working together and if I’d known, there’s no way I would have—’
She cut herself off, but he understood all too perfectly, judging by the look in his eyes.
‘No, but we did, so we have to deal with it and move on. As you said, closure, and I’m fine with that, I have no regrets, but just so you know, given the same circumstances I’d do it again in a heartbeat.’
His eyes spoke volumes, and she sucked in her breath and looked away, her body leaping to life, every sense heightened. She could feel his warmth, smell the intoxicating scent of his skin, see the slow, steady rise and fall of his chest. And she had to get away from him.
‘They aren’t the same, though. The circumstances.’
‘No, they’re not, so we have to find a way to put it behind us so we can work together without this constant tension.’
She looked around, her heart pounding, hoping there was nobody in earshot.
‘Seriously, Tom, we can’t talk about this here,’ she muttered. ‘Go and get a coffee while it’s quiet.’
He sucked in his breath, his eyes laughing. ‘Oh, Laura. Tempting fate? You must be desperate to get rid of me.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous—’
‘Adult trauma call, ten minutes. Adult trauma call, fifteen minutes.’
She closed her eyes and he half groaned, half laughed.
‘There you go. Works like magic every time. I’m sure you did that on purpose.’
He was properly laughing at her now, his eyes doing that sexy crinkling thing, and suddenly the prospect of being stuck right beside him again for hours wanting him like this was all too much. ‘I don’t have time for this,’ she said shortly, and squeezed past him and headed in the other direction.
‘Hey, that’s not Resus! Where are you going?’
She didn’t even look back. ‘The loo. We could be in there for hours.’
And even if they weren’t, she needed to give herself a severe talking-to in the mirror.
* * *
He watched her walk away, her body hidden by the scrubs, but not successfully because he knew now what they were hiding. Knew every curve and contour, every dip, every hollow.
The feel of her abdomen, soft yet taut, the swell of her breasts a perfect fit for his hands, the way the pulse at the base of her throat beat under his tongue. The arch of her back as she bucked against his hand, the whisper of her breath against his skin...
‘Right, I’m back. Sorry about that. How’ve you got on?’
Damn. He hauled in a breath and turned to his new boss, hoping his expression wasn’t a total mess.
‘Fine. All good.’
‘And Laura?’
Ah. Laura. How was Laura? ‘
She’s OK.’
James scanned his face. ‘Good. I was a bit concerned. She was pretty gutted that you got the job, so I was very conscious of that when I left you together but unfortunately I didn’t have a choice. Anyway, whatever. Did I hear a trauma call?’
‘Yes, two. I was just heading to Resus. Laura’s following me.’
‘We’ll take the first one, then. Laura can join us with Sam in a minute.’
Good. He wouldn’t be crushed up against her again, so he could have some breathing space and try and get his mind and body under control before he disgraced himself.
So much for closure...
* * *
She was heading home some time after six when he fell in beside her.
‘Can we talk?’
Him again, just when she thought she’d have some peace. ‘Not really. I need to get home to take Millie for a walk.’
‘Mind if I walk with you, then?’
‘Well, I can’t really stop you.’
‘You could, but I’d rather you didn’t, because I do think we need to discuss how we’re going to manage this, or working together’s going to be really difficult.’
Going to be? She stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. ‘What is there to discuss, Tom? We slept together, and now we’re working together and yes, it’s awkward, but we’re stuck with it. There’s nothing more to say.’
‘Are you sure about that?’
‘Well, yes. What else is there? It’s over. We’ve dealt with it. We need to move on.’
He studied her for a moment before he answered, his voice soft and oddly sad. ‘Yes, we do, and I know we can’t turn the clock back but we do need to find some middle ground, rediscover our friendship if nothing else.’
Friendship? Friendship was the last thing on her mind. All she wanted to do was tear his clothes off, and that was so not going to happen! She should never have slept with him. Idiot.
‘Do we have to do this tonight? Millie’s waiting for her walk and I need to get home,’ she muttered, setting off again, but he was still beside her, making all her nerve endings tingle.
Healing Her Emergency Doc Page 6
