The Doctor's Unexpected Proposal

by Alison Roberts

  Gina was called in for an expert opinion.

  ‘We can find out whether it’s ventricular easily enough,’ she told them.

  ‘How?’

  ‘We’ll give her a dose of adenosine. It knocks out the AV node so we’ll see flutter waves but no QRS. Half-life is only twelve seconds, so normal activity resumes soon enough.’

  ‘And if it is SVT?’

  ‘We can give her adenosine every time it happens until it settles down. We’ll start with a 6 milligram dose and titrate to no more than 24 milligrams if necessary.’ Gina looked across to where Megan lay, her eyes closed. ‘Is she awake properly yet?’

  ‘She’s pretty drowsy,’ Emily said. ‘I kept her lightly sedated overnight. She got rather distressed yesterday when I tried to talk to her about the baby.’

  Gina’s eyes widened. ‘ So she really is the mother?’

  Emily nodded. ‘She’s not ready to accept that the baby’s survived, though.’

  ‘Hmm.’ Gina’s attention returned to the ECG. ‘I was going to suggest keeping her sedated for a while anyway. The problem with using adenosine is that, if the patient’s awake, it makes them feel pretty awful.’

  The option seemed a good idea all round. With Megan kept drowsy enough, they could watch and treat the arrhythmia without distressing her too much. With every passing hour the antibiotic and other therapies she was still receiving were improving her physical condition. The more physical strength she gained over the next day or so, the better she would feel, and with a noticeable improvement after a long period of rest, Megan might see everything in a more positive light.

  Including the fact that both she and her baby had survived.

  The arrhythmia gradually settled until, twenty-four hours later, the intensive cardiac monitoring and additional medication could be discontinued. By Thursday afternoon the consultants were all happy to remove any sedation from Megan’s drug regime and allow her to wake up fully.

  A chest X-ray had shown her lungs to be clear again and her oxygen levels remained steady even on room air. All the other tests on vital organs came back with results that were reassuringly closer to normal, and by that evening Megan was sitting up for the first time since Sunday and she had eaten a small meal of shredded roast chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy which Mrs Grubb had prepared specially.

  ‘Was that good?’ Emily was delighted to see the empty plate on Megan’s locker.

  ‘It was OK, I guess.’

  ‘We’re going to shift you down to the ward soon,’ Emily told her. ‘You’re going to have a lovely room to yourself, and a sea view. How cool is that?’

  ‘I just want to go home.’

  ‘I know you do, pet. Not just yet.’

  ‘When?’

  ‘When you can walk around and take care of yourself with things like having a shower. You’ll be pretty weak for a day or two yet. And from what your mum told me, you’re expected to do a lot around home. We don’t want you trying too much, too soon.’

  ‘When did you talk to my mum?’

  ‘Yesterday morning. You’ve been pretty sleepy since then so you probably don’t remember me telling you about it.’

  ‘What did she say?’

  ‘That she was worried about you and missing having you around. She sent her love. So did your dad.’

  ‘Did she say if things were OK at home?’

  ‘In what way?’ Megan didn’t need to hear about the litany of worries Honey had shared with Emily.

  ‘Like the cattle and stuff.’

  Emily shook her head. ‘Tomorrow we could get you up in a wheelchair. If we take you down to the radio room, you’ll be able to talk to them yourself.’

  ‘Did she say anything else?’ Megan looked past Emily as though checking whether anyone else was within earshot.

  ‘What about?’ Emily knew that Megan’s nurse was safely away, writing up notes at the central desk.

  ‘You know.’

  ‘Your mum thinks you had a miscarriage,’ Emily said quietly. ‘Is that what you told her?’

  Megan was silent.

  ‘We need to talk about this, sweetheart.’

  Megan shook her head. ‘I’m tired. I just want to go to sleep again.’

  The orderlies would be here to transfer her to the ward any moment, in any case, and it was not a conversation that should be interrupted. By the time Megan was settled into her new room, she really would be too tired and it would be unproductive to force the issue.

  ‘Will you talk to me about it tomorrow, then?’

  Megan’s grunt was noncommittal.

  ‘Is there anybody else you’d rather talk to?’

  ‘Like who?’ The look Emily received, suggesting that she was a prize idiot, if not certifiably insane, was such a normal teenage reaction it was a relief.

  ‘Have you got any family or friends in town?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Any of the other doctors or nurses maybe?’

  Megan’s glance suggested just a flicker of interest. ‘Where’s that doctor I saw when I was first sick?’

  ‘You mean Hamish,—Dr McGregor? Or Dr Jamieson?’

  ‘No. I mean at home. The one who came with you.’

  ‘Oh…’ Emily’s smile just happened. For the last two days she hadn’t been able to think about Mike without that smile happening. ‘You mean Mike. He’s a paramedic, not a doctor—but that doesn’t mean he can’t come and talk to you,’ she added hastily.

  Emily’s smile had not gone unnoticed.

  ‘Is he your boyfriend?’

  ‘Ah…yeah.’ Sharing personal information might be a little unprofessional but if it could make a difference in her rapport with this particular patient it would be well worth bending the rules of accepted practice. Emily smiled again. ‘Yes,’ she said more firmly. ‘He is.’

  Megan just nodded wearily before resting her head back on her pillows and closing her eyes.

  ‘I guess you can come, too, then.’

  ‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’

  ‘Hell, no! Why would I?’ Mike’s smile almost brought tears to Emily’s eyes. It was so gorgeous. So caring. ‘If there’s going to be a happy ending here, I’m in, babe. I’m your man.’

  ‘Mmm.’ Emily snuggled closer on the old settee on the veranda. ‘So you are. We’ll go and talk to Megan together, then. Tomorrow morning?’

  ‘Whenever you like. I’ve got to meet my sister at the airport in the afternoon but apart from that I’m free. Barring call-outs, of course.’

  ‘I’ll see what the theatre lists are looking like. Late morning might be the best plan. Then we could have lunch together.’

  ‘I’m thinking of other things we could have together.’ Mike’s hand trailed upwards from Emily’s knee. ‘Feeling tired yet, babe?’

  Emily straightened and Mike took his hand off her leg as the sound of voices warned of an interruption to their privacy. The sight of the visitors was a surprise. Flight doctor Christina Farrelly was not a rare visitor to the house but the man with her was. Brian Simmons, the hospital administrator.

  ‘Emily! How nice to see you. Are you well?’

  ‘Never better, thanks, Brian.’ Emily might have straightened up but she hadn’t moved far enough to create a gap between herself and Mike, and their closeness hadn’t escaped Brian’s sharp glance.

  ‘Mike.’ The tone was clipped now. ‘How are you?’

  ‘Never better,’ Mike echoed mischievously. ‘Must be contagious.’

  Emily smiled at Christina to disguise her amusement. Mike knew, along with everybody else in the house, that Brian Simmons’s attempts to date Emily, so soon after his wife had left him, in the pre-Simon days, had been less than welcome. Mike might be using humour but he was advertising his right to be so close to Emily right now.

  He was not just her man. He was letting it be known that Emily was his woman. She liked that.

  Christina didn’t appear to have noticed the undercurrents. She returned Emily’s smile then f
ollowed Brian into the house. The hospital administrator’s voice floated back through the doorway.

  ‘The room’s this way. I’m sure he’ll find it most acceptable.’

  ‘What’s that all about?’ Emily wondered aloud.

  ‘Dunno.’ Mike frowned. ‘Christina wasn’t looking so happy the other night, come to think of it. I kind of got the impression that maybe things aren’t so rosy between her and Joe.’

  ‘Oh, no! What did she say?’

  ‘Nothing really. I don’t think she wanted to talk about it.’ Mike’s arm came around Emily’s shoulders. ‘Don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll sort it out, whatever it is.’

  ‘I hope so.’

  Even a hint of relationship problems among their friends was unsettling. It happened, though, didn’t it? Even with couples who appeared to be as much in love as Christina and Joe.

  Or as much in love as she and Mike were.

  And when it did happen, it could have devastating results. Emily tried to push the fear away but it had sticky edges. She could never stay here if things didn’t work out between her and Mike. She wouldn’t be able to bear living in the same small town with this man who had claimed her heart and soul so completely if history repeated itself yet again and Mike wanted out.

  She would lose both the man she loved and the life she had worked so hard to create. A home and career she also loved. The prospect of losing everything was terrifying. Not that it was going to happen, but the risk was there, wasn’t it?

  The risk that Mike might get bored as others had done before him. That he might realise that his attraction to her ‘differentness’ was just a reaction to emotional stress caused by the abrupt ending of another relationship and that, long term, he really wanted a woman true to his preferred type.

  He didn’t think so now, of course. He’d be insulted if Emily suggested it. Or it might come across as her being pathetically needy and craving reassurance.

  She had another night in Mike’s arms ahead of her right now.

  What more reassurance could she possibly want?

  CHAPTER NINE

  THE face in the mirror was scowling.

  Mike dragged the razor down his cheek and then swished it clean in the basin of warm water.

  Damn it! Why didn’t Emily want to go public? There was going to be a crowd in party mood tomorrow night at the fund-raising dinner and it was being held in Mike’s childhood home. The majority of their friends and colleagues would be there, not to mention a few extra members of Mike’s family. It was the perfect opportunity to announce their engagement.

  To tell the world just how much they loved each other.

  It would make his mother so happy. She would be so excited planning for a wedding that she would forgive him for snapping at her on the phone last night when she’d rung to tell him that his sister, Maria, was bringing a friend with her from Melbourne for the weekend.

  ‘She’s a nurse, Michael. Sounds like such a nice girl. And she’s Greek!’

  He’d been so frustrated by his promise to wait until Emily was ready to announce their news that he’d taken it out on his mother.

  ‘For God’s sake!’ he’d exclaimed crossly. ‘Will you just give up trying to arrange a marriage for me? It’s not going to work. And anyway, I…’

  The frantic eye-widening and head-shaking coming from Emily’s direction had stifled the words he’d wanted to utter.

  ‘I’m sick of it,’ he’d finished curtly.

  Sophia had been hurt, and no wonder. She only interfered in his life because she loved him and wanted him to be happy. More than anything, she wanted him to find the kind of life partner she’d been lucky enough to have with his father.

  And he had.

  So why couldn’t they tell everybody?

  Mike had to change his expression to facilitate shaving his chin but the scowl continued inwardly. If Emily felt the same way he did, she wouldn’t have any qualms about making an announcement. To be even slightly reluctant mean that she had doubts.

  Not about whether she loved him or not. Nobody could make love the way they had the last few nights and not reveal any lack of sincerity. By the same token, Emily had to know how deeply Mike felt. She appeared to feel the same way.

  If her doubts were not about the depth of feeling, then they had to be about the future. Whether it would last. You couldn’t know that until you tried, though, could you? Emily just needed to be brave enough to take that first step. He’d tried his best to help. Surely, letting her know how badly he wanted to get married and plan a family and future together should be all that was needed to reassure her?

  Mike didn’t know what else he could do.

  OK, it had only been a few days and maybe he was expecting too much too soon, but the way Mike saw things, the time frame meant nothing in the face of the strength of their love. So what difference would waiting make? Apart from giving him a niggling sense of anxiety?

  He wanted the reassurance of a public affirmation. His heart was on the line here. He’d waited a long time for this and he knew he’d never find it again with anyone else. If it fell apart, having reached this stage, it could shatter his whole life.

  Staying in Crocodile Creek wouldn’t be an option. If Mike couldn’t settle down with Emily, he’d never settle down at all. He’d rejoin the military service and have himself posted to every hotspot that flared anywhere in the world.

  It would break his mother’s heart, that would.

  Twisting the mixer, Mike waited a few seconds for the water in his shower to get to the right temperature. Then he stepped in and raised his face to rinse off the last of the shaving foam. Some of his anxiety seemed to disperse along with the suds.

  He’d been very patient up till now as far as Emily was concerned. Where was this urgency coming from? He needed to be patient just a little longer. To win whatever final piece of trust Emily was holding back. He could do that.

  He had no choice, did he?

  Megan had had a shower and washed her hair. She had discarded her hospital gown in favour of the sloppy dark blue T-shirt with the teddy bear emblem that had been laundered through the hospital system the night she’d been admitted. Was she feeling that much better or had she made a huge effort because of Mike’s impending visit?

  Probably for Mike’s benefit, Emily decided when they arrived in Megan’s room just before lunchtime. It was the first time she had seen the girl smile, she realised—and it made such a difference. A hint of happiness was there and Megan, when she was well and happy, would be a very attractive young woman.

  ‘So, how’s it going?’ Mike pulled up a chair and sat close to Megan’s pillows while Emily perched herself on the end of the bed.

  ‘OK, I guess.’

  ‘I haven’t seen you awake for a few days. Not since you had that ride in my chopper.’

  ‘Will you take me home in the helicopter, then?’

  ‘We’ll arrange for you to get home, Megan.’ Emily answered to save Mike having to turn down an impossible request for the use of a rescue aircraft. ‘It’s quite likely they’ll take you out with the plane when it goes to the next clinic at Gunyamurra.’

  An awkward silence fell. They all knew what they were there to discuss but it was difficult to know where to start.

  Mike solved the problem. He smiled winningly at Megan.

  ‘You’re looking a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw you,’ he said easily. ‘I can understand now how you managed to produce such a beautiful baby.’

  Megan’s jaw dropped but Mike kept smiling. ‘Would you like to see him?’

  Megan screwed her eyes shut and shook her head violently. ‘No way!’

  ‘Why not, love?’ Mike’s query was gentle.

  ‘Because it’s easier this way.’ Megan opened her eyes in the pause that followed and shot a quick glance in Mike’s direction.

  ‘Is…is he really beautiful?’

  ‘Yep.’ Mike looked at Emily who nodded agreement.

&nb
sp; ‘Everybody loves him,’ she said.

  ‘So it won’t be hard to find someone who wants to adopt him, then?’

  ‘You don’t need to make any decisions like that yet,’ Emily said. ‘You need time to get used to all this, Megan. To talk to lots of people and think about it all carefully. There are other options.’

  ‘Like what?’ The tone was scathing.

  ‘There would be help available if you wanted to keep the baby. I’m sure your mum—’

  ‘No! She’s not to know about this.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘ No!’ The word was a sob this time. ‘I don’t want my parents to know. I won’t let you tell them.’

  ‘They love you, chicken.’ Mike leaned in and took hold of Megan’s hand. ‘They’d want to help.’

  ‘There’s no way. We barely manage as it is. We couldn’t afford a baby.’

  ‘There’s help available.’

  ‘Oh, God!’ Megan pulled her hand away from Mike’s and covered her face. ‘You don’t know what you’re saying. My dad would die of shame. No matter how bad things have been, he’s always said he’d die rather than go on welfare.’

  ‘It doesn’t necessarily need to be government assistance,’ Emily said. ‘You’re going to be amazed at the presents that have been arriving for Lucky.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘He needed a name,’ Mike explained. ‘The staff named him Lucky on the first night he was here.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because he was so lucky that Gina found him in time. And that she was there so he could have the operation he needed.’

  ‘What operation?’

  ‘He was a very sick little baby,’ Emily said quietly. ‘He had a problem with one of the valves in his heart, but it’s been fixed now.’

  ‘I didn’t know he was sick.’ Megan sounded defensive.

  ‘Of course you didn’t. And it’s no wonder you thought he was dead. That’s what Gina thought when she first saw him, and she’s a doctor.’

  Emily paused for a second. Talking about Lucky’s medical problems was inevitably leading to the opening of another can of worms. Megan wasn’t openly hostile yet, though, so maybe it was a good time to get everything discussed.