A Very Special Marriage

by Jennifer Taylor

  She picked up her water glass and took a sip of the cool liquid in the hope that it would steady her, but all it took was the sight of the purser greeting Liam to make the tremor increase. It appeared that Liam would be joining them for dinner and the prospect of having to make conversation with him was more than she could bear. It was only the thought of the scene it would cause if she got up and left that kept her sitting there.

  ‘Allow me to introduce our new doctor.’ Yuri swiftly made the introductions, smiling charmingly when he came to Sophie. ‘I’m not sure if you two have met yet.’

  ‘Dr Kennedy and I have already introduced ourselves,’ Sophie said hurriedly.

  ‘Indeed we have,’ Liam agreed smoothly, but she could see the question in his eyes. She knew he was wondering how much she intended to tell everyone, but if he thought she was about to admit that they’d once been married then he could think again.

  ‘Yes, we bumped into each other earlier.’ She turned to Yuri as Liam took his seat and smiled warmly at him. ‘Tell us about your job, Yuri. It must be fascinating, meeting so many new people all the time.’

  The purser needed little encouragement and happily began regaling them with tales about the trials and tribulations of being a purser on a busy cruise liner. He was an amusing raconteur and the rest of the group were soon showering him with questions.

  Sophie was very aware that Liam was making no attempt to join in, however. She shot him a wary look and flushed when she discovered he was watching her. There was something in his eyes, a hint of some emotion she couldn’t quite decipher…

  ‘And what about you, Sophie? You must tell us all about your job now.’

  She jumped when Yuri placed his hand on hers. She was aware of the knowing looks that were being exchanged around the table and quickly tried to move her hand out of the way, but he held onto it.

  ‘It must be fascinating, being a nurse. To hold the power of life and death in such delicate hands.’

  He sighed expressively and Sophie coloured. There must be little doubt in the minds of anyone watching that the purser was interested in her and it made her feel uncomfortable, especially with Liam there to witness what was happening.

  ‘I hate to disillusion you but a nurse’s role is rather more mundane than that.’

  She eased her hand out of his grasp and picked up her glass. ‘My job is to carry out orders and care for a patient’s needs. It’s the doctors who have the real power.’

  ‘Is that a fact? So how does it feel, Dr Kennedy, to know the buck stops with you?’ Randolph leant across the table and smiled at Liam. ‘It must put a lot of pressure on you, young man.’

  ‘It can do but you learn to adapt to the stresses of the job. I certainly don’t spend too much time dwelling on the thought that I hold the power of life and death in my hands,’ Liam explained dryly. ‘Anyway, helping a patient recover is a team effort. It needs both doctors and nurses to achieve results.’

  ‘Spoken like a true diplomat!’ Gloria declared. She turned to Sophie and winked. ‘Looks as though you two should get along just fine, honey.’

  Sophie smiled, although she was sorely tempted to tell the older woman that she wouldn’t be around long enough to find out. First thing tomorrow morning she would contact the agency and ask them to find a replacement for her. Fortunately, the waiter arrived just then with their first course and the conversation moved on to other topics. Even so, it was a relief when dinner was finally over and she could make her escape.

  Yuri looked disappointed when she announced that she was having an early night. ‘Are you sure I can’t change your mind, Sophie? There’s dancing on the promenade deck tonight and I would be honoured if you would agree to be my partner.’

  ‘That’s really kind of you, Yuri, but it’s been a busy day and I’m exhausted.’

  She moved aside so that Liam could pass them, feeling a frisson run through her when his arm brushed hers. In accordance with the dress code for the evening, he was wearing a casual, short-sleeved shirt and she could feel the silky, dark hairs on his forearm tickling her bare skin as he moved past.

  One of the other guests stopped him and Sophie felt another ripple run through her when she heard him laugh at something the woman said. Liam had always had the most wonderfully infectious laugh, so deep and warm that it had made everyone around him want to laugh, too. How strange that she’d forgotten all about that until now but, then, they’d had very little to laugh about in the months leading up to their divorce.

  The thought was so painful that she knew she had to get away. When Yuri tried again to persuade her to stay she shook her head. ‘I’m sorry but I really am very tired. I’ll see you in the morning, I expect.’

  She hurriedly left the dining-room and made her way to her cabin. The passengers were making the most of the first night of their holiday and she didn’t meet anyone on the way. She undressed and slid on a pair of the new shortie pyjamas which she’d bought for the trip. The bunk bed felt rather cramped after the comfort of a double divan, but she was both physically and mentally exhausted. She was fast asleep when someone banged on her cabin door an hour later.

  Sophie scrambled out of bed and ran to answer the summons, peering blearily at Liam. ‘What’s the matter?’

  ‘There’s been a fight between two of the crew. One of the men has been stabbed and he’s in a pretty bad way, apparently. The other guy’s also been hurt, although he’s not as bad.’

  His gaze skimmed over her before he abruptly swung round. ‘Put some clothes on. I’ll meet you in the clinic in five minutes.’

  Sophie took a deep breath as she closed the door. She felt completely disorientated, having been woken up like that. She went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face then quickly hunted some clothes out of the wardrobe and dressed. There wasn’t time to brush her hair but she doubted if it would matter. Liam probably wouldn’t notice how she looked.

  Her mind hiccuped to a halt because all of a sudden she could picture the expression in his eyes all too clearly. There had been something so spine-tinglingly familiar about the way he’d looked at her just now that a rush of heat suffused her.

  Sophie bit her lip but she could feel the excitement building inside her and it scared her. She didn’t want to feel this awareness around Liam but she couldn’t seem to stop what was happening any more than he’d been able to do. The thought brought her up short.

  If Liam was planning on getting married again, why had he looked at her—his ex-wife—with such hunger?

  CHAPTER THREE

  WHAT the hell had he been thinking?

  Liam cursed roundly as he tossed a handful of sterile dressings into his bag. He must have been stark, raving mad to stand there staring at Sophie like that! So maybe it had only been for a split second but she must have noticed. What woman wouldn’t notice when a man was ogling her?

  Another oath leapt from his mouth as he added a giving-set and several pairs of disposable gloves to the collection. It was rare that he ever swore but he was allowed a lapse at a time like this. He’d stood outside Sophie’s door positively drooling over the sight of her in those sexy little pyjamas. It didn’t make him feel good to admit what he’d done, yet he knew that he would do exactly the same thing again in similar circumstances. The sight of her shapely body in that strappy little top and shorts get-up was enough to make any red-blooded male stare!

  Liam groaned as an image of Sophie suddenly swam before his eyes. Her blonde hair had been all tousled and her face had been softly flushed with sleep. One strap of the pyjama top had slipped down her arm so that the cotton fabric had dipped at the front, affording him a tantalising glimpse of her small breasts. The shorts had definitely lived up to their name, leaving her legs completely bare from the tops of her slender thighs right the way down to her shapely ankles, and he ground his teeth when he felt his body react predictably to the memory. He had to get a grip. Lusting after his ex-wife really wasn’t an option!

  ‘What
can I do to help?’

  Liam swung round when he heard Sophie’s voice coming from the doorway and let out a sigh of relief when he saw the jogging pants and over-sized T-shirt she was wearing. At least his self-control wouldn’t be put to the test again that night, it seemed.

  ‘We’ll need saline for starters. Can you see if you can find some? Oh, and check the drugs cupboard and see what we’ve got in the way of pain relief. Here’s the keys.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  She caught the bunch of keys he tossed to her and hurried to the cupboard. Liam left her to go through it as he double-checked that he had everything they might need. He didn’t want to have to start running backwards and forwards for all the things he’d forgotten.

  ‘It’s really well stocked. I found some morphine so shall I sign for it or would you prefer to do it?’

  Liam shook his head. ‘I don’t have a problem with you signing it out. So long as it’s accounted for then it doesn’t matter which one of us completes the paperwork.’

  ‘Fine.’ She quickly filled out the necessary form then relocked the cupboard door. She handed him the keys, along with two ampoules of morphine, then took a couple of syringes out of a box on the shelf and gave them to him as well.

  Liam nodded his thanks as he stowed them in his case. ‘Don’t forget the saline.’

  ‘I won’t.’ She quickly found the bags of saline and passed them to him. ‘Is that everything now?’

  ‘Hopefully.’ He snapped the locks on the case and stood up. ‘I’m not sure exactly what we’re going to find. All I know is that one man has been stabbed and that the other isn’t as badly injured.’

  ‘We could be dealing with anything, then,’ she observed as she followed him from the clinic. ‘I wonder what the fight was about?’

  ‘I didn’t ask. I was more concerned about what we would have to deal with.’ He smiled wryly as he locked the clinic door. ‘I was looking forward to a complete change of scene when I took this job, too. I had visions of treating patients with nothing more serious than sea-sickness. I should have known better!’

  Sophie laughed. ‘You should! It was tempting fate to hope for an easy ride, although I certainly didn’t expect anything like this to happen.’ She looked at him curiously. ‘What did you mean about a complete change of scene, though?’

  Liam sighed as he elbowed his way through the swing doors. ‘I was working for a foreign aid agency in Africa until last month. The area I was working in is on the edge of a war zone so stabbings and shootings are pretty much an everyday occurrence there. It was a real culture shock at first, although I soon got used to it.’

  ‘Why on earth did you take a job like that?’ she exclaimed.

  ‘Because I wanted to make a real difference to people’s lives.’ He led the way to the stairs, wondering if that had sounded as ridiculously idealistic to her as it had to him, even though it was the truth.

  ‘And did you? Make a difference to people’s lives, I mean?’ she asked quietly.

  ‘I like to think I did, but who can say for sure? The people I dealt with are so poor that death is an everyday occurrence. If they don’t get shot or stabbed then more often than not they die from malnutrition.’

  ‘It must have been difficult, working in conditions like those. I had no idea…’

  She stopped and Liam saw a shadow cross her face. His heart ached because he knew immediately what had caused it. Once upon a time they’d been so close that each had known what the other had been thinking, and it hurt to realise how far apart they’d grown.

  ‘There’s no reason why you should have known where I was working, Sophie,’ he said gently.

  ‘No, I don’t suppose there was.’ She summoned a smile. ‘I must confess that I’m rather surprised, though, because you never mentioned that you were interested in doing aid work.’

  ‘It was only after we split up that I decided to find a new direction for my life,’ he explained. ‘It helped to put my own problems into perspective when I saw the difficulties other people have to contend with on a daily basis.’

  ‘And does Julia work for the aid agency as well? You said that you’d met her when you were both working overseas.’

  ‘She’s done aid work ever since she qualified,’ he explained flatly, wondering why he felt so uncomfortable talking about Julia. He forced a little more enthusiasm into his voice.

  ‘She’s a superb doctor and completely devoted to her work. It’s thanks to her that the agency has managed to establish a base in the region, in fact.’

  ‘I see. So does that mean you’ll be returning there to work after you’re married?’

  Liam shrugged, not wanting to admit that he and Julia hadn’t reached a decision about where they would live. Julia was keen to continue her work but he wasn’t sure if it was what he wanted to do on a long-term basis. One of the reasons why he’d returned to England when his contract with the aid agency had ended had been because he’d hoped it would help him make up his mind. He needed to be sure before he committed himself to working overseas permanently, although how Julia would react if he decided against it was another matter.

  ‘I’m not sure yet,’ he said, hurriedly dismissing the thought because it was pointless worrying when there might be no need. It could turn out that his inability to make a decision was all tied in with the fact that he needed to resolve things with Sophie. In which case, all his problems would be resolved at once.

  ‘We’re still very much at the planning stage—’ he began, then broke off when one of the ship’s officers came hurrying to meet them as they reached the lower deck.

  ‘Dr Kennedy?’

  ‘Yes. I’m Liam Kennedy and this is Sophie Patterson, the ship’s nurse.’

  ‘I’m glad to meet you, Dr Kennedy. You, too, Miss Patterson.’

  The man shook hands then quickly led them along a corridor. ‘I’m Mike Soames, the chief petty officer. I’m still trying to establish exactly what happened but, basically, two of the crew started fighting and one guy pulled out a knife and stabbed the other fellow.’

  ‘Whereabouts did the knife penetrate?’ Liam asked, wanting some idea of what they could be dealing with.

  ‘In the chest,’ Mike informed him. He opened a door and stepped back. ‘Alexei—that’s the chap who’s been stabbed—is in here, but I thought it would be best to separate them so I’ve put Grigorio in the next cabin. The men who would normally use these cabins are bunking down in the crew’s lounge for the night.’

  ‘Good. I was hoping we wouldn’t have an audience,’ Liam said gratefully, turning to Sophie. ‘Will you check out the chap next door while I see to this fellow? If you’re happy that he’s not too badly injured then you can come back and help me.’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘I’ll go with you, Miss Patterson,’ Mike Soames said hurriedly.

  Liam went into the cabin as the chief petty officer accompanied Sophie next door. The patient was lying on one of the lower bunks and Charlie Henshaw—the steward who’d shown Liam to his cabin when he’d arrived—was with him. He looked relieved when Liam appeared.

  ‘I’m glad you’re here, Doc. I’ve done a bit of first aid in my time but this is way out of my league.’

  ‘Let’s take a look, then.’

  Liam crouched down beside the bunk. He could tell immediately that the man was in a very bad way. His pupils were fixed and dilated and his breathing was extremely laboured.

  He quickly removed the blood-soaked towel from the man’s chest and whistled when he saw the knife wound. Although it was fairly small, it was obviously deep. ‘That doesn’t look so good. How many times was he stabbed, d’you know?’

  ‘Just the once. One of the other guys managed to break up the fight.’ Charlie shook his head. ‘It all happened in a flash. One minute they were arguing and the next second Grigorio had pulled out a knife and stabbed Alexei.’

  ‘Well, it’s certainly gone in deep. There could be all sorts of damage to the major organs
.’ Liam glanced round when the door opened and Sophie appeared. ‘How’s the other fellow doing?’

  ‘A few bruises and a bump on the back of his head but he’ll live.’ She glanced at the man on the bunk and pulled a face. ‘He doesn’t look too good, though.’

  ‘He doesn’t. Can you check his blood pressure while I get a line into him? He desperately needs fluids. It also looks as though he’s going to need to be intubated so I’ll give him an anaesthetic to relax his muscles once everything is set up,’ Liam explained, quickly tapping up a vein and inserting a line into the back of the man’s hand.

  Charlie took the bag of saline from him once he’d set up the drip, and hung it on the end of the top bunk. Liam nodded.

  ‘Thanks. I need to establish an airway now but I could do with a bit more light so I can see what I’m doing.’

  ‘Leave it to me, Doc.’

  Charlie hurried away and returned a few minutes later with one of the huge torches that were normally used for signalling to other ships. Liam smiled his approval as the steward angled the beam so that he could set to work.

  ‘That’s great. I can see where I’m aiming for now.’

  He administered the anaesthetic then quickly inserted an endotracheal tube and established an airway. Once it was secured, he immediately started the patient on oxygen.

  ‘Blood pressure is dropping,’ Sophie warned. ‘Pulse is very weak, too.’

  ‘Could be a haemothorax,’ Liam said, taking a scalpel out of his bag. ‘The knife appears to have entered the chest at an angle so it’s possible the left lung has been damaged. I’ll see if I can relieve the pressure.’

  He made a small incision under the man’s left armpit then used a pair of forceps to open the muscles between the ribs, but there was no sign of blood in the pleural cavity. ‘That’s not it. How’s he doing now?’

  ‘BP is still going down rapidly.’

  Sophie suddenly leant forward and checked the pulse at the base of the man’s neck. Liam held his breath because he had a horrible feeling that she wasn’t going to find one.