It was almost half an hour before the doctor came to find her. Catherine got up as soon as she saw him leaving Resus and hurried to meet him. ‘How is he?’
‘Not too bad, considering. He’s got a fractured clavicle, but that will soon heal and shouldn’t cause any problems. I’m more concerned about the bump on his head and the fact that he lost consciousness so I’m sending him down for a CT scan. Obviously, it will depend on what we find but we’ll be keeping him in at least for tonight.’
‘Can I see him before he goes for the scan?’ she asked quickly.
‘I don’t see why not,’ the doctor replied cheerfully. ‘Pop on through to Resus and tell the nurse I said it was OK. The paramedics said you were a doctor so I don’t need to give you the usual spiel about not worrying about all the tubes, do I?’
‘No,’ she replied shakily, because it was rather different being on the receiving end of all the medical expertise. She might understand why Matt needed the equipment but it wouldn’t make it any easier to see him like that.
She made her way into the resuscitation room and explained to the nurse that she’d been given permission to see Matt. He was lying on a bed, looking extremely sorry for himself. There were various lines and tubes attached to him but Catherine steadfastly ignored them as she visually checked him over. There was a nasty-looking graze down his left cheek and his left arm was in a sling to support the broken clavicle, but apart from that he looked fine. She was overwhelmed by relief so it was an effort to behave casually as she went to the bed.
‘Hi! The doctor said I could pop in and see you. How do you feel?’
‘As though I’ve been trampled by a herd of elephants.’ He grimaced. ‘How’s the little girl? Have you heard anything?’
‘Not yet but she seemed to be fine from what I could tell. A bit shaken up and obviously scared but nothing to worry about,’ she assured him.
‘That’s good.’ He rested his head against the pillows and sighed. ‘I’ve got to have a CT scan, apparently.’
‘So the doctor told me. And they’re keeping you in overnight as a precaution.’
‘But I can’t stay here! What about the girls?’ He frowned. ‘What time is it? I’m supposed to pick them up from the party at half past six.’
‘It’s almost six now,’ Catherine told him, checking her watch. She could tell how agitated he was getting and hurried on. ‘Look, just tell me where they are and I’ll fetch them.’
‘Would you? That would be great but are you sure you don’t mind, Catherine?’
‘Of course I don’t mind!’
He rattled off the address then looked at her in dismay. ‘But what’s going to happen tonight if they keep me in? Becky and Hannah are too young to be left in the house on their own.’
‘They won’t be on their own because I’ll stay with them, of course.’
‘You will?’
‘Yes, so stop worrying!’ She glanced round when the nurse tapped her on the shoulder and told her that it was time for Matt to go to the radiology unit.
‘I’ll have to go now. Don’t worry about the girls because I’ll sort everything out and they’ll be fine.’
‘I know they will if you’re with them,’ he said huskily. ‘Thank you, Catherine. I really appreciate this.’
‘I’m happy to do it.’
She bent and kissed him quickly on the lips then stood up. All of a sudden her heart was drumming inside her but she knew what she had to do. She looked him in the eyes and felt a wave of love wash over her. This man meant the whole world to her and she would do anything in her power to make their relationship work. ‘It will be good practice for me, Matt.’
‘Good practice? What do you mean?’
She touched him lightly on the cheek. ‘I need to get used to being part of your family if we’re going to be spending a lot of time together.’
‘Catherine!’
She laughed when she heard the shock in his voice. There was no time to say anything else because the porter was waiting to take him down to Radiography. Catherine left the hospital and hailed a taxi so she could collect Becky and Hannah from the party. They were both surprised to see her and upset when she explained about their father’s accident.
They were desperate to see him so they got another taxi back to the hospital. Catherine left them in the waiting room while she went to check on Matt and was relieved when she was informed that he had been transferred to the observation ward. The CT scan had shown no signs of any serious injury to his brain so he was being treated for mild concussion and would be monitored overnight.
The ward sister only allowed them to see him for a few minutes but it was long enough to reassure the children. Catherine kept out of the way so he could concentrate on the girls because it was more important that they shouldn’t worry. She just had time for a brief word with him before the sister told them it was time to leave, but she could see the love in his eyes when he wished her a husky goodnight and that was more than enough to keep her going.
They went back to Matt’s house and phoned for a pizza then spent the evening playing games. Catherine tucked Hannah into bed and kissed her goodnight, smiling when the little girl clung to her.
‘Are you going to stay all night, Catherine?’
‘I am. So you don’t need to worry because I’ll be right here if you need me.’
‘Good.’ Hannah planted a noisy kiss on her cheek. ‘I love you, Catherine.’
‘I love you, too, poppet,’ she whispered, her eyes brimming with tears because it was true. Somewhere along the line Matt’s children had found a place in her heart as well and her life would be all the richer because of it.
She went to bed when Becky did, feeling a strange sense of rightness as she went into Matt’s room and turned on the bedside lamp. She didn’t have any nightclothes with her but she found one of his old T-shirts in a drawer and used that for a nightshirt. The cotton was soft from many washes and she snuggled it around her, pretending that it was his arms wrapped around her.
She slid into the big double bed and pressed her face into the pillows, drinking in his scent. It felt wonderfully and marvellously right to be there in his bed in his house, with his children sleeping just across the landing from her. Maybe she would have to alter her plans for the future but there wasn’t any doubt in her mind that it would be worth it.
On that happy thought she fell asleep and was woken the next morning shortly after seven by someone kissing her cheek. She rolled over, half expecting to see Hannah, and gasped when she found Matt sitting on the side of the bed.
‘What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in hospital!’
‘The registrar agreed to let me leave,’ he murmured, bending so he could press his mouth to her bare shoulder where the oversized T-shirt had fallen away.
Catherine shivered when she felt him delicately nibble her skin and felt him smile.
‘I think he was glad to see the back of me, to be honest. He was probably fed up with me grumbling about being kept in. He certainly didn’t put up much of a fight when I told him I was leaving with or without his permission.’
‘You didn’t?’ She shook her head when he grinned. ‘You crazy man. You know very well how important it is to monitor a person after they’ve lost consciousness!’
‘Is that a fact?’ His mouth slid from her shoulder to her throat so he could trail kisses up to her jaw. ‘But I wanted to be here with you.’
‘And I wanted you to be here, too,’ she admitted huskily. ‘But it would have been very silly to have come home after that bump you had.’
‘I know. It’s just that I couldn’t sleep a wink from thinking about you being here in my bed.’ His lips moved a little higher so that he could drop a kiss on the corner of her mouth and she groaned.
He grinned wickedly as he drew back a fraction. ‘If you want me to stop then just say the word.’
She glowered at him. ‘It would serve you right if I did tell you to stop. You’re getting
a little above yourself, Dr Fielding.’
‘Sorry, but it’s your fault, not mine.’
‘Oh, and how do you work that out?’
‘Simple. You look so adorable in my T-shirt that I can’t keep my hands off you.’ He glanced at his sling and pulled a face. ‘Make that hand—singular, not plural.’
‘There’s an easy solution to that. I can always take the T-shirt off if it’s bothering you.’
She sat up and took hold of the soft cotton fabric and drew it over her head. Her heart began to race when she heard him take a shuddering breath as he looked at her sitting there, her skin all warm and flushed with sleep.
‘Is that better?’ she asked softly.
‘Oh, yes! Much, much better,’ he ground out, bending forward so that he could kiss her. Catherine sank back against the pillows and pulled him to her, taking care not to jolt his injured shoulder. They kissed for a long time, kisses that said more than any amount of words could have done about how they felt. Matt drew back and looked at her and she thought she was going to burst with happiness when she saw the expression in his eyes.
‘I love you, Catherine. I think I know how you feel about me but I’d still like to hear you say it.’
‘I love you, too, Matt.’ It came out as a whisper and she laughed as she repeated it much more loudly. ‘I love you! I never thought I’d say that to any man but I mean it with my whole heart.’
‘That’s all I needed to hear, sweetheart. We can sort the rest out later.’
He pulled her towards him and kissed her with a hunger that immediately had her clinging to him. Catherine helped him undress and then they made love—wild, glorious and uninhibited love that set the seal on their feelings for each other. There wasn’t a doubt left in her mind any longer about what she was doing and it felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders all of a sudden.
She was free to be herself at last, free to find happiness with this man who would never hurt her but always cherish her. She had to be the luckiest woman alive.
Christmas Eve…
‘That’s it. The last present wrapped and now all we need to do is fill the girls’ stockings.’
Catherine sat back on her heels and looked in satisfaction at the mound of gaily wrapped parcels strewn across the living-room floor. It was almost midnight and she had been wrapping and tying ribbons for almost three hours. Of course, the fact that Matt had kept hindering her attempts to get the job done hadn’t helped speed things up, but she hadn’t really objected. Why should she object because the man she adored seemed unable to keep his hands off her?
‘I certainly couldn’t have managed without you, Catherine.’ He came and sat beside her on the floor, pulling her to him while he rewarded her with yet another delicious kiss on her mouth.
Catherine shuddered appreciatively, her lips clinging to his as though they never wanted to be free again. The past few days had been the most wonderful of her entire life so that sometimes she found herself wondering if she was dreaming. She and Matt had spent every single minute together after work and she’d been stunned to discover just how easily she had slotted into his life. Now she couldn’t imagine being without him and told him so, earning herself another even more tender kiss.
‘I love you so much, sweetheart.’ He drew back and looked at her. ‘I don’t know how I’ve managed all these years without you, in fact.’
‘I know what you mean.’ She laughed softly. ‘Some days I wake up and wonder what I did before I fell in love with you. My life just seems one big nothing.’
‘You grew into the beautiful woman I love.’
‘So you’re happy with me, warts and all?’ she teased.
‘I’m not so sure about the warts,’ he replied, then held up his hand when she threatened him with the roll of Christmas wrapping paper. ‘Mercy! Would you really hit an injured man?’
‘If he continues to be cheeky then, yes, I would!’
‘Uh-oh! I’d better do something to get back into your good books, hadn’t I?’ He got up and went to the bureau then came back with a rather lumpy-looking parcel. ‘It will be hectic tomorrow when the children wake up so I wanted to give you your present tonight,’ he explained.
Catherine grinned as she got up and took it from him. ‘I take it that you wrapped it all by yourself?’
‘One-handed, no less,’ he assured her, laughing. ‘If you’ve ever tried peeling off sticky tape and holding the paper together with one arm in a sling, you’ll understand why it’s not the best-wrapped present in the world!’
‘It’s lovely, all the more so because you bothered to wrap it,’ she assured him, sitting down on the sofa. She quickly peeled off the paper and gasped when she saw what it contained. ‘It’s the box we bought at the Christmas fair! Oh, it looks gorgeous now all the shells have been replaced. Thank you so much.’
‘I’m glad you like it but your real present is inside.’
‘It is?’
She opened the lid and frowned when she saw that the box contained the photograph of Matt and the girls which was normally kept on his desk in the surgery. She took it out of the box as Matt came and sat down beside her. He took hold of her hand and held it tightly as he looked into her eyes.
‘This is my real present to you, Catherine. I’m offering you myself and the girls, and I can only hope that you will accept the gift.’
‘You and the girls,’ she repeated, tears filling her eyes as she looked at the picture.
‘Yes. I want you to marry me, Catherine. I know it will mean that your life won’t work out the way you had planned it, but I swear that I will do everything in my power to make you happy.’
He kissed her gently on the mouth but she could feel his tension and suddenly realised that he wasn’t sure what her answer was going to be. A wave of tenderness washed over her as she kissed him back and held him against her heart because there weren’t any doubts in her mind even if there were some in his!
‘Of course I’ll marry you, Matt, if you’re sure it’s what you and the girls want.’
‘It is. Oh, it is!’ He hugged her to him then groaned when his injured shoulder protested at his enthusiasm. ‘What a time to be incapacitated,’ he grumbled, relaxing his grip just a little.
Catherine chuckled as she kissed him on the mouth. ‘You will have to be patient. It will be another couple of weeks before your shoulder heals completely.’
‘I don’t feel like being patient,’ he retorted, then sighed. ‘Sorry! You’ll be changing your mind if I carry on being such an old grump. You won’t, will you?’ he added worriedly.
‘No. I’m going to marry you come hell or high water,’ she assured him.
‘Good.’ He suddenly sobered. ‘I know you’d set your heart on starting up your own practice, darling, so if you still want to go ahead with it then I want you to know that I shall do everything in my power to help you.’
‘Thank you. That means a lot to me but the truth is that it no longer seems quite so important. Maybe I’ll see if a certain GP will offer me a job when my contract expires.’
‘You mean that?’ He smiled in delight when she nodded. ‘That would be wonderful!’
‘Glenda might not be so keen on the idea,’ she pointed out.
‘Oh, yes, she will. She’ll be absolutely thrilled about it. We desperately need a third partner and it would be perfect if you would consider taking the job, Catherine. I can’t believe it. We’ll be able to work together and live together!”
‘You might get sick of me,’ she warned.
‘No way. Never in a million years! To misquote those stickers you see in the back of cars, Love is for life not just for Christmas.’
He kissed her hungrily, telling her in the most effective way possible that he meant that. Catherine’s heart swelled with love as she kissed him back. She had found true love and it would last for ever and she was sure of that. She and Matt would build a wonderful life for themselves and their family.
A
sudden smile curled her mouth because next Christmas there might even be an addition to their family.
‘What are you smiling about?’ Matt murmured.
‘I’ll tell you later…’
ISBN: 978-1-4603-5758-3
THE DOCTOR’S CHRISTMAS GIFT
First North American Publication 2003
Copyright © 2003 by Jennifer Taylor
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