Twin Surprise for the Single Doc

by Susanne Hampton

  Patiently he remained outside as she was settled into her room but, as the nurses exited, he tapped on the door that was ajar.

  ‘Are you up to a visitor?’

  ‘Patrick?’

  ‘How did you guess?’ he asked as he quietly entered her room. ‘Perhaps it’s the British accent—there are not a lot of us around these parts so I guess it’s a giveaway.’

  ‘In this city, it’s a dead giveaway.’ It was more than just his accent, but Claudia couldn’t tell Patrick that it was also his reassuring tone that told her exactly who was at her door. It was the same strong voice that had kept her going when she’d wanted to give up. It was the voice of the man who had saved her and her sons.

  ‘May I come in?’

  ‘Of course,’ she said, ushering him in with the arm that wasn’t connected to the IV providing pain relief after her surgery. ‘What are you still doing here?’

  ‘Keeping an eye on...your handsome young sons.’

  ‘They are gorgeous, aren’t they? The nurses wheeled me on the bed into the nursery to see them a few minutes ago on the way back from Recovery. They were sleeping but they told me they’re both doing very well.’ She paused and nervously chewed on the inside of her cheek to keep her emotions under control. ‘Thanks to you.’

  Patrick moved closer to her in the softly lit room. ‘Not because of me; you did the hard work, Claudia. I just assisted.’

  ‘Maybe the hard work, but you did the skilled work. Without you,’ she began, then her chin quivered as she struggled again to keep her tears at bay, ‘they could have...well, they might not have made it if you weren’t there with me.’

  He reached for her hand. It was instinctive and something he had not been driven to do in a very long time. ‘Not a chance. They’re as strong as their mother.’

  Claudia looked down at his hand covering hers. After the trauma of the preceding hours, it made her feel secure. But she couldn’t get used to that feeling of being safe. Not with anyone, no matter how kind. She knew that she and Patrick were bonded by what they had been through and it was a normal reaction to the traumatic experience they’d shared. But now, in the safety of the hospital, she had to accept it was nothing more. Although he had proven her initial assumption of him very wrong, she couldn’t afford to get swept away by some romantic notion there was more to it. As if he’d appeared like her white knight, saved her and would steal her away to his castle. That wasn’t the real world.

  Knowing she needed to create some distance between them, she slipped her hand free and haphazardly ran her fingers through her messy curls that had been swept up in a surgical cap for hours.

  The move was not lost on Patrick and he graciously accepted her subtle rebuff. He had overstepped the mark. And he never overstepped the mark with a woman. Perhaps it was because she looked so lost and vulnerable that he wanted to make her feel less alone, but clearly she was not looking to be saved again. And he needed to step away. He was grateful she’d reminded him subtly that he wasn’t looking to become attached to anyone.

  That time in his life had passed. Being alone was what he did best. What had he been thinking?

  ‘So...how are you feeling?’ he asked in a doctor-patient tone. ‘Your body has been through a lot today, quite apart from bringing Thomas and Luca into the world.’

  ‘You mean the...hysterectomy?’

  He nodded then waited in silence to hear Claudia’s response to the emergency life-changing surgery. She was a resilient woman but he knew this would certainly test any woman and he would not be surprised if she struggled to come to terms with it.

  She dropped her gaze for a moment then, lifting her chin and her eyes almost in defiance at what the universe had dealt her, she nodded. ‘I’ll be okay. I’m alive and I have my sons. It would be stupid to mourn what I can’t change and perhaps it would be selfish to ask for more than what I was given today. My life and the lives of my children is miracle enough.’

  Patrick was already in awe of the strength that she had shown in the elevator but her reaction to the news almost brought him to his knees with respect for her courage and acceptance of what she couldn’t change. She was a truly remarkable woman.

  Her fingers nervously played with the woven blanket for a minute before she looked back at Patrick. ‘When I think of how terribly wrong everything could have gone today, losing my womb is a small price to pay.’

  While Claudia looked like a porcelain doll, Patrick had learned over the few hours since their lives collided that she was made of far tougher material. Still, it puzzled him that she was alone in the world. Had she pushed people from it? Or had they abandoned her? Had being alone made her that strong? He couldn’t imagine anyone walking away from such an amazing woman.

  Then he realised none of his questions mattered. She had been his unofficial patient for a few hours. Nothing more.

  ‘That huge arrangement of flowers is stunning. I’m guessing it’s from you,’ she added as she looked around the room and spied the huge bouquet on a shelf near her. It was getting dark outside and she could see the lights of the Los Angeles skyline. But the flowers were more spectacular than any view.

  Patrick nodded and tried to look at her with the doctor-patient filter but it was becoming a struggle with each passing moment. It had been an intense first meeting in the elevator but there was more pulling him to her than the fact he had delivered her babies under such conditions. They were not in the confines of that small space any more and she no longer needed his help but still he wanted to be there for the stunning brunette still dressed in a shapeless white surgical gown.

  And he was confused as hell. He had unexpectedly become a passenger on a roller coaster of his own emotions. Before, he had always been the driver. He needed to gain control. Quickly. He needed to make it less personal.

  ‘Have you noticed how drab the walls in these rooms are? I needed to brighten your room somehow. I thought flowers would do the trick.’

  ‘The rooms are not that bad, young man,’ a stern voice replied from the doorway. ‘My name’s Vanda, and it would do you well not to complain. I’ll be tending to your wife tonight and, for your interest...’

  ‘Oh...we’re not married,’ came their reply in unison.

  There was a moment’s uncomfortable silence as the three of them looked at each other in silence.

  ‘Sorry if I presumed your marital status; it’s just habit at my age,’ the nurse, who Patrick imagined to be in her early fifties, with short auburn hair and twinkling blue eyes, said. She crossed the room, manoeuvring around Patrick to get access to her patient. ‘I have two grandchildren and their parents aren’t married either. Haven’t got time, they say. Well, as long as they’re happy, I’m happy.’

  ‘No, we’re not together,’ Claudia began before the nurse wrapped the blood pressure monitor around her arm. ‘He’s my...’ She paused, not knowing how to describe Patrick. What was their relationship? she wondered. They weren’t friends, but nor were they connected as patient and doctor in a formal sense. Their relationship really couldn’t be defined...not easily at least...except, perhaps, for intense and sudden.

  ‘I’m her emergency elevator obstetrician...not the father of her babies.’

  As Patrick said the words, he wondered, against his better judgement, who was the father of her children. What sort of man was he? And why wasn’t he rushing to Claudia’s side? Patrick knew that if he was the father, no matter how forcefully the mother of his children tried to push him away, he would stand fast to the spot.

  But he wasn’t the father of Claudia’s children or anyone’s children. And he never would be.

  ‘Oh, of course, you’re the young woman who delivered in the elevator this afternoon,’ Vanda answered. She confirmed that Claudia’s vitals were stable, then unwrapped the arm wrap and packed it away before she turned back to Patrick.
‘And you must be the doctor who was in the right place today and brought this young lady’s twins into the world.’

  Patrick nodded. His mind was still filled with questions about Thomas and Luca’s father but he needed to block them out. It wasn’t his business. Claudia was alive. And now he could walk away as he should, knowing they were safe.

  ‘Well, I’ll compliment you on your skill in the baby-delivering field, which was on the six o’clock news, if you didn’t already know. But you’d still do well not to criticise the rooms.’ With a tilt of her head that signalled she meant business, then a wink that left them both wondering if she was serious or joking, Vanda left the room and Patrick and Claudia found themselves staring at each other, both confused by her demeanour and a little surprised at her announcement of their prime-time notoriety.

  ‘We were on the six o’clock news?’ The inflection at the end turned Claudia’s statement into a question.

  ‘Apparently—let’s hope they didn’t manage to find out your identity so you’re not bothered by reporters.’

  ‘I hope not,’ she said, slumping back into the pillows and nervously fidgeting with her pearl earrings. Her parents had given them to her for her sixteenth birthday, while Harriet had been given a pearl necklace.

  ‘I’ll let the nurses’ station and the main admissions know you don’t want any interviews or fuss made of you or the boys. I’ll head them off at the pass.’

  Claudia looked at Patrick and thought once again he was her knight in shining armour... Or, with his modern good looks, perhaps he could be riding in on his stallion, tipping his Stetson and saving her. She hadn’t even needed to ask. He just kept rescuing her. But she had to stop him doing it. She needed to save herself and her boys. Patrick wouldn’t be there for them going forward. It would only be the three of them until they got back to London and Harriet returned.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Claudia replied. ‘I’ll let Vanda know to tell them I’m not interested in speaking to anyone. You’ve already done too much. Honestly, I appreciate more than anything all that you have done but you don’t have to do any more. I can take it from here.’

  Patrick agreed with her. He had done all that was needed and now she would be taken care of in hospital. She would leave for the UK once she and her children got clearance so there was no point in forging any sort of relationship. Romantic or otherwise.

  ‘Here’s my number,’ he said, putting his business card on the tray where Claudia’s water jug was placed. ‘If you need anything, call me. Otherwise, I wish you and Thomas and Luca a safe trip home to London in a few weeks.’ He fought the desire to kiss her forehead and stroke the soft curls away from her face. With a deep and unexpected sense of regret that he would never see Claudia again, he turned heavily on his feet and headed to the door, pausing for the briefest moment to look at the beautiful woman who had captured more than his attention that day.

  Claudia wasn’t sure what was suddenly stirring in the pit of her stomach and surging through her veins, making her heart beat faster, but she knew she was torn about watching him walk away. The day had been so intense but something inside of her wasn’t ready to let that happen.

  She knew she had to be crazy but she had to call after him.

  ‘Please...wait,’ she said then, taking a deep heartfelt breath, she continued, ‘I didn’t mean to seem rude or ungrateful in any way. I just mean I’ve put you out and I know you’re a doctor and you probably have patients and...’

  ‘Claudia—’ he turned back and stopped her speech ‘—it’s fine, really; you’re right. I’m sure you can take it from here. I’m glad that you and the boys are well and through the ordeal that was today. I couldn’t ask for more and I just want all the very best for the future for all of you.’

  Patrick smiled at Claudia before he left but he knew in his heart her first instincts to push him away were right. There was more to the way he felt about this woman than a simple doctor-patient relationship so he had to keep his distance.

  The only relationships he had were one-night stands with no strings attached and no feelings involved. And he doubted with Claudia it would be anything like that. She was already stirring feelings he didn’t want to have.

  It had to be just the intense experience they had shared, he reminded himself. He needed to walk away and let her take it from here.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  ‘SO WHAT EXACTLY are you saying is the issue with Miss Monticello’s international health insurance?’ Vanda demanded of the caller on the other end of the telephone. She was frowning and her cheeks were becoming flushed.

  Patrick’s ears tuned in to the conversation and, against his better judgement, he slowed his steps. Her serious tone caused him some concern, as did her expression as he neared the desk. The exchange of words confirmed it. He couldn’t walk away and pretend he hadn’t heard there was a problem. Something was driving him to want to protect the woman who he knew he should stay away from. A woman who had given him no information about herself, other than the fact she was returning to London with no explanation of why.

  Questions were starting to mount in his tired mind. Was the father of her children in London, waiting for her? Or was he no longer in her life? He felt sure Claudia would have asked to call her husband or boyfriend, if she had one, even if he was away on business or fighting for his country. But she’d told him there was no one. Patrick knew he had no right to ask anything about her life that she had not willingly surrendered. Wanting to know more, let alone feeling the way he did about a woman he had known less than twelve hours, was ridiculous.

  It had to stop. He knew he wanted to protect Claudia but he had to be realistic about his feelings. She was alone and he felt sorry for her. That had to be the driving force of his desire to protect her. Perhaps coupled with the desire to see her and her children safely out of hospital. He didn’t want to think that there could be setbacks with any of them.

  He needed to know they were safe then his job was done.

  How could it be anything more than that?

  ‘Uh-huh...okay... All right, I’ll will let her know in the morning that someone from Finance will have to come and see her and make arrangements. I know she told the nurse in Recovery she was worried about the bills but we don’t want her to stress. Perhaps she can extend the policy.’

  Patrick looked as Vanda’s expression fell further and her brow furrowed at what she was hearing. ‘Oh, I see, so the twins can’t be covered... Well, that’s a bit of a mess but I’m sure the hospital will work something out and she’ll have to pay the debt over a period of time. Yes, I appreciate it’s an international policy and there are restrictions but in my ward there are no restrictions to her care.’ She paused for a moment, drumming her fingers on the desk. ‘No, I do hear what you’re saying but please listen to my concerns.’

  She continued listening with anxiety showing clearly on her face while the other staff bustled around her with the change of shift and handover. Patrick kept his focus on the conversation. She was being very polite but firm with the caller, despite her expression and the colour in her cheeks. He doubted she was the type to lose too many battles, but he couldn’t help but notice she was struggling to hold her ground.

  ‘I’d rather not. No, let it wait until the morning. Miss Monticello needs her rest and if she’s stressing about hospital bills it won’t help her sleep and, after what she has been through today, sleep is what she needs,’ she said firmly then paused. ‘I will be moving her to a ward tomorrow but tonight she’s in a private room that was available. No, she doesn’t have any next of kin in California or anywhere in the United States on her admission forms. She has a sister, and she appears to be her only living family, but she resides in the UK.’

  With that, Patrick learnt a little more about the mystery that was Claudia’s life. She had no one else in the world to call family other than her sis
ter. Then why didn’t she call her? he wondered.

  ‘Yes, I do understand the seriousness of the situation but we will handle it in the morning. I’m back on at six,’ Vanda said. She was becoming short. ‘No, absolutely no. I won’t budge on it. My patient comes first so please do not send anyone up now because I won’t allow them in to her room.’

  Patrick paused for a moment, wanting to offer assistance, but then thought better of taking over the situation. He made a mental note to have his lawyer contact the hospital administration the next day and sort through the insurance issues. After bringing the boys into the world, he wasn’t about to stand by and let their mother be stressed after the fact. He tried to tell himself it was his gift to Thomas and Luca. But he knew it was not the boys alone that he was thinking about.

  ‘I’m hanging up now,’ Vanda continued sternly. ‘We’ll continue this conversation in the morning. There are far more practical problems to solve, like sourcing some fresh pyjamas for my patient. She’ll remain in a hospital gown tonight but she has no nightdress or toiletries, not even a toothbrush, poor thing, so I can’t sit around chatting to you; I’ll have to go and sort out something before I finish my shift or she’ll look like Orphan Annie in the morning.’

  Patrick continued walking and made his way outside to the cab rank and, as he did, he sent a text to his receptionist. He needed her to run an errand for him.

  * * *

  Claudia woke after an uncomfortable and restless sleep and wanted desperately to see her babies. The uncomfortable part of her night was due to post-operative constraints but the restlessness, she suspected, was a combination of anxiety for her sons and then a strange feeling of emptiness, knowing that she would never see Patrick again. She knew it was absurd to even have any sort of reaction to not seeing Patrick, let alone this feeling in the pit of her stomach. Less than twenty-four hours before, she hadn’t known him and now she thought she would miss him. It was as if by meeting him she’d found a piece of the puzzle she hadn’t known she had been looking for.