A Very Lucky Christmas

by A Very Lucky Christmas (retail) (epub)

  She really wasn’t ready for this.

  ‘Well?’ Dr Hartley was staring at her enquiringly, when Daisy came out of her shock-induced fugue.

  ‘I’ll pass,’ she said. She needed to get her head around being pregnant first. Time, that’s what she needed, and a lottery win wouldn’t go amiss, either. Neither would a double vodka, but she suspected she wouldn’t be drinking alcohol for the foreseeable future.

  Get a grip, she said to herself, as her mind went off on a tangent again. She had a grieving sister-in-law to consider, and the last thing the poor girl needed to hear was the news of another woman’s pregnancy, especially since Daisy felt so ambivalent about it.

  The doctor’s piercing blue eyes drilled into hers, and Daisy blushed furiously. She put a finger to her lips, pointed to her stomach, and shook her head.

  He shook his in return, and she couldn’t quite fathom his expression. Was it disbelief? Disgust? Disdain? He must think her a dreadful mother for not taking the opportunity to listen to her own baby’s heartbeat when offered it, but this news was such a shock, such a bolt out of the blue that—

  ‘Daisy?’ Zoe’s voice was weak.

  Daisy jumped. ‘I’m here,’ she said, hoping Zoe hadn’t heard or seen the odd exchange between her and the doctor.

  ‘How long will David be?’ her sister-in-law asked.

  Daisy pushed thoughts of babies (her own baby) out of her head and tried to focus on the woman who needed her now.

  ‘A couple of hours. Three at the outside, if the traffic is bad,’ she replied.

  And it probably would be bad at this time of year, and who in their right minds held a conference between Christmas and the New Year, anyway? What a bloody stupid time to have it, when most normal folk wanted to be at home with their families, nursing their hangovers.

  ‘Is David supposed to be staying overnight?’ she asked Zoe.

  ‘No, it’s a one-day thing,’ Zoe said, her eyes still closed. ‘I was going to go with him and spend the day in London, but I’ve been feeling so ill lately,’ she added with a shudder.

  Daisy shuddered, too, imagining poor Zoe on her own in the centre of London, and suffering a miscarriage. It didn’t bear thinking about.

  ‘I’ll arrange for you to be admitted,’ Dr Hartley said to Zoe. ‘You,’ he glanced at Daisy, ‘can stay with her until she’s sent to the ward. Then I expect you to leave.’

  What was wrong with this guy? Her sister-in-law had just been given terrible news and Dr Hartley (Dr Heartless, more like it) wanted Daisy gone. Surely, rather than being distressed, Zoe would be comforted by having a family member with her? Unless, Daisy was toxic because of that sixpence, and if she was, what damage might it be doing to her own unborn child?

  ‘Can I speak with you?’ she asked the esteemed doctor, sotto voce.

  He jerked his head, in a follow-me gesture, and they stepped outside the cubicle. Conscious that the curtained little boxes were far from soundproof, Daisy took the doctor’s elbow and led him down the corridor.

  A bolt of electricity travelled through her hand and up her arm when she touched him, and she gasped. He shook her hand off, and the feeling dissipated, leaving Daisy to wonder if she’d imagined it.

  ‘Did I cause Zoe to lose her baby?’ she asked, without preamble, ‘and will the coin hurt mine?’

  ‘The coin? No, it’ll have no effect on your baby. As for Mrs Jones, stress may have contributed to it,’ he said. ‘We’ll never know.’

  Daisy’s heart plummeted to her feet. This was all her fault. She’d caused Zoe more than enough stress on Christmas Day with her near-choking experience. It wasn’t fair that by saving Daisy’s life, Zoe lost one of her babies.

  ‘I didn’t mean to,’ she murmured, wondering how she was going to live with herself. If only she hadn’t put that bloody sixpence in the pudding. How stupid had she been?

  ‘I doubt many people do,’ was the doctor’s dry response.

  ‘She was there when it happened,’ Daisy said.

  ‘I bet that was cosy.’ Another dry remark.

  ‘I wouldn’t describe it as cosy; she saved my life. Do you really think the stress of seeing me almost choke to death made her miscarry?’ Daisy put a hand to her mouth.

  The doctor blinked. ‘I thought…’ He cleared his throat. ‘It could have been a contributing factor, and under the circumstances…’

  ‘What circumstances?’ What the hell was the man on about?

  The doctor glared at the zipper on her rather-tight jeans.

  ‘Oh, that. No.’ She shook her head emphatically. ‘She doesn’t know about my baby.’ Daisy almost choked again at the thought of a little human inside her.

  ‘What about her husband? Will he say anything?’ Dr Hartley asked.

  ‘Hardly!’ How could he, when Daisy had only found out herself. No one knew.

  ‘I’d like to keep it that way, for a while,’ Dr Hartley said, ‘until Zoe’s pregnancy is a little further along. Twelve weeks is a common time for a less-viable foetus to be lost. Can you do that for her?’

  ‘Of course I can.’ At the moment, keeping her secret wouldn’t be much of a hardship, certainly not until she’d come to terms with the situation herself. And she needed to tell Freddie first, before she spread the (good?) news. As the baby’s father, he had a right to know, but how he’d react was anyone’s guess.

  ‘Who’s your doctor?’ Dr Hartley asked, abruptly.

  Here goes, she thought, anticipating rounds of surgery and hospital visits. ‘I’ll need to make an appointment, won’t I?’

  ‘You haven’t seen your GP yet?’

  Daisy couldn’t believe the handsome, sexy man (yeah, she could still admire a good-looking bloke, even if she was in the “family way” – it was a bit like admiring a nice painting, even if you didn’t want it hanging above your fireplace) could look more disapproving of her than he already did.

  ‘How could I have?’ Daisy said, ‘when you only just told me I was pregnant a few minutes ago.’

  ‘I told you?’

  ‘Yes, you did.’ For a doctor, the man had an appalling memory.

  ‘I didn’t say you were pregnant.’

  ‘You did, too! You asked if I wanted to listen to my baby’s heartbeat.’

  ‘That’s because I thought you were pregnant. Aren’t you?’

  ‘You tell me.’

  ‘How can I tell when I haven’t examined you?’

  ‘I thought you could tell by looking at me,’ Daisy said.

  ‘Hardly,’ he said, echoing her. ‘I would never presume to think a woman was pregnant – it could lead to all kinds of problems.’

  Daisy sighed in frustration. ‘Then why did you presume I was? Is it because I’ve got a fat stomach?’

  ‘See, that’s the kind of problem I’m talking about, and no you haven’t got a fat stomach. Zoe’s husband told me.’ He practically sneered when he said the word “husband”.

  ‘He didn’t.’ Daisy was absolutely, positively certain.

  ‘He did.’

  ‘When?’ she demanded, crossing her arms.

  ‘When you came to A&E on Christmas Day.’

  Why would David say such a ridiculous thing – wait a minute. Daisy thought back, trying to recall the conversation. She closed her eyes, then opened them again slowly.

  ‘He didn’t say I was pregnant,’ she said. ‘He said Zoe was.’

  It was Dr Hartley’s turn to close his eyes. She noticed the little pulse at the base of his throat and had an insane urge to kiss it.

  ‘I think I may have got the wrong end of the stick,’ he said, after taking a deep breath and opening his eyes to stare earnestly at her. ‘I was under the impression that David had announced you were having a baby, then you choked on the coin. Isn’t that what happened?’

  ‘Not quite. He did say he was having a baby, but I’m not the one who is pregnant.’

  Or was she? It would explain a lot – her bloated stomach, her insane appetite – and now
that she’d been given a glimpse of potential motherhood, she was strangely reluctant to let go of it.

  ‘But you are having an affair with him,’ Dr Hartley said.

  Daisy choked for the second time in less than a week. Gasping for breath, she cried, ‘Water,’ and the good doctor rushed off to get her some, making her sit down before giving her the plastic cup.

  When she stopped spluttering, she scowled at him. ‘I can’t believe you thought that. It’s disgusting!’

  ‘I wouldn’t call him “disgusting”, he’s quite a good-looking guy.’

  ‘He’s my brother!’

  Another deep breath from one of the medical professions finest, when what she’d revealed sunk in.

  ‘My apologies.’ He managed to look sheepish and haughty at the same time. ‘That would explain why all three of you have the same surname.’

  It most certainly would. ‘Do all doctors jump to the wrong conclusions, or only you?’

  ‘You did list him as your next-of-kin.’

  ‘You should have checked.’

  ‘You’re right, I should have. I can only apologise, it was coming to the end of a very long shift and—’ He stopped. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said again.

  Daisy thrust the empty cup back at him. ‘If you don’t mind, I’d like to get back to my sister-in-law.’ She emphasised the last word. ‘I expect she’s wondering where I am.’

  ‘Of course, can I say again how sorry I am, it was an honest mistake.’

  ‘It was a stupid mistake,’ Daisy countered. She couldn’t believe it. The insufferable man! She was prepared to forgive him for thinking her and David were husband and wife when they’d rocked up on Christmas Day, but to then think she was David’s mistress and that he had gotten both her and Zoe pregnant at the same time… He was like something out of one of the soap operas her mum loved.

  ‘Bet you watch Eastenders,’ she muttered, pushing past him. ‘Or Jeremy Kyle.’

  As she marched off down the corridor, Daisy was furious, both with him and what he’d made her think. Clearly she wasn’t pregnant. It had all been a figment of Dr Jekyll’s fevered imagination. Wasn’t it?

  Hurried footsteps sounded from behind her, and the doctor grabbed hold of her arm. ‘I don’t blame you for being angry,’ he said. ‘I would be too. But can I give you a word of advice?’

  She stopped and glared at him. He removed his hand, but the heat of his fingers through her blouse lingered on her skin. She crossed her arms. ‘What?’

  ‘Take a pregnancy test,’ he said. ‘Sooner, rather than later.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because you didn’t seem too surprised when you thought you were pregnant,’ he said.

  And deep down, she hadn’t been, had she…

  Chapter 16

  Call it karma, call it fate, or you could say the gods were bored and wanted a small diversion, but someone once told Daisy not to tempt fate (more than one person, more than once actually, and it was a phrase she’d used herself, so she should have known better) but both of the times she’d been to the hospital in the past few days, she had thanked her lucky stars that she hadn’t had an accident getting there.

  David wasn’t so lucky.

  He’d become caught up in a five-car pile-up on the motorway south of Worcester, a couple of hours after Daisy phoned him, and it was Dr Hartley (of all people), who came to tell her.

  ‘Can I have a word?’ he asked Daisy, sticking his head through the curtain.

  Zoe had yet to be moved to a ward (a lack of beds apparently, and Daisy had heard the nurses saying there’d been a couple of emergency admissions), and Daisy was trying her best to console the grieving girl. Unsuccessfully, she might add, so she was grateful for the diversion, even if it was the doctor from hell who was providing it. At least she had finally managed to contact her mum, who was on her way, and Daisy looked forward to handing over the bedside-sitting duty to Sandra.

  ‘I’ll only be a sec. Probably more paperwork,’ Daisy said, while Zoe nodded blankly, too immersed in her sorrow to pay much attention to what was happening around her.

  ‘Well?’ Daisy demanded. ‘Come to accuse me of sleeping with anyone else?’

  He didn’t rise to the bait, but instead led her down the corridor until they stood in the exact same spot as before.

  ‘It’s about your brother,’ he began, and his expression was one of pity.

  It chilled Daisy to the bone.

  ‘He’s been involved in an accident on the motorway—’ the doctor said.

  ‘Is he dead?’ Daisy shrieked.

  ‘Hush, no, he’s sustained a nasty injury to his leg, hopefully nothing that an operation, a pin, and several months of physio won’t fix. He’s also sustained some minor cuts and bruises.’

  ‘An operation?’ she demanded.

  ‘He’s broken his leg in three different places. It will require an operation to insert a pin into the bone, but the prognosis is good.’

  ‘Is he here?’ Daisy looked around her as if she expected to see her brother limping down the corridor.

  Dr Hartley nodded. ‘He was brought in a half an hour ago by ambulance. He’s being prepped for theatre as we speak. I did the initial examination,’ he added.

  Yeah, based on previous experience, Daisy didn’t hold out much hope that the doctor would recognise a broken leg if it jumped up and bit him.

  ‘Can I see him?’ she asked.

  ‘That’s why I came to get you. He’s worried about his wife and he wants to see her.’

  Zoe! What was Daisy going to say to her?

  As if the doctor had read her mind, he continued, ‘I don’t think it’s a good idea to tell Zoe until he’s out of theatre and we know exactly what we’re facing.’

  ‘I’ve got to tell her something. She’s expecting him to arrive any minute.’

  Dr Hartley thought for a moment. ‘Tell her the traffic is abysmal?’

  Right, that was really going to work. ‘She’ll want to speak to him. I’ve been trying to ring him for the past half hour.’

  No wonder he hadn’t answered. David had been busy having his leg smashed to smithereens. It never rains but it pours, Daisy thought, recalling another of Gee-Gee’s sayings.

  ‘Bad signal, battery dead…’ the doctor said. ‘I’m sure you’ll think of something.’

  ‘She’ll have to know eventually,’ Daisy pointed out.

  The doctor gave her an odd look. ‘Of course she will. I’m not advocating keeping it from her forever, just for the next few hours, until he’s out of surgery.’

  Daisy had a go at reading between the lines. ‘Do you think it might not go well?’

  ‘All operations carry a risk.’

  ‘Don’t tell me that,’ she pleaded, wishing she hadn’t asked.

  He patted her on the shoulder. ‘Your brother had a narrow escape, others involved in the accident weren’t so lucky. David is alive, and the outcome looks good, but I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I didn’t point out the potential risks.’

  ‘I want to see him.’

  David looked awful. She hadn’t known what to expect, but seeing her once-healthy, robust brother lying on a trolley, his face pinched and grey with pain, one eye black, dried blood around his nose, and looking older than his twenty-seven years, made her want to weep.

  But she held it together because she had to. He needed her to be strong, for him and for Zoe, at least until her mum and nan arrived to share the burden.

  The sheer terror in his eyes squeezed her heart.

  ‘Zoe is okay,’ she said. ‘Sad, but okay, and the baby is fine.’

  ‘The one we lost isn’t,’ her brother replied, shortly, and Daisy heard the anguish in his voice.

  ‘No, it isn’t,’ she said quietly. ‘I’m so sorry.’

  ‘So am I.’

  Nothing Daisy could think of to say was going to make even the tiniest dent in her brother’s grief, so she said nothing else, leaning forward to kiss his forehead instead.
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  ‘Time to go, David,’ a cheery nurse said, bustling around the bed. ‘We’re going to take you to theatre, my lovely, okay?’ She checked a chart on the end of the bed, and glanced at Dr Hartley for confirmation.

  ‘Take him up,’ the doctor said, then spoke to David. ‘You’re in good hands with Mr Smythe, he’s an excellent surgeon.’

  ‘I want to see Zoe.’ David struggled to raise his torso off the bed, but fell back in pain. ‘I want to see my wife.’

  Dr Hartley stepped closer and leaned over the other man. ‘We haven’t told your wife about your accident,’ he explained. ‘I don’t want to upset her any more than she already is. I’ll bring her to see you personally, once you’re out of theatre,’ he promised.

  Daisy gave her brother one last peck and let the orderly take him. ‘Please keep him safe,’ she murmured.

  ‘We will,’ Dr Hartley said.

  She hadn’t been talking to anyone in particular, she had been speaking to karma (who wasn’t being particularly kind at the moment), but she let it go, saying instead, ‘That damned sixpence has brought nothing but trouble.’

  ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘It was supposed to be lucky. Yeah, bad luck.’ She ignored the fact that the run of bad luck had started before she’d even put the coin in the pudding. It had started when she came home to find her boyfriend shagging another man.

  But whatever the luck, why was the sixpence targeting her family? Surely the bad luck should stay remain with her, and not migrate to everyone she cared about? Was it haunted?

  This was day four of Sixpencegate, and she fervently prayed things wouldn’t get any worse.

  Chapter 17

  Daisy offered to go to her brother’s house to fetch the essentials needed for a couple of nights in hospital, and wished she knew her sister-in-law better, as she stared around the bedroom. She felt like a burglar, or an unwanted guest, having been upstairs in this house only once before, and that was when David and Zoe had shown her, Mum, and Nan around when they’d purchased it. The couple had been given the keys the day before, so the place had been empty and rather soulless. Now it was so obviously Zoe’s domain that Daisy felt uncomfortable being here on her own.