THE NURSE'S RESCUE

by Alison Roberts

  ‘Oh, no!’ Jessica was embarrassed. ‘I’m sorry. He always does that with me but I never thought he would with anyone else.’ In fact, the thought of her son going to someone else for his early morning cuddle was a little disturbing.

  ‘I didn’t mind.’ Joe was offhand. ‘We got up not long after that, anyway.’ He wasn’t going to admit to the shock the child’s arrival in his bed had been. Or the fact that he had lain there in stunned silence while Ricky had calmly burrowed under his arm and gone back to sleep. Or that he’d drifted back to sleep himself and not woken until 8 a.m. to find Ricky still snuggled beneath his arm.

  ‘But still…’

  ‘It’s not as if we haven’t slept together before,’ Joe reminded her lightly. ‘We spent quite a while in that furniture truck, you know.’

  ‘Mmm.’ Jessica accepted the glass Jim was pushing into her hand. She ignored the knowing smile and wink that indicated Kelly had passed on the information that she was talking to Joe. ‘Is he eating all right? He usually doesn’t in other people’s houses.’

  ‘He’s eating like a horse,’ Joe assured her. ‘We’re just getting ready to barbecue some sausages for dinner. Ricky’s buttering the bread.’

  ‘With a knife?’

  There was a distinct pause as Joe considered the anxious tone of voice. ‘Bit hard to do it with anything else, isn’t it?’ he asked mildly.

  ‘He’s very accident-prone.’

  ‘It’s not a carving knife, Jess.’ Joe decided that the fact Ricky had helped slice the onions was something else she didn’t need to know.

  Jessica sipped her drink. Joe sounded calm. Maybe things were under control. ‘What has he been doing today?’

  ‘We worked on the Mustang this morning. Then I mowed my lawns and when Ricky got sick of helping he went to play with his cars in the sandpit.’

  ‘You’ve got a sandpit?’

  ‘Not exactly.’ Joe chuckled. ‘I had a huge pile of sand delivered a couple of years ago when I was planning to fix the driveway. When we pulled out some of the weeds it looked like a good spot to make roads.’ Joe had absolutely no intention of confessing that he’d enjoyed the activity almost as much as Ricky. He hadn’t used his sand-roadmaking skills since primary school. Felt kind of funny. He’d half expected a teacher to appear and yell at them to get back into class.

  ‘Sounds fun,’ Jessica said.

  ‘Yeah.’ Joe cleared his throat. ‘Do you want to talk to Ricky now?’

  ‘Oh, don’t try and give him the phone. He freaks out with voices that aren’t coming from someone he can see.’

  ‘Hmm.’ Joe glanced over to where Ricky had stopped tearing huge holes in the slices of bread he was trying to butter. He was sawing the table leg with the knife instead. And making that odd humming noise again. ‘OK. We’ll see you tomorrow, then.’

  ‘Yes. Probably about 5 p.m. I’m going to sort out some of Ricky’s clothes and toys to bring up.’

  ‘Drive carefully.’

  ‘Give Ricky a big kiss for me.’ Jessica hung up the phone, colouring slightly as she wondered how Joe would have reacted to the automatic way she’d always finished phone conversations with her mother. She couldn’t imagine the large paramedic kissing her child. In fact, the only person she’d dared imagine Joe kissing was herself. Her cheeks became even warmer.

  ‘That gin and tonic’s obviously doing you the power of good,’ Jim declared with satisfaction as she returned to the kitchen. ‘You’ve been looking as washed out as my old Y-fronts all day.’

  ‘Oh, please!’ Jessica grimaced. ‘Kelly does not want to know about your Y-fronts, Jim.’

  ‘Don’t I?’ Kelly had nearly finished her drink. She grinned at the older man. ‘Is there something I should know?’

  Jessica sat down. Kelly and Jim had clearly reinforced their friendship while she’d been on the phone. They appeared to be getting on very well. Too well, maybe.

  ‘Kelly and I have been having a wee chat about you, Jessie.’

  ‘Oh?’

  Jim looked sombre for a moment. ‘You’re facing big changes in your life.’

  ‘I know.’ Jessica sighed. ‘I get the feeling that this marks the real transition into adulthood for me. I’m going to have to depend on myself from now on. Ricky doesn’t have anybody else.’

  ‘He’s got me,’ Jim reminded her. ‘And Kay. Though she’s getting a bit doddery and I’m not exactly a spring chicken any more. Who knows how long it’ll be before I’m pushing up daisies?’

  ‘A long time, I hope.’ Jessica didn’t like the way Jim was looking at her.

  ‘I’m going to have to retire, Jessie,’ the GP said carefully.

  ‘You’ve been saying that for ten years.’

  ‘This time I mean it. The old ticker’s not behaving itself so well these days.’

  ‘What? You’ve never said anything about having heart problems.’

  ‘It’s not serious,’ Jim said lightly. ‘But I do need to slow down a bit. It’s why I advertised the practice a few weeks ago.’

  ‘Oh.’ Jessica tried to absorb the implications. ‘Have you got someone interested?’

  Jim nodded. ‘Keen young chap. His wife’s a nurse.’

  Jessica avoided meeting his eye. ‘I guess they’ll want to work together, then.’

  ‘Eventually. She’s expecting their first baby in a month or two. She won’t want to work for a while yet.’

  ‘But then I’ll be out of a job.’ It wasn’t a question and the concern on Jim’s face confirmed her assumption.

  ‘Kelly here tells me you’d like to be an ambulance officer. She also tells me the training programme in Christchurch is first rate.’

  ‘It wouldn’t be possible. Not with Ricky.’

  ‘Don’t make things impossible, Jessie,’ Jim said kindly. ‘You’ve always been one to look for the problems, not the solutions. A real worry wart you are.’

  ‘I know more than one ambulance officer with young children.’ Kelly added. ‘There are some wonderful day-care centres in town.’

  ‘But Ricky’s different.’

  ‘Another good reason to live in a larger city,’ Jim said quietly. ‘How much help are you going to find in Silverstream to help Ricky be the best he can be?’

  Jessica’s small teeth worried at her lower lip. ‘If I did move, it would be for Ricky’s sake.’

  ‘Don’t sacrifice your own dreams,’ Jim said sagely. ‘Ricky won’t thank you for it in the long run and you deserve a life as well.’

  ‘I’ll think about it,’ Jessica conceded. ‘I’ll just wait and see how the next few weeks go. Right now I need to focus on Ricky, not myself. It’s not going to be easy with him trying school for the first time.’

  ‘I have a feeling it’s going to be exactly what he needs,’ Jim told her. ‘And it might open your eyes to some new possibilities. You’re a lot stronger than you think you are, Jessie. You just need the confidence to use that strength, and now that Norma’s gone you’re going to have to.’

  ‘I know.’ Jessica took a deep breath. Jim wasn’t to know she’d already recognised that strength. Or that she’d resolved to hang onto it.

  ‘You can do it,’ Kelly encouraged softly. ‘I know you can, Jess.’

  Jessica nodded. Then she smiled. She was too tired to want to think about the future right now but later, just before sleep claimed her, a frisson of excitement sent a tiny shiver down her spine. Maybe she could channel that strength into achieving her dreams. Vague snatches of those dreams caught the edges of her sleepy thoughts. A real school for Ricky and help to overcome his disability. An exciting new career. A relationship that went somewhere. Was it just emotional exhaustion that chased traces of the day’s grief into temporary abeyance or was it some secret belief that at least one of those dreams might come true?

  No…not just one.

  All of them.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  IT COULDN’T be the right house, surely?

  Disconcerted, Jessica reversed h
er car until she could see the letter-box of the previous property. Number 38. She had passed number 20 right back at the bend so she was definitely heading the right way. The next place was number 40. Joe Barrington’s house. And it was an absolute slum. Jessica edged her car cautiously into the driveway, bouncing over broken concrete and listening to the overgrown grass of the median strip catching underneath her car. She parked near the rusting skeleton of a car wreck, noting that there had once been a garden but it was now virtually obscured by knee high grass and weeds.

  The house was a large old villa in need of a coat of paint. The windows and front door were open but Jessica knew that nobody would be able to hear her knocking thanks to the ridiculously loud volume of the rock ‘n’ roll music she had been able to hear even before she’d stopped her car. Jessica put her hands over her ears and walked inside. Her mother would be turning in her grave at the type of music and the noise level, not to mention the unkempt garden. Jessica didn’t even want to imagine what her reaction to the inside of the house would have been. Unwashed dishes littered the kitchen table and bench, small piles of used clothing lay in corners and the huge room the noise was emanating from had toy cars and all sorts of rubbish strewn over the floor. What a mess!

  Grimly, Jessica marched outside. If she’d known what sort of state Joe lived in she would have thought twice about allowing him to collect her son from the hospital two days ago. And where the hell was he now? A patch of freshly mown grass made a pocket in the wilderness at the back of the house and Jessica could see that the broken driveway terminated at a large shed. She stopped just inside the doorway. It was a male paradise. Another wreck of a car was parked over a pit. The walls were covered with an impressive tool collection, the missing parts of which seemed to be scattered over the floor amidst various pieces of metal junk, old tyres, car magazines and an incredible amount of dirt. The music was much fainter in here, thank goodness, and Jessica could hear the voice coming from the depths of the pit.

  ‘Pass me that wrench, buddy. The one that looks like a bird’s head with a big beak and a screwy thing round its neck.’

  A small body came into view from behind the car.

  ‘Mum!’ Ricky’s face lit up with the happiest smile Jessica had ever seen on his features. She caught him in her arms and the rising concern over what had been going on for the last two days evaporated instantly. He was safe. And he was happy. Nothing else mattered right now.

  ‘Hey, Jess! You’re back already.’ Joe climbed out of the pit. He was wearing some filthy overalls and apparently not much underneath. The front studs were undone, revealing a bare chest with a sparse covering of dark hair that tapered towards an admirably lean midriff. The sleeves were pushed right up, exposing muscular arms with a layer of dust caught in the hair and a faint sheen of perspiration on the tanned skin beneath. The sheer masculinity was somewhat overpowering and Jessica struggled to find an appropriately casual response to the enthusiastic greeting.

  ‘I thought you guys were having a party but there was no one in the house.’

  Joe grinned. ‘Bit loud in there, huh? We can’t hear it out here unless we crank up the volume. I’ll go and turn it down.’

  ‘OK.’ Jessica set Ricky down as he wriggled to escape.

  ‘Look, Mum. Joe’s car!’

  ‘Mmm.’ Jessica tried to sound admiring. ‘It’s great, isn’t it?’

  ‘It still looks a mess on the outside but the bodywork is next and then she’ll show her true colours.’ Joe was wiping his hands on a dirty rag. He sounded astonishingly proud of the wreck.

  ‘The lights go now,’ Ricky informed his mother. Good Lord, Jessica thought, he sounds as proud of the car as Joe does. ‘I helped fix them.’

  ‘You sure did. Now we’d better get cleaned up. We’ve got to start that barbecue soon and cook some dinner for Mum. She’ll be tired and hungry, I expect.’

  ‘Tired, that’s for sure.’ Jessica wondered how much of a ‘clean up’ Joe was proposing. She followed them back to the house taking another look around. It would take at least a month to sort this place out. Ricky was absolutely filthy and he’d only been here for forty-eight hours. His hair looked unbrushed and there were streaks of grease all over his small face. The cast on his arm, which had been a spotless white two days ago, now looked as though it had suffered weeks of hard wear. His clothes were also sporting grease and grass stains and…Jessica frowned as she scanned Ricky’s shorts and T-shirt.

  ‘Why are Ricky’s clothes all inside out?’

  ‘Are they?’ Joe turned his head. ‘So they are!’ He grinned. ‘I guess that’s the way he put them on.’

  ‘Ricky got dressed by himself?’

  Joe looked surprised by her tone. ‘Isn’t he supposed to?’

  ‘He…ah…’ Jessica was lost for words. Of course five-year-olds were supposed to dress themselves. It was just that her son had never attempted it. Had always refused point blank, in fact, and any pushing had usually resulted in a tantrum. It didn’t matter that Ricky had put his clothes on the wrong way. The fact that he had even tried was worthy of praise. Especially when the task would have been more difficult with the heavy cast on his arm. So why was it so difficult to feel delighted? Joe knew nothing about children. Certainly nothing about Ricky. It seemed somehow unfair that he had achieved something so major by default.

  To Jessica’s relief, the music was turned off. ‘You’ve got a piano!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘Yeah. Only because the person who sold me the house didn’t want to try shifting it. He practically gave it to me.’

  ‘You’re lucky.’ Jessica eyed the baby grand appraisingly. ‘It’s a very good piano.’

  ‘Is it? I wouldn’t know. I can’t even play. Can you?’

  Jessica nodded. ‘Mum was a piano teacher. She made sure I kept up the family honour.’

  ‘Does Ricky play, too?’

  Jessica looked down to where her grubby son was now sprawled on the faded floral carpet. He was pushing a toy car around what looked like a tea rose and making braking noises. ‘No. He hates music. Always has.’ Her glance took in the CD player. ‘I’m surprised that didn’t have him pinging off the walls.’

  ‘What sort of music did your mum teach?’

  ‘Classical, mostly.’

  Joe grinned. ‘Ah, that explains it. Rock ‘n’ roll is different.’

  ‘Obviously.’ Jessica returned the grin. It was partly why she liked Joe so much. He was so laid-back. He assumed things would be OK and so they generally were. It was an attitude totally alien to Jessica’s habit of exploring every worry in the hope that she could avoid something happening that was not OK. ‘I’d better get Ricky into a bath before dinner. It’s getting close to his bedtime.’ Jessica didn’t add that it looked like he hadn’t been near any hot water or soap since he’d arrived.

  ‘No rush,’ Joe said. ‘Let me show you your room and find us a beer or something. Then you can put your feet up while Ricky and I get dinner ready.’

  It was quite possible that Joe was too laid-back. Jessica didn’t consider the rinse under the kitchen tap was enough to clean Ricky’s hands and she was horrified when Joe parked him at the kitchen table and handed him a bag of mushrooms.

  ‘You can slice these up, buddy. We’ll cook them with the steaks.’

  ‘He’s not allowed to touch knives,’ Jessica reminded Joe.

  ‘He can use a table knife. They’re as blunt as they come. Mushrooms aren’t hard to chop up.’ Joe eyed Jessica cautiously and decided against telling her that Ricky had managed perfectly well with onions. She had been a bit strange about the kid getting dressed by himself.

  ‘But if he does that then he’ll think he’s capable of cutting other things and next time he might choose a sharper knife.’

  ‘He’s not stupid, Jess. He can see the difference.’ Joe took a mouthful from the bottle of beer he held. ‘How’s your wine?’

  ‘It’s great, thanks.’ Jessica took a long swallow. She was too tired to argu
e with Joe about the knife. He wasn’t to know how easily Ricky could injure himself and he’d put himself out to care for her son. He deserved appreciation, not criticism. ‘And thanks again for looking after Ricky. He looks like he’s had a great time.’

  He was looking pretty happy now, squashing the mushrooms into very uneven chunks by pressing the blade of the knife slowly into each piece.

  ‘We’re planning to make some tunnels in the sand pile tomorrow,’ Joe told her. ‘Ricky found some old bits of PVC pipe in the garage.’

  ‘Oh.’ Jessica chewed her bottom lip.

  ‘Is that a problem?’ Joe flipped the steaks in the marinade he’d just prepared. ‘Did you have plans?’

  ‘I need to sort out where we’re going to stay. School starts on Monday and I want to get him settled somewhere by then.’

  ‘He’s pretty settled here. Thanks, mate.’ Joe accepted the handfuls of mushrooms chunks and put them onto a plate.

  ‘Kelly thinks we can stay with her and her mother. I was going to take Ricky out to meet them tomorrow.’

  ‘But they’re miles out of town. It would take you forty minutes to get to the school. It’s practically round the corner from here.’

  ‘Yes, but…’ Jessica shook her head. ‘We can’t stay here!’

  Joe raised an eyebrow. ‘Why not?’

  ‘It’s for at least two weeks. Maybe longer, depending on how it goes.’

  ‘I’ve got the space.’ Joe waved the hand holding the beer bottle. ‘This place is huge and I’m not around half the time. I’m planning to do some overtime on my days off so I can afford the paint job on the Mustang, so you’ll hardly see me.’

  Jessica sipped her wine. She would see him, though. Quite a lot, she suspected. It would give them the best opportunity she could ever wish for them to get to know each other. And it would be ideal for Ricky. As Joe had said, he seemed happy here, so the disruption of school would not be on top of trying to settle him somewhere new. Being able to walk to the school would be another bonus.

  ‘It would certainly be great for us,’ Jessica said slowly. ‘But it’s a huge imposition.’