by Lucy Clark
The noise coming from outside was deafening and Security was stationed at the front door to the hospital as well as the door that led through to the treatment area.
‘There you are, Susie,’ Triage Sister said. ‘He’s in T2.’
‘Thank you. What’s going on?’
‘Mr Fargo’s fans!’
‘Oh.’ Susie shrugged and led the way to treatment room two. ‘Hello,’ she said to the patient lying on the bed. She did indeed recognise him now but he looked a lot smaller in real life. ‘I’m Dr Monahan. Head of Orthopaedics. This is my colleague, Professor Myers.’
Blade Fargo nodded slightly and then winced in pain.
‘Can’t you people do something?’ the woman standing next to him complained. ‘He’s in pain.’
Susie accepted the patient chart from one of the nurses and checked his analgesics. ‘Are you still experiencing pain, Mr Fargo?’
‘Blade,’ he said softly.
‘Any pain, Blade?’
‘Minor.’
‘You people have got to do something,’ the woman shrilled again.
‘I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.’ Susie spoke to the woman, a polite smile pasted in place.
The woman sighed with dramatic exasperation. ‘I’m his manager. Now, do something.’
‘I will,’ Susie said. ‘Unfortunately, you’ll need to wait outside. The sister here will show you where.’
‘I’m not leaving him.’ The woman grabbed his hand and poor Blade cried out in pain. Still, he kept his cool.
‘It’s all right, Margo. I’ll be in good hands.’
Margo looked at him and pouted. ‘Sure, Bladey?’
‘I’m sure,’ he confirmed. ‘Go and appease the fans.’
‘Good thinking,’ Margo replied, the pout gone. She straightened her shoulders and allowed herself to be led out of T2.
‘Now, Mr Far—Blade,’ Susie corrected herself. She moved in for a closer look at his injuries. ‘Let’s see what sort of damage has been done.’ She inspected his arm gently before checking his other arm. He had a few cuts and scratches on his legs and upper torso which had been attended to by the A and E staff.
‘I think we’ll let Radiology enjoy your company next,’ Susie said with a smile as she wrote up the X-ray request forms. ‘You’ve dislocated your shoulder but I don’t want to put it back in without it being X-rayed first.’
‘Why not?’ he asked.
‘Because you may have fractured the top of your humerus, which is the upper arm bone. If you have, we’ll need to operate to fix the pieces of bone together before relocating it.’
‘If not?’
‘Then I can put it back in.’
‘Will it be painful?
Susie smiled. ‘We’ll make sure you have sufficient analgesics to cover the pain. Your Colles’ fracture, which is your wrist, looks straightforward and can probably be fixed with a simple plaster cast.’
‘I can’t have a cast on my arm,’ he stated in a normal voice. ‘I’m right in the middle of shooting a movie. The hold-up of waiting for my arm to heal in a cast would cost the studio millions.’
‘I’m sure they’re covered for it,’ Susie continued calmly.
‘Can I get a second opinion?’
‘Of course,’ she replied, not at all offended. She could see where he was coming from and thought it only reasonable that he ask. ‘First of all, let’s see what the X-rays show and then we’ll know exactly what we’re dealing with.’
‘Right you are, Doc,’ he said, and smiled at her. He was a handsome man, Susie thought, but his looks were too…polished.
‘You handled that well,’ Jackson said once Blade had been wheeled off, with three adoring nurses at his side, towards Radiology.
‘Why do you sound so surprised?’ She laughed as she led him into the A and E tearoom. ‘Coffee?’
‘Thanks.’
‘Black. No sugar, right?’
‘How did you know?’
Susie chuckled. ‘Let’s see, since you arrived here I’ve already had three meals sitting next to you. I simply noticed you didn’t add anything into your coffee before you drank it.’
He smiled at her. ‘And you have two with moo.’
‘I haven’t heard that one before,’ Susie replied as she brought two cups of coffee over.
‘I was in Alice Springs just before I came here and heard one of the surgeons say it.’
‘Happy to be back in the country?’
‘Yes.’ He took a sip of his coffee. ‘Do you know, in the past few months, I’ve had a hankering for anything and everything Australian? Meat pies and tomato sauce. Lamingtons. Tim Tam biscuits. All the things that are hard to get overseas.’ He leaned forward slightly and said in a conspiratorial whisper, ‘I even watched some of the Australian TV soaps if they were on.’
Susie laughed. ‘I know what you mean. I did an eighteen-month stint in Asia a few years ago and near the end, especially when you know that you’ll soon be heading back home, you crave any small link with your home country.’
Jackson leaned back and stretched. ‘And now, thanks to you, I have the opportunity to help out on an emergency call.’
His words were fuzzy in her ears as her gaze was drawn to the way his muscles flexed beneath his shirt when he stretched. It should be outlawed. He’d removed his suit jacket when they’d entered the tearoom and slung it over the back of a chair. His crisp, white shirt did nothing to hide what lay beneath and Susie’s heart rate accelerated.
She quickly looked away in case he should intercept her gaze. What was she doing, ogling him like that? He was a man in love with another woman. Or, more correctly, the memory of another woman. How could she possible hope to compete with that? The thought struck her like a blow. Did she want to compete?
‘Susie?’ There was concern in his voice when he spoke.
‘Sorry.’ She forced herself to meet his gaze but she didn’t hold it for long. Instead, she stood and walked over to the bench. Distance. She needed to put distance between them.
‘Something wrong?’
‘No. No. Nothing’s wrong.’ She shook her head for emphasis and then eyed him cautiously. ‘Why do you ask?’
‘No reason,’ he stated. ‘You just seemed miles away.’
‘Ah…yes. Sorry about that.’ What was wrong with her? She was behaving like an adolescent with a crush. Jackson stood and walked slowly towards her. Susie watched his progress, her breathing increasing with each step he took.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he stood beside her. He leant against the bench and she could feel the warmth of his thigh pressing close to hers. Her eyelids fluttered closed momentarily as she savoured the brief contact.
‘Susie…’
‘Mmm?’ Susie waited, holding her breath to see what he would say next.
‘Are you…’ he paused, ‘…seeing anyone at the moment?’ He wasn’t sure why he was asking her. Both of them knew that nothing should happen between them, but for some strange reason he had a burning need to know.
Her eyes snapped open and her breath whooshed out quickly as a delicious wave of excitement rippled through her at his words, one she found hard to control. ‘Ah…no. No. My last engagement broke up six months ago.’
‘I see.’ She’d been engaged? The thought had never crossed his mind. It also drove home just how little he knew about her. ‘Does he work here?’
‘He did. He’s in Sydney now.’ Susie couldn’t hide the pain she still felt at Greg’s betrayal.
‘He hurt you.’ Jackson immediately felt incredibly protective towards her. How could any man treat this gorgeous and generous woman so badly?
‘Yes. Greg hurt me.’
‘I see.’ This explained why she was fighting the attraction between them with all her might. She didn’t want to risk getting hurt again and Jackson couldn’t blame her. He felt the same way. It had taken Alison a while to work her way into his heart and then, after such a short time of happiness, s
he’d been taken from him. Love was cruel.
The tearoom door opened and a nurse came in, carrying a large packet of X-rays. ‘Here you go, Susie.’
‘Thanks.’ Those precious few candid moments she and Jackson had shared dissipated into thin air. Work! Focus on your work. Susie forced her legs to move and headed over to the X-ray viewing box on the wall. She flicked the switch to illuminate it and hooked the first radiograph up.
‘Dislocation looks clean,’ she said as he joined her. He wasn’t as close as he’d just been and for that she was grateful. She needed to concentrate and she was finding it increasingly difficult to do so with Jackson around. She changed the films. ‘Ulna and radius require open reduction and internal fixation.’
‘You’ll need to reduce and relocate the Colles’ as well,’ Jackson pointed out. ‘What do you think about bandaging and putting his arm in a splint?’
‘We just need to keep everything stable,’ she agreed with a nod.
‘If you insert a few K-wires here…’ Jackson pointed to the fracture site of Blade Fargo’s right wrist ‘…that will hold the fracture in place.’
‘I’d need to restrict him in the length of time he’s out of the splint, and he’ll require a nurse to handle the bandaging.’
‘Absolutely.’
‘What do you think? An hour a day?’
‘At least for the first two weeks. Then once you get the check X-rays done, you may be able to extend that time frame or decrease it, depending on how things look.’
Susie nodded. ‘Could be a workable solution. Let’s see how we go in Theatre.’ Not wanting to be alone with Jackson for too long, Susie gathered up the films and headed back to her patient.
‘It looks as though we may have a solution to your problem,’ Susie told Blade. ‘But,’ she added at his brilliant smile, ‘you’ll be under strict instructions as to how much you can do. And, please, no more stunts! Use the stuntman next time.’
‘Yes, Doctor,’ Blade said with mock remorse.
‘I can’t make any promises,’ Susie said. ‘It was Professor Myers’s idea, so if it doesn’t work out you can blame him for dashing your hopes.’
Jackson chuckled. Susie explained the operation to Blade, and once he’d signed the consent form she headed to Theatre to get everything prepared. ‘It’s six-thirty now,’ Susie said to him. ‘Unfortunately, it doesn’t look as though you’ll have time to help me in Theatre.’
‘Why not?’
‘Jackson, you have a dinner at eight o’clock. That’s only an hour and a half away.’
‘I do know how to tell the time,’ he said with an admonishing grin.
‘Stop teasing.’ Susie smiled, loving the way they could interact like this. They were on the same wavelength. Neither Walter nor Greg had clicked with her so instantly. Perhaps that was why she found him so hard to resist! ‘Richard will come looking for you and then you’ll have to leave in the middle of the operation. Actually, I’m surprised he allowed you a few free hours.’
Jackson chuckled. ‘It’ll be all right. The operation’s going to take…what? Forty-five minutes?’
‘More than likely, but what if we run into complications?’
‘I seriously doubt it.’
‘You have responsibilities.’
‘I have an hour and a half. We’ll be fine.’
The look he gave her said that she could trust him and for a split second Susie wondered whether he was only talking about the operation or…something more. She decided it was best not to pursue it so she showed him where the changing rooms were and escaped behind the door marked FEMALES.
‘You’re a cool, calm and collected professional,’ she mumbled to herself as she changed. ‘You’ve been through a lot worse than this. It’s just an attraction. Nothing is ever going to come of it. He’s still carrying a torch for his wife and he’s leaving at the end of the week. He has a tour to complete and even after that’s done, he’ll be living in a different state.’
‘Talking to yourself again, Susie?’ Patti, one of the nurses who’d been ogling Jackson the previous day, said as she walked in.
For a second, she froze. How much of her mumbling had Patti heard? Susie adopted an air of nonchalance and continued to put her hair up.
‘So, another opportunity to work with the great Professor Myers,’ Patti squeaked excitedly. ‘And assist with an operation for Blade Fargo. Is this the best job or what?’
Susie couldn’t help but laugh. She didn’t need to tell Patti to make sure she stayed professional. She might not have that much in common with the nurse but Patti was very good at her job.
‘The only downside is that after tonight my contract with the hospital expires.’
‘I didn’t realise you were doing agency work. You’ve been here for at least three months.’
‘I’ve been filling in for a nurse off on maternity leave. She’s back as of tomorrow, which means I won’t be around to…visit Blade.’
‘Why don’t you take a holiday? Enjoy some time off?’
Patti laughed. ‘I think cleaning my apartment takes precedence over everything at the moment.’
‘We’d better get going,’ Susie said as she motioned towards the door.
‘Sure.’ They walked out together. ‘How did you get Professor Myers to agree to operate?’ Patti’s question made Susie want to throw caution to the wind and say something like it had been her natural charms that had led Jackson away from his busy schedule in search of a more…refined amusement but instead she cleared her throat. Not wanting to create hospital gossip, she said, ‘Firstly, he is assisting me. Secondly…’ Susie shrugged. ‘He asked.’
Susie checked on Blade to make sure that everything was going according to plan before she headed for the scrub sink. There was no sign of Jackson but she knew he’d arrive soon.
The hairs on the back of her neck and along her arms rose the moment he entered the room. She was amazed at how aware she was of him but tried to hide it as best she could.
As they stood at the scrub sink, he said, ‘Everything ready to go?’
‘Yes.’
‘I called Richard,’ he told her. ‘So at least he knows where I am.’
Susie nodded, fiercely trying to concentrate on what she was doing. The theatre blues brought out the blueness of his eyes—eyes that she could willingly drown in. She glanced at his large, capable hands as he continued to lather them and his arms. So strong. So masterful. So…sensual.
This won’t do! Susie returned her gaze to her own arms and hands, intent on focusing her thoughts on the upcoming operation. Thankfully, by the time the operation began, she was back in control of her emotions. Jackson was merely another surgeon, assisting her in her work.
They worked well together, relocating the shoulder and performing open reduction and internal fixation on the fractured radius and ulna. The K-wires that needed to be inserted into the wrist were another matter, yet together they worked it through, with both of them quite satisfied with the result.
‘A job well done,’ Jackson remarked as he pulled off his mask and theatre cap. Susie looked up at him and he smiled. Delight swamped her body again and she quickly turned away. She had to—if she was going to save her sanity!
CHAPTER FIVE
‘SUSIE? Are you feeling all right?’
‘Yes.’ She dared a quick glance up at Jackson while she disposed of her theatre garb. ‘I’d better write up the notes,’ she mumbled, and quickly headed back to the tearoom, thankful that Jackson wasn’t following her. He was probably changing back into his business suit or talking to staff.
Either way, she was glad of the momentary reprieve. She wrote up the notes but discovered she’d made two mistakes. It irked her when her mind wandered to Jackson. Susie corrected them before closing the case notes. Why did it irk her so much? Was it the fact that she was attracted to Jackson? Or the fact that she felt out of control whenever he was around? And what was wrong with feeling a little out of control once in a while?
She knew there could never be anything between them so why shouldn’t she enjoy the way he made her pulse race? Or the way her stomach churned in excitement? It was definitely bolstering her bruised ego. Jackson found her desirable. After what Greg had done to her, she’d added some more baggage to her neuroses. So why shouldn’t she be delighted with Jackson’s attentions?
Walter, her first fiancé, had found her attractive but had only said so once. The day he’d broken their engagement. He’d been married to his work and when Susie had refused to forgo her study in favour of his ambition, Walter had broken the engagement.
‘You’re a beautiful woman, Susan Monahan,’ Walter had said as he’d risen from the table they’d been eating at. ‘You would have done my career proud.’ With that, he’d turned and walked out of the restaurant—leaving her to pay the bill.
‘What was I thinking?’ she muttered. How had she allowed herself to be enamoured of first Walter and then Greg?
‘Thought I’d find you here.’ Jackson’s voice washed over her and Susie momentarily closed her eyes, savouring the sound and the way it made her feel before opening her eyes and turning to look at him. He was dressed in his suit again, looking more handsome than before, if that was at all possible. ‘I’d better get going.’ He stayed in the doorway, not venturing any further.
Susie automatically looked at the clock, gasping as she saw the time. Ten minutes to eight. ‘I’d completely forgotten about the dinner.’
He smiled. ‘I thought as much. You are still coming?’
‘Yes, but it appears I’m going to be a little late. As the dinner is at your hotel, it won’t take you any time at all to change and get to the venue.’
‘Whereas you need to go home, shower and change and then drive to the hotel,’ he finished for her.
‘Yes.’
‘I’ll save you a seat.’
Susie smiled. ‘That’s pretty decent of you—especially as the seating has already been organised.’
He returned her smile and she melted. ‘See you there,’ he said, before walking away. Susie sighed, the silly smile still on her face. You’re not having much luck fighting your feelings, she told herself.