by Leah Martyn
He smiled. ‘I’m glad. By the way, I had some other news today about the Jones family. Carolyn has gone on holiday and Adam was discharged from hospital. For the present, he’s staying with Tracey at the shelter.’
‘Well, I guess that’s progress of a sort.’
‘I think we can assume that.’ Declan moved restively in his chair. ‘Just means you’ll have Lauren and Joel for a bit longer, I guess.’ And longer still until they could make love again…
Chapter Eleven
A WEEK later and the staff were on their lunch break before the afternoon clinic.
‘Bendemere is hosting the schools’ annual sports day tomorrow,’ Emma said.
Declan looked up from his reading. ‘Is it a big event?’
‘All the schools from the neighbouring districts compete.’ Jodi dipped into her mug of soup. ‘It’s a big deal. I was sports captain both years Bendemere won,’ she added modestly.
‘So, you want the day off tomorrow to go strut your stuff, do you?’ Declan teased.
Jodi wrinkled her nose at him. ‘I work at the supermarket tomorrow,’ she reminded him.
‘Lauren’s race isn’t until eleven.’ Emma gave a tentative look around the faces. ‘And, as she doesn’t have her mum to cheer her on, I thought I might try to get across to the sports ground.’
‘I’ll cover your list,’ Declan offered promptly. ‘In fact, I might try to get along for Lauren’s race myself. How are tomorrow’s lists looking, Moira?’
‘Fairly light,’ Moira said. ‘Most folk will be at the sports day.’
Declan lifted a hand and rubbed the back of his neck. ‘Nev can’t make it?’
‘My guess is he would have used up all his family leave,’ Moira said. ‘I doubt he’d want to ask for a day off to go to his grandchildren’s sports day.’
Emma looked at Declan. ‘So, it’s agreed I’ll go?’
‘No question.’ Declan leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. ‘What about Joel’s events?’
‘He’s involved only in team events. I think he’s more concerned about the food on the day,’ Emma ended with a chuckle. Then she sobered. ‘But I think it would make Lauren feel special if I was there for her.’
‘Yes, it would,’ Declan said softly. He wanted to lean forward and kiss her on the lips and tell her what a great job she was doing as a stand-in parent. Instead, he restrained himself and went back to his reading.
At a few minutes to eleven the next day, Emma took her place among the parents and supporters who were rapidly filling every space along the sides of the running track.
‘Which one is your kiddie?’ a friendly lady who looked like someone’s nanna asked as she made room for Emma beside her.
‘Over there.’ Emma smiled, pointing to Lauren, her little face fierce in concentration as the children began to line up. ‘Her mum can’t be here so I’m standing in,’ she felt compelled to add.
‘That’s my granddaughter, Taylor, beside her,’ the older woman said.
She’s at least a head taller than Lauren, Emma thought, her heart dropping. She’d been hoping like mad for Lauren to win. Even a small victory like winning a race would be magic for the child.
Emma felt strung tight, waiting for the starter’s whistle to sound. So focused was she that it was a moment before she registered the tap on her shoulder. Spinning round, she took a quick breath of surprise. ‘Declan! How did you manage to get here?’
‘Easy.’ He grinned. ‘I booted the patients out of the waiting room and told them to come back tomorrow.’
Emma rolled her eyes.
‘Moira and I juggled things. Several agreed to an after-hours consult. I’ll see them.’ Moving closer, he rested his hand on Emma’s shoulder. ‘Am I here in time for Lauren’s race?’
‘They’re lining up now.’ Emma flicked a hand. ‘Lauren seems like a little sprite next to some of the others.’
‘I bet you she’s a pint-size rocket.’ Declan increased the pressure on his hold. ‘Look! They’re off!’ he yelled. ‘Go, Lauren!’
The race, it seemed, took only seconds—seconds when they cheered themselves hoarse. Running like the wind, pace for pace with her rival, Lauren finally pulled out a burst of speed from somewhere within her slender little body and took the lead, sprinting over the finishing line just centimetres in front of her rival.
‘She won! Lauren won!’ Unable to contain her excitement, Emma grabbed at Declan and he whirled her around until she was breathless.
‘Come on—’ He grabbed her hand and together they began moving towards the finish line.
‘Lauren!’ Emma shrieked. ‘Honey, over here!’
‘Wait—’ Declan hauled Emma to a halt beside him. ‘Look…’ he said with something like disbelief in his voice.
Emma looked. ‘Oh, my goodness,’ she whispered and took a shaky breath. ‘It’s Tracey…Oh, Declan!’ she exclaimed softly. ‘Lauren’s wish has come true. She so wanted Tracey to be here to watch her run.’
‘Lauren’s got her mum back,’ he rejoined quietly, and their eyes linked in understanding.
Together they watched as Lauren threw herself into her mother’s arms. It was the hug of a lifetime. A hug that went on and on, mother and child clinging together and looking as though they never wanted to be parted ever again.
Declan squeezed Emma’s hand. ‘Are we going over to say hello?’
‘Maybe we should. Unless…do you think we’d be intruding?’
‘No, I don’t,’ Declan said and he smiled. ‘Come on.’
Lauren’s little face lit up when she saw Emma. ‘I won!’ she said and her thousand-watt smile said it all.
‘You did.’ Emma held out her arms. ‘Well done, sweetheart. You ran like the wind.’
Lauren allowed Emma a brief fierce hug and then she slipped back to her mother’s side, tucking her skinny little arm through Tracey’s very possessively.
Emma felt something crack inside her. Was it a feeling of loss? she wondered. But that was silly. She was never going to have Lauren indefinitely. She was back with her mother now and that was how it should be. But how she was going to miss that sweet child.
‘Hello, Tracey.’ Declan stuck out his hand. ‘This is a real turn-up.’ He grinned. ‘You look great, by the way.’
‘Thanks.’ Tracey looked shyly between the two doctors. ‘Marcella from the shelter drove me over. She’s got Adam with her.’
‘That’s wonderful,’ Emma said warmly. ‘I’m so glad you managed to get here.’
Tracey held her daughter’s hand tightly. ‘I wouldn’t have missed it. I would have got here somehow.’
‘Are you back home with us now, Mum?’ Lauren’s big brown eyes asked the question neither Declan nor Emma had felt able to.
‘Yes, baby, I am,’ Tracey said softly and bent to press a kiss on her daughter’s fair head. ‘We’ll all be back at Granddad’s tonight.’
‘You’re going to miss them.’ Practical as always, Moira was helping Emma pack up the children’s clothes for their return home.
Emma blinked a bit, popping a pair of Lauren’s jeans into the suitcase. ‘Their place is with their mother now she’s well. I was just the stopgap until things got back to normal.’
Moira kept folding. ‘This house was made for children.’
‘And maybe one day it will have some here permanently.’ Ignoring Moira’s not too subtle implication, Emma forced lightness into her voice. Already a gnawing kind of emptiness was beginning to surround her. But she’d get over it. She had to. ‘Oh, Moira—hang on a tick before you close the case. I’ve something for Lauren. I’ll just get it.’ She came back with a jumper in the softest, purest wool. It was a happy poppy-red colour with a chain of daisies embroidered around the neckline.
‘That’s…lovely,’ Moira said, but with a note of disquiet in her voice. ‘But Emma, should you be spending so much money on the child?’
‘It’s a gift, nothing more, nothing less.’ Emma folded the jumper neatly be
tween some layers of tissue paper and placed it on top of the rest of the clothes. ‘I thought Lauren might like to wear it when she goes riding. I want her to keep up her lessons.’
Moira sniffed. ‘And who’s paying for those riding lessons? You?’
Emma replaced the lid of the suitcase and zipped it shut. ‘With respect, Moira, that’s my business. Jodi and I have come to an arrangement.’
‘You’re just like your father.’ Moira shook her head. ‘Your heart overrules common sense sometimes. Let’s just hope Tracey doesn’t mess things up for those children again,’ she added darkly.
‘She won’t.’ Emma was firm. ‘People have worked very hard with her and she’s responded. For once, it’s been a good outcome.’
‘You’re going to be at a loose end tonight.’ It was late on the same day and Declan was grabbing a coffee before heading out to a house call.
‘I suppose I will.’ Emma looked up from giving the kitchen bench a quick tidy. ‘Got any solutions?’
‘I might.’ Placing his mug carefully back on the counter top, he half turned to look at her. ‘Come home with me.’
There was a moment’s loaded silence. Emma blinked uncertainly and she realized what he was saying. She’d been thinking only about the children’s departure and how it would affect her. She’d completely forgotten that, with their going, her life was her own again. Her options were suddenly wide open. ‘I hadn’t thought—’
‘Well, I have.’ He looked at his watch. ‘I’m about to do this house call, then I’ll see the three after-hours patients. Should be through by six-thirty. Put a few things together, hmm? And something for work tomorrow.’
‘All right.’ She smiled, swallowing back a throatful of emotions. ‘I’ll be ready.’
She hadn’t been in his bedroom before.
It was almost spartan with a king-sized bed, books on the bedside table, family photos in a fold-out frame, a set of weights in the corner. And why was she even noticing?
Declan put her bag on the end table. ‘Do you want to hang anything?’
‘Um—yes, please.’ Emma slipped past him to hang her work clothes in the wardrobe. She tried to swallow. Her mouth had become so dry and her heart, with a mind of its own, had gravitated to her throat. It seemed ages since they’d been lovers. Perhaps she’d imagined more than the reality. Could they possibly recapture what they’d found together? And, if they couldn’t—what then?
‘Emma…’
‘Declan, what if…?’
He shook his head, drawing her down to sit on the edge of the bed. He stared at her for a moment. Then, lifting his hands, he cupped her face. ‘Emma, do you trust me?’
The catch in his voice told her everything she needed to hear. ‘Yes.’
‘Oh, heavens! Look at the time!’ Emma sprang upright and then leaned down to tug Declan awake. ‘Declan, get up! We’ve only minutes to get to the surgery!’
He groaned. ‘What’s the hurry? They can’t start without us.’
‘But it’ll look odd if we straggle in late. And together.’
‘As if we care.’ He reached up and pulled her back under the covers. ‘I want to tell the world we’re together.’
‘Oh…’ Emma felt her lips sigh apart. ‘Really?’
He pulled her closer, nuzzling her throat, behind her ear, then her throat again. ‘Yes, really. What about you, Emma? Want to shout it to the tree tops?’
‘It’s all so new,’ she offered, hardly knowing what her answer should be but tucking further into his closeness. His body felt deliciously warm, hard, expectant. Wonderful. All for her. ‘Yes, oh, yes,’ she said at last and turned her face to meet his mouth.
They tasted each other, taking it slowly, each press of their lips renewing their sense of wonder and delight. Emma closed her eyes and let it happen, letting her tongue tease him and her breath sigh over his face. She ran her hands along his torso, up the lightly tanned curve of his neck and into the dark, soft strands of his hair.
And she didn’t let herself think for one second that this commitment was anything but right. Right and perfect.
She opened her mouth wider on his, letting herself drown in his kiss, flinging her doubts into the air like a handful of sand in the wind.
Emma drifted through the morning surgery in a cocoon of dreamy recollection as memories of their lovemaking rolled over her. She felt as though someone had poured liquid sunshine over her bones. She was in love. In love with the most wonderful man in the world.
When, only seconds later, Declan rapped on the door and stuck his head in, she started up out of her reverie, snapping back to reality when he said starkly, ‘We have the worst kind of emergency, Emma. Jodi’s had a fall at the stables. It looks bad.’
‘Oh, my God!’ Emma’s hand went to her mouth. ‘How bad?’
He shook his head. ‘Let’s get out there. Every second counts.’
Declan looked strained as he took the emergency kit from Libby. ‘Keep the hospital in the loop, please, Libs.’ The nurse merely nodded.
Moira hovered, her face pale with shock. ‘I know you want to come with us, Moira,’ Declan said gently. ‘But—’
‘I’d be in the way.’ Her mouth trembled. ‘Take care of her, Declan. She’s the dearest thing on earth to me.’
Emma wrapped an arm quickly around Moira’s shoulders. ‘We’ll let you know the minute we have some details,’ she promised.
‘Do you have any more details about the accident?’ Emma asked.
‘Not much. Jodi was riding track with several others. Apparently, the horses were flat out in a time trial. The lead horse stumbled. Jodi was immediately behind.’
Emma sucked in her breath on a grimace. It would be a domino effect, resulting in a wild mix of riders, horses, limbs and bodies.
‘Jodi’s parents?’ Declan’s question took on the practicalities of the situation.
‘Last I heard, they’re away on holiday up north somewhere. She was staying with Moira.’
‘Siblings?’
‘One brother at Uni in Brisbane. Final year engineering.’ Worst scenarios curled in a knot in Emma’s stomach. Jodi’s family would have to be summoned immediately.
When they arrived at the stables, they were out of the car and running. Jodi’s cries of distress were endless. Heartbreaking. Emma ran faster.
Sarah McGinty was waiting. ‘I tried to make her more comfortable,’ she said. ‘But I didn’t dare move her. Patrick and James are away at the yearling sales. There’s just me here.’ She tightened her arms across her middle as if she was in pain herself. ‘None of this should have happened…’
Emma placed a quick hand of sympathy on Sarah’s forearm and squeezed.
The doctors worked seamlessly as a team, checking first for any head or spinal injury. ‘Stay with us, Jodi,’ Declan said gently. He slipped the oxygen mask into place. ‘We’ll have you feeling better soon.’
And pigs might fly, he added silently, grimly.
Emma was doing her best to insert an IV. She shook her head.
‘Problem?’ Declan snapped.
‘Veins thready and constricted. OK,’ she said with relief. ‘I’ve got it. Normal saline going in now. What pain relief do you want?’
‘Spleen seems OK. We can give morphine. Let’s make it five milligrams, please. Anti-emetic ten. Both IV.’
‘Jodi, sweetheart, we’re giving you something for the pain now.’ Emma injected the drugs quickly. ‘All done.’
‘Thanks. I need to assess what’s going on with her legs.’
Emma knew what had to be done. Grabbing the scissors from the emergency pack, she slit Jodi’s jodhpurs from ankle to thigh, peeling back the layers of material. She bit hard on her bottom lip at what lay revealed. Bone was protruding from Jodi’s thigh.
‘Compound fracture to the right femur.’ Declan was clinically calm. ‘I’d guess the horse in its fright has kicked out and caught her legs.’ His fingers ran gently along her shins. ‘Multiple fractures to left ti
b and fib so both legs compromised. Let’s get a doughnut dressing over that exposed bone, please, and we’ll splint both legs together for the transfer to the ambulance.’
‘For the best possible care, I think we should chopper her straight through to the Royal Brisbane.’ Emma’s tone was unequivocal. ‘She’s going to need hours of surgery and follow-up rehab.’ She drew out her mobile phone. ‘I’ll put a call into CareFlight. Ask them to meet us at the hospital. By the time they get here, we should have Jodi stable enough to go.’
Two of the town’s ambulance crew who had arrived barely minutes behind the doctors moved in with the stretcher. Nick Turner, the senior officer, looked stricken. ‘I’ve known young Jodi all her life…’
Declan’s mouth drew in. This was no time to start handwringing. Their patient needed to be in the care of a surgeon and fast. ‘What’s the situation with the other riders, Nick?’
‘There were two lads. Both managed to roll out of the way of the horses. They’re a bit shaken. No obvious injuries and we’ve checked their neuro obs.’ He shook his head. ‘Poor little Jodi was caught in the middle of the scrum. Blasted animals…’
Emma closed off her mobile. ‘The base can’t give us an ETA on the chopper. It’s presently evacuating injured from a motor pile-up on the Warrego Highway.’
Declan’s expletive was muted. ‘What now?’
Emma bit her lips together. Declan’s face spoke volumes.
‘We could take her by ambulance to Toowoomba and try and get backup transport from there,’ Nick said without much conviction. ‘The road’s still a bit dodgy in places from the storm but if we’re careful…’
Declan shook his head. ‘We can’t put Jodi through that.’
‘Then we’ll wait on the chopper,’ Emma said doggedly.
Declan’s jaw tightened. God only knew what Jodi’s circulation would be doing by the time the air ambulance got to them. And they were wasting precious seconds messing about here. Jodi’s cry of distress sent a chill around the gathering.