Adam's Daughter

by Jennifer Taylor

  ‘Sorry, I didn’t catch your name?’ Adam’s tone was so courteous that she couldn’t explain the shiver that crept down her spine. She shot him a wary glance but there was nothing about the polite smile he gave Ian to confirm her suspicions that he was up to something.

  ‘Ian Patterson, senior registrar on the coronary care unit. Basically, it means that I’m in charge of the unit for most of the time,’ Ian stated pompously.

  ‘Really?’ Adam looked impressed. Beth saw Ian start to relax, confident that he was on safe ground. However, she had a horrible feeling that he was going to regret that rather large distortion of the truth. Although Ian’s position was a senior one, he was one of three registrars on the coronary care unit, and by no means the head of the team.

  ‘You must have to shoulder an awful lot of responsibility in a job like that,’ Adam continued in a tone that simply invited confidences. ‘It must be terribly stressful at times.’

  ‘I suppose it can be if you’re that type of person,’ Ian replied, positively preening under all the interest. ‘However, making life and death decisions comes easier to some than it does to others.’

  ‘I see. Obviously you find it easy—to make life-and-death decisions, I mean,’ Adam said mildly.

  Beth bit her lip because she didn’t know whether to laugh or admonish him for the way he was leading Ian on. Couldn’t Ian see that he was being led like a lamb to the slaughter? Apparently not!

  ‘Oh, yes. I have no difficulty at all with that. The trick is to take a dispassionate view. Unfortunately, far too many doctors get emotionally involved with the people they treat.’

  Ian was getting into his stride now as he expounded his views. ‘That’s a big mistake. One needs to think of them merely as cases. That way you can do your job far more efficiently.’

  ‘And James feels the same as you do?’ Adam inserted smoothly.

  ‘James?’ Ian repeated, before he suddenly paled. ‘You know James Dickinson, the consultant on Coronary Care?’

  ‘Yes. Sorry, didn’t I mention it before?’ Adam laughed deeply. ‘James and I go way back. We were at Guys together as housemen. We still keep in touch. In fact, I’m hoping to get together with him in the next couple of weeks. I must remember to mention that I met you. Patterson, wasn’t it? Senior registrar?’

  ‘I…um. Yes. Fine. Well, if you’ll excuse me.’ Ian hurried away, still muttering.

  Beth took a deep breath and somehow managed to contain her mirth until they were safely inside the lift. ‘Oh, that was wonderful! I can’t believe that you did that, Adam. I can’t believe that Ian fell for it either!’

  Adam smiled as the lift whizzed them down to the ground floor. ‘Everyone needs taking down a peg or two occasionally. Some deserve it more than others.’

  ‘Ian definitely deserved it! I can’t understand why I never realised how pompous and self-opinionated he is,’ she admitted ruefully. The lift reached the ground floor just then so they got out and walked towards the exit.

  ‘People always say that love is blind. I think that can apply to character as well as appearance,’ Adam observed as they left the building and walked back to the car.

  Night had drawn in now and the light had dimmed to a blue-grey opalescence. There were few people about at that hour and those they passed seemed more concerned with their own affairs. It was a moment that simply invited confidences and Beth found herself suddenly eager to pour out the whole miserable story.

  ‘I must have been blind to imagine that Ian was the man I wanted to spend my life with.’

  ‘So Patterson was the guy you split up from recently?’ Adam asked quietly. They had reached the end of the path and a little way to their right there was a small garden area with an arbour containing a wooden bench. When he led her towards it, she didn’t object.

  ‘Yes. I went out with Ian for almost two years. We got engaged about this time last year, in fact, just a month before Claire was killed.’ She sighed as she sat down and stared at the velvety black sky. ‘I thought I was the luckiest woman alive when Ian asked me to marry him.’

  ‘What went wrong?’ Adam asked. He crossed his legs and leant back against the hard wooden slats, obviously wanting to hear the whole story. Beth found herself wondering fleetingly why he was interested but the urge to get it all off her chest was too strong to resist.

  ‘After Claire died I brought Hannah home to live with us. Ian and I had bought a house a few months earlier so we had plenty of room.’ She shrugged. ‘It never entered my head that Ian wouldn’t like the idea of her living with us.’

  ‘Where did he think she would live?’ he interjected.

  ‘I’ve no idea. He knew that I was the only family Claire had. I don’t think that he cared so long as he didn’t have to be responsible for her.’

  ‘It can’t have been easy for Claire, bringing up Hannah on her own.’

  ‘I don’t suppose it was,’ Beth replied gently because she’d heard the remorse in his voice. Adam had known nothing about Hannah at that time so he shouldn’t blame himself for not having been there to help. However, she knew that it was going to take him time to come to terms with what had happened, then wondered why that thought caused her such pain.

  ‘Anyway, Hannah seemed to settle down with us reasonably well,’ she continued, not giving herself time to dwell on it. ‘She was a bit clingy at first but that was to be expected. I suggested that I should reduce the number of hours I worked, but Ian was totally against it.’

  Her mouth compressed as she thought about the arguments they’d had. ‘It would have meant me taking a cut in salary and he didn’t see why we should alter our lifestyle to fit in with a child. That’s when I realised that we had major problems.’

  ‘I see. So what brought things to a head?’ Adam asked, his voice rumbling through the darkness. Beth glanced at him again but his face was just a blur now that the last of the light had faded. She had no idea what he was thinking at that moment.

  ‘Ian wanted us to go away for Christmas with some of his friends. Hannah wasn’t well by that point and he knew that I was worried about her, but he just dismissed my concerns as fussing.’ Her voice hardened. ‘When I found out that she had leukaemia and needed urgent treatment, he was more concerned about losing the deposit on the holiday than the fact that she was seriously ill. Incredible, isn’t it?’

  ‘Incredible isn’t the word I’d use,’ Adam said harshly. She heard him take a deep breath as though he was struggling to keep control, not that she blamed him for being angry. She still felt angry herself whenever she thought about how Ian had behaved.

  ‘What happened after that?’ he asked after a couple of seconds had elapsed.

  ‘Ian told me that he wasn’t prepared to put his life on hold for the sake of a child who wasn’t his. He gave me an ultimatum—either I put Hannah into care or we went our separate ways.’ She gave a disgusted laugh. ‘He honestly thought that I’d choose him over Hannah!’

  ‘A lot of women would have done, Beth. Not everyone would want to take on the responsibility of a sick child.’

  She was shaking her head before he had finished speaking. ‘There was never any question about what I wanted to do. I love Hannah and I intend to be there for her for as long as she needs me.’

  ‘It’s easy to say that now, but how about in the future? What happens if you meet someone else who feels the same as Ian did?’

  He turned to face her and even through the darkness she could see the determination that lit his eyes. ‘It all boils down to one simple fact, Beth—Hannah isn’t your child. She’s mine.’

  CHAPTER FOUR

  ‘WHAT do you mean?’ Beth whispered hoarsely. She felt her heart leap when Adam stood up and strode to the edge of the path. She found herself gripping the arm of the bench so hard that her fingers ached as she waited for him to answer.

  ‘That I appreciate everything you’ve done for Hannah but she’s no longer your responsibility. I’m her father, Beth, and it’s about ti
me that I took care of her.’

  He swung round and she saw the determination on his face. ‘Why should you have all the worry of looking after her from now on? Hannah is my daughter and I intend to make up for all the years that I’ve missed.’

  Beth rose to her feet, aware that she was trembling. The last thing she wanted was for them to start arguing when they should be working together, but it seemed there was no way to avoid it. He couldn’t honestly believe that it would be right to take Hannah away from her!

  ‘I understand how you feel, Adam. Really I do,’ she began, trying to remain calm.

  ‘I doubt it. I don’t think you have any idea how I feel,’ he said harshly, so harshly that she flinched. ‘I know you explained why your sister decided not to tell me immediately about Hannah, but there’s no excuse for what she did. I had a right to know that I had a child, just as Hannah had the right to know that she had a father!’

  Beth didn’t know what to say. Adam was only stating what she had thought so many times in the past. Now she felt overwhelmed by guilt for the part she had played in keeping Hannah’s existence a secret from him.

  ‘Claire honestly and truly thought that she was doing the right thing,’ she explained numbly, feeling that she had to defend her sister and, indirectly, herself.

  ‘Well, I’m afraid she got it wrong. And there’s nothing you can say that will convince me otherwise.’ His tone was unyielding. ‘Now, I think it’s time we went home. Frankly, I’m too tired to discuss this any more tonight.’

  He turned and strode back up the path. Beth followed him, wishing that she could think of something to say to ease the situation. However, it was going to take more than a few soothing words to make him understand that Claire hadn’t deliberately set out to hurt him.

  She sighed as it struck her that she might have touched upon the real crux of the problem. Adam seemed very bitter about the fact that Claire hadn’t tried harder to contact him and it just didn’t gel with what her sister had always claimed about their affair not having been serious.

  Could the real truth be that Adam had wanted the relationship to continue and it had been Claire who had broken it off? It would explain Claire’s reluctance to contact him when she’d found out she was pregnant, and why she hadn’t made any further effort to trace him when he hadn’t replied to her letter. Maybe Claire had known all along that Adam was in love with her and had wanted to avoid hurting him any more than she already had.

  It made sense even though Beth found herself strangely reluctant to accept the idea. She didn’t like to think that Adam might still be in love with Claire, strangely enough.

  ‘Right, Mr Hopkins, if you could step onto the scales then I can see how much weight you’ve lost since last week.’

  It was only midway through morning surgery but Beth was already starting to flag. She had spent a restless night going over everything that had happened the day before and had fallen asleep just as dawn had been breaking. Consequently, she’d had to drag herself out of bed when her alarm had rung and had felt tired and sluggish all morning.

  So far she’d managed to avoid Adam. She’d had patients booked in early that morning so she’d been busy when he’d arrived. However, she knew that at some point she would have to try to resolve the situation that had arisen the night before. The trouble was that she had no idea how she was going to convince him that he couldn’t disrupt Hannah’s life by claiming parental rights.

  ‘If you wouldn’t mind, Nurse. I do have other things to do today.’

  She returned her mind to the job at hand and smiled placatingly at her patient. Roger Hopkins was a local businessman in his fifties. Eileen had told her that he owned The Willows, a hugely popular hotel and restaurant in the centre of the town.

  He’d come to the surgery a few weeks earlier, complaining of shortness of breath. Dr Wright had given him a thorough examination but hadn’t found anything seriously wrong. He had concluded that Roger Hopkins’s problems stemmed from the fact that he was overweight and a heavy smoker. He’d put him on a diet and had advised him to stop smoking. Beth doubted whether the man had heeded at least part of the advice when she checked the reading on the scales.

  ‘I’m afraid that you’ve gained two pounds since I last saw you, Mr Hopkins. Are you sure that you’re sticking to the diet?’

  ‘I don’t have time for all that nonsense,’ he blustered, puffing as he stepped off the scales and bent down to fasten his shoelaces. ‘I have a business to run and it certainly wouldn’t look good if I picked at my food when I’m entertaining clients.’

  ‘But it’s not doing your health any good to ignore Dr Wright’s advice,’ she countered gently. ‘He recommended that you should try to lose at least a stone, and so far you’ve gained three pounds.’

  ‘Your scales can’t be right. I’m sure that I can’t have gained any weight,’ he replied sharply, glaring at Beth as though it was her fault.

  ‘I don’t think so, Mr Hopkins. These scales are checked regularly for accuracy.’ She smiled calmly at him, unruffled by his belligerent tone, and he had the grace to blush.

  ‘Yes, well, I suppose I have been a little lax about it all. Since my wife died, I find that I’m spending more time than ever at work so I tend to eat in the restaurant there. It’s better than going home to an empty house, you understand.’

  ‘I do,’ she agreed sympathetically. ‘Do you have a family, Mr Hopkins?’

  ‘A son, but I haven’t seen him for a long time.’ Roger Hopkins sighed. ‘We had an argument a few years ago. We’re too alike, you see. We both find it difficult to admit when we’re wrong. Anyway, Martin walked out of the house, swearing that he wouldn’t be coming back, and I’ve not heard a word from him since.’

  ‘What a shame. Don’t you have any idea where he’s living? Maybe you could get in touch with him and see if you can clear up the misunderstanding,’ Beth suggested.

  ‘I’ve thought about it a lot, especially since Margaret died. The trouble is that I have no idea where to start,’ the man explained sadly. ‘The last I heard was that Martin was on his way to India. That’s what we argued about, in fact. He wanted to take a year out after university to go travelling and I thought it was a waste of time. It isn’t easy being a parent and sometimes you get it wrong. The problem is that you don’t realise your mistakes until it’s too late. Anyway, I’ll try harder to stick to the diet, Nurse. All it takes is a bit more determination.’

  ‘That’s all,’ Beth agreed. She sighed as he left, thinking how right he’d been about it being difficult to be a good parent. Claire had been a wonderful mother to Hannah but had she been right not to tell the child about her father?

  It was impossible to answer that question so she tried not to dwell on it. She saw two more patients for routine blood-pressure checks then Eileen rang through to tell her that her next appointment had been cancelled. Beth was just thinking gratefully that she would be able to snatch a much-needed cup of coffee when Adam tapped on her door.

  She felt her heart turn over as she wondered what he wanted. From the look of the shadows under his eyes she suspected that he hadn’t slept any better than she had done. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to face a continuation of the conversation they had begun the night before. However, it appeared that Adam’s mind was focused strictly on work for the moment.

  ‘I’ve got a patient with me, a Mrs Dwyer,’ he told her as he came into the room and closed the door. ‘Her daughter brought her in and I’m not at all happy with her. How fast can we get a blood test done?’

  Beth frowned. ‘We normally send bloods away to the lab and it’s a couple of days before we get the results back. I suppose we could ask them to rush it through, but it would be this afternoon at the earliest before they got back to us.’

  ‘That’s too long. I’m working on a hunch here because I’ve not actually seen a case like this before. However, I’m pretty confident that Mrs Dwyer is suffering from Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome.’

>   ‘Isn’t that some sort of brain disorder?’ Beth queried.

  ‘That’s right. It’s caused by a deficiency of thiamine, which affects the brain and nervous system. It’s the result of a poor diet combined with a defect in thiamine metabolism,’ he explained. ‘It’s almost always linked to chronic alcohol dependence, which is what I suspect has caused this patient’s problems.’

  ‘What has the daughter told you?’

  ‘Nothing. I’ve tried to tactfully broach the subject that her mother might have a drink problem, but the daughter won’t discuss it.’ He shook his head. ‘People don’t seem to realise that alcohol dependency is an illness and not something they should be too ashamed to talk about.’

  ‘Difficult situation,’ she sympathised. ‘What are the mother’s symptoms? I’ve heard about the disease but that’s as far as it goes, I’m afraid.’

  ‘Fortunately, it isn’t all that common. However, it does make it harder to diagnose Wernicke’s when you haven’t seen many cases of it, and especially when you can’t get a complete patient history,’ he said worriedly. ‘Mrs Dwyer is showing signs of nystagmus—those strange, jerky eye movements—plus she’s obviously having trouble coordinating when she’s walking. And she seems to have lost a lot of sensation in her hands and feet, and her reflexes are virtually nil.’

  ‘And those are all symptoms of the disease, I imagine. So how can I help you?’ Beth asked, understanding why he was so concerned.

  ‘If you could have a word with the daughter and see if you can get anything out of her, it would be a real help.’ He gave her a warm smile. ‘She might respond better to you, Beth. You have that sort of effect on people, make them want to confide in you.’

  ‘I was only thinking the same about you last night,’ she said in surprise, then realised how revealing that had been and blushed.