A Very Special Surgeon

by Laura MacDonald

  ‘Liam said that?’ The tears ran down Kate’s cheeks now and she dashed them away with her hand.

  ‘Yes, Kate, he did. Now, I’m not suggesting you go off deliberately looking for someone, because it rarely happens that way. When it does happen it’s usually totally unexpected and quite often with someone who’s been there right under your nose for a very long time.’

  ‘You’re talking about Tom Fielding again,’ said Kate with a watery smile.

  ‘It may be him, it may not,’ Aunt Bessie replied, ‘but what I am saying is that you shouldn’t close your heart or your mind to the possibility. You owe it to yourself and to the children, and as a compliment to Liam, to show the world that you can be happy again.

  Kate thought long and hard that night about what Aunt Bessie had said and eventually came to the conclusion that as usual it was full of her aunt’s common sense and down-to-earth wisdom.

  Maybe it was time to move on, to put her life back together again. Maybe it was what Liam would have wanted, and maybe there was someone out there who would be right for her. But was Tom Fielding the one? Aunt Bessie had hinted at it and Natalie was constantly trying to read more into the situation than was actually there. But how did she herself feel about him? she asked herself as she prepared for bed. She liked him but, then, she’d always liked him, he’d been around at work for a very long time—but wasn’t that just what Aunt Bessie had implied, that when it happened, more often than not it would be with someone like that, someone who was right there?

  But things had changed in the last couple of weeks because it wasn’t now just a case of Tom being right there, at work each day. Now there were outings and meals, and today there had been something else, something elusive, almost intangible but at the same time, nevertheless, very real. It had started with that little frisson of anticipation over her showing him the copse—silly really but, again, very real. And then during their walk there had been that heart-stopping moment when he had touched her. The incident itself had been so slight, so slender that to anyone else it might have seemed inconsequential, but somehow, to Kate, it had been a moment that could signify a change in their relationship, a moment that could determine whether they stopped right there or whether they moved forward.

  But what of Tom? Did he want more? Did he want their relationship to move forward? He’d left without making any further plans but that could have been because they had left it late before leaving. On the other hand, maybe he’d decided not to pursue the relationship any further. He’d already told her he found it difficult to trust a woman again—would he be unable to trust her? Or did he simply feel the situation could become too complicated, what with his children and her children, with Aunt Bessie, his ex-wife and, last but by no means least, the fact that they worked together—which in itself could be a recipe for disaster?

  On the other hand, she thought as she stepped into the shower, maybe the truth was far simpler than all that. Perhaps he just didn’t find her attractive: end of story. After all, she wasn’t exactly in the first flush of youth and she had had two children.

  It was with that sobering thought uppermost in her mind that a little later she stepped out of the shower, wrapped herself in a towel and wound another round her head before padding into her bedroom, only to find that the phone on her bedside table was ringing. Leaning across the bed, she lifted the receiver. ‘Hello?’ she said, wondering who could be ringing her so late.

  ‘Kate?’

  There was no mistaking the voice and she felt her heart give a delicious little flutter. ‘Tom?’ she said.

  ‘I’m sorry to be ringing so late,’ he said. ‘Did I wake you? I was about to hang up.’

  ‘No,’ she said quickly, ‘nothing like that. I was in the shower.’

  ‘So are you now dripping water all over the sitting-room floor?’

  ‘No.’ She laughed. ‘It’s all right. I’m in the bedroom. I have a phone by the bed and I’m well wrapped up in towels.’

  ‘I see,’ he said, and to Kate, listening, it was as if he was contemplating the thought of her wrapped in towels and lying on her bed. ‘I just wanted to apologise for rushing away the way we did.’

  ‘Oh, that’s all right,’ she said. ‘You were late. I hadn’t realised the time had gone so quickly.’

  ‘Yes, well, normally I wouldn’t have worried but—’

  ‘Jennifer wanted the children back, I know.’

  ‘No,’ he interrupted her, ‘I wasn’t going to say that. I was going to say that Joe gets anxious if he’s late for anything.’

  ‘So were you late?’ she asked.

  ‘Not really. The friends Jennifer had wanted the children to see were still there—at least, there was a strange car on the drive so I assume it was them.’

  ‘Did you see Jennifer?’ she asked. She didn’t know why she’d said it—really, it was none of her business—but suddenly, for some obscure reason which she was at a loss to work out, she needed to know.

  ‘No,’ he said, ‘she didn’t come out. He did—Max Oliver—and the children went inside with him.’

  ‘It must be very hard for you,’ she said, ‘seeing your children with another man.’

  ‘It was at first,’ he admitted, ‘but I’ve got used to it now. But that’s beside the point. Apart from apologising for rushing off, I also wanted to say how much we all enjoyed today and to thank you for everything.’

  ‘That’s all right,’ said Kate. She spoke casually but nevertheless she was pleased. ‘We enjoyed it, too.’

  ‘Thank Bessie for us as well, won’t you?’

  ‘I will.’

  ‘She’s a delightful lady,’ he said.

  Kate laughed. ‘You two could set up a mutual admiration society,’ she said. ‘She’s been singing your praises as well.’

  ‘Oh?’ He sounded interested. ‘Are you saying she approved of me?’

  ‘Oh, definitely.’

  ‘So could that mean that by getting past Aunt Bessie I could be in with a chance?’ he said. There was a hint of amusement in his voice but Kate found herself gripping the receiver a little more tightly.

  ‘It depends,’ she replied lightly, ‘on what your intentions are.’

  ‘Well,’ he said slowly, as if considering carefully, ‘I was wondering if we might make another arrangement.’

  ‘I don’t see why not,’ she replied. ‘What did you have in mind? Tenpin bowling again? Or how about a picnic somewhere? We could perhaps meet you all…’

  ‘Actually, Kate, no,’ he said, and his tone of voice had changed now, losing that hint of amusement and taking on a serious note. ‘That wasn’t what I had in mind this time.’

  ‘Oh?’ she said. ‘Don’t you like picnics? I thought perhaps we could go to the beach…’

  ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I do like picnics, so do Joe and Francesca, and the beach sounds a wonderful idea, but maybe another time. What I had in mind was that just you and I go somewhere.’

  ‘Oh!’ she said, and her breath caught in her throat.

  ‘Would Bessie keep an eye on Siobhan and Connor?’

  ‘Yes,’ she replied, trying to ignore the little knot of excitement that was there again in the pit of her stomach, just like it had been earlier in the day. ‘Yes, I’m sure she would.’

  ‘Well, in that case, how about next Friday? I can pick you up and we can go somewhere for a quiet meal—just the two of us.’

  ‘Yes, Tom,’ she heard herself say. ‘I would like that.’

  ‘That’s settled, then.’ He sounded pleased. ‘I’d better go now and let you get some sleep. I’ll see you on Monday, Kate. Goodnight.’

  ‘Goodnight.’ She replaced the receiver then rolled over onto her back and gazed up at the ceiling. She had a date. She was actually going out with another man, and if that tingle of excitement had been anything to go by she knew that she would be counting the days until Friday.

  But as the excitement subsided a little Kate knew she couldn’t get away from the fact that the
man who was causing this excitement was still her boss, with all the pitfalls that situation implied. She made up her mind, there and then, that her professional relationship with him would have to be kept distinctly separate from her private one.

  CHAPTER SIX

  ‘SISTER!’

  Kate was on her way to her office but paused as she heard the call from a bed in the antenatal bay. She walked back. Its occupant, Sara Millington, was a petite girl in her early twenties with long hair and huge brown eyes, who had been admitted with high blood pressure two days previously and who was thirty-eight weeks into her pregnancy. ‘What is it, Sara?’ she asked, frowning when she saw the girl’s ashen appearance. ‘Is there something wrong?’

  ‘That woman,’ whispered Sara, her eyes enormous as she stared towards the nurses’ station.

  ‘What woman?’

  ‘The one the ambulancemen have just brought in.’

  ‘What about her?’

  ‘I know her,’ said Sara.

  ‘Well, that often happens in here,’ said Kate, preparing to move on. It was the start of what promised to be a busy day and she had no time to stand talking.

  ‘No.’ Sara was shaking her head. ‘You don’t understand. I…I…I have to talk to you, Sister.’ She looked up at Kate, her expression one of helpless despair.

  Kate hesitated. Her workload was awesome but at the same time she knew that Tom planned to induce Sara’s labour that morning, and he would be less than pleased if she was being placed under any undue stress that might raise her blood pressure even more. With a quick flick of her wrist Kate drew the curtains around the girl’s bed and sat down on a chair beside her. ‘So, tell me,’ she said. ‘What is this all about?’

  ‘Well,’ gulped Sara, ‘you know Philip, my boyfriend?’

  ‘Was that him who visited you yesterday?’ asked Kate.

  ‘Yes.’ Sara nodded and Kate noticed that her eyes had filled with tears. ‘Well, that woman…that’s just come in…’

  ‘What about her?’

  ‘She’s…she’s his wife!’

  ‘His wife?’ Kate stared at her. She was well used to these situations on Maternity but somehow found herself a little surprised at this particular triangle. She’d had Sara and her boyfriend down as a devoted young couple, eagerly awaiting the arrival of their first baby and no doubt planning their wedding and their future life together.

  ‘Yes, but…why is she in here? I don’t understand,’ Sara went on. ‘If she’s in here she must be having a baby and Philip said…well, he said they hadn’t slept together for a very long time. He is on the point of leaving her to be with me…and our baby,’ she explained earnestly.

  ‘Does his wife know about you?’ asked Kate quietly.

  ‘Yes.’ Sara nodded. ‘She found out some time ago. Philip and I work together, you see. She told him he had to end our affair but…he couldn’t, especially after we found that I was pregnant.’

  ‘Does she know any of this—about the baby or that the affair has continued?’

  Sara shook her head. ‘No, he was going to tell her,’ she whispered. ‘He said as soon as our baby was born…then he would leave her and move into my flat with me. He loves me,’ she said almost pleadingly, desperate now for Kate to understand the situation.

  ‘I’m sure he does,’ said Kate, forcing herself to remain neutral.

  ‘But she’s pregnant!’ Sara shook her head. ‘How can she be, when they don’t even sleep together? Philip told me that she wouldn’t forgive him for his affair with me and he has been sleeping in the spare room. He said he didn’t mind that because he didn’t want to sleep with her anyway because it’s me he really loves. He couldn’t leave her before because their son was ill, but he’s getting better now and—’

  ‘How many children do they have?’ asked Kate.

  ‘Two,’ Sara replied, ‘two boys…’ Her face crumpled. ‘And now there’s going to be another. She…she, his wife, she couldn’t be in here for anything else, could she?’ She was almost pleading with Kate now, willing her to say that sometimes patients came to the department for some other reason.

  ‘No, Sara,’ said Kate quietly. ‘I’m sorry, but she couldn’t be here for any other reason.’

  ‘I have to phone him,’ said Sara at last. ‘There must be some explanation. Philip wouldn’t have lied to me like that. She must have been having an affair as well! Yes, that’s it.’ Her eyes brightened. ‘That must be it. She’s been having an affair to punish him even more and she got pregnant by this other man. That baby isn’t Philip’s—I know it isn’t. This one is Philip’s!’ She moved her hands over the smooth dome of her stomach, the gesture both proud and protective.

  When Kate left Sara, the girl was already trying to contact Philip Browne at the company where they were both employed, while Nicole Browne, when Kate went into the labour suite, was awaiting the arrival of the same man.

  ‘My husband is on his way in,’ Nicole told Kate, when Kate tentatively enquired. ‘His job takes him away from home quite a bit, but fortunately he’s here at the moment, although he’d already left for work when my waters broke this morning.’

  ‘How are your contractions, Nicole?’ asked Kate.

  ‘They were very strong at first, that’s why I called for an ambulance. I was told that third babies are sometimes apt to make speedy arrivals, but since I got here I have to say they seem to have eased up.’

  ‘That’s very often the case,’ Kate replied. ‘How about I take a look and see what’s happening?’

  ‘Well,’ she said after examining Nicole, ‘your cervix is six centimetres dilated so I would say those contractions will pick up again very soon, and the baby’s heartbeat is strong.’

  ‘It’s a little girl,’ said Nicole, her round face beaming. ‘We already have two boys and when I found out I was having a girl I was over the moon. So was my husband—he dearly wants a daughter. You see, Sister—’ she lowered her voice ‘—our marriage hit a rocky patch recently, but we’ve worked at it and this baby is going to set the seal, so to speak. Needless to say, my boys are thrilled—they can’t wait to see their little sister.’

  ‘We have one of those situations on our hands which unfortunately has become all too familiar on Maternity but which nevertheless requires careful and discreet handling.’

  Kate glanced round her office at her assembled staff and suddenly realised that Tom had slipped into the room and was leaning against the closed door, his arms folded. It was unusual for him to attend a staff conference unless he was directly involved, and whereas in the past Kate would have thought little of it now, because of recent events, she found she was acutely aware of him. So much so that when she attempted to continue she found that her voice was suddenly husky. She cleared her throat and swallowed.

  ‘Two days ago, as you will know,’ she managed to continue at last, ‘we admitted Sara Millington. She is thirty-eight weeks into her pregnancy and with raised blood pressure—her labour is to be induced today. She told us that her next of kin is her boyfriend, Philip Browne, and he has already visited her. Early this morning we admitted Nicole Browne. She was in fairly strong labour when she arrived and her membranes had ruptured. Since then, however, her contractions have subsided. As you will no doubt by now have worked out, Nicole Browne is Philip Browne’s wife. I fear there may well be scenes before the day is out and I suggest you will need to be models of tact and discretion when dealing with these two ladies.’

  ‘How do we know all this?’ asked Natalie.

  ‘Sara Millington recognised Nicole Browne when she arrived,’ Kate replied. ‘Fortunately her husband didn’t bring her in,’ she went on. ‘She arrived by ambulance but it can only be a matter of time before Philip Browne arrives and will be forced to make a decision as to which woman he visits—Sara, whom he visited last night, or his wife Nicole. Or maybe he will visit them both.’

  ‘Ye gods!’ Natalie passed a hand across her brow in an exaggerated gesture. ‘The messes people get themsel
ves in!’

  ‘Yes, quite,’ Kate replied dryly, ‘but as in every other situation that comes into Maternity, our job is to deliver healthy babies and give the best, most professional care to the mothers. It is not for us to judge, condemn or criticise any moral aspect of the situation.’ She glanced round at the others once again, only too aware of Tom’s eyes upon her. ‘Is that clear?’ she asked.

  There were nods and murmurs of agreement, then Natalie spoke again, voicing the question that must have been uppermost in many minds. ‘What about the wife?’ she asked. ‘Does she know about Sara?’

  ‘She apparently knew of her husband’s affair,’ Kate replied, ‘but believes it to be over. Likewise Sara believes that Philip Browne is about to leave his wife to be with her. But, irrespective of what either of these ladies do or do not know, we can assume there may well be trouble. I don’t need to remind you that what you have been told is, of course, in the strictest confidence. But our job is to maintain the smooth running of this department and that is why I have decided to divulge these details to you.’

  Moments later the staff had filed out of Kate’s office and made their way back to their various tasks—all except Tom, who lingered.

  ‘Mr Fielding?’ asked Kate. ‘Is there anything I can help you with?’ She was aware of the brisk, matter-of-fact tone of her voice, something she had consciously decided to adopt in any dealings with Tom while at work, just as she was aware that Natalie had cast an interested backward glance at them both before leaving the office.

  ‘Kate?’ he said. ‘Is there anything wrong?’

  ‘No,’ she said quickly, ‘of course not.’

  ‘It’s just that you seem…different somehow this morning. Since the weekend really, if I’m honest, but somehow even more so today.’

  ‘Different from what?’ she asked as she began tidying a pile of folders on her desk.

  ‘From how you usually are,’ he said softly, ‘and certainly from how you were on Saturday. I was beginning to wonder whether I had overstepped the mark in asking you out—or even if I’d upset you in any way.’