She shuddered. ‘Don’t remind me. It was a nightmare. But thank goodness Kyle got Ben to hospital so quickly.’
‘Yes, indeed.’ She heard the alarm go off in the background. ‘Must go I’m afraid, Hannah.’
It was late afternoon when the phone rang again and Hannah couldn’t get to it quickly enough.
It was Kyle and he wasn’t concerned with the niceities. ‘You were right, Hannah,’ he said when she answered. ‘Ben is allergic to the injection that my parent’s GP gave him yesterday.’
Relief was making her feel weak and she didn’t answer immediately. ‘Did you hear what I said?’ he asked, as if he thought her silence strange.
‘Yes,’ she breathed. ‘It’s just that I’ve been sitting here for hours imagining the worst. Has Ben been given the antidote to clear up the reaction to the jab?’
‘Of course,’ he said briskly, ‘and he’s already feeling some improvement. I’m sorry I haven’t rung you before but I’ve had my parents to deal with as well. I managed to contact them with the news and they decided to come and see him.’
His voice had lightened and there was laughter in it as he said, ‘And by the way, Ben thinks you’re wonder woman for looking after him. I won’t be able to get a look in the next time he wants to play doctors. I can see him insisting that we send for you.’
‘I’m only too glad I did,’ she told him as unshed tears thickened the words. ‘I’ve never seen anything come on so quickly. One moment we were ready to be off to the zoo, and the next Ben was so poorly I couldn’t believe it. I felt dreadful because you’d only just left him in my care.’
‘There’s no need to feel like that,’ Kyle said, and she sensed that he was retreating behind the barrier of reserve he could erect within seconds. ‘I’m only too sorry that you’ve had all this hassle with me and mine.’
Hannah was about to tell him that she didn’t mind. That nothing mattered as long as Ben was going to be all right. It would have been wonderful if she’d also felt that she could tell him that, given time, she could love the boy as much as she loved his father. But he was already closing up against her. For what reason she didn’t know. Unless something she’d said had reminded him not to get too involved with a two-timing ex-girlfriend.
‘I have to go, Hannah,’ he said, breaking into her sober reasoning. ‘They’re going to keep Ben in for a couple of days. So I won’t be up amongst the rooftops with you for a while. Mum and Dad are going to use my penthouse until he’s well enough to take him back to their place.’
‘Yes. I see,’ she said quickly, adding, before he could ring off, ‘Is it all right if I pop in to see Ben?’
‘Er…yes…if you get the chance,’ he said slowly, as if she’d taken him by surprise. ‘And now I really must go. He’s been asleep, but is now showing signs of rousing and I don’t want him to find me missing when he wakes.’
As Kyle returned to Ben’s bedside his mother looked at him questioningly. Feeling that he should give an explanation for his brief absence, Kyle said, ‘I’ve just been phoning my doctor friend, Hannah Morgan, to let her know how Ben is. It was most unfortunate that she should have been responsible for Ben when he was taken ill.’
‘Yes, indeed,’ his mother agreed. ‘Does the lady work in the emergency services with you?’
He nodded. When the two of them had been in love all that time ago he’d been away from home and his parents had known little about what he’d done in his spare time, so the name wouldn’t be familiar to them.
But his mother soon picked up on things and if he wasn’t careful she would tune in to the turmoil inside him every time Hannah’s name was mentioned…and that was a minor turbulence compared to what he was like when he was in her presence.
He’d harked back a couple of times to the disastrous day when he’d found her in a passionate embrace with her recently bereaved brother-in-law, and she’d immediately flared up at him bringing back the hurtful past.
Hannah hadn’t been repentant or embarrassed on those occasions. She had been coldly indignant, and now, because he had this awful feeling that he’d been a bit too previous when he’d stormed off and left her in jealous pride, it was the last thing he wanted to talk about.
Yet whatever his own feelings for her were, Hannah had been a hit with Ben. As soon as he’d begun to feel better he had asked, ‘When is Hannah coming to see me?’
‘I don’t know,’ Kyle had told him, but I’m sure she will soon.’
The driver of a car approaching Great Cumberland Place had lost control of the vehicle and run into a solitary woman waiting at a bus stop.
The call-out had come in the middle of the next morning and as it was Hannah’s turn to lead the main team of the day it was she and an assistant paramedic who ran to climb aboard the Eurocopter.
As they flew over the green expanse of Hyde Park and then Marble Arch towering above the bustling crowds of Oxford Street, Hannah felt her pulses quickening. What were they going to be faced with this time? she wondered.
With his seemingly effortless skill Jack landed the Eurocopter in a small square near to the accident scene, and the moment they had touched down Hannah and the paramedic were off. They pushed their way through the gaping crowds to where the man sat trapped behind the steering-wheel of his car, and the unfortunate woman lay amongst the shattered glass of both car and bus shelter.
Police were already there, coping with the two casualties and a steadily accumulating traffic build-up.
‘A witness states that the guy in the car was driving along at a reasonable pace when he suddenly slumped over the wheel and the car careered into the woman at the bus stop,’ one of the policemen said.
Hannah nodded and hurried to where the injured woman was lying on her side in what was left of the bus shelter. The paramedic attended to the driver of the car, only to report back that there were no signs of life.
Middle-aged, and dressed in a brightly coloured sari, the woman was bleeding heavily from the back of her head and shoulders.
It seemed as if she had taken the impact of the car full on, not having had time to move. The injuries she had sustained were from being lifted onto the bonnet of the vehicle and then flung off against the back of the bus shelter as it had splintered around her.
‘I’m going to cut her clothing away so I can see just what damage has been done,’ Hannah told the hovering policemen. ‘Will you move the onlookers back to give us some privacy?’ As she looked into a pair of dark, terrified eyes she added, ‘Ask everyone to make less noise. What has happened to this lady is bad enough without all this shouting going on around her.
‘There appear to be leg fractures from where the bumper hit her full on, but the upper part of the body was saved from more serious injury because it was carried along on the bonnet,’ she went on. ‘I’m most concerned about the gashes to her head and shoulders where she was slammed up against the metal frame of the shelter. What is your name?’ she asked gently of the injured woman, but the reply wasn’t coherent enough for Hannah to understand.
One thing Hannah did know was that the woman needed prompt treatment—skull X-rays, stitches in the many deep cuts and the broken bones needed setting.
As she put antiseptic pads over the areas that were bleeding the most and supervised the patient being strapped to a stretcher to prevent any jolting of her leg bones, Hannah was already ringing the trauma team at the nearest hospital.
It was only as they became airborne that she remembered that little Ben was in there and the thought came that, given the chance, she would pop in to see him.
The chance did present itself. As the injured woman was wheeled quickly away to have her injuries assessed Hannah sprinted down to the children’s ward, calling at the hospital shop on the way.
She’d told Jack that she wanted to visit Ben and he’d told her to go ahead. If an emergency was relayed out to him he would seek her out.
The little boy was alone when she found him, sitting up in bed looking at
a picture book, and at first he didn’t recognise her in the bright surgical suit.
But when she settled herself on a chair by his bed and smiled across at him he cried, ‘Hannah! It’s you!’ adding with typical childish directness, ‘When can I have the treat?’
‘As soon as you’re better,’ she said laughingly. ‘When you’ve got rid of your spots.’
He immediately lifted his pyjama jacket and said stoutly, ‘They’ve gone.’
The blotches were certainly fading, but she wouldn’t describe them as ‘gone’. However, she wasn’t going to argue.
‘Where’s Daddy, and Grandma and Grandad?’ she asked, having expected to face the full family Templeton when she got there.
‘Daddy has gone to see when he can take me home,’ he informed her, ‘and Grandma and Grandad have gone to his flat to have a nap.’
‘I see.’
She did. She saw that at any moment Kyle would be back and she couldn’t wait to see him again. She’d managed without him for eight long years and now…now she hated to be away from him for a couple of days.
‘Hannah!’ Kyle exclaimed as he came striding back into the ward. ‘How do you come to be here? You’re on duty.’
She stiffened. What did he mean by that? Was it a reprimand? Or merely statement of fact?
‘Er…yes…’ she agreed. ‘I am. We’ve just brought an accident victim in. They’re attending to her now and I thought that while I was in the hospital I would look in on Ben. Jack will come to find me if we get another emergency.’
Her pleasure at being with them both was being wiped out by the feeling that she’d had to explain her presence. As if she were committing a misdemeanour of some sort. Surely Kyle knew that she was fully aware of the demands of the job? Or perhaps his greeting had been less than cordial because he associated her with disruption in his life.
Whatever he was thinking, there was no lack of enthusiasm on his son’s part as Ben said excitedly, ‘Hannah has come to see me in the helicopter, and she says I can still have my treat when I’m better.’
Kyle ruffled the boy’s fair mop with an affectionate hand, but his glance was on Hannah as he said, ‘They’ve just said that we can take Ben home this afternoon, so Mum and Dad will be taking him back to the Cotswolds tomorrow.’
‘Fair enough,’ she said equably, determined not to be put off by his cool manner. Turning to the boy she said, ‘I have to go now, Ben, but before I do, here’s a little something to play with.’
His eyes widened when she produced a small clockwork reproduction of the Eurocopter which she’d bought in the hospital shop.
‘It’s like the one that they brought me to hospital in!’
‘Yes, it is,’ she said softly, and with a quick glance at the man standing at the opposite of the bed she continued, ‘And at this moment it’s waiting for me up on the roof. Maybe when you’re feeling better your daddy will let you have another ride in it as a special treat.’ And on that suggestion she went.
CHAPTER FIVE
AS KYLE watched Hannah go he groaned. Taking his eyes off his new toy for a moment, Ben asked, ‘What’s the matter, Daddy? Have you got a pain?’
Kyle shook his head. He hadn’t got a pain. He was one! He was known to be cool, level-headed and unflappable, and yet whenever he was anywhere near Hannah he behaved like an idiot.
His heart had leapt when he’d seen her beside Ben’s bed, and what had he done? Commented that she was on duty. A remark that she’d taken as a reprimand when it had been merely the first thing that had come into his head as he’d sought to conceal his pleasure.
Even if it had been meant in censure, he was well aware that the only time she would be able to get to see Ben would be during working hours. She was on duty until whenever the summer sun decided to set.
He also knew that she wouldn’t have dreamt of coming onto the wards if there’d been the slightest chance she might be needed. And so what had he done? Antagonised her when she’d taken the trouble to visit Ben, instead of telling her how much he appreciated it, and how much her prompt action the day before had meant to him when his son had been so ill.
The temptation to go after her was strong, but it wasn’t the right moment, was it? For one thing, he didn’t want to upset Ben by dashing off. For another, Krasner and the paramedic would be up there, waiting for her, on the roof. He didn’t want to be making his peace with her in front of them.
It would have to wait. He’d waited eight long years, so a couple of days weren’t going to make much difference. His parents appeared at that moment, refreshed after their rest, and that was another reason for putting the talk to Hannah on hold.
‘So what’s wrong?’ Jack asked Hannah as they flew back to base. ‘Was the kiddiwink still poorly?’
‘Er…no. Ben’s doing fine,’ she said absently.
‘Then it’s bad news about the bus-shelter woman?’
Hannah shook her head. ‘No, not really. The news isn’t good, but it isn’t as bad as it could have been. I spoke to one of the A and E consultants before we left and he said that a skull X-ray had shown no internal bleeding but the leg fractures are very serious and it will be a long time before the lady can get about without assistance.’
‘So what is it that’s put your light out?’ the pilot wanted to know. ‘Templeton perhaps? You must have seen him when you went to visit the boy.’
She managed a smile. ‘Don’t be so nosy. I’m just tired, that’s all.’
Not true, of course. A kind word from Kyle would have put her on cloud nine, but instead he’d had to remind her that she was on duty. Maybe he would have liked her to visit Ben in the middle of the night. The nursing staff would have loved that!
It transpired that late-night visiting was to be on the agenda but the other way round. Hannah had just got home when the doorbell rang and she found Kyle standing on the mat.
‘I know you’ve only just got in so I’m not going to keep you,’ he said, not meeting her surprised gaze. ‘Ben is home and at this moment is tucked up in my bed. He’s almost back to his usual self and I don’t anticipate any more problems in that direction.’
‘That’s good,’ she said quietly.
‘Mum and Dad are in the spare room,’ he went on, ‘which makes us rather overcrowded and…er…I was wondering if you would consider having a lodger for the night?’
Into the stunned silence his request had brought about he said with an apologetic smile, ‘I promise I don’t snore.’
After his rebuff of the afternoon it was on the tip of her tongue to say, ‘And what’s wrong with your sofa?’ But that would have been cutting off her nose to spite her face. To have Kyle so near for so long was a chance not to be missed, and so she said coolly, ‘Yes, of course. But you’ll have to give me time to make up the spare bed…and get out the red carpet.’
‘Sure,’ he agreed easily, ignoring the sarcasm. ‘If I come down in an hour or so, will that be all right?’
‘Yes, but you’d better take a key with you. I might have already gone to bed when you arrive.’
He was observing her blankly and she thought, That’s taken the wind out of his sails.
She had no intention of being in bed on such an occasion, but it did no harm to let Kyle think that his presence was of so little importance that she just might be.
When she opened the door to him at just gone eleven o’clock Hannah saw him flinch and wondered why. She wasn’t to know that her nightwear was the same as on the night that he’d stood in the shadows and watched Richard’s departure, and that he was cursing inwardly because he was on the sidelines of her life and it was no one’s fault but his own.
As she moved back to let him in, they brushed against each other and he became still.
But only momentarily. With a speed that left her speechless he reached out for her and pulled her to him.
‘What is it with you, Hannah,’ he breathed with his lips against the hollow of her throat, ‘that you have us all wanting you?
Krasner! The fellow you were seeing off so affectionately the other night and myself, just to name a few.’
She was listening to him openmouthed, her eyes bright blue pools of surprise beneath the ash blonde bob that was still damp from the shower.
It was difficult to know what to be the most amazed at—that Kyle had been watching when she’d sent Richard on his way and had obviously put two and two together and made five, or his admission that he was still attracted to her.
She pushed him away and as he stepped back she thought, This is crazy! I ought to be over the moon to know that he feels like that about me, yet I’m more concerned with putting him right about what’s happening in my life.
But she had to explain the Richard business first. His comments regarding it had triggered off a degree of anger that would be a good antidote to any euphoria brought about by the discovery that he wasn’t entirely immune to her presence.
‘Where were you when I was saying goodbye to Richard?’ she said coldly.
‘Ah! So that was your friend Richard.’
‘No! It was Richard who is an acquaintance of mine…and nothing more. He had called round to ask if I would like to go on holiday with him—’
‘And he’s only an acquaintance?’ he questioned with a dry laugh.
‘Yes! As I’ve already told you! But he’s an acquaintance with an outsize ego and he couldn’t believe it when I said no. Any affection you might have witnessed on my part was because I was feeling sorry for him in spite of his conceit. So now you know, and now I want to know how you came to be snooping on us.’
‘Snooping!’ he growled. ‘I had just got out of the lift and was about to call on you to discuss the arrangements for your minding Ben on the following day when I saw your door open, and before I could make my presence known you appeared with this fellow, Richard. And you have to admit that you weren’t exactly overdressed.’
‘As now?’
‘Yes, Hannah, as now,’ he confirmed with his voice deepening. There was an intensity in his dark gaze that was heating her blood. If he should take hold of her again she knew she would be lost.
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