Emergency Reunion

by Abigail Gordon

  There was no heartbeat when she listened to his chest or pulse beating in his wrist or neck. ‘It’s cardiac arrest,’ she said urgently, adding to the pilots, ‘Take the lady and come straight back. We’re going to have to resuscitate.

  ‘I’ll do mouth-to-mouth,’ she told the paramedic, ‘while you perform cardiac compression. If we don’t get his heart started again quickly there’ll be brain damage if he ever regains consciousness.’

  At first there was no response and Hannah was beginning to think that what would have been a pleasant holiday for the two elderly Americans was going to end up in a nightmare.

  But she didn’t give up, and at last there was a heartbeat—faint, but definitely a heartbeat—and he was breathing again.

  She looked up. Soon it would be dark. It was time for the Eurocopter to be tucked up for the night and here they were in a serious situation.

  But Jack and his copilot were back more quickly than she would have ever thought possible, and as she climbed aboard once more it was with the knowledge that she would be radioing ahead to say that once again a life was hanging in the balance. A life that but for their presence would have already been lost.

  By the time they’d handed the patient over to the trauma team that were ready and waiting on the roof of the Royal London it was eight o’clock and the hour of her meeting with Kyle long gone.

  If he’d rung the operations room they wouldn’t be there as their function was no longer required during the hours of darkness, so he wasn’t going to know that she was still on duty.

  It was nine o’clock by the time she got home, and all thoughts of a night at the theatre dressed in her favourite black dress, which she’d laid out that morning with joy in her heart, had died.

  Where was he? she wondered. Had he gone without her? Or stayed at home? The only thing to do was find out and so, as the lift came gliding down, she pressed the button that would take her to his floor.

  There was no answer when she rang his doorbell and her heart sank. He’d gone without her, and who could blame him? She went slowly down the stairs and, instead of going to her own apartment, left the building.

  Hungry and tired, the last thing she felt like was making a meal, and the small restaurant where she’d dined that night with Kyle was nearby.

  He was seated at a table in the corner with his face in shadow, but she could tell the mood he was in by the hunch of his shoulders.

  He got to his feet as she approached and there was no anger in him at this last catastrophe. Dejected would be a better way to describe his manner.

  Pulling out a chair for her to be seated he said tonelessly, ‘So where were you at seven o’clock?’

  ‘Where do you think?’ she countered softly.

  ‘I have no idea.’

  ‘You should have.’

  His eyes widened. ‘You weren’t still working!’

  ‘I was.’

  He groaned. ‘I don’t believe it. How come?’

  ‘It was the last emergency of the day and it was my turn. I could have asked one of the others to do it, but they’d have wanted to know why and I didn’t think you’d want our theatre date to be general knowledge.

  ‘An American tourist had been knocked down by a car in the rush hour. If that had been all I would just about have been back in time, but her husband suffered cardiac arrest at the scene and I had to sort that out before I could go back to base. It was half past eight before I left the Royal London. I tried to catch you at your meeting but you’d already left and were in transit, and I presume that your mobile was switched off.’

  He’d lightened up a little, but there was still the air of despondency about him and she thought that this was something new for the man in her life.

  Kyle was strong and resilient, the type who would surmount difficulties when no one else could. Yet the ruining of the evening really seemed to have got to him.

  ‘Have you eaten?’ he asked.

  ‘No. I’m starving, but I felt too fed up to start cooking. What about you?’

  ‘I haven’t eaten either, so at least we can dine together if nothing else.’

  He wasn’t going to tell Hannah that the food would have stuck in his throat before she’d arrived on the scene. She wasn’t the only one who was fed up. It was putting it mildly as far as he was concerned.

  There had been devastation inside him when there’d been no answer when he’d rung her doorbell. For one stupid moment he’d wondered if that whining brother-in-law of Hannah’s had turned up and dragged her off somewhere. But he’d believed her when she’d said they were no longer in contact.

  He’d wandered into this place for lack of something better to do, and surprisingly Hannah had had the same thought. But it didn’t make up for the evening he’d planned. The show, followed by a meal in an upmarket restaurant, and then…

  She looked too exhausted for any reverting to that part of the proceedings. Would the day ever dawn when it was right for them?

  When they’d finished eating Kyle said, ‘Come on. I’m taking you home to bed. You’re exhausted.’ Her eyes widened. ‘There’s no need to look like that. I’m going to tuck you up and leave you…and, Hannah, take the morning off tomorrow.’

  Kyle did as he’d promised. He took her home, waited until she’d undressed and was in bed and then took her a glass of milk and biscuits.

  She smiled up at him from the pillow. ‘I could get used to this.’

  ‘What? Having me on the premises at bedtime, or being waited on?’

  ‘Both,’ she said softly. As he turned to go she added, ‘When one has been tucked up in bed one usually gets a goodnight kiss.’

  ‘Does one? Even though one knows what it might lead to?’

  ‘Yes, in spite of that.’

  ‘Right, then.’ Bending over her, he kissed her cheek.

  She smiled up at him. ‘That isn’t going to send me into dreamland.’

  ‘How about this, then?’ he suggested, and with his mouth on hers Kyle kissed her until she was breathless.

  ‘Neither is that!’ she gasped. ‘I’ve never felt more awake in my life.’

  ‘Obviously the wrong prescription,’ he said laughingly. ‘If it will help, I can take you on to the next stage of the treatment, but I thought you were tired.’

  ‘Was.’

  As she slid her legs over the edge of the bed Kyle removed her nightdress, and then, with his eyes warming at the sight of her nakedness, he began to strip off his own clothes.

  It was like a journey to the stars, Hannah thought dreamily with his mouth on hers and his lean flanks covering her.

  But, incredibly, when she awoke he was gone, with just a note to remind her that she wasn’t expected at work until midday.

  Hannah fell back against the pillows. She’d wanted him to be there when she awoke. To find him gone made it almost seem as if he regretted it. That making love to her was a thing of the night. Not for the cold light of day.

  But whatever was in his mind it didn’t dim the wonder of what had happened between them. They might have missed out on the theatre but they’d put on a show of their own, she thought as she went to turn on the shower, and hopefully it wasn’t going to be a one-act play.

  When she reported for duty after lunch Hannah saw that Kyle had someone in his office.

  ‘That’s the guy who’s going to follow you in the training scheme,’ Graham told her. ‘How much longer have you to do, Hannah?’

  ‘Three weeks.’

  ‘We’re going to miss you.’

  ‘I’m going to miss all of you, too,’ she told him with her eyes on the one she was going to miss the most if something didn’t break soon.

  Last night had been fantastic, but had there been any commitment about it on Kyle’s part? He’d certainly not given her the chance to ask him. To some men sex was merely a release, whereas to a woman it could be binding and beautiful. She prayed that on this one matter at least they might have the same feelings.

  ‘
When is your next interview?’ Graham was asking.

  ‘Next Tuesday in Newcastle-on-Tyne.’

  ‘Does Kyle know?’

  ‘Not yet. I only got confirmation this morning.’

  ‘Do you think you’ll take it if they offer it to you?’

  ‘I’m not sure.’

  She didn’t tell him that there was one health authority she still had to hear from and it was the most important, even though the vacancy was only temporary initially.

  Every time she thought about it there came a vision of a small fair-haired boy on a new bike, who needed more than a father who had to work long hours…and a good housekeeper.

  ‘Did you sleep well, Dr Morgan?’ Kyle asked in a low voice when they managed a moment alone.

  ‘Yes. Marvellously,’ Hannah told him, glowing at the memory, ‘but one thing spoiled it.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘I wanted to wake up with you beside me. Why weren’t you there?’

  ‘I wouldn’t have thought you’d need to ask. Our early start at the unit. To be here for half past seven I need to be up at six-thirty.’

  ‘I woke up before that.’

  He sighed. ‘All right. I went back to my own place because I felt that I’d taken advantage of you. I don’t like that kind of thing to be a rushed affair.’

  ‘What do you mean—that kind of thing?’

  He supposed he should explain that last night was to have been a special occasion, which would almost certainly have ended up as it had, but not because an opportunity had presented itself.

  Rather for a deeper reason, connected with love and commitment, and it was regret for the loss of it that had sent him back to his own apartment.

  ‘Thanks for making paradise look like a barren desert,’ she said flatly.

  The interview in Newcastle-on-Tyne went well, but Hannah’s heart wasn’t in it. For one thing a letter regarding a post in East Gloucestershire had arrived that morning and she’d been able to think of nothing else since.

  She was insane to let her career depend on a dream, she’d kept telling herself as she’d travelled to Newcastle. A dream where she was part of a loving family, who needed her as much as she needed them.

  After her last battle of words with Kyle which, when she thought about it, seemed to have been more on her side than his, they were back to the old routine of polite acquaintances, and she wondered when, if ever, they would get their relationship off the ground again.

  He’d asked her one morning if she’d decided where she was going to move on to, but instead of being her usual truthful self Hannah had been evasive, omitting to tell him that she had one more option to consider.

  It was the place and her reason for considering it that was making her loth to impart the information. And on the day that she boarded a train to Cheltenham, Kyle still had no idea what her plans were.

  As she came away from the interview her mind was made up. If she was offered the post, she would take it.

  It was during her last week with the unit that the offer came, and Hannah hadn’t changed her mind. The temporary post of consultant in the accident and emergency department of a busy hospital in a Midlands town was hers for the taking.

  Kyle hadn’t asked any further questions about her plans and she’d made no effort to tell him, but she sensed that he was tuning in to everything she did.

  As for the rest of the staff, there was much joking on the unit as they professed to be devastated at the thought of a mere male taking the place of the delightful blonde who had brightened up their days, with Jack’s voice being the loudest.

  If the man in charge didn’t join in they thought nothing of it. Kyle was extremely busy and there were rumours that he might be moving on himself soon.

  Hannah had heard them with dismay. Where was he moving to? Kyle hadn’t been there five minutes, yet there wasn’t anyone who didn’t think that he was the best chief they’d ever had.

  One thing was for sure, if she died of curiosity she wasn’t going to ask him what his plans were. If he wanted her to know he would tell her. She supposed that she was being just as secretive about her own new posting, so they were as bad as each other.

  It didn’t stop her from giving in to dread, though. Suppose he was planning on going back to Australia and taking Ben with him?

  On the evening of her last day with the team they all went out for a farewell meal, and amongst the laughter and lighthearted chatter Hannah was acutely aware that one person wasn’t joining in.

  Kyle was standing to one side, glass in hand, and Hannah wondered if he was feeling as miserable as she was. It shouldn’t be like this, she thought wretchedly. Keeping secrets from each other. Acting like strangers. Allowing one misunderstanding after another to eat away at them.

  He’d seen her watching him and he came across. ‘So this is it,’ he said flatly. ‘You’re off. Into the unknown. It’s not me who’s doing the disappearing act this time.’

  ‘No. It isn’t,’ she agreed calmly. ‘But our paths have already crossed once after a long separation. Who knows? It might happen again.’

  ‘You’re prophesying a reunion every eight years?’ he questioned drily.

  ‘It’s possible.’

  He turned away. ‘Yes. Well. Let’s hope we live that long then.’

  At that moment they were interrupted by a cry for a last drink before they all went their separate ways, and as Hannah fixed a smile on her face she thought what a dismal sound the word ‘separate’ had.

  It meant solitary. Togetherness was what she craved, but the dark eyes meeting hers over the top of a glass had no promise of that in them.

  Kyle was the first to leave and Hannah wondered if it was to avoid sharing a taxi with her. With the pattern of non-involvement that they’d wished on themselves, the fact that they lived in the same apartment block meant nothing. But on occasions such as this they would be expected to travel home together.

  There was no sign of him when she got back to her flat, and why should there be? If he’d had anything to say to her the chance had been there when he’d expressed his displeasure at her departing without a forwarding address.

  As far as Kyle was concerned, her reticence was probably just an irritation. He wouldn’t lose any sleep at the thought of her moving out of his orbit.

  He couldn’t believe that she was doing this, Kyle thought as he lay sleepless in his penthouse apartment.

  It was clear that Hannah intended to make a clean break. He’d known it from the moment she’d started hedging when he’d asked her about the interviews and, that being so, there’d seemed no point in telling her how he felt. If Hannah cared for him surely she wouldn’t be doing a disappearing act?

  It was two weeks later. The new job was good. Accident and Emergency in any hospital was always challenging.

  If Hannah sometimes found herself automatically listening for the clatter of an approaching helicopter, she told herself that, whatever she did or wherever she went, the memories of the time she’d spent with the helicopter emergency service would always be with her.

  NHS accommodation had been available and she’d taken advantage of it. It was basic but bearable and she’d thought wryly that where Kyle was moving up the housing scale, she was going down.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  EARLY on a chilly autumn afternoon Hannah found Kyle’s parents in the garden, gathering together the leaves that had begun their seasonal fall.

  She’d chosen a time to visit the Templetons when Ben was at school, as she didn’t want him to find out that she was in Cheltenham before his father did.

  When his grandparents saw her standing at the gate she was greeted with exclamations of surprise and pleasure.

  ‘Hannah!’ Grace cried. ‘Where have you come from? Is Kyle with you?’

  She shook her head. ‘No, I’m afraid not. We’re not in touch any more. I’ve finished my six months with the helicopter medical service and am now employed on a short-term contract in Accident and Emer
gency here in Cheltenham.’

  ‘Bless my soul!’ Howard exclaimed. ‘Who would have expected that?’

  ‘Certainly not your son,’ she said smilingly. ‘He doesn’t know I’m here.’

  ‘Why ever not?’

  ‘It’s a long story.’

  Grace was observing her gravely. ‘So why don’t you and I go and have a cup of tea while Howard finishes bagging the leaves?’

  He laughed. ‘I see. It’s women’s talk that you’ll be having, is it?’

  His wife laughed, too. ‘How did you guess?’

  ‘So, what’s wrong between you and Kyle?’ his mother asked once they’d settled themselves in the sitting room. ‘He only brought you the once and we were disappointed. He’s been talking of buying a house. I believe he’s actually found what he wants, but for some reason he’s dithering and we wondered if it was something to do with you.’

  She went on, ‘From the moment we met you I thought, this is it. Our son is going to settle down at last. He’s going to make up for all that lost time with Hannah. Was I being too previous?’

  ‘I’m afraid so,’ Hannah told her ruefully. ‘It isn’t that easy. I love Kyle. I always have, and I know he has feelings for me, but nothing goes right for us in our relationship. It’s as if what happened all that time ago has put a blight on it and I think he’s given up on me.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound like him,’ Grace said, ‘but I would imagine that his feelings for you are in a separate compartment of his life and he’s wary of bringing them out into the open. Once bitten, perhaps.’

  ‘It was all a terrible mistake on both our parts, but I’m sure he knows now that there was nothing in it.’

  As Grace eyed her sympathetically Hannah went on, ‘Kyle thinks that because I wouldn’t tell him where I’d taken up my consultancy, I’ve done a disappearing act, but it’s not like that. It was the thought of Ben and yourselves being here, and that there was a chance I might see Kyle occasionally when he came to visit that brought me to Cheltenham.

  ‘I didn’t tell him what I was planning because I’m never sure what he’s thinking, but now that I’ve settled in I’m ready to give him a surprise…with your help.’