His finger touched her cheek. ‘I’d just had the best six months of my life—professionally and personally—and then poof!’ He blew into his fingers. ‘The best thing disappeared.’
Amy could hear thudding in her ears. Was that the sound of her heart beating? Had he really just said that?
She felt a tingling sensation across her skin. Wasn’t this what she’d really wanted to hear but he’d never said? She couldn’t stop staring into those eyes. Those dark blue rims were really fascinating up close. Her throat felt dry, closed up, and she swallowed nervously. ‘You never said anything,’ she whispered. ‘I thought I was just your summer fling.’
‘I think six months qualifies as a little more than a summer fling.’ He blinked, breaking off his gaze and staring back down at the sand. ‘And, anyway, what was there to say?’ His voice sounded rueful. ‘I met a gorgeous girl and spent six fantastic months in bed with her, then she disappeared.’ He never lifted his head, just kept staring at the sand, his hand scooping up big piles that he let run through his fingers again.
‘I contacted a few people and tried to get your number, called Human Resources—who said that you’d quit. No one else on the boat seemed to have contact details for you. So that was it.’
So that was it. It sounded so final.
‘You should have told me, Amy. You should have told me you were sick.’ The sand was trickling through his fingers again. ‘I don’t think I can forgive the fact you didn’t tell me.’
The words spun around in her head. After all this time, and all her explanations, he was still angry with her. The tiny spark that had been ignited inside her was dying. Being described as someone he’d ‘spent six fantastic months in bed with’ didn’t fill her with inspiration. It made her feel like a sex object. Not a living, breathing human soul.
Not someone who he’d connected with. And definitely not someone he might have loved.
CHAPTER SIX
LINCOLN laid baby Esther on the scales again. Four pounds twelve ounces. A slight increase on her birth weight and she was finally feeding well. He gave Jennifer a little smile. ‘Well, I think I can officially give the First Daughter a clean bill of health. There’s really no reason to keep her here any longer.’
‘I can go home?’ The relief in Jennifer’s eyes was apparent. Her husband, Charlie, had had to leave again two days ago and she was anxious to be with him.
Lincoln gave a nod.
‘Do you have a preferred paediatrician in Washington? I’d like to handover to him or her before you go home.’
Jennifer gave a little nod. ‘David Fairgreaves recommended someone to me—Linda Hylton. Have you heard of her?’
Lincoln nodded. ‘We were paediatric residents together. She’s great and she’ll look after you. I know her number so I’ll give her a call this afternoon.’ He rolled his eyes at the black-suited figure visible through the glass in the door. ‘I’ll speak to your security detail. If you go home tomorrow, I’d expect you to see Linda in the next few days.’ His nose wrinkled. ‘I don’t suppose you’re going to be able to attend a regular appointment.’ He shook his head, ‘Obviously not. Once I’ve spoken to Linda, I’ll give James Turner her information and let him sort the appointment details out. Are you happy with that?’
Jennifer gave a watery smile. ‘I’ll just be happy to get home,’ she whispered, then looked up again. ‘Wait a minute—is Linda Hylton one of your love victims? Should I be careful what I say about you?’
Lincoln rolled his eyes. ‘I don’t know where you get these crazy ideas. I don’t go out with every woman I meet.’
Jennifer folded her arms. ‘So what was wrong with Linda Hylton?’
Lincoln smiled. ‘Okay, you got me. She was dating one of my friends. Satisfied?’
Jennifer nodded her head, stifling her laugh.
‘What about some help with your breastfeeding? Do you want me to arrange some support for you?’
Jennifer breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Thankfully that’s the one thing that I arranged a few months ago. I’ve got a friend who’s a specialist NICU nurse in Washington—she’s taking a leave of absence from her work for a few weeks and she’s going to be around.’
Lincoln sat in the chair next to her, scribbling a few notes in the chart. ‘Let me try and sort out the logistics of this.’ He glanced around her jam-packed room, where even more presents seemed to have materialised. ‘You just worry about how you’re going to fit all this stuff into Air Force One.’
Jennifer shook her head. ‘Now, now, Lincoln. It’s only Air Force One if the President is on board—I thought everyone knew that. It’s just an ordinary plane without him.’
Lincoln shook his head. ‘I wouldn’t let you fly with a neonate this young on an ordinary plane, Jennifer. But I’ll do a final check on Esther before you go. Everything looks fine, so I don’t imagine there will be any problems.’
Jennifer paused. ‘Just out of interest, Linc. What does your “friend” make of your flirting?’
He stopped. The question had thrown him. He shrugged, shuffling the notes in his lap. ‘Funnily enough, she’s not interested in this hot body, she’s only interested in my clinical skills.’
Something about saying those words made his stomach clench. He’d said them in jest but the irony wasn’t lost on him. Amy had been clear about why she was here. For his skills as a neonatologist.
He went to stand up but Jennifer reached over and touched his arm. ‘Did she like the maternity clothes?’
‘Yes…yes, she did. Thank you. And you were right. They fitted perfectly.’
Jennifer gave a little nod, a little smile appearing on her face. ‘I thought they might.’ She waved her arms around the room. ‘And your friend—does she need anything else? Anything for her baby?’
He shook his head. ‘She’s picked out most things and paid for them already. She just needs to pick them up.’
Then it struck him. Pick them up. From where? Suddenly it all seemed so ridiculous to him. How on earth was she going to be able to pick up her baby things?
He’d seen the baby catalogues stuffed in her bag and she’d showed him the items that she’d chosen. A white wooden baby crib and chest of drawers, a bright red pram and stroller, a zebra-print baby seat and a polished wooden high chair.
All apparently paid for and waiting in a store in Santa Maria, Butte County. Four hours away from where he stayed in San Francisco and even further from Pelican Cove.
‘Thanks for all your help, Lincoln…’ The First Lady was talking to him but his mind had drifted off. He was just about to discharge baby Esther, which meant that he, and his whole entourage of staff and equipment, should pack up and leave. Leave to go back to NICU at San Francisco Children’s Hospital. Something that deep down he knew they all wanted to do.
But that would mean leaving Amy with no facilities for her baby. No staff and no equipment for a premature delivery. Her blood pressure was still borderline, with no particular response to the anti-hypertensives. She should be reviewed on a daily basis. Who would do that if they all left?
‘So I was wondering if you would mind?’
‘Mind? Mind what?’ Lincoln snapped out of his thoughts with the distinct impression he’d just missed something important.
Jennifer laughed, the amused expression on her face unhidden. ‘You haven’t listened to a single word I said—have you?’
Lincoln felt embarrassed.
‘You’re too busy thinking about a beautiful redhead, I imagine.’
‘What? No? Of course not.’ He was babbling and he knew it.
‘Oh, don’t make excuses, Linc, you’ve done everything you can for me…’ she bent her head and kissed her baby on the forehead ‘…and Esther.’ She waved her hand in the air. ‘So go and see your lady fr
iend.’
Lincoln’s lips formed a tight smile and he left the room, stopping in the middle of the corridor. What on earth was he going to do? He’d promised to look after Amy’s baby—how could he do that in San Francisco?
He strode quickly down the corridor. Right now he needed someone to talk to. Someone who could give him some advice. But all his friends were in San Francisco, and the only other people he knew well were Val and Ruth. He couldn’t discuss Amy with them, it just wasn’t his style.
He walked out the front doors of the hospital into the Californian sunshine. It was another gorgeous day. Just like the one a few days ago when he’d taken Amy for the picnic on the beach.
The day that had left an awkward and uncomfortable silence between them. He’d obviously said something to offend her—but, for the life of him, he couldn’t think what it was. She seemed almost…disappointed in him.
Lincoln walked over to one of the benches outside the hospital doors and sat down. He took a long, slow breath, in and out. He had to take some time to think about this—think about what to do.
If he discharged baby Esther tomorrow, he would have to tell Amy that it was time for his staff and equipment to leave Pelican Cove. So why did his stomach churn at the mere thought of that?
He stared out over the ocean, watching the crashing waves. It was time to stop skirting around the edges. It was time to face up to the facts. How did ‘playboy Linc’ really feel about Amy?
He could remember how much he’d missed her when she’d left the boat. But then he’d thought it was only a holiday and she’d be back before he knew it. Except she hadn’t been.
When she’d gone on holiday it had hit him how much he missed her. He’d lain awake in his cabin at night, listening to the sounds of the Amazon rain forest, his thoughts filled with her, stealing his sleep away from him. He’d watched the calendar hanging in the galley, counting the days until she came back.
Except she hadn’t.
And the feelings that had descended on him when she hadn’t returned had been a first for him. He had been frustrated beyond belief by the fact that no one had been able to tell him where she was, or why she hadn’t returned. Most of the other staff had just shrugged their shoulders and said it happened often—people went home to their nice, clean homes and calm lives, and decided not to return to the damp, humid conditions of the Amazon.
Everyone just seemed to accept it and carry on with their lives—whilst Lincoln had felt as if he was losing his mind.
So he’d pushed it all away. Put his mind on the job at hand, the fate of a thousand people living on the banks of the Amazon and coming for medical care and treatment. Then, six months later, his new position in the States at San Francisco’s Children’s Hospital and the chance to be part of a world-class team had arisen.
But he couldn’t shake her from her his mind. He couldn’t replace her in his thoughts with the next nurse that came along—the next woman who showed interest in him. Even his potential bride didn’t push her from his thoughts. Poor Polly didn’t deserve the cold way he had treated her, but in the end he just couldn’t stop the visions of the long red curly hair and dark green eyes.
Even months later, in another world, another city, he would see a turn of a head, a flash in the corner of his eye and the feeling of his heart in his mouth when he’d thought he’d glimpsed her again, only to have it plummet seconds later at the realisation it wasn’t her. It wasn’t Amy.
And then, a few days ago, he’d seen her again and all those feelings came rushing back. His skin on fire, his heart pounding in his chest, and the sick feeling in his stomach when he realised she was unwell, and then again when he realised she was pregnant.
The horror when she told him she’d been ill. Breast cancer. Even now, the mere thought of it made him angry. Those tiny malicious cells growing around her body, filling her with disease. Filling her with fear for her future. Then the horror of her treatment—treatment that some people maintained was worse than the disease. How on earth had she managed that on her own?
He shook his head. How would he have coped if it had been him? Could he have been so brave? So sure? So steadfast? So determined? Then the list—the list she’d written to get her through. To give her focus and a way ahead.
Another sensation surrounded him and he sank his head into his hands. Because this feeling made him feel sick to the pit of his stomach. Guilt.
Guilt about the relief he’d felt when she’d revealed that there was no one in her life. No husband. No father for the baby.
Was that wrong of him? Was it wrong of him to feel that way? Was it wrong that those words had given him a small sliver of hope?
And what about the baby? If Amy’s condition didn’t improve, her baby could arrive in a matter of a few weeks, or even days. Would that change the way he felt about her? He was a playboy, no matter how much he detested the word. He’d never given children a second thought—well, not children of his own.
His stomach was churning. Any day now he was going to have to pack up and leave. But what would happen to Amy then?
She could stay here in Pelican Cove. David would continue to be her obstetrician. But there was no neonatologist if she had an early delivery. It was routine procedure that any woman at risk in Pelican Cove would be transferred to San Francisco. His home. Chances were, he would have ended up being her neonatologist by default if she’d turned up there.
This was so complicated. Should he offer her help? Support? What would he do if this was just another female friend? If this wasn’t Amy—a woman who messed with his mind just by being there?
The most sensible solution was to invite her to stay with him in San Francisco and let her continue her obstetric care there until the baby arrived. That’s what he would do for anyone else. Anyone he considered a friend.
The thoughts jumbled around in his head. But was that really sensible? She could deliver in two days or two weeks. How would it feel to have Amy in his apartment—under his roof?
Lincoln closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was helping a friend. And maybe, just maybe, if he kept repeating that, he might actually believe it.
* * *
Lincoln stood at the nurses’ station and looked over Amy’s chart quickly. David had reviewed her again this morning, taken more blood samples and adjusted her blood-pressure meds.
The handwritten script in the case notes was precise. David felt she was teetering at the edge. She was still clearly at risk of her pre-eclampsia developing into the full blown disease. He wanted her treated with caution and monitored daily.
Lincoln understood. And strangely it filled him with confidence that he’d made the right decision and was about to take the right steps.
He leaned over to the nearest computer and checked his e-mail account. Because he was away from his normal hospital, all his e-mails were currently being diverted to his personal account. ‘What the…?’ He leaned in closer to his account. Three thousand e-mails. He squinted at the screen. A voice behind him laughed, leaning over his shoulders.
‘Wow,’ she said, ‘that’s a lot of friend requests.’
Lincoln shook his head, ‘I don’t get it,’ he mumbled, the thoughts of his paltry list of twenty-six friends the day before bewildering him. ‘Who on earth are all these people?’ His eyes ran up and down the names on the list. ‘I don’t even recognise any of them.’
The nurse behind him patted him on the shoulder. ‘That’s what happens when you appear on the TV as the President’s doctor, handsome.’ She gave a little laugh as she walked away.
Lincoln sat for a few seconds. Instant fame. He hadn’t even given it much thought. One television appearance and suddenly half the world wanted to be his ‘friend’.
A small hand positioned itself on the box on the counter next to him. ‘Linco
ln, we didn’t know you cared.’
His hands shot out and grabbed the cake box and carton of coffee on the counter. ‘I don’t.’ He gave the nurse a smile. ‘Hands off. These are my bargaining tools and I think I’m going to need them.’
She shook her head. ‘Just don’t let her throw them off the wall—those cupcakes are too good to waste.’
Amy’s door was slightly ajar and he could see her lying in the darkened room. Her blinds were drawn to block out the glaring sun and she lay on her side on the bed, her eyes closed, wearing a pale blue smock and drawstring linen trousers.
‘Knock, knock.’
Her eyelids flickered open, a smile starting on her face before her brain switched into gear and she remembered she was angry with him.
She pushed herself up the bed. ‘Hi, Lincoln, what do you want?’
He put his gifts on the bedside table, pushing it up towards her until it sat just before her extended abdomen.
Amy took a deep breath. Coffee. That was definitely coffee she could smell. She lifted the lid on the cup and inhaled. Even better, it was a caramel latte. She’d seriously thought about killing someone for one of these the other day.
She pulled the pink ribbon on the cake box, tugging it clear and lifting the lid on the box. Cupcakes. Strawberry, chocolate and lemon. And all of them had her name written on them. Literally.
Her taste buds started watering. Lincoln knew her well. The best way to her heart was through her stomach. What was he up to?
She picked up a pink cupcake, peeled the paper case and took a bite. ‘Mmm. I know that there is probably an ulterior motive to these…’ she raised her hand ‘…but I don’t want you to tell me what it is until I’ve finished eating. I don’t want you to spoil this.’ She eyed the cup. ‘I thought you weren’t letting me drink coffee?’
‘It’s a special occasion.’
She took a sip of the caramel latte. Perfect. Her taste buds exploded. Oh, how she’d missed this. Her eyes swept over the box of cakes. Could she eat another before he started speaking? Probably. They were tiny—two bites and they were gone. Her fingers hovered over a chocolate cupcake, the next in the box.
West Wing to Maternity Wing! Page 10