Gold Coast Angels: Two Tiny Heartbeats

by McArthur, Fiona

  Nick strode the long way round and peered over the rear beach fence but again he couldn’t see any movement. He called out but there was still no answer and now he was seriously concerned.

  It wasn’t easy but he managed to scale the gate without impaling himself on the protective spikes. He could just imagine the headlines in the Gold Coast newspaper if he did. Well-known obstetrician impaled during break-in. Lovely.

  No doubt Lucy would have a giggle about that one. After he’d strangled her for scaring him.

  And no doubt the security firm would be haring to the rescue by the time he got to Lucy’s cabana. They’d better be, he thought grimly, or heads would roll.

  When he reached Lucy’s flat it was locked up. It seemed she wasn’t lying on the floor unconscious from what he could see through the white curtains and the place didn’t look as if it had been rifled.

  He heard a car screech to a halt outside and the sound of the gate. At least that was slightly satisfying.

  Maybe she’d just forgotten their meeting. Not good for his ego or his heart, but better than the alternative.

  ‘Stop right there.’ The burly security guard stood with his feet planted as soon as he got inside the gate.

  Nick decided that attack was the best form of defence. ‘Do you know where Miss Palmer is?’

  Belligerent eyebrows shot up. ‘And who might you be to her?’

  Good question. What was he? He wasn’t her doctor. He wasn’t the father of her children. He certainly wasn’t her brother or her father. ‘I’m a concerned friend.’ Certainly not her boyfriend—why was that? Because he didn’t know his own mind!

  It was becoming clearer by the second.

  ‘Prove it.’ The man’s tone suggested he’d been lied to by experts in the past.

  Nick didn’t have time for this. He needed to find Lucy. ‘I’m Dr Nikolai Kefes. I work at Gold Coast City Hospital.’ He pulled his business card from his wallet. ‘I want to know she’s all right. I was here the other night when her house was broken into and she’s supposed to meet me for breakfast today.’

  The security guard took his card. Nodded. ‘I can understand that, sir. But you will have to leave unless I get Miss Palmer’s permission for you to stay.’

  ‘As it seems neither of us knows the answer to her whereabouts I’ll be leaving anyway.’

  The man nodded. He stepped aside so that Nick had to leave first. At least the security seemed to be working, he thought.

  The only other person who might know anything was Flora May. He’d try her first and then the police.

  Flora answered on the first ring.

  ‘Lucy is in hospital.’

  Nick couldn’t believe what he was hearing. ‘She’s where?’

  ‘In Maternity, post-appendectomy.’

  A sudden surge of anger took Nick by surprise and he forced himself to hold back the explosion he would love to have unleashed. It wasn’t Flora’s fault. Or only a small part of it. She could have rung him. Finally he managed, ‘The babies?’

  ‘Seem fine. No sign of prem labour. Lucy is still very sore and a bit dopey from the pain relief but she’s fine, too.’

  He was still having problems comprehending that he’d been excluded. ‘Why didn’t someone phone me? Why didn’t you? Or David? I can’t believe this.’ After all he’d done. All the other crises he’d helped with.

  There was a pause. ‘She asked us not to.’

  Nick couldn’t believe that Lucy had deliberately excluded him. Had his friendship to her not meant anything? ‘She what?’

  Flora paused again. Reluctant. ‘I’m sorry, Nick. She said she didn’t want to bother you.’

  The words chilled him. Iced his veins in a way he hadn’t expected. ‘Bother me?’ Her precious independence. It hurt so much that he wanted to smash something. He thought of the state-of-the-art twin stroller he’d been looking at. All the times he’d been there for her. God, he was such a fool.

  ‘Fine. Thank you.’

  ‘Nick.’ Flora at her most urgent. ‘Listen. She’s young, doesn’t want to lose her independence, is used to looking after herself. She’s not good at taking.’

  This was about that all right. ‘I know all about her independence, Flora. She can have it.’ He would have been there for her. All she’d had to do was ask. Or include him when she told the rest of the world.

  ‘Nick?’

  ‘Gotta go. See you Monday.’ Not that he was looking forward to that. Lucy would still be in hospital and he was hurting so much he didn’t think he could talk to her.

  * * *

  Lucy didn’t know what was wrong with her. Post-operative blues perhaps. She’d slept all night and through Sunday morning, her tummy was okay, the babies were waking up, and she had a beautiful vase of spring flowers from the staff. But she missed Nick.

  She’d sort of thought he would have found out and visited by now. Maybe she should have asked Flora to ring him but it all seemed a bit needy now that everything was over.

  Flora bustled in, on her day off, and brought a bottle of apple juice and a pretty glass instead of the usual foam cups to drink out of. ‘My. Don’t you look miserable.’

  ‘Well, thanks for that.’ Lucy stifled a weak laugh because even that hurt, and Flora looked contrite. ‘No. You’re right.’ She guessed Flora knew that she and Nick were more than friends but less than anything else. You never knew what crossed the line with Flora.

  ‘Um. Has anyone mentioned to Nick that I’m here?’

  ‘He rang me this morning.’

  Lucy had the feeling Flora was choosing her words carefully and her stomach sank. ‘It would be fair to say he’s upset we didn’t inform him earlier.’

  ‘Oh.’

  Flora sat down and pulled her chair closer to the bed. ‘I think you hurt him, Lucy. He was very—I was going to say upset, but I think angry and confused might be better words. And it’s not something I’ve noticed before with our Dr Kefes.’

  Lucy said, ‘Oh,’ again, in an even smaller voice, and wanted to hide under the pillow. ‘I just didn’t want to bother him.’

  Flora sighed. ‘So I told him. I think that upset him more.’

  She pleaded with Flora but inside she knew really she was pleading to Nick. ‘I don’t want to be a nuisance. He’s been so good to me. And I can’t expect him to look after me.’

  ‘Oh, don’t I know that feeling,’ Flora said softly, then she pointed her finger at Lucy. ‘And why not? I got the impression he enjoyed looking after you.’

  Lucy looked anywhere but at Flora. ‘Because he has his own life. He won’t want to be saddled with a silly young midwife who got herself pregnant with twins by another man.’

  Flora snorted. She did it every well. ‘You underestimate your attraction. Women do that. Why do you think he helped you? Allowed you to stay at his flat? Went to the trouble to hand you over as his patient?’

  Lucy looked at Flora but maybe she had misread Nick’s interest. ‘Because he’s kind? And I needed help?’

  Flora shook her head. ‘You have an inferiority complex. Not his problem if he didn’t care. But he made it so.’ She patted her hand. ‘Do you remember me saying people wouldn’t help if they didn’t want to?’

  Lucy nodded. Maybe she had been too prickly. Too determined she wouldn’t be needy. Had too jealously guarded her independence and her ability to be hurt again by someone she loved.

  ‘From what you told me, you did a lot for yourself growing up. I understand that. I’m not saying you should use people but you aren’t very good at taking help from others. You might want to cultivate that skill.’ She laughed. ‘Especially with twins coming.’

  Then Flora said something startling. ‘Did I tell you I was an orphan?’

  Lucy shook her head. Looked at this strong,
powerful woman and tried to imagine her lost in a dormitory with motherless children. It was a heart-rending picture.

  ‘Had to look after myself in the orphanage. I was the same as you. So when I grew up I found it very difficult to allow others to try to shoulder some responsibility for me. To the extent that eventually nobody tried any more.’

  Flora chewed her lip. ‘I lost a good man because I wouldn’t let him in. He married someone else and I joined the army. Don’t make the same mistakes I did.’

  She squeezed Lucy’s hand. ‘Now I’ll leave you to rest.’

  Suddenly Lucy wondered, and maybe it was the loose-tongued side-effect of the pain relief or maybe her own emotional state but she blurted out the question before she put thought into it. ‘Was it Dr Donaldson?’

  Flora pursed her lips and didn’t say anything for a moment. Then her eyes twinkled. ‘Could have been. And I have learnt my lesson.’

  She narrowed her eyes at Lucy. ‘So you need to learn yours.’ Then she stood up. ‘Now, let’s get you tidy and I’ll fix your hair.’

  * * *

  When his sister knocked on his door after work on Sunday and Nick answered it, he saw her eyes widen at the sweat that poured off him, and he couldn’t have cared less.

  ‘I’m about to have a shower.’

  ‘Good.’

  Nick didn’t need this. He’d run about twenty kilometres and he needed to sit down. ‘Not in the mood, Chloe.

  ‘So I see.’ Chloe pushed a curl behind her ear. ‘Just thought you might want to know that your little friend had an emergency appendectomy last night.’

  He grunted. ‘I know.’

  ‘Okay.’ Chloe paused but Nick didn’t offer anything else. She shrugged. ‘Thought you might. Just checking.’

  Nick wanted to shut the door but maybe he had been neglecting his sister lately for a certain someone who didn’t want his attention. ‘You okay?’

  ‘Better than you, I think. Let me know if you want to talk, Nicky. It would be nice to be the one leant on for a change, instead of me relying on you.’

  After his shower he felt better. And after fluids and food he felt almost normal. Much better for him than the bacon and eggs he would have had this morning. Which brought him back to this morning.

  He’d really lost it when he’d realised he’d been excluded from Lucy’s emergency.

  He wanted to see Lucy. See for himself that she was okay. That her babies were okay. But now he didn’t know if he could open himself up to offering her more support if she was going to turn him down.

  He needed to re-evaluate his priorities. See his way to the woman he was beginning to think he needed more than he needed anything else in his life.

  Should he talk to Chloe before he talked to Lucy? Because this was way outside his experience.

  He didn’t even know if he could do that. Be the one who needed help instead of the other way around.

  * * *

  Chloe opened her door and she shook her head. ‘I don’t believe it.’

  ‘You said to come.’ But now he wanted to leave. She must have known because she put out her hand and took his wrist. Pulled it.

  ‘Sorry. You took me by surprise. Come in.’ And she drew him into her flat and sat him down.

  Nick wondered what on earth he was doing here. His sister was looking at him like he had something terminal and he wasn’t used to being on this side of the fence—not being the one who sorted out the chaos.

  ‘Nicky, you’re a mess.’ She shook her head. ‘It’s about Lucy. Isn’t it?’

  He looked across the room at the sea outside the windows. ‘I lost it this morning.’

  ‘You never lose it.’ He could hear the surprise in his sister’s voice and there was a certain irony in that. There’d been times when he’d been close to losing it while he’d been trying to make ends meet as he’d waited for Chloe to grow up.

  He shrugged. ‘She told them not to ring me when she was sick. I would have been there for her. Why would she do that?’

  He could read her sympathy. He didn’t want pity. He wanted answers.

  ‘I don’t know.’

  He knew it. Chloe had no more idea than he did.

  When she said, ‘Why do you think she did that?’ he knew it was no good. He wasn’t any good at asking for help.

  He stood up and Chloe shook her head. ‘I’ve never seen you like this, Nikolai.’

  He hesitated and finally sat down again. Ran his hands through his hair. ‘I’ve never felt like this before.’

  ‘Lucky you,’ his sister said dryly. ‘And poor you.’ Chloe chewed her lip. ‘So you’ve slept with her.’

  Nearly. ‘I didn’t sleep with her.’ Well, he had but that was all. He didn’t get the response he expected.

  Chloe looked at him like she didn’t know who he was. ‘Why on earth not? I thought you fancied her. And I’m pretty sure she’s in love with you.’

  ‘Of course I fancy her but she’s having twins, for goodness’ sake. And I needed to get my head around where we were going.’

  ‘You’re allowed to have sex when you’re pregnant, Nicky.’ Chloe shook her head. ‘You knocked her back and she left.’ Chloe looked out the window herself and thought about it. ‘I’d have slipped away while you were asleep.’

  He blinked. ‘She did.’

  ‘After a knock back like that I wouldn’t talk to you again.’

  How did she know this stuff? ‘She hasn’t. She’s moved back home. Avoided me.’

  ‘She’s decided to go noble.’ She looked at him. ‘Your Lucy is a good woman, Nicky. But I’m not surprised she told them not to ring you now she knows you don’t love her. She doesn’t want to trap you into something you don’t want.’

  What was Chloe talking about? ‘But I do.’

  ‘Do what? Give me specifics!’ Chloe wasn’t letting him off without him saying it.

  ‘Love her. Want her.’ He thought about that. Repeated the words in his mind. Of course he knew that. What the hell was wrong with him? ‘But she’s so darned independent.’

  Chloe laughed. ‘But isn’t that what draws you to her? You can’t control her. Isn’t that one of the things you secretly love about her? Why she’s worth fighting for?’

  He stood up. Hell. Of course it was. And of course he’d never said he loved her. He needed to do that. ‘Wish me luck.’

  Chloe hugged him. ‘Of course I do.’

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  WHEN NIKOLAI ARRIVED at the hospital he didn’t go straight to see Lucy. Running on instinct, he saw Flora May leave Lucy’s room and followed her back to the lifts.

  Flora turned when she heard him behind her. She smiled. ‘So you came anyway.’

  Nick shrugged and smiled ruefully. ‘Wasn’t going to.’

  Flora sighed. ‘It can be an awkward and difficult game.’

  Nick knew what she was talking about. He wondered how long she’d known he was smitten. ‘What game would that be?’

  ‘Don’t play with me, Nikolai. She’s miserable. She’s in love with you. Has no idea you’re thinking long term.’ She tilted her angular face at him and pinned him with a direct look.

  ‘That is what you’re thinking, isn’t it?’ Flora huffed. ‘Because if you’re not...’

  Nick grinned. He liked this woman more and more, and Lucy could do worse when she looked for champions.

  ‘Yes.’ He held up his hands in smiling defence. ‘I want to be there for Lucy. And for her babies. For ever.’ He shrugged and the liberation of just saying that out loud, hearing those words leave his mouth, filled him with a feeling of marvellous resolution. This truly was where he was meant to be.

  ‘She makes me smile just watching her. I love everything about her, maybe even her independent streak, whic
h, I guess, I’ll just have to get used to it.’

  Flora laughed. ‘Afraid so.’

  ‘I love her you know.’ He shook his head. ‘Besotted and I didn’t realise it.’

  Flora said again, ‘It’s not always a smooth journey.’

  Nick straightened. ‘Now all I need is someone to ask for her hand.’

  Flora’s face softened and she patted his shoulder. ‘Have my blessing. You’re a good man. And a lucky man. And Lucy is the one you need to ask. I just don’t know if our Lucy has even allowed herself to dream there could be a happily ever after.’

  She stepped back and pushed the lift button. ‘She’s just had more pain relief. You should go and fix that misconception before she falls asleep.’

  * * *

  When Nick entered Lucy’s room she had her eyes closed and her red hair was plaited neatly at the side of her face. He remembered Lucy saying she couldn’t do a good plait, had never been taught, and he bet Flora May had done that before she’d left.

  He put the single red rose down beside her bed on the chest of drawers and sat down. He’d watched her sleeping before.

  She was frowning in her sleep and he worried, with a pang, if she had pain. He hadn’t been here and she must have been scared when they’d told her she needed to have the operation.

  ‘I should have called you,’ she whispered, and he saw that she was awake.

  He leant over and kissed her forehead. ‘Yes. You should have.’

  ‘I missed you. I’m sorry I didn’t call you.’ Her eyes glittered with unshed tears and his heart squeezed because she was upset.

  ‘I’ll let you off with it this time but don’t do it again.’

  She smiled sleepily. ‘I only have one appendix.’

  He smiled. She was so cute. ‘I’m sure you’ll find a new ailment some time in the next four months. And if you don’t, there’s always labour.’

  Her eyes clouded. ‘But you’re not my doctor. You won’t be there with me in labour now.’

  He took her hand and held it between his. ‘I’d very much like to be there with you if you’ll have me. And I was thinking of a more legally binding arrangement than being your obstetrician.’