Everyone nodded and set to work. Zoë watched them, enjoying the way they all seemed to know exactly what was expected of them. It was typical of Ben to make his instructions crystal clear. He hated mistakes being made and did everything possible to avoid them. She’d learned such a lot from him when they had worked together…
And learned even more when they were away from work, a small voice whispered inside her head.
‘Want to give me a hand?’
Zoë started when Ben turned to her, feeling the colour rush up her face as she prayed that he didn’t have any inkling about what she’d been thinking. ‘Of course. What do you want me to do?’
‘Check her response to both noise and light.’ He lowered his voice. ‘She hasn’t opened her eyes or spoken since we found her but I don’t think she’s unconscious, just exhausted and very frightened. I want to do the absolute minimum to guarantee her well-being rather than rush in with all guns blazing.’
Zoë nodded, understanding why he preferred that approach. Although the dramatic scenes that were the staple of so many medical soap operas made excellent viewing, a patient’s needs were better served if treatment was kept as minimal as possible. She took a penlight out of its holder and gently peeled back the little girl’s eyelids while she shone the light into her eyes. There was an immediate response and she glanced at Ben.
‘Both eyes reacting positively to light.’
‘Good.’
Ben’s tone was abstracted as he bent over the child, but Zoë didn’t doubt that he had taken her findings on board. She replaced the light in its holder and picked up a pair of plastic forceps which she rapped on the metal bedframe. Little Megan visibly jumped, confirming Ben’s suspicions that she wasn’t comatose. It was an encouraging finding and Zoë felt her spirits lift.
‘Her temperature is 35C, Ben,’ one of the nurses called and Ben nodded.
‘That means she’s borderline and that, hopefully, we’ve caught her in time. We’ll go straight to the warm bath and get her temperature up that way. Let’s get these clothes off her but leave the hat on.’
Ben immediately set to and helped as the nurses began stripping off the child’s clothes. Although most consultants shied away from such menial tasks, Ben never flinched when it came to practicalities. If a job needed doing, he was willing to do it himself and didn’t expect everyone to dance attendance on him. Zoë had always admired him for that and discovered that she still admired him for it now, although he possessed so many positive attributes it was hard to pick out one from all the others.
The thought was disquieting bearing in mind that she had no intention of searching out things to admire about him. She followed as Ben picked up little Megan and carried her to the bath. He placed her carefully in the warm water, making sure the whole of her body was immersed apart from her head. The little girl whimpered and opened her eyes and he smiled at her.
‘It’s all right, poppet. We’re just going to make you feel all warm again.’
Zoë felt her eyes fill with tears when she heard the tenderness in his voice. Although Ben was marvellous with all the patients, he was particularly good with any children. He would make the most wonderful father one day and the thought hurt far more than it should have done. She had made up her mind a long time ago that she didn’t want children and she wasn’t going to change it, not now, not ever.
She took a deep breath and used it to shore up her emotions. She would never be the mother of Ben’s children.
CHAPTER THREE
‘MEGAN is going to be fine. She’s very tired at the moment, which is only to be expected after what’s happened, but we don’t anticipate any problems.’ Ben smiled at the child’s anxious parents. ‘She’ll be going up to the children’s ward as soon as a bed is available. We’ll keep her in overnight but it’s purely a precaution. You should be able to take her home tomorrow.’
Mr and Mrs Turner thanked him profusely and hurried back to their daughter. Ben sighed as he watched them go. ‘I can’t imagine what they must have been through, can you? Losing a child must be every parent’s nightmare.’
He glanced round when Zoë failed to answer and was surprised when he saw how upset she looked. It was rare for Zoë to show her feelings, yet there was no denying that she looked distressed.
‘Hey, come on,’ he said quickly. ‘I know it’s upsetting when it’s a child involved, but Megan will be fine after a good night’s sleep.’
‘Of course she will.’
She spun round on her heel, making it clear that she didn’t want to discuss the matter, and he sighed. Why had he bothered? He should have known that Zoë wouldn’t welcome his concern.
He followed her from ED, pausing on the way out to make sure that Megan’s parents had provided the reception staff with all the necessary details. Their family doctor would need to be informed about what had happened, even though there was no reason to suspect that Megan would suffer any repercussions from her adventures. However, it was best to err on the safe side, he’d always found.
Erring on the safe side hadn’t achieved very much when it had come to his relationship with Zoë, though, had it? he thought as he left the building. He had done everything he could to make her feel safe and secure, to reassure her that he would never stop loving her. Although he had only the sketchiest idea of her background, she had told him enough to fill in the gaps for himself.
He knew that her parents’ divorce must have hit her hard and doubly so when it had meant that she’d been placed in care following her mother’s breakdown. However, was it enough to explain why she’d refused to believe that he would never stop loving her? Zoë had been his whole world at one time, yet she had rejected his love, walked away rather than take the risk of trusting him. Although he was over the heartache it had caused him, it was still difficult to understand what she’d done. One thing was certain: no woman was going to put him through the mill again!
Dark thoughts accompanied Ben back to where he had left his car—illegally parked outside ED. He unlocked the doors then paused when Zoë made no attempt to get in. ‘I promise I won’t make you sit in the back this time,’ he said, deliberately opting for levity. The past was the past and he wasn’t going to fall into the trap of raking over the embers of their ill-fated affair. ‘It’s the passenger seat for you, Dr Frost. You’ve earned it.’
She smiled tightly, not responding to his teasing. ‘It’s kind of you, Ben, but I’ll get a taxi back to the hotel. You live in the opposite direction and I don’t want to take you out of your way.’
‘I don’t mind if you don’t,’ he replied flippantly, wondering why it seemed so important to get a reaction from her. The days when he had wanted to impress Zoë were long gone. ‘It’s not as though I have anything better to do with my time seeing as I’m redundant.’
‘Redundant?’
‘Uh-huh. I feel a bit like Cinderella only I’m the wrong sex.’ He looked suitably mournful. ‘I’m the best man that nobody wants. I’m not needed for the wedding or for the celebrations that should have come afterwards. It’s hard not to feel a little de trop in such circumstances.’
‘Oh, poor you!’ Zoë chuckled, a delicate sound that made the tiny hairs on his neck quiver in appreciation. ‘Does nobody love you, then?’
You certainly don’t love me, Ben thought, but didn’t say so. That would have been a major mistake, a top score on the mistakes Richter scale. The last thing he wanted was to give the impression that he was still hung up on her.
‘It looks that way. And that being the case, I may as well run you back to your hotel. At least it will fill in a bit more time and stop me feeling like a reject.’
He got into the car, leaving it to Zoë to decide whether she was going to accept his offer. A frisson ran through him when she slid into the passenger seat but he didn’t allow himself to read anything into it. It made no difference if she had opted to spend a bit more time with him.
It was gone seven by the time they drew up outside
the hotel. Ben cut the engine, shrugging when Zoë looked questioningly at him. ‘I just want to check that nothing untoward has happened with regard to the reception. Ross told me he’d cancelled everything but you never know.’
‘Still set on being the perfect best man?’ Zoë said lightly, but he heard the tension in her voice and guessed that she was afraid it was merely an excuse to prolong their time together.
Was it? he wondered suddenly. And if so, why? He didn’t want her back—no way on earth would he wish for that! It had taken him months to get over her and he wasn’t going through that kind of hell again. He’d done what he’d wanted to do, spent the best part of the day with her, and come through it unscathed, so why did he have this niggling feeling that they still had unfinished business? What else did he need to prove? That he was so immune to her he could spend the night with her and walk away in the morning without any regrets?
‘I want to be sure that I’ve carried out my duties to the very best of my ability,’ he told her, reeling from the thought.
‘Such dedication! I am impressed.’
Zoë laughed and Ben breathed a sigh of relief when it broke the spell. Zoë may have hurt him, but there was no way that he would use her to his own ends like that.
The receptionist must have spotted them coming in because she immediately hurried into the office and reappeared with the manager in tow. Ben’s heart sank when he saw how uncomfortable they both looked as he and Zoë approached the desk. He could only conclude that some mishap had occurred relating to the wedding reception. However, the man ignored him and addressed Zoë.
‘I’m terribly sorry, Dr Frost, but there’s a problem with your room.’
‘What sort of problem?’ Zoë asked, glancing at the receptionist, who was doing her best to avoid their eyes.
‘Unfortunately, a guest on the floor above forgot to turn off the bath taps and the water came through the ceiling of your room.’ The manager looked suitably repentant. ‘Sadly, the room is too badly damaged for you to spend the night there so I took the liberty of having your belongings moved.’
He lifted a key off its hook and handed it to her. ‘Fortunately, we had a cancellation so we were able to move you to a suite. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed, Dr Frost. It’s our most luxurious accommodation. And by way of apology for the inconvenience you’ve suffered, we would like to offer you and a guest a complimentary dinner tonight.’
Ben glanced at the key Zoë was holding as the manager scuttled away. All the keys had name tags attached to them and he could read the tag attached to this one without any difficulty. His eyes rose to Zoë’s and he was unable to control the smile that twitched the corners of his mouth.
‘They say every cloud has a silver lining. If the wedding hadn’t been called off, you could have found yourself sleeping on a park bench.’
‘Instead of which I’ll be sleeping in the Honeymoon Suite.’ Zoë looked at the key then burst out laughing. ‘I don’t believe this is happening!’
‘You will when you get to sleep in that fabulous bed,’ Ben assured her.
‘You’ve seen the room?’ she exclaimed and he sobered abruptly.
‘Yes. I came with Ross when he booked it for him and Heather. The manager showed it to us then.’
He took a quick breath but the image of Zoë lying in that huge old-fashioned bed with its muslin canopy filled his head to the exclusion of everything else. It was the room he would have chosen to spend the night in if they’d been getting married, he realised, and the thought was too painful to bear.
‘It sounds lovely,’ she said softly and he heard an echo of what he was feeling in her voice.
His gaze locked with hers and he felt a shiver run through him. Zoë may have rejected him two years ago but she still wanted him. He could see it in her eyes, see the longing, the yearning, and he understood how she felt because he felt it too. Oh, he hadn’t lived like a monk these past two years—far from it. He’d been out with a lot of women, even slept with a few, and it had been fine in a way. However, each and every time he had found himself comparing them to Zoë, and unfavourably too.
He needed to break the cycle, forget what he and Zoë had had, and this may be the only way to do it. If he slept with her tonight, he could rid himself of the last emotional ties. It wouldn’t be using her, either, because he could tell it was what she needed too. Zoë needed to draw a line under the past the same as he did.
Reaching out, he captured her hand. ‘It’s a beautiful room, Zoë, the perfect place for two lovers to spend a night. I only wish we could spend tonight there. You and me. Together. It could be our swansong, the perfect ending to what we once meant to each other.’
Soft light filled the room, casting shadows into the corners. Dinner had been served and eaten, although neither of them had done justice to the delicious meal. Zoë caught a glimpse of herself in the window as she drew the curtains and was surprised by how calm she looked, how in control. Inside she was a mess, anticipation making her nerves tingle, her blood heat, her body tremble as though she had a fever. Maybe she did, too, and that’s why she had agreed to this. Spending the night with Ben for any reason was madness: she knew it and so must he.
She spun round to tell him that she had changed her mind and stopped. Ben was sitting on the sofa, his eyes closed, his face looking set even in repose. He was as worried as she was about what they were planning and the realisation comforted her in a strange way. Ben was under no illusions. He knew this night would mark the end for them.
The thought left her feeling empty, but she had learned a long time ago how to conquer her emotions. She went over to the couch, sat down and took Ben’s hand in hers. His eyelids flickered although he didn’t open his eyes. Maybe he needed a second or two more to prepare himself, and she understood. In that respect they were perfectly in tune.
Her heart filled with warmth and if she was honest it also filled with love but that was the most dangerous of all emotions and one she rarely acknowledged. Sliding her fingers between his, she let her palm rest against his, enjoying the warmth of his skin, the shape and strength of his fingers—so different to her own. Ben had such beautiful hands and she had always loved to have him touch her, stroke her, caress her…
Her breath caught on an audible hiss and his eyes opened. Zoë felt a shaft of desire run through her when she saw the expression they held. Ben wanted her. He wanted to make her his and have her make him hers. He wanted it so badly that she could feel his desire for her swirling around them as they sat there, side by side, their fingers entwined.
‘Are you sure about this, Zoë? Really sure?’ His tone was filled with passion and tenderness in equal measure. Zoë’s heart swelled because it was more than she’d expected and far more than she deserved.
‘Yes.’ Her tone was cool and she felt relieved when she heard it. She was still in control, still able to function on other levels instead of on only the most basic. ‘It’s what I want, Ben, but are you sure it’s what you want?’
‘Yes. I’m sure.’ He leant forward and brushed her mouth with his lips. ‘It’s what I need to do.’
He deepened the kiss, effectively cutting short any further discussion, although Zoë would have been hard-pressed to string two words together. It felt as though her brain had stopped functioning, thoughts flitting about her head in no particular order. Her nerve endings were working fine, though, messages zipping back and forth, allowing her to enjoy every moment of the kiss, to savour their closeness, to revel in the desire that had risen inside her like a hot tide.
She gave a little murmur as she wrapped her arms around his neck and drew his head down so that she could kiss him back with equal fervour. She heard him groan as her lips parted, felt the hot sweet rush of pleasure when his tongue slid inside her mouth and groaned too because it was an overture to what would come later. When his hands slid down her sides, following the curves of her breasts, the dip of her waist, the swell of her hips, she shuddered. Just the feel of
his hands through her clothes was enough to incite her passion.
He drew back, resting his forehead against hers as he dragged in several rough breaths that made his chest rise and fall enticingly against her breasts. Zoë could feel her nipples harden as the muscles in his torso brushed against them, and sighed. She’d always been embarrassingly responsive where Ben was concerned and nothing had changed.
‘Wow! I know I should come up with something more erudite, but that sums it up better than anything else. A great big fat wow!’
‘Then I suppose wow will have to do.’ Zoë laughed, wondering how she’d forgotten what fun Ben could be even in the throes of passion. Tilting back her head, she regarded him through narrowed eyes, enjoying the fact that she felt comfortable enough to tease him. ‘Think about this very carefully before you reply. Was the kiss as good as it used to be?’
‘Better,’ he said firmly, taking her back into his arms and holding her so close that she could feel his heart beating in counterpoint to hers. ‘The fact that we’re no longer under such pressure to make our relationship work makes all the difference.’
Zoë wasn’t sure what to make of that idea but he didn’t give her time to dwell on it. When he pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth, she relaxed against him, giving herself up to the delight of being in his arms again. He kissed every inch of her face and her neck then started to work his way down her body, unhooking buttons and unzipping zips, easing her out of her clothes with so little fuss that it was a moment before she realised that all she had on was a pair of panties and they were soon dispensed with.
‘You’re very good at this undressing lark,’ she whispered, feeling decidedly overexposed seeing as Ben was still wearing his clothes.
‘Aren’t I just?’ His handsome face filled with laughter as he planted a kiss on her nose. ‘I’ve had a lot of practice.’
The Doctor's Baby Bombshell Page 3