* * *
Later that day, after work, it had been arranged for Abbey to take Kayla to collect her possessions. Trevor, Kayla’s ex-boyfriend, was usually well ensconced at the local pub at that time, and hopefully the flat would be empty when they arrived.
When they pulled up in Doris, Kayla seemed reluctant to get out of the safety of the car and Abbey began to have second thoughts about the wisdom of their visit without suitable reinforcements.
‘If you’re worried that Trevor might become unpleasant then I’m happy to ask the police to meet us here, Kayla.’ Abbey lifted her mobile phone from her bag and laid it on the dashboard to reinforce her words.
Kayla bit her lip and shook her head. ‘No police.’
Abbey sighed. ‘You’re sure, even if he came home unexpectedly, he’s not going to cause any trouble?’
‘No,’ Kayla said in a small voice.
‘No, what?’ Abbey sighed again. ‘No, he won’t cause any trouble or, no, you’re not sure if he will?’
Kayla drew a deep breath and opened her door. ‘If you don’t want to come with me, it’s OK, Abbey. I’ll go on my own.’
‘No, you won’t.’ Abbey slid her phone into her pocket and climbed out. ‘But I’ll be happier when we’re out of here.’
‘Me, too.’ Kayla’s response didn’t do anything to alleviate Abbey’s misgivings but she followed the girl across the street.
They climbed the stairs to the second floor without passing any neighbours, and when Kayla knocked on the door with its peeling paintwork there was no answer from within.
The two women looked at each other and then Kayla slid the key into the lock and pushed open the door. It squeaked ominously.
All doors creak in old buildings, Abbey reassured herself as she followed her new friend into the dark and odorous room. Grease-stained take-away food wrap lay on the worn carpet. Kayla stepped over some newspapers and a collection of empty spirit bottles, then disappeared into the only bedroom, leaving Abbey alone in the room.
If she’d had any doubts about taking Kayla in, those doubts were emphatically removed. This was no place to bring up a baby.
Kayla reappeared with two plastic shopping bags of baby clothes and a pair of sneakers that had seen better days. ‘It’s usually not this untidy. Let’s get out of here,’ she said, but it was too late. A thin, wildeyed young man burst into the room and both women jumped in fright.
His roughened feet were bare of shoes and his grubby hands stretched out between them and the doorway to the outside. ‘Caught ya! What d’ya think ya doin’?’ he growled at Kayla, and she pulled the bags up in front of her stomach protectively.
Abbey drew a steadying breath. She edged slowly towards Kayla without taking her eyes off the man in the middle of the room, not sure what she hoped to achieve but positive that two women together were better than one.
His bloodshot eyes swung towards Abbey. ‘Who’re you?’ Little balls of foam flecked the side of his mouth and Abbey suppressed a shiver at the thought of trying to be rational with this man.
Abbey spoke slowly and forced her voice to a level and reasonable tone. ‘I’m Kayla’s friend and we came to get a few of her things. We’re leaving now.’
As she spoke she edged closer to Kayla and pulled her gently towards the door past him. They made an awkward shuffling progress around the walls of the room and Abbey watched Trevor’s face as he slowly processed what she’d said. She could tell the exact moment the message sank in because his eyes narrowed and he suddenly took a lunging stride towards them.
Abbey pushed Kayla out the door and almost made it through herself before he grabbed her arm and yanked her back against his body.
Abbey gasped in shock and hot points of pain erupted in her wrist where he gripped her. Her instinct screamed to get out fast and without further thought she stamped down on his foot as hard as she could to loosen his hold. Then she wrenched herself free and bolted down the stairs after Kayla. Her heart thumped in her chest as the release of adrenaline coursed around her body and her breath hissed in short gasps. Abbey caught up with Kayla on the pavement and took her arm to help her hurry awkwardly across the road and climb into Doris. Breasts heaving, they looked at each other in relief at gaining the car’s safety.
Abbey glanced up at the building as they drove off and she could see Trevor watching them from the window and caught the shake of his fist.
‘I’m so sorry, Abbey.’ Kayla started to cry and Abbey patted the girl’s leg. She should have listened to her second thoughts of calling the police but it was too late now.
‘It’s OK. It’s over and we got what we came for.’ She glanced across at Kayla and smiled unsteadily. ‘And we’re not going back.’
‘When Trevor’s sober, he’s not too bad.’ Kayla’s voice was barely a whisper and Abbey rotated her neck to loosen the tension there.
Abbey pulled a face. ‘Since you say he spends most days at the pub, I think you might live without the delightful side that attracted you to him.’
Kayla’s half-laugh was pretty poor but Abbey admired her for the attempt. ‘Thanks for coming with me, Abbey,’ she said.
‘I won’t say it was a pleasure but I’m glad you didn’t go alone. Let’s get home and forget all about him. You deserve better than him, Kayla, and you need to remember that.’
Kayla drew a deep breath and stared out the front windscreen. ‘My baby deserves better as well. I’m never going back.’
* * *
The next morning, Abbey was so busy in the labour ward she forgot to worry about when Rohan was due in. When he stuck his head in the door of birthing unit, she’d just settled her client in the shower to help relax her and had tidied the room.
‘Have you time for a ward round, Sister Wilson?’ He’d decided that cool friendliness was the way to go. In just over a week he’d be gone and worrying about Abbey was annoying her and taking up too many of his thoughts.
He saw her glance at the closed bathroom door and then the clock. She opened the bathroom door a little to poke her head through. ‘I’m off to do a ward round, Celia. If you or Eric want me, just press the buzzer. Press it once and I’ll come, press it twice and I’ll run—OK?’
He heard the assent from the shower and smiled at her terminology. When she slipped out the door to join him he couldn’t help teasing her.
‘I must ring the bell twice before I leave this place. Just to see you run.’
‘Ha! No chance.’ Her eyes were more gold than brown today and she had a delightful dimple at the side of her mouth that he had a ridiculous urge to trace. He tore his attention away from her face and handed her the charts he held. Then he saw the ugly, what could only be finger-mark bruises on her wrist.
The black rage that filled him came out of nowhere like a satanic wraith. All the memories of the people who’d hurt his mother while she’d tried to help them welled up and consolidated into a fury directed at the person who’d manhandled Abbey enough to cause her skin to bruise. He wanted to know who—so he could grind them to a pulp!
Rohan’s chest actually hurt with the effort to control his demand for an explanation when he knew he had no right to demand one. He sucked a lungful of air to calm himself down. This was crazy. He barely knew the woman.
Abbey felt him stiffen beside her and she glanced up to see what was wrong. His eyes had darkened to black slate and the expression in them actually frightened her. ‘Rohan, what’s wrong?’ Then she saw him staring at the marks on her arm. Her other hand crossed to hide her wrist, and the forgotten charts slid from her fingers onto the floor. Glad of the distraction, she stooped to pick them up.
‘What happened to your wrist, Abbey?’ His voice was ominously quiet and rigid with control, and if she hadn’t seen his eyes she might have answered him with the truth.
She didn’t look up from the charts on the floor as she worried how best to deal with his reaction. He did have this thing about Kayla. The less he knew might be the more sensible thi
ng. ‘It’s nothing.’
‘Bull…’ He paused and drew a deep breath. ‘Droppings!’
‘Droppings?’ She flicked a look at him in incredulity then looked down again. ‘Droppings?’ She repeated it to herself and couldn’t help a secret delighted smile at his restraint.
His smile was strained. ‘I wouldn’t like to sully your ears.’
She stood up and met the for once serious expression in his eyes. It was ridiculous to tell lies. ‘Thank you for not swearing.’ She kept her voice light. ‘I had a minor tussle with Kayla’s boyfriend when we went to pick up her stuff. But it all ended well.’
He took her hand and rubbed the pad of his thumb gently over the marks. ‘You have deep bruising to your wrist. How does that constitute a minor tussle and ending up well?’ His words were still clipped but Abbey was having trouble breathing from the sensations he was arousing in places other than her wrist. She tugged at her hand and he let go.
Suddenly she could breathe again and she walked up the corridor to gain a few seconds to clear her brain and put some distance between them.
‘We got away!’ Her over-the-shoulder throw-away line didn’t have the desired result. In two strides he was in front of her and planted his feet so she couldn’t go any further.
‘Stop!’ He looked up as if for inspiration, closed his eyes for a second and then opened them to impale her with an icy disbelief. ‘You went with Kayla, by yourselves, no male escort, no police, to her flat, to confront her violent boyfriend?’
Abbey shook her head impatiently. ‘We didn’t go to confront him. We went to get her clothes. He was supposed to be drinking in the pub and not turn up.’
He shook his head. ‘He should have been at the pub? I see. What a masterful plan! I can’t understand how it could have gone wrong.’ He threw his head back and prayed to the Ceiling God again. Then he looked down at her. ‘Are you mad? Why didn’t you ask a man to go with you? For pity’s sake, why didn’t you ask me?’
Abbey stepped sideways away from his body. It was getting too darned warm, being that close to him. He was carrying on ridiculously and she had to get back to the birthing suite.
‘Look. Rohan. Dr Roberts.’ She used her calm and sensible voice as if he were a psychiatric patient. ‘In retrospect it may have been a little unwise, but we survived, and it’s really none of your business. And I won’t be doing it again.’
The buzzer from the birthing suite glowed on and Abbey shrugged in barely concealed relief. ‘Michelle’s in the nursery if you want someone to do the round with you, but I have to go.’ She handed him back the charts.
Rohan felt like slamming the charts against the wall in frustration. ‘I can manage by myself. I’ll see Michelle when I check Vivie’s baby. But I haven’t finished with you.’
Abbey made some small sound of disgust and left him.
Rohan watched her hurry back the way she’d come with a troubled frown. She had no idea what people were capable of, that was her problem. His problem was that he did know what people were capable of.
When he went in to see Vivie, she had a suitcase on the bed. Obviously she was ready to take her baby out of the hospital—to Abbey’s house. How poetic.
‘Hello, Vivie. Leaving today, I see.’
Vivie looked up when he entered her room and then she glanced at the door. Rohan correctly deduced her thoughts. ‘Abbey’s with a woman in labour so I have to do the round on my own today. How’s my namesake?’
Vivie nodded and looked at her son. ‘He’s good. Now.’ She smiled ruefully. ‘He didn’t sleep until early this morning but now my milk has come in Abbey said he’ll be more settled.’
Rohan gestured to the vacant chair. ‘Do you mind if I sit with you for a minute?’
Vivie stared for a moment and then shook her head. ‘Of course not.’
It was underhand but he couldn’t see how he was ever going to find out about Abbey’s other life if he didn’t ask someone. Not that he needed to know—but it might help him understand why she affected him the way she did if he had a little background knowledge. ‘So you’ll go home when Abbey finishes work this afternoon?’
Vivie nodded. ‘She said the afternoon is a good time to go home, anyway.’
‘I imagine it is. Not too much of a day to get through before you can safely go to bed.’ He smiled. ‘Have you been to Abbey’s house?’
Vivie shook her head. ‘Abbey only offered me a room when I was in labour. But I know she lives with her elderly aunt and another girl has just moved in. Her house is at the top of the hill and used to be a boarding house. It’s number seven.’
Rohan nodded as if he knew that. Satisfied, he filed the information away. ‘Is there anything you’re worried about, before you take your baby home?’
Vivie shook her head. ‘I’ve had a bit to do with babies. My mother died and I’ve four younger brothers. And Abbey will be there.’
He stood up. ‘I’m sure you’ll manage beautifully. I’ll be around for the next week or so. I can always pop in and see young Rohan after work one day if you have any concerns.’
Vivie looked startled, as well she might. ‘Thank you, Doctor.’
Rohan smiled. ‘Any friend of Abbey’s is a friend of mine. When you’re ready, if you’d like to wheel his cot down to the nursery, as soon as I finish my round I’ll do his pre-discharge check. We’ll fill out your blue book so that you have a record to show the early childhood nurse.’
Vivie nodded and Rohan moved on to the next room as if his mind wasn’t scheming how to see just what sort of menagerie Abbey had burdened herself with.
In the birthing suite, Abbey had problems of her own. Celia and Eric were becoming more distressed with Celia’s lack of progress and the shower hadn’t helped as much as they’d all wished.
Celia’s baby was descending posteriorly, meaning the baby’s spine was lying alongside his mother’s spine and the backache was becoming intolerable for the labouring mother. Now Celia’s blood pressure was climbing and Abbey was concerned about Celia’s previous tendency towards hypertensive disease of pregnancy. Abbey had the feeling there was many hours to go and Celia’s reserves were running low after a long night of niggling pains.
‘I want an epidural,’ Celia panted, and Eric nodded.
Abbey smiled. ‘If you feel you need a break from those pains, then I think an epidural is a fair thought,’ she said. ‘You’re over four centimetres dilated and it could be a few hours until you’re ready to push. An epidural will give you a rest and relax the lower half of your body enough to help you along. Plus, it will help decrease your blood pressure. If you let it wear off towards the end of labour, you’ll still be able to feel where to push.’
She handed Celia the nitrous oxide to breathe in. ‘You’re doing a great job, Celia. Hang in there. Use this while I go and see Dr Roberts. Hopefully he’s still here.’
When she went into the nursery, Vivie was wheeling baby Rohan out of the room. Rohan of the black eyes was laughing with Michelle and he looked up as she approached.
‘I want to talk to you,’ he said.
Abbey brushed that aside. ‘Not at the moment.’ She didn’t see or didn’t care about Rohan’s surprise at the abruptness of her answer. ‘Can you come and talk to Celia about an epidural, please?’
Back in the labour ward, there was no sign of tension as Abbey and Rohan organised Celia’s pain relief. Abbey prepared the sterile set-up of instruments and needles required to position and administer the local anesthetic into Celia’s epidural space. Rohan’s anaesthetic experience meant they didn’t have to wait for another doctor to insert the block and Celia’s husband held his wife’s hand through the procedure.
Abbey and Rohan worked together with precision to make Celia more comfortable. It was a much-relieved Eric who shut the door after them when they left the birthing suite three quarters of an hour later.
‘So now who’s making my surgery patients wait?’ Rohan quipped as he and Abbey walked up the hallway rem
arkably at ease with each other.
‘All in a good cause,’ she said. He was talking about her comment yesterday. It was amazing the way she could follow his thought processes. It was also a bit scary. ‘Will I ring you when Celia is ready to have her baby?’
‘Please.’ He picked up his hat from the desk. ‘I’d like to be there if she’s pushing with an epidural.’
‘OK.’ She looked down at the black felt hat in his hand and Abbey shook her head. ‘Why do you drag that hat everywhere with you?’
Rohan spun the hat around his finger. ‘This is my home. Wherever I lay my hat can be home until I move on.’
Abbey didn’t like the sound of that. She’d always been firmly grounded to her home and family. ‘Is anywhere home to you?’
He shrugged and pulled his car keys from his pocket. ‘I have a house in Sydney and some land back in Tamworth, but nothing that makes me want to stay in either place.’
A coolness insinuated itself between them and Abbey resisted the urge to ask more.
He smiled cynically. ‘Well-controlled curiosity, Sister. If you want to know anything more you’ll have to be nice to me when I come to the ward.’
Abbey smiled sweetly. ‘I’m renowned for my niceness, Doctor.’
‘I’ll bet,’ he said cryptically, and left.
* * *
The rest of the day was hectic and Abbey was glad to see the end of the shift. Celia’s and Eric’s baby was at least an hour off birth so she’d handed over to the afternoon staff. Normally she’d stay the extra time but Abbey wanted to have Vivie and her baby home before the afternoon became too chilly.
By the time she had her new guests settled it was teatime, and to Abbey’s surprise and delight Kayla had already prepared a huge bowl of spaghetti Bolognese for everyone, so Abbey didn’t have to cook.
It was like having her sisters home again and Abbey revelled in the sense of family that prevailed. Vivie and Kayla had been to the same school and a budding friendship looked likely. They adamantly refused to let Abbey wash up after dinner. Aunt Sophie pronounced the baby her favourite male in the house. It was a happy time in Abbey’s kitchen that night.
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