Lovers Unmasked: The Complete Series

by Nicole Flockton

  There was still an hour before her shift officially started so she waved hello to Dawn and headed into her office.

  She stopped short when she saw Alex seated behind his desk. He looked up at her start of surprise.

  “Alex! I didn’t expect to see you here.”

  His face broke out into a small, sexy smile. “I wanted to get some things done so I could free up my day. I want to be able to deal with patients today. I need to get my hands dirty.” At her raised eyebrow he said, “Figuratively speaking, of course. Why are you here so early?”

  Sophie walked to her desk, put her bag away, and then sat and pulled a file toward her. “Same reason as you, I wanted to be available to help out. It’s been too long and I’ve been missing it.”

  “Great minds, hey.”

  She chuckled softly. “Yep, great minds.”

  They worked quietly together for the next half hour; the only sounds were the rustle of papers and the occasional curse.

  “I’m getting a coffee, do you want one?” asked Alex.

  Sophie turned her nose up at the thought. “Ahh, no thanks, but I would love a juice please — pineapple if you can get it, if not orange is fine.”

  “Your wish is my command.” He gave a lowly bow and ducked when she threw an eraser at him.

  She laughed and again was extremely glad she and Alex had managed to work through things. Although, had they? Had they really sorted things out? Sure, Alex had shared his past with her and she understood his need for a no-strings-attached-relationship prior to their relationship. But he’d alluded that with her, Sophie, he wanted something more.

  She’d tried so hard not to fall for him, not to fall under the same spell that had enthralled her New Year’s Eve. He’d worked his way under her defenses, and now she wondered how she would survive if his desire for her petered out.

  Her stomach started to churn again, nausea welling like a ball inside of her. She stood and as she did, the door opened and Alex walked in. The aroma of the coffee hit her nostrils and her stomach recoiled in protest.

  She slapped a hand on her mouth and bolted out the door, brushing past Alex who held his coffee and her drink up high so he wouldn’t spill them as she rushed out.

  She made it to the ladies’ room and dry retched over the toilet bowl. Nothing was coming out. She took a deep, cleansing breath, emptying her mind and calming the calamity that had taken hold of her body and soul.

  She got up, flushed the toilet and, on wobbly legs, walked out to the basins. She sluiced water over her face, not caring that her makeup was probably washed off. She blotted her face dry with a paper towel and walked out the door.

  She made her way to her office again, needing to sit for a few moments. Her stomach was surprisingly settled now, like she’d imagined the whole episode, not lived through it.

  “I think you should have some tests.” Alex’s words greeted her as she walked in. She looked at him, her heart softening at the concern that was etched in his face and showing in his eyes, turning them to warm, milk chocolate.

  She walked over and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. “Alex, I appreciate your concern but I’m fine. You know what gastro is like; it always lingers for a while.” She walked over to her desk and took a sip of her juice. The pineapple taste sung on her tongue and, surprisingly, settled her stomach. She gulped down some more. “Mmmm that’s good. See? I’m all good.”

  “Can’t say I’m convinced.” He stood and walked toward the door. “I’m going to see some patients now. I’m thinking it might be a good idea if you worked the front desk today. We’ll see how you are tomorrow and if you’re okay then you can assist with the patients.”

  Sophie knew that Alex was only thinking about her but what he said raised the hackles on her back. She felt fine. She didn’t want to stay behind a desk again. She was psyched to see patients and she was going to see them.

  “Look, Alex, you can turn the doctor off, I’m not your patient. I’m a qualified nurse and I wouldn’t put myself or my staff in any situation where it would be detrimental to any of us.” She moved away from her position leaning against the desk and walked over to where he was by the door. “I’m fine and I’m not going to let you dictate to me when I can and can’t help patients.”

  The way his lips tightened let Sophie know that he wasn’t happy with the way she was standing up to him. “Be reasonable, Sophie, you’ve spent two days this week off sick with a nasty virus. You’ve had numerous episodes since you’ve been back. What if you faint while dealing with a patient? Then we’d have two patients.”

  Sophie thought his words over and agreed they did make sense. It wouldn’t be very good if she collapsed while on the job or had to run off and be sick just when a patient needed her. She could endanger herself, her staff, and the patient. She didn’t want to give in to Alex but she knew on this occasion she would have to.

  “Fine, you win,” she said begrudgingly. “I’ll stay at the desk. But if I’m needed I’m going to help.”

  “Good. I’ll see you out there.”

  Sophie watched his retreating back and picked up her juice container. She drained the rest of the contents, once again enjoying the taste of a juice she’d never enjoyed before.

  Sophie stood at the desk, willing the double doors to glide open and multiple victims requiring assistance be wheeled in. Oh, that sounded so cruel, but she wanted something, anything to break the monotony of answering the phone or directing the minimal amount of patients that came seeking assistance. It was a rare quiet day in the department.

  She hadn’t had another nausea attack, dizzy spell, nothing, nada all day. She could’ve helped, assisted, but no, every time she moved Alex seemed to appear and with just one look had her sitting back down again.

  Not anymore, the next time those doors opened she was assisting, because come tomorrow she’d be back in her office dealing with more paperwork and nurses complaining about one doctor or another.

  As if she’d conjured a patient up, the doors swished open. In rolled the paramedics with a woman lying curled up on a gurney.

  Sophie shot out of her chair and around the desk faster than a flea jumping from one unsuspecting pet to another.

  “Hi guys, what’ve we got?”

  “Twenty-five-year-old female, suffering from severe nausea and dizzy spells. Collapsed at work, so they called us,” replied one of the paramedics.

  Sophie could sympathize totally with the poor girl, it was probably the same bug that had been lingering around her all week.

  “Have you given her anything for the nausea?”

  The other paramedic shook his head.

  “Okay,” Sophie said. “Put her in cubicle one.” She turned and caught the arm of John as he wandered past. “Hey John, I need you in cubicle one, female patient suffering what seems to be the ‘bug of the week.’”

  John rolled his eyes. “Can’t someone else do it? I’m about to knock off.”

  “If you hadn’t noticed, you’re the only doctor within reach of me. Seems everyone else has gone AWOL.”

  “Fine, where is she again?” He sighed.

  “Cubicle one, I’ll be in to assist you.”

  As they headed for the curtained off cubicle, John commented idly, “Didn’t think Alex was letting you help today?”

  Sophie’s step faltered momentarily — had they been obvious? Had the staff guessed there was something going on between her and Alex?

  “Well, what Alex doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Come on, John, we have a patient to see.”

  Sophie reached up and whipped the curtain aside, the sound of the rings singing like a slinky sliding down the stairs. Compassion filled her when she saw the distressed look on the girl’s face. She was dry-retching just like Sophie had this morning.

  “Hi I’m Sophie and this is D
r. Allen. What’s your name?”

  “Carrie,” the girl mumbled as she slumped against the pillows.

  “Okay, Carrie, we’re going to ask you a few questions and then we’ll give you something to stop the nausea.” John used the soothing voice all doctors seemed to have been born with. “How long have you been vomiting?”

  “I had one day that was severe and then it’s been on and off for a week. It’s so weird, one minute I’m fine the next I’m running to the toilet.”

  John nodded. “Have you had any loose bowel movements?”

  Carrie shook her head.

  “Okay, could be just a simple stomach bug that’s going around but we’ll run some tests.” John scribbled some notes and then turned to her. “Sophie, do you want to start a saline drip to get some fluids in her? Arrange for some blood to be taken. Are you in a sexual relationship?”

  Color flooded Carrie’s face and she gave an affirmative nod this time.

  “Might also take a urine sample and run a pregnancy test,” John said.

  “Pregnant?” Carrie gasped and rose up off the bed. “I can’t be pregnant, it’s impossible.”

  Sophie patted her arm. “It’s just a precaution, but if you are sexually active it’s something that needs to be considered.”

  “But I can’t have children,” wailed Carrie. “I want so badly to have kids, but I’ve got horrendous endometriosis and all the doctors I’ve seen said it was a one in a million chance I’d fall.”

  “How about this, we’ll do a urine pregnancy test and also request a pregnancy test with your blood work. That way we’ve covered every angle and you can rest easy and concentrate on getting well. Will that work for you, Carrie?”

  “Yes, please do that.” Carrie lay back down and closed her eyes.

  Sophie drew some blood, arranged for it to be sent to the lab and then went off and got a pregnancy test kit before making her way back to Carrie. Within minutes, she had what she needed and went off to the treatment room to perform the test. Her mind was wandering, thinking about the jumble of emotions Carrie was possibly feeling. There was no way, now the idea had been planted, that Carrie wasn’t thinking about a possible pregnancy and how impossible the chance could be considering her medical condition.

  Sophie fixed her gaze on the white stick she held in her hand, watching in amazement as the word “pregnant” appeared slowly in the window. Miracles do happen.

  The air around her changed, it sizzled and electricity buzzed through her as if her spine was a conductor for escaping neutrons. Alex had walked in.

  “Who’s pregnant?” he asked, causing a shiver to sail through her body.

  “Patient in cubicle one.” She turned and smiled up at him, wanting to touch her lips to his, but the possibility of someone walking in was high. “A miracle has occurred.”

  “A miracle?” He asked with one raised eyebrow.

  “Yep, the patient has always wanted children, but is suffering from severe endometriosis, was told she couldn’t have kids. Looks like fate had other ideas for her.”

  Sophie was surprised by the way Alex’s face twisted first in anguish, then in disappointment, and was then wiped clean, devoid of any sign of emotion. She wondered whether she’d imagined the previous reaction.

  “I’m sure she’ll be delighted by the news,” he said, and then strode out of the room.

  Sophie had no time to comprehend what had just passed between them, so brief yet somehow so telling.

  She left the treatment room with the cylindrical white stick in her hand. She saw John chatting to Phoebe and walked over to them.

  “I think we can cancel any other tests, John.”

  “Why?”

  “Our patient’s pregnant.” She held up the stick for him to see. “Do you want me to tell her?”

  “No, let’s wait for confirmation from the blood work. I know these pregnancy tests are ninety-nine percent accurate, but we’re talking about a young woman who has been told she can never have children. We don’t want to give her the news only to find out for some bizarre reason the test was a false positive. Wait until we have concrete confirmation from the blood test.”

  Sophie had to agree, John had a point. “Fair enough, but she knows I took a urine sample and that pregnancy tests are over in a matter of minutes. Did the lab give any indication of when the results will be back?”

  “They should be back in about thirty minutes. I requested a rush on them.” John broke off and yawned. “I’m going to take off, Sophie, you can deal with Carrie. If not, I’m sure Alex will help you. I’m beat.”

  “Fine, I’ll work something out.” She sighed. There must be a way she could let Carrie know that everything was fine and not give away the result of the pregnancy test.

  The phone rang and Sophie spent the next few minutes sorting out calls and other dramas. The next thing she knew, the test results for Carrie were back. She opened them and held her breath. After a quick scan, she let the breath out and smiled. Carrie was indeed pregnant.

  Sophie stopped by the information board and picked up a couple of brochures about pregnancy and dealing with morning sickness. She also picked up an information sheet listing options for hospital or homebirth.

  This time when she opened the curtain, she found Carrie cuddling up to a man, whom she assumed was her partner.

  “Hi,” she said and the couple sprang apart. Sophie noticed that Carrie’s companion kept a tight hold on her hand. “Sorry for the delay, the phones went haywire. Well I have some news. You’re — ”

  “Not pregnant,” Carrie said, disappointment coloring her words.

  Sophie couldn’t help it — her smile got bigger as she held out the pregnancy test for Carrie to see. “Uh-uh, quite the opposite. You’re pregnant.”

  The look on Carrie’s face was priceless; Sophie loved delivering news like this. There was nothing quite like it.

  “Are you sure?” Carried asked.

  Sophie then held out the blood work sheet, to confirm the result of the pregnancy stick Sophie had handed Carrie.

  “Oh my goodness,” Carrie whispered. “I just thought it was a stomach bug lingering, but it’s been morning sickness all along.” She turned to her partner. “Jake, we’re gonna have a baby. We’re gonna have a baby.”

  She started to cry and Jake gently wrapped her up in his arms. He looked up at Sophie, love and happiness, along with the sheen of his own tears, shining in his eyes. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.” Sophie placed the brochures on the bed. “Something for you to read when your minds are clearer. I’ll leave you to it.”

  She made her way to her office wanting some time to think. She closed the door and sank down into her chair.

  I thought it was a lingering stomach bug. The words kept tumbling and twisting through her mind like a rollercoaster ride at a carnival.

  No, it couldn’t be.

  Sophie glanced at the calendar and mentally counted the days.

  She was late. Many, many, many days late.

  No, it was just the stress of the job. Stress always messes up cycles.

  But the more she argued with herself the more the thought buried its sharp talons in her mind. There was only one thing she could do.

  She rolled the chair back and stood, her legs feeling so shaky, like she’d drunk a bottle of expensive champagne by herself. Tightening the loose muscles she went back to the treatment room and picked up two pregnancy kits. She wasn’t going to take any chances.

  Slipping them into the waistband of her skirt, she opened the door and headed for the ladies’ toilet.

  She quickly ducked inside and hoped nobody had seen her. Her fingers were quaking like an earthquake and the thin cardboard finally ripped open. She was about to reach for the second box when sanity briefly appeared in he
r mind.

  How effective would it be to do two tests at once? Probably best to do one now and then one in the morning.

  She held the white stick, the stick that had the potential to change her life as quickly as it had changed Carrie’s.

  But would Alex be as happy as Jake had been? When Alex had seen Carrie’s test in her hand a range of emotions had crossed his face, and she recalled his words as he explained his previous marriage: There were no children, thank goodness.

  Would he want their child?

  Just take the test.

  Sucking in a deep breath, savoring the feel of the oxygen filling her lungs, giving her a false bravado, she stepped through the cubicle door.

  When she’d finished she flushed the toilet, put the seat down and sat, waiting for the required time to pass. She looked everywhere but at the stick in her hand.

  Her heart pounded loudly in her ears, and she was sure it was echoing around the room.

  The door to the ladies’ room opened and a couple of people came in giggling about something. She blocked her ears — she didn’t want to hear anything. She stayed still and waited until she heard the muffled sound of toilets flushing.

  She pulled her hands away from her ears just as the noise of the girls receded behind the outer door again.

  She closed her eyes one last time before opening them again and looking at the stick.

  Her vision seemed to blur for a moment and she flicked her eyes toward the ceiling and then back down again.

  Pregnant. The word jumped out at her from the little window.

  An innocuous word but that word had just changed the goal posts of her life. A line had been drawn in the sand on her past, and her future just took on a whole new perspective.

  Pregnant.

  She was pregnant with Alex’s child.

  Chapter 12

  Pregnant.

  How did it happen? Stupid question, really — she knew how it happened, but why? They’d been so careful and it had only been one night. Although as a nurse she knew contraception wasn’t a hundred percent foolproof.