The Doctors’ Baby Bond

by Abigail Gordon

  ‘Don’t be,’ he said gently. ‘I wish I’d been here.’

  Andrina didn’t reply. With a last look at Jonathan she went back to her room and once more beneath the covers lay wide-eyed and forlorn.

  She’d been right, she told herself as the minutes ticked by. The flame did still burn between those two. Tania may be a madam, but she herself couldn’t compete with her when it came to sex appeal. Had Drew forgiven her and during the hours he’d been absent they’d been discussing what to do about the situation here at the farm if they got back together again?

  If that was the case, he had a short memory and would deserve all he got, she thought miserably as she tossed and turned. But Drew was worthy of better than that. She loved him, and couldn’t bear to think of him being hurt again.

  She’d finally admitted it and it came as no surprise. How could she help loving him? Just to be near him was joy. Why couldn’t everything stay as it was?

  CHAPTER SIX

  ANDRINA was up first the next morning. When she looked into Drew’s room he was asleep still on top of the covers and Jonathan was gazing around him in his cot looking almost back to normal. Whatever had been the cause of the previous night’s discomfort he seemed to have got over it.

  As her heart leapt with thankfulness, all the worry and frustrations she’d experienced then came flooding back. The baby’s sudden fever during Drew’s absence. His meeting with Tania that had lasted so long. Only lovers would want to be with each other for that length of time, she thought bleakly.

  As she carried the baby downstairs she saw that he was still pale in spite of being so much better, and she eyed him anxiously.

  Passing the door of the study where Drew had been working the previous evening, she saw that some of the papers he’d been dealing with had drifted off the desk and she bent to pick them up.

  The one uppermost was a solicitor’s letter if the heading was anything to go by, and as she put it back on the desktop the first line of the communication caught her eye and, unable to stop herself, she read on.

  It seemed that Drew had been in touch with them about adopting his nephew and was seeking advice on all the legal pros and cons.

  Andrina sank down slowly onto the nearest chair.

  It was all fitting together like a jigsaw puzzle, she thought fearfully. Last night’s rendezvous with Tania, the solicitor’s letter. He was going to have his ex-wife back and was considering making his relationship with Jonathan rock solid. And where would that leave her? Out in the cold?

  When Drew came down to breakfast he smiled when he saw the baby tucking into his cereal.

  ‘Another crisis over, then,’ he said with a quick glance at Andrina’s set face.

  ‘Yes. Jonathan’s chest is clear, but he’s still pale,’ she told him tightly.

  ‘He is going to look pale after his flushed cheeks of last night,’ he said mildly.

  Still edgy, she replied, ‘Yes, I know that. But it doesn’t alter the fact that I don’t like the idea of leaving him.’

  The words had come out mechanically. She was still feeling dazed from reading the letter not meant for her eyes.

  He sighed. ‘Look, Andrina, you can’t wrap him up in cotton wool. Children gain a degree of immunity by contact with other people. We all do. So let’s calm down, shall we?’

  Calm down? she felt like shrieking back at him. She’d never felt less calm in her life. It was as if the ground had been taken from under her feet. If Drew thought he was going to take Jonathan from her and let that woman be involved in his upbringing, he had another think coming. The thought that he could contemplate such a thing was tearing her apart.

  But she had no claim on him, except for loving him more than life itself. She wouldn’t have a leg to stand on if it came to a court ruling.

  ‘Don’t patronise me, Drew,’ she said, bringing her thoughts back to what was being said. ‘I suppose you think that I’ve gone from one extreme to the other, from not wanting Jodie’s child in the first instance to smothering him with affection. If that is the case, I think I could be excused as I’ve never neglected him in any way since the moment I took charge of him.’

  ‘Don’t you think I’m aware of that?’ he parried. ‘What is it with you? Have I done something to upset you?’

  Andrina swallowed hard. She was tempted to break the rules they had set themselves and tell him that she was in love with him. That she would love and cherish him if he would let her. Instead, she said the first thing that came into her head, and as soon as the words were out she knew it had been a mistake.

  ‘When you came in last night you said that you’d been with Tania.’

  He was observing her with raised brows.

  ‘So that’s what is bugging you. Yes, I had. So what’s the problem? As I hadn’t a crystal ball with me at the time, I didn’t know anything was wrong and, having left Jonathan in good health, I didn’t feel the need to report in.’

  Still driven to put the blight on the morning she said, ‘You must have had a lot to discuss.’

  He’d been fixing his tie in front of the hall mirror but now he was swivelling round to face her.

  ‘Nothing of the kind. It was all done and dusted within minutes.’

  So what had he and Tania been doing for the rest of the time? she wondered. Were they back on a friendly footing with so much to catch up on that the hours had flown?

  Drew’s expression was giving nothing away and she wasn’t going to ask.

  ‘Let’s get the show under way, shall we?’ he said, as if what had gone before was of no consequence. ‘As you are still concerned about Jonathan, I suggest that you call in at the nursery between surgeries just to satisfy yourself that he’s all right.’

  ‘I have every intention of doing so,’ she told him, feeling more left out than ever.

  Why did she have to fall in love with him? she thought as they drove to the church hall, and knew she didn’t have to look for an answer. He was everything she’d ever dreamed of, but was life ever that simple?

  During those first weeks at the farm she’d been totally happy. The relief of having someone to turn to had been exquisite, as had been knowing that Jonathan was out of the high-rise apartment and living in the beautiful countryside.

  Drew had ironed out all her problems and there hadn’t been a cloud in her sky during the past weeks, but now he was complicating everything. She should have known from the start that a man as attractive as Drew was going to affect her senses sooner or later, and because of him being what he was it had been sooner rather than later. But it looked as if the chance of him returning her feelings was nil.

  He’d put her longings into perspective last night when he’d told her that they were both free agents. In other words his feelings towards her were no different than they’d been at the start.

  When they arrived at the nursery she told Serena, ‘Jonathan wasn’t well last night. Please, keep a special eye on him, will you?’

  The other woman had heard the story of how the baby had come to be where he was and she said with a smile, ‘That sister of yours chose well when she left her child in your care, Dr Bell. Of course we’ll keep an eye on him. What was it? Temperature? Chesty? There’s a lot of it about.’

  Drew nodded. ‘Yes, there is. Winter isn’t even here and we’re in the thick of it already. The holly is laden with berries and so early, too. We country folk say it’s a sign of a hard winter.’

  Andrina was thinking about the solicitor’s letter and was only half listening. Her mind was still grappling with what she’d read earlier. Shock and anger were making her feel disorientated, and as they drove to the surgery she said absently, ‘What was it you were saying about the holly?’

  ‘I said that it’s laden with berries. More so than I’ve ever seen it. Old Eli Thompson, who lives by the reservoirs, was only saying the other day when he came to the surgery that there’s going to be weather to treat with respect once the winter has settled in, and he’s not usually w
rong in his forecasts.

  ‘I remember we had some hard winters when we were kids. But I didn’t notice them so much at the time. If it snowed we were in heaven. But I can remember when a couple were trapped up on the tops in a blizzard and nearly froze to death. It will be no joke being out and about, visiting our patients, if we get that sort of weather again.’

  ‘Mmm,’ she said, still feeling traumatised.

  ‘You’re miles away,’ he protested. ‘I hope you’re not still dwelling on last night.’

  Andrina pulled herself together. A busy day lay ahead of them and lack of concentration was not permissible in their profession.

  ‘No, of course not,’ she told him flatly, and wished she sounded more convincing.

  ‘Good. Because we have more important things to think about than a minor squabble.’

  Drew was right, she thought grimly. Compared to what was coming, last night would seem like a minor upset. And if he was expecting her to ask what he meant, he was to be disappointed. At that moment she felt least said soonest mended and changed the subject. Time to have the big showdown when she’d gathered her wits.

  ‘What was wrong with old Eli?’ she asked with a quick change of subject. ‘I’ve heard people speak of him but haven’t yet met the village’s oldest inhabitant.’

  Drew laughed. ‘He had nothing wrong with him. That’s just the point. Other than a bout of wishful thinking.’

  ‘I’m not with you.’

  ‘Eli is considering getting married again and wanted to know if I thought it advisable as he’s ninety-four next birthday.’

  ‘Really! Some people never give up, do they? There are those of us who haven’t even got started on the matrimonial merry-go-round and he’s ready to try it again. I’m told that he’s been to the altar three times already.’

  ‘Yes. Maybe it’s because of this cold winter that he says is coming and he wants someone to snuggle up to.’

  ‘Who’s the lucky woman?’

  ‘A lady he met at Blackpool during the summer.’

  ‘Did he ask for Viagra?’

  ‘Not in so many words, but he did want to know if I thought he’d be up to it.’

  ‘And what did you say?’

  ‘He’s a tough, wily, old peasant. What could I say?’

  ‘Right. So there’s going to be a wedding in the village.’

  ‘No. It’s all fallen through.’

  ‘Why is that?’

  ‘The bride-to-be objected to his ferrets. Eli has always kept ferrets and he gave her an ultimatum. It was either love me love my ferrets, or the wedding’s off.’

  They were still smiling at the antics of the elderly when they arrived at the practice and found the other world that they shared waiting for them.

  Before either of them had the chance to ring for their first patients, a call came through on Drew’s phone from the daughter of Michael Rayner, the patient with liver failure.

  ‘That’s excellent,’ Andrina heard him say. ‘We hope that all goes well. Give your father our best wishes.

  ‘They’ve found a liver for Michael Rayner,’ he said as he replaced the receiver. ‘Let’s hope it’s not too late. That was his daughter. They did keep him in when you sent him to hospital and at the moment he’s very poorly. But if they can keep him alive long enough to receive the transplant, there could be hope for him. Just as long as his body doesn’t reject the new organ.’

  ‘That’s excellent news,’ she said, and thought thankfully that at least something good was happening to someone.

  ‘When are they operating?’

  ‘Today. Now.’

  ‘Brilliant.’

  Not so brilliant was the state of the foot of a young housewife. It was swollen and inflamed, with the discoloration spreading up her leg.

  ‘I stepped on a rusty nail in the garden shed,’ she explained, ‘and although I bathed the punctured area with hot water and antiseptic it started to get sore. Probably because I’ve never been good at fighting infection. My jaw’s a bit stiff and it isn’t easy to swallow at the moment. That couldn’t have anything to do with the infection, could it?’

  Alarm bells were ringing.

  ‘Have you ever had an anti-tetanus injection?’ Andrina asked.

  ‘Yes, but not recently. It was about twelve years ago.’

  ‘So you haven’t received a letter from us asking you to come in for a booster, with it being so long since you had the initial injection?’

  The woman shook her head.

  ‘No. But I’ve recently moved house and I don’t think the surgery has my new address.’

  ‘Right. Well, that omission is about to be rectified immediately,’ she told the patient. ‘You have some of the symptoms of tetanus, which, as you are probably aware, is a condition not to be neglected under any circumstances.’

  ‘I’m not going to lose my foot, am I?’ she exclaimed fearfully.

  ‘Not if we act immediately, but there is blood poisoning present and it is moving up your leg. Tetanus antitoxin injections are going to be needed to clear the infection and under the circumstances I would prefer you to be treated in hospital in case the infection worsens before it gets a chance to react to the treatment.’

  ‘Whew! I should have come to see you sooner, shouldn’t I?’

  ‘Yes. But infections such as this can change from not so serious to very serious in a short time.’

  * * *

  When Andrina mentioned the tetanus patient to Drew at the end of morning surgery he frowned.

  ‘When will the general public get wise to the danger of that sort of infection?’ he said. ‘I can remember when I was a kid my dad being called out to a farmer’s wife with a badly swollen hand. Her wedding ring had got too tight and her husband had sawn it off with a rusty little handsaw. Tetanus was well and truly present, and though Dad had her admitted to hospital immediately she died. And now, on a lighter note, are you going to check on Jonathan, as I suggested?’

  ‘Who’s fussing now?’ she asked.

  ‘The other half of the partnership,’ he called over his shoulder as he went out into the chilly morning to start his house calls.

  Feeling somewhat comforted because he’d let her see that he didn’t really think she’d been overreacting, she went to do as he’d suggested.

  When she got there Jonathan was fine. One of Serena’s young assistants was giving him his bottle and when he saw her he let the teat go slack for a moment and smiled.

  Her world righted itself. She bent and kissed the baby’s satin-smooth cheek and departed. On her way back to the surgery she phoned Drew to let him know that all was well.

  ‘Great,’ he said, and she could tell by his voice that he was smiling. ‘So have I got my sane and sensible partner back?’

  ‘Don’t bank on it,’ she told him coolly, and before he had time to react she rang off.

  Drew was considering the future. Like Andrina, he was feeling that their relationship had changed in the last few days and was telling himself that he’d been crazy to think that it wouldn’t, with the two of them living in such close proximity.

  Compared to his ex-wife, Andrina was like a slender, brown-haired, focal point in both his life and Jonathan’s. They needed her…desperately. He had his own strengths and would always be there for her and the baby, but he wasn’t invincible as he was still bruised and smarting from his disastrous marriage to Tania. Yet he didn’t blame her entirely. He couldn’t believe that he’d let just mere sexual attraction propel him into matrimony.

  And now what was he contemplating? Another catastrophe that had an even more crazy purpose to it than when he’d rushed into wedlock with Tania? More than anything he wanted Jonathan’s future to be secure, but for that to happen the little one needed both of those who loved him to be permanently in his life.

  He was thinking seriously of adoption, but hadn’t yet discussed it with Andrina because he knew how fiercely possessive she was of Jonathan. He’d had to tread carefully a few
times himself with regard to that and didn’t want to do anything to upset her.

  Yet he couldn’t believe she would disagree with what he had in mind. They were a team now and, with his ring on her finger and Jonathan legally theirs, life could only get better.

  Soon he was going to tell her what he had in mind, and that would be crunch time. He could feel it in his bones.

  In the dark hours of recent nights he’d known how he wanted the road ahead to be. There was only one way to achieve complete stability for his nephew. The certainty of it became stronger with each passing day, as did the feeling that Jonathan wouldn’t be the only one to be truly blessed if Andrina agreed to what he had in mind.

  As he drove out of the village to visit a patient at a farm in one of the more remote parts of the area, Drew kept seeing Tania in the distance on horseback and knew with weary certainty that what he’d said the night before had fallen on deaf ears.

  When he turned off onto a rough track that led to the home of his patient she came up from behind and reined in beside the car, forcing him to stop. He wound the window down and eyed her grimly. Whatever she wanted of him, she was wasting her time. But she was so unpredictable, so sure of her appeal it was like talking to a brick wall.

  She was bending to face him from her high perch. Speaking in the wheedling tone that set his teeth on edge, she said, ‘If you don’t want a child from me any more, fair enough. We can pretend that the one you’re looking after is ours and start from there.’

  There were no words to answer that prime piece of cheek so he just shook his head and wound the window up again, set the car in motion once more and left her there.

  As he parked beside a stone farmhouse of a similar size to his own, Drew was imagining what Andrina would have said if she’d heard that last preposterous suggestion from his ex-wife.

  Woe betide anyone casting covetous eyes on Jonathan. He, Drew, had had to prove his own worth before she’d trusted him completely. As for Tania, she was the last person Jonathan’s guardian angel would allow near the child.