Heatherdale's Shy Nurse (Mills & Boon Medical)

by Abigail Gordon

  ‘Yes,’ she said in a low voice as she kissed a surprised Martha, who hadn’t been expecting to meet someone else she knew. ‘Or at least I will be when I know what is happening with Melissa and the baby.’ It was there again, an atmosphere of dread that he couldn’t fathom. But time was of the essence and he needed to see the X-rays of Martha’s injuries as soon as possible.

  They could have been worse, he thought thankfully when he saw them. It seemed that she had been sitting in the front seat of the car, farthest away from the impact from the other vehicle, and her arm and leg injuries were simple fractures that would soon heal.

  Once he had dealt with them he took Martha to Leonie and her staff to be cared for, and noticed that his ward sister still had the grey look about her, but reasoned that the two women were good friends and it was only natural that she should be so concerned about Melissa and the baby.

  Leonie’s last words to him from Saturday night hadn’t been mentioned by either of them, which was not surprising. She’d hinted that she needed time and he hoped that it was all it was. He was expecting it to be because there had been something different about her during those moments at her door and maybe they might get the chance to talk properly soon, but before anything else he needed to ring Ryan to ask how Melissa was and if there was any news about the baby.

  When he rang him his friend’s first question was about Martha, and Callum was able to reassure him that he had dealt with two simple fractures that should heal reasonably quickly and that she was fine, being looked after by Leonie and her nurses.

  The news on Melissa and the baby was not so reassuring. The baby appeared to be in good health, but there was a concern that a placental abruption could still occur, which might cause Melissa to lose it, and her chest injuries were an added burden to their anxiety over the baby. The medics were debating whether to deliver the baby a month early but the consensus was that if he could remain inside, so much the better.

  And then there was Rhianna to worry about. One of the teachers had brought her to the hospital when school was over for the day to be with her sister and she was very weepy and frightened.

  ‘Rhianna can come home with me,’ Leonie told Callum as she held her close. ‘She’ll stay until Melissa and the concerns over the baby have been sorted. I can see her off to school in the mornings and maybe one of the staff could bring her here in the afternoons when it is over, and she can cuddle up to me at night in my bed.’

  ‘I think that would be great,’ Callum said, ‘except for one thing. It means that all the responsibility is going to be yours, when I should be doing my share. You looked awful when I told you about the baby, which is understandable, but was there any particular reason that I don’t know about?’

  Leonie looked away, but her voice was steady enough as she told him, ‘It was a shock reaction, I suppose. I’m all right now.’ She observed Rhianna, who was calming down now that she was sitting beside Martha’s bed.

  ‘How long are you going to keep Martha here in the ward?’

  ‘She could go home today if it was possible, but where to?’

  ‘I’ve got some leave due,’ she said. ‘If I take it now, I can look after both of the children.’

  ‘How?’ he questioned. ‘You haven’t got the space and have only one bed. Besides, are you sure you’re up to it after your earlier upset?’

  ‘That has passed. I can manage all right as long as I get a fold-away bed for myself so that the children can have my double.’

  ‘All right,’ he agreed, ‘but on one condition, that you let me help in every way possible.’

  ‘Yes, as long as you’re happy for me to take some leave.’

  ‘Of course I am. With Ryan in charge at the Manchester end, and you and I running things here, we will at least be taking one burden from him, and in the meantime we keep our fingers crossed for the little unborn one.’

  Leonie had paled again, but nodded her agreement.

  For now there were arrangements to make regarding settling the children into the yurt.

  ‘I’ve got a fold-up bed you can use,’ he said. ‘As soon as our shifts here are over, I’ll drive you and the girls to your place, and will do any other chauffeuring that is required. I can take Rhianna to school and bring her back, just as long as I don’t have any emergencies to cope with here. If I do, we’ll have to have a rethink.’

  * * *

  Rhianna and Martha had always been fascinated with where Leonie lived and both forgot their tears when they were told that they were going to stay there with her until their parents came home.

  Rhianna wasn’t entirely happy, though. She was still worried.

  ‘Is our baby brother all right, Uncle Callum?’

  It was there again on Leonie’s face, the expression that he couldn’t fathom.

  ‘Yes, as far as we know he is warm and safe and looking forward to meeting his big sisters,’ he reassured them. ‘For now let’s get Martha off this bed and into my car. Then the four of us are going to go to where Leonie lives. There’ll be no running around for you, Martha. Back to bed for the rest of the day.’

  When he’d driven them to the yurt Callum said, ‘I’ll come back this evening with the bed, Leonie, and we can discuss how I can be of assistance in any other ways.

  ‘I’ll also ring Ryan before I come so that I can tell you the latest news on Melissa and the baby when I get here, and let him know what arrangements we are making for the children. That will be one thing less for him to worry about.

  ‘I’ve left a message for Candace, asking her to deal with any orthopaedic problems that might arise while I’m helping with the children, which should work out fine as Julian isn’t going to have any time for romancing with the responsibility of the neuro unit to cope with during Ryan’s absence.

  ‘And Leonie,’ he said, with his voice softening, ‘nothing in this life is insurmountable when there is someone to share the problem with.

  * * *

  Callum had picked up on her distress every time Melissa and the baby had been mentioned. How long before he put two and two together and made four? Leonie wondered as she watched his car disappear from sight.

  But the children were hungry and she put every other thought to one side except for that one and made a meal for the three of them. Once it was over she turned her thoughts to the matter of clothes for them while they were in her care. Access to them was only going to be accomplished if Callum had a key to the Fergusons’ home, which was the second question she put to him when he arrived with the bed.

  The first was about Melissa and the baby. He reported that Ryan had said that so far everything was under control regarding his unborn son, that Melissa was in a lot of pain with broken ribs, a cracked collar bone and severe bruising, but all she could think about was the baby.

  With regard to Leonie’s question about a key to the town house where they lived, he confirmed that he did have a spare key that they’d given him for occasions such as the present one, and if she would make a list of everything the children would need he would go and get them straight away.

  Callum had eyed Leonie keenly when he’d arrived and wondered what she would be like if it had been a baby of hers that had been put in such a serious situation. Yet her distress wasn’t likely to be anything of that nature because as far as he knew she’d never been married.

  But there was the fact that he had only known her a short time so was in no position to judge. Some women might have been two or three times married with a few children by the time they were a similar age. But she was too much of a private person to have a past like that, he told himself as he went to get the children’s clothes.

  When he came back the girls were asleep, with Martha’s injured arm and leg positioned away from Rhianna. Callum smiled down at them.

  ‘We have all eaten, but what about you? Have you had the time to have a meal?’ Leonie asked him quietly.

  ‘No, but I don’t usually eat until later so there’s no problem. I�
�ll get something from the hotel.’

  ‘I could put a steak under the grill and do some fresh vegetables with it if you like,’ she suggested, not wanting him to go after the awful day that was almost past.

  He hesitated. ‘Are you sure that you don’t want me to go?’

  ‘If you are referring to Friday and Saturday night, no, I don’t,’ she said softly, and with a glance at the small suitcase she’d given him, ‘I can sort the children’s clothes out in the morning.’

  ‘All right, then, yes, I would love to accept the offer.’ He was smiling across at her. ‘And I promise not to ask a single question of any kind or try and kiss you.’

  Her colour was rising, the grey look being replaced by a pink flush on her cheeks.

  ‘How would you feel if I asked you about yourself all the time?’

  His smile was still there. ‘I would love it because I have nothing to hide, and I don’t think you have either. You are just a very private person, aren’t you?’

  ‘Yes, if you say so, and that is how I intend to stay.’

  At that moment Martha gave a little sob in her sleep and Callum went over to where the children were snuggled down in Leonie’s bed, took her hand and stroked it gently until she settled again.

  Watching him, Leonie ached to tell him about the past that had tarnished her life at a time when she’d had least resistance. But she knew his moral strength and his expectations of those he worked with and socialised with. He was the man who had appeared out of the blue in her life when she’d needed help up on the moors and had been a big part of it ever since.

  She hadn’t liked him much at first, but that hadn’t lasted long. He was everything she would ever want in a man, but she didn’t think Callum would see her as his ideal woman if she ever opened her heart to him about her past.

  The phone rang and it was Julie on the line for a chat about the wedding, but when she heard that Callum was there, and was told about what had been happening to Ryan’s family she sent her best wishes and rang off.

  ‘Julie and Brendan are getting married soon,’ she told Callum. ‘She’s asked me to be a bridesmaid, along with her younger sister.’

  ‘Sounds nice,’ he said, ‘and let me guess, they’re having the reception at the community centre.’

  ‘Yes, they are, and they want me to bring someone as my guest. Would you be free at all?’ she asked, and couldn’t believe what she’d said, yet wasn’t as taken aback as he was.

  Maybe it was because they were involved in a crisis together that Leonie was mellowing, and the barriers would go back up once it was over.

  ‘I would make sure that I was free if that is what you want,’ he said casually, ‘and I could always do some disc jockeying if they require it as weddings are expensive occasions.’

  She was laughing, eyes sparkling at the thought, and told him, ‘I’m sure that they will jump at the offer.’

  * * *

  It had been a traumatic day and the horrors of it were far from over, Leonie thought in more sombre mood as she left Callum to have his meal. There was no way of knowing what tomorrow would bring, but this short time of peace with him was bringing a calm that she was in need of every time she thought about Melissa and the baby, and it was also helping her to see the kiss of Friday night in the right perspective.

  Their attraction to each other was increasing by the minute but both had bad memories of the recent past and where Callum’s were clear and out in the open, she was still in trauma. If she hadn’t been she would have kissed him back with equal passion.

  Her thoughts switched to Ryan and Melissa. Their lives had been very different before they’d met. Ryan had had no intention of marrying again, like Callum, but for a very different reason. He’d had a deep and abiding love for the wife he had lost, and it had only been when Melissa had appeared in his life that he had found a love just as wonderful as before.

  They didn’t deserve today’s awful happenings. Ryan had lost his first wife in a dreadful accident. His marriage to Melissa was still so new, and the news of their pregnancy had been another healing miracle.

  It was a good marriage, the two small girls adored Melissa and she loved them dearly in return. Everything had been wonderful until today.

  As if reading her mind, Callum went over to where the children were sleeping and looking down at them said in a low voice, ‘I’ll ring Ryan first thing tomorrow so that I can tell you what’s happening there when I come to take Rhianna to school.’

  He was about to leave them and tonight she wanted Callum to stay for ever, but what good would it do her?

  ‘You know where I am if you need me, Leonie.’

  He reached out and held her close for a long moment. ‘Fingers crossed for Mum and baby.’

  ‘Yes, oh, yes!’ she choked.

  After watching Callum drive away, she went back inside to where the children lay sleeping safe in her keeping. If he’d stayed another moment she would have found herself telling him why she was so traumatised by what was happening to Melissa and her child.

  * * *

  When Callum came over the next morning he had better news from Ryan. There were no signs of an abruption and the baby’s movements were strong; added to that Melissa was much better, though still in pain from the cracked ribs and bruising of the chest.

  ‘That is wonderful news!’ Leonie exclaimed joyfully. ‘No pregnant woman should have to endure the pain of losing the child that she’s carrying, but it does happen.’

  Callum observed her thoughtfully. ‘Could it be that you know someone that it happened to?’

  ‘Yes, but it was quite some time ago,’ she said dismissively, and as the children came in from the garden at that moment the subject was closed. Callum involved himself in checking Martha’s sling and plaster casts and listening to them describing what it was like, sleeping in the yurt.

  When they’d finished he teased, ‘I wouldn’t mind trying it myself some time.’

  ‘So is that why you brought your bed, Uncle Callum, so we could use it while you had a go?’ Rhianna enquired innocently.

  ‘Er, not exactly,’ he informed her.

  Just then Leonie came in.

  ‘What was all that about?’ she asked.

  Callum smiled. ‘It was just Rhianna sorting out my sleeping arrangements,’ he told her. ‘And regarding arrangements, I’ll pick her up from school too.’

  She shook her head. ‘No, Callum, we will do that, Martha and I. We have plenty of time to kill and you haven’t. We can get a bus or a taxi.’

  He sighed. ‘All right, whatever you say.’ He’d been looking forward to seeing her again when he brought Rhianna home, but had to admit that what she was suggesting made sense, though it didn’t stop him from deciding to call in on his way back after he’d seen Rhianna safely into school. It was going to be a long day without Leonie’s presence on the unit.

  The more he was with her the more she was getting under his skin. It was as if he’d been dead and was alive again, but the past that she never discussed was still an obstacle.

  He knew nothing about her parents or any other relatives she might have, and to be fair she knew nothing about his background, but she had only to ask and he would explain how his mother had brought him up single-handedly until she’d met his stepfather, a genial giant of a man from Canada, and had gone to live over there with him.

  They kept in touch regularly and he’d known that she hadn’t been happy when Shelley hadn’t wanted children. Her own life had been hard but she’d never regretted giving birth to him, even after the man who’d made her pregnant had deserted her.

  He loved his mother deeply and knew she would adore grandchildren if he ever gave her them, but strangely enough he hadn’t mentioned Leonie to her. Probably because it would feel as if he was taking too much for granted as Leonie was still wary of any really close commitment between them.

  They had become closer over recent days but not so close that she was ready to talk to him freely a
bout what she wanted out of life, and what if anything life had done to her that she didn’t want to talk about.

  * * *

  When he stopped off on his way back he found the two of them feeding the birds on a small grassy area beside the yurt, and when Martha went back inside for more bread he checked how Leonie was doing.

  ‘So, do you feel less traumatised now that we have some good news from Ryan?’

  ‘Oh, yes,’ she breathed, ‘yes, indeed. As I told you, I knew someone once whose child was stillborn and she was desolate for evermore.’

  ‘Could she not try again?’

  ‘No. It wasn’t that sort of situation.’

  ‘Ah, I see,’ he said gravely, and would have liked to continue the conversation, but the clock was ticking on relentlessly and he had work to do, so waving to Martha he wished them both a swift goodbye and went on his way.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  WHEN CALLUM ARRIVED at the hospital Candace was flashing a diamond ring in front of everyone and congratulations were due. Julian had asked her to marry him and she’d accepted after a very short acquaintance, which seemed like no time at all in which to make such an important decision, but they were a pair of chancers and should be well matched.

  He had to hand it to the young consultant for creating chaos. If Julian intended going back to America with Candace when her time was up in Heatherdale, Ryan would have to be on the lookout for another second-in-command now that the American doctor had found husband number two. What a contrast, though, to his own relationship with Leonie.

  They were closer, though far from as close as he wanted them to be, but from now on he was going to pursue the dream of having her in his life, and if she still continued to keep him at a distance there would be some serious questions that he would need answers to.

  Leonie phoned during the day to invite him to dinner with her and the children that evening and his spirits lifted. ‘Yes,’ he told her, ‘I would love to. Is there anything you would like me to bring?’

  ‘Just yourself,’ she said, ‘and if you could get here no later than six o’clock if possible so that the children’s meal won’t be too near their bedtime?’