Healing the Single Dad's Heart

by Scarlet Wilson

  Joe was actually sad that Regan was so sleepy. He would relish a story like this. Still, it gave him time to open their cases and find their toiletries and some clothes for the next day, along with their mosquito repellent. Everything else could wait.

  Lien appeared next to him just as he was trying to shake the creases out of a shirt. ‘He’s gone,’ she said quietly. ‘I think he was halfway there when I started.’

  Lien moved over to the kitchen. ‘Tea?’ she asked, holding up a pair of cups. She opened the fridge and a few cupboards. ‘Don’t worry, Hoa has filled the fridge and cupboards with some staples for you.’

  ‘She has? That was kind of her.’

  Lien gestured to the red sofa. ‘Sit down. You must be tired.’ She gave him a curious look. ‘Scotland? Isn’t it? You’ve come along way.’

  Joe relaxed down onto the sofa. It was just as comfortable as it looked. He watched as Lien moved easily around the kitchen, boiling water and preparing the tea. The smell drifting towards him was distinctly floral. This wasn’t the strong black tea he was used to in Scotland.

  A few minutes later Lien handed him the steaming cup of pale yellow liquid. He tried to give an unobtrusive sniff. ‘What kind of tea is this?’

  She settled next to him, her leg brushing against his jeans. ‘The best kind, jasmine. Haven’t you tried it before?’

  It smelled like perfume, but he wasn’t going to say that out loud, so he balanced the cup on his lap and turned a little to face her. ‘Thanks for this. You didn’t need to.’

  ‘I did.’ She grinned, eyes glinting as she sipped her own tea. ‘It’s bribery. I’m just trying to make sure you’ll be fit to work tomorrow. The jasmine tea should relax you a little, and hopefully you’ll get some sleep and your body clock will adjust.’

  He nodded. ‘Ah, bribery. Now I understand.’

  She gestured with her hand to the window in front of them. It looked back over to the main building. ‘Tomorrow will be busy, a baptism of fire.’ She pulled a face and gave a shrug. ‘There’s some kind of norovirus bug out there right now. We’re getting lots of dehydrated kids and adults.’

  Joe shuddered. ‘Norovirus. Perfect.’

  He waited a second then gave her another curious look. ‘How long have you been here?’

  ‘All my life,’ she replied simply. ‘Born and brought up in Hanoi. Trained here, then spent a year in Washington and another in Dublin.’ She gave him a smile. ‘I wanted to see the world.’

  ‘But you came back?’

  She hesitated for a second. ‘Of course. I trained with Duc. He’s Khiem and Hoa’s son. This local hospital has been here since I was kid. They opened it with some money they inherited, and have kept it running ever since.’

  ‘The government doesn’t pay?’

  She pulled a face. ‘They make a contribution. Hanoi has a population of over six million...’ she let out a laugh ‘...with nearly as many motorbikes. The government is trying to get a handle on our health system, but it’s nowhere near as robust as the system in the UK. In most circumstances, you still have to pay to see a doctor in Vietnam.’

  ‘And can the people around here pay?’

  She shook her head and held out both hands. ‘That’s why we’re here. We offer free healthcare to anyone who attends. Immunisations for kids. Prenatal health care for mothers. And anything else too.’

  Now he’d sat down he realised his bones were actually aching, along with every muscle in his shoulders. Travelling did that to you. The aroma from the tea was strong, vibrant. He took a sip of the hot liquid and tried to let his taste buds acclimatise. He was conscious of the fact that Lien’s dark eyes were watching him carefully.

  He held up the cup. ‘Not too bad.’

  She shot him a suspicious glance. ‘Well, get used to it. Jasmine tea and iced coffee are the norm around here.’

  He lifted one hand to give his tired eyes a rub. ‘Your English is great. I’m a bit worried about tomorrow. Let’s just say I’m not entirely fluent in Vietnamese. I’ve learned a few words, but I couldn’t hold a proper conversation.’

  She shook her head and waved a hand. ‘Don’t worry. We have a full-time interpreter in the hospital. She’ll normally be around to help you. A number of our nurses are bilingual too. You should manage fine.’

  She nodded towards the bedroom. ‘Have you made arrangements for your son?’

  He glanced to the little sleeping figure on the bed. ‘Yes, I’ve registered him at the international school just a few streets over. Khiem had sent me details about it. I’ve to take him there tomorrow—just before eight.’

  ‘Perfect, it has a good reputation. I’m sure he’ll like it.’

  She paused once more. ‘Khiem said you’re here for six months.’

  It was a statement, but she said the words like a question. He tried not to let his doubt show on his face. ‘That’s how long I’ve taken time off work back home. We needed...’ he hesitated, trying to find the right words ‘...a change of scene. Regan is due to start school back home in six months, so I plan on taking him back for that.’ He looked around, realising he hadn’t set eyes on any other staff members. ‘Does Khiem and Hoa’s son work here too?’

  Lien laughed. ‘Not if he can help it. No, Duc has been lured to the dark side.’ She said the words with good humour.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  She gave a small shrug. ‘He’s still doing his round-the-world tour. Getting experience wherever he can. He’s a surgeon. This place wouldn’t be for him.’

  Now Joe was curious at the first part of her answer. ‘You said you did the same.’

  She put her hand to her chest. ‘I just went to two places. That was enough. Got the experience I needed then brought it back here.’

  There was something about the way she said those words. He got the impression she was either slightly exasperated by her friend’s continued travels, or that she didn’t quite approve, but was far too polite to say those words out loud.

  ‘You always wanted to work back here?’

  She met his gaze, her brown eyes sincere. ‘This is home. I trained to be a doctor to take care of the people that I love.’ She held out her hands and gave a soft smile. ‘And the people I love are here.’

  Something twisted inside his chest. She was talking about herself. He knew that. He understood it. Though he couldn’t help but feel the imaginary punch to the guts. He hadn’t been able to help the one he loved. There wasn’t anything he could have done to save Esther. He’d picked apart every element of her diagnosis and treatment a million times in the long sleepless nights after her death.

  As his stomach twisted, Lien gave him a look. She glanced between him and the sleeping form of Regan. ‘Why Vietnam?’

  Two words. But he knew she was asking so much more.

  He swallowed, wishing the tea wasn’t quite so scalding so he could gulp it down.

  He took a deep breath. He hated it that he’d got used to telling people that Esther had died, seeing their pitying glances or slight discomfort.

  ‘My mother chose it for us,’ he said with a rueful smile.

  Her brow wrinkled. ‘What?’

  He lifted one hand and ran it through his hair. A wave of tiredness had just hit him, and he really hoped that bathroom had a shower that he could hit soon. He relaxed back against the sofa. He was too tired for anything but honesty. He didn’t have the energy to dress things up.

  ‘My wife died three years ago. It had always been our intention to travel, to show Regan the world, and my mother...’ he gave a slow nod of his head ‘...decided we both needed a change of scene.’ He held up one hand. ‘Vietnam was one of the places on the wish list.’

  ‘Your wish list, or your wife’s?’ She hadn’t rushed in with an immediate offer of condolence, instead she’d asked an unexpected question.

  He shift
ed a little on the sofa and gave her an interested look. ‘It was mine actually. I always wanted to come and work here at some point, it just kind of...fell off my radar.’ He paused for a second. ‘A lot of things did,’ he added quietly.

  Lien fixed her eyes back towards the bedroom. ‘That’s understandable. You had to change your priorities. Becoming mum and dad to a little boy can’t have been easy.’

  He turned to face her again. He liked this woman. She was direct. They’d only just met but she seemed to read him well. For the last few years people had tiptoed around him instead of having actual conversations with him, just giving him sympathetic glances or a squeeze of an arm.

  He closed his eyes for a second and breathed in the warm air of Vietnam. He’d had doubts the whole way here, but now, for the first time, this actually felt like the right move. He smiled.

  ‘Regan makes it easy,’ he said. ‘I’m lucky.’ He shot her a sideways glance. ‘I know what happened wasn’t lucky, but I still have a part of her. I can see her every day in our son. From a gesture, a look, even his laugh. And I know she would be proud of the little guy.’ He let out a deep breath. ‘I just hope that this was the right move, at the right time, and Regan will love it here.’

  Lien gave an understanding nod as she took a final sip of her tea. ‘There’s lots to love here, it’s a great hospital, and great staff. If you need a hand from any of your colleagues, all you have to do is ask.’

  He gave a nod of thanks. The words were reassuring. This was the first time he and Regan had been away from their extended family, and the added complication of Khiem and Hoa not being here when they’d arrived had given him a moment of concern.

  He looked back at Lien. ‘At the entrance...’ he gave a little smile ‘...you were expecting someone...different?’

  Her smile was gentle in return. She knew she’d been caught out. She gave a nod. ‘From the description Khiem gave me I was expecting someone...older.’ He could see the compassion and warmth in her eyes. ‘But you’ll do, Dr Joe. You’ll do.’ She patted him on the shoulder as she stood up and pointed to the fridge.

  There was something about the way she said those words that sent a little buzz through his body. The nod of approval meant everything to him and he couldn’t quite work out why. Maybe it was the journey, the distance, the unknown. Whatever it was, he could already tell that Lien was someone he could work with. She’d asked a lot of questions tonight and he hadn’t really had the opportunity to ask much in return. He was intrigued. He already wanted to know more about his colleague but Lien was talking again.

  ‘There are noodles, vegetables and pork in there. The wok is in the cupboard to the side of the cooker. If you’re hungry, you should be able to rustle something up.’ She lifted her cup and walked over with it to the sink. ‘I can show you where the market is tomorrow if you need to get some other things. It’s not too far.’

  He stood up quickly, remembering his manners.

  ‘If you need anything, I’m just in the house next door.’

  ‘You are? Which one is yours?’

  ‘Khiem and Hoa stay in the one with the yellow door, and I’m in the lilac one.’

  He gave a nod as she opened the door, then realised something. ‘Darn it, I haven’t even looked around the hospital properly yet.’

  Lien waved her hand as she strolled away. ‘Plenty of time for that tomorrow. I’ll see you in the morning.’ She gave him a bright smile as she headed towards the house with the lilac door, her hair bouncing as she walked.

  He gave a little shake of his head. He’d been worried. Maybe even a tiny bit scared. But Lien seemed like she could be a good colleague. He looked around the house. It was compact but had everything they needed. Six months.

  Six months of something completely and utterly different. And for the second time since his mother had handed him the tickets, he felt a wave of emotion that this time he could recognise. Excitement.

  * * *

  Lien closed the door behind her. Maybe she’d been too direct—too forward. Truth was, she was a little on edge. Khiem and Hoa had expected to be here, but the phone call from the other hospital had meant they’d had to leave at short notice. Joe didn’t realise it yet, but it actually meant that they’d be two doctors down for the next few weeks. Lien hadn’t been joking about the bribery.

  She pulled the clip from her hair and gave her head a shake. She couldn’t pretend she wasn’t a bit intrigued by the new Scottish doctor. She’d had to concentrate hard at some points when he’d been speaking. Did he realise just how quickly he sometimes spoke, and how the words just seemed to all run into one?

  She’d noticed his fingers hovering near the picture he’d placed next to Regan. It was clear it was pictures of his wife. Was he really ready to be here?

  She sighed. They’d had doctors here for six months at a time before. The last doctor from Germany had been suffering from mental health problems that had come to a head while he’d been here. A female doctor had come to Vietnam without declaring her drug addiction—something that had quickly become evident. Another colleague had appeared from the US, romanced his way around the staff in the hospital, then left abruptly after three months. Turned out he’d left a wife back home he’d forgotten to tell anyone about.

  All three of those doctors had been escaping something, running away from something. It sounded very much like Joe Lennox was doing something similar. Would he really last six months? Because she needed him to. The hospital needed some stability. Sad as his story was, the last thing they needed was another doctor with problems of his own who would leave because he discovered the experience in Vietnam wasn’t what he wanted.

  She started stripping off her clothes as she headed to the shower. She’d have to help him out as much as she could—particularly until his little boy was settled in the international school. If Joe got cold feet he might decide to get on the first plane home to Scotland. She believed him when he said he’d needed a change. But the fact he’d been honest enough to say his mother had pushed him in this direction bothered her. Was he really ready for this? She hadn’t seen his CV. She had no idea what his previous experience was. Khiem and Hoa did all the recruitment and she trusted their judgement. If they thought he’d fit in, then she had to believe that.

  But the truth was, it wasn’t his skills she was worried about. It was more his heart and his head. If his head was somewhere else he could make mistakes, and if his heart wasn’t in it, he wouldn’t want to stay.

  Something twisted in her chest.

  This place meant everything to her.

  For lots of the residents in Hanoi, this was their only accessible healthcare. Yes, services were pushed. Yes, they didn’t always have all the supplies that they needed. But she was determined that this place would always serve the population that needed it.

  People like her, and her family.

  This was her city, her people.

  And no matter how much empathy she had for the new doctor’s circumstances, he had better be prepared to pull his weight around here.

  CHAPTER TWO

  LIEN WAS WAITING for him when he arrived back after dropping Regan at the school. He’d obviously been nervous about leaving his son at the strange school in an unfamiliar city, but the place had given him good vibes. The nursery teacher had shown them into a bright, welcoming environment filled with a host of happy-looking children chattering in different languages.

  Regan had tugged at his hand after a few minutes, anxious to go and join in the fun, so Joe had left with reassurances that they would call the hospital if there were any concerns.

  By the time he got back to the hospital it was a few minutes before eight o’clock. Already the place was a hive of activity. The waiting room had only a few seats left. Lien was wearing a pale blue shirt and navy trousers, and her hair was in a ponytail again. There was no sign of the traditional white coat.r />
  He’d swithered for a few moments this morning over what to wear, before settling on a pair of dark trousers and a simple short-sleeved white shirt. The temperature here was much warmer than he was used to, and he wasn’t sure if the hospital had air-conditioning or not. He hadn’t noticed last night. He gave a sniff. He wasn’t quite used to the aroma of the insect repellent he’d covered both himself and Regan in this morning. Maybe he should have tried to drown it out with more aftershave?

  Lien gave him a brief nod as he walked back through the main entrance. ‘Good. Is Regan settled?’

  He gave a brief nod and she started speaking again straight away. ‘Come with me, and I’ll give you a walk around. I’ll show you our systems and our supplies and when Mai Ahn, our translator, gets here, I’ll assign her to you for the rest of the day.’ She walked him over to a sink and started washing her hands. He quickly followed suit. She’d already mentioned norovirus problems. Hand washing was one of the key practices to help prevent the spread.

  Joe barely had time to draw breath. ‘First thing,’ Lien said as she kept scrubbing her hands, ‘you should really wear long sleeves. If your shirts are too warm, I’ll show you a place where you can buy some lighter weight clothing. Do you have your insect repellent on?’

  He nodded and she kept talking. ‘With Khiem and Hoa away, we’re two doctors down. I can’t afford for our latest recruit to pick up something from a mosquito bite.’

  It felt like a bit of a reprimand and he wasn’t quite sure how to react, but Lien was already talking again. ‘Hoa covered antenatal and maternity care, so we’ll all have to pick up her role while she’s gone.’

  Joe didn’t miss the way that she’d phrased that. She hadn’t asked him about his experience, or if he was happy to cover this area. She was letting him know what was expected of him. It seemed her directness last night hadn’t been unusual but the norm.

  As they finished scrubbing their hands she kept talking while she dried hers. ‘Okay, I’m sure you’ve done some general reading on the health issues in Vietnam.’ She shot him a sideways glance. ‘Or at least I hope you have.’