by Morgan, Sara
Poppy, the little girl with cystic fibrosis who was back on the ward yet again, greeted her cheerfully from the side ward. ‘How was your party?’
Libby lifted her eyebrows. ‘And how do you know about the party, young lady?’
Poppy grinned. ‘I heard everyone talking about it yesterday and they said that you were going with Dr Christakos. I think you’re so lucky. He’s so cool.’
Remembering the fiery heat of their encounter by the lake, Libby sucked in a breath.
Not cool.
‘The party was fine, thank you, Poppy,’ she said, taking the little girl’s temperature and nodding with satisfaction as she read the result. ‘And if you carry on improving like this, you’ll be back home and going to your own parties soon enough.’
Poppy’s face brightened. ‘Am I better?’
‘Definitely better. The physiotherapist will be up soon to sort out those lungs of yours.’
Poppy groaned. ‘I hate physio.’
Libby sighed and gave her a hug. ‘I know you do, sweetheart, but it helps, you know it does. Where’s your dad this morning?’
‘Gone for breakfast in the canteen. He was starving.’
Libby pulled a face. ‘Well, the food there is enough to cure anyone of hunger so he’ll be back soon. Why don’t you use the playroom when the physio has been?’
They encouraged the children to get up and use the playroom, rather than sitting on their beds, and Bev had lost no time in spending some of the money that they’d raised at the auction.
Poppy shifted awkwardly on the bed. ‘I don’t really know anyone…’
‘You know me,’ Libby said cheerfully, filling in her chart. ‘I’ll be there.’
Poppy smiled. ‘Oh, well, in that case…’
Making a mental note to take Poppy to the playroom later, Libby moved on to her next little patient.
Rachel Miller was back in for some tests. The baby was sitting in her cot cooing happily and playing with a stuffed toy.
Alison smiled when she saw Libby. ‘She’s fine now, but Dr Christakos wanted her to have those tests and they couldn’t do them when she was in a few weeks ago.’
Libby nodded. ‘They shouldn’t take long.’ Libby leaned into the cot and pulled faces at Rachel, who chuckled happily and reached to grab her. ‘She’s gorgeous, Alison. You’re very lucky.’
‘I know.’ Alison smiled proudly at her daughter. ‘We wanted a baby so badly and we tried for so long to have her. I still have to pinch myself.’
Libby looked at the little girl wistfully, feeling a sick empty feeling in the pit of her stomach.
She knew all about wanting a baby badly. There were days when she positively ached for a child of her own. But she was rapidly coming to the conclusion that it was never going to happen.
Part of her envied women who happily went ahead and produced babies without the support of a partner and she was aware that it was happening more and more frequently as women made decisions about their lives without the involvement of a man.
But she wasn’t like that.
She was old-fashioned enough to believe that a baby was a miracle that should be shared with someone you loved. That a baby was part of the person you loved.
Libby sighed and straightened.
She really must stop being so soppy and romantic. Real life just wasn’t like that any more. People got divorced. People had babies without partners. And people had one-night stands. It was a fact of life. It was just that she didn’t want it to be a fact of her life.
She’d always wanted so much more than that, but it seemed that love and fidelity was an endangered species.
With that thought in her head she went through to the treatment room to fetch something—and came face to face with Andreas.
Libby felt the blood drain out of her cheeks and looked round for a suitable means of escape.
‘Well, hello, there. Remember me?’ His voice was a lazy drawl and he planted himself firmly in front of the door so that her exit was blocked. ‘We were at a ball together and then suddenly you vanished.’
And given the chance, she’d vanish again.
‘I went to the ladies.’
He lifted an eyebrow. ‘You spent the night there?’
She flushed. ‘I don’t want to talk about this now.’
‘Well, I do,’ he said pleasantly, and she glared at him.
‘What are you doing here anyway?’
Those dark eyes mocked her. ‘I work here.’
‘But it’s Sunday,’ she muttered, screwing her fingers into her palms and trying to stop her knees trembling. She was fast discovering that it was impossible to look at him without remembering what he’d made her feel. ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you on a Sunday.’
In fact, she’d been banking on it.
He gave a faint smile. ‘Avoiding me, Libby?’
‘No.’ She managed a casual shrug, wondering just how fast a heart could beat before it exploded. ‘Why would you think that?’
‘Well, it could be something to do with the fact that you vanished in the middle of the evening,’ he said, and she looked away from him.
It had been a pretty dreadful thing to do.
Suddenly feeling guilty for the way she’d behaved, she looked at him uncertainly. ‘I’m sorry if I damaged your ego.’
He studied her with brooding concentration. ‘My ego is totally bombproof, agape mou. But I do want to know what made you run.’
Him.
Her feelings.
‘I didn’t run.’
‘You escaped to the ladies and never returned,’ he reminded her softly, a hint of a smile playing around his firm mouth. ‘I assumed your name must be Cinderella and I searched everywhere for white mice and pumpkins but there was nothing in sight. Not even a stray shoe. All I could see was a cloud of dust as you vanished into the distance.’
‘I didn’t run. I just thought—I…’ Her excuses faltered under his dark scrutiny. ‘Well, I thought that was it so I might as well go home.’
Before she’d started fantasising about fairy-tale endings.
She absolutely didn’t love him.
‘You thought that was it?’ He lifted a dark eyebrow. ‘Excuse me?’
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and tried to look casual. ‘We had sex, Andreas. No big deal.’
‘‘‘No big deal’’.’ Andreas repeated her words slowly. ‘So, if it was no big deal, Libby, why did you run away?’
Oh, why couldn’t he just drop it?
‘Look…’ Libby closed her eyes briefly, wishing he wasn’t quite so astute or persistent. ‘It was just a one-night stand. Plenty of people have them.’
Just not her.
Andreas looked at her thoughtfully. ‘You poor thing. You really are scared, aren’t you?’
‘Scared?’ Libby stiffened defensively. ‘What am I supposed to be scared of?’
Andreas shrugged. ‘At a guess—letting go. Trusting someone.’ He moved closer to her. ‘Obviously what we shared last night scared you so much that you panicked and couldn’t face me again.’
‘That’s not true,’ she lied, and he gave a wry smile.
‘Libby, you know it is true.’
‘Stop making it into something it wasn’t,’ she said frantically. ‘It was just a one-night stand. It was just sex.’
‘‘‘Just sex’’.’ He repeated her words slowly, and his expression was suddenly serious. ‘Libby, are you taking the Pill?’
She stared at him, thrown by his question. Then she shook her head.
‘Right.’ His voice was unbelievably gentle. ‘So, if what happened between us last night was ‘‘just sex’’, how come neither of us thought to use contraception?’
She paled and took a step backwards.
Contraception hadn’t even entered her head, either before or afterwards.
And obviously it hadn’t entered his either.
Oh, help.
Andreas rubbed a hand over his dark jaw. �
��The reason neither of us thought about contraception,’ he said finally, his Greek accent suddenly very pronounced, ‘is because it wasn’t ‘‘just sex’’. It was a hell of a lot more than that, as we both know. Neither of us planned it—it just happened—but, looking back on it, it was inevitable. It’s been there since the first moment we laid eyes on each other.’
Libby was still staring at him, stunned by the revelation that they hadn’t used contraception.
Why hadn’t it occurred to her before? She might be relatively inexperienced, but she wasn’t naïve. Why hadn’t she thought of contraception?
Because she hadn’t been thinking about practical things. In fact, she hadn’t been thinking at all. All she’d done had been to feel and react.
And now she could be pregnant.
Without thinking, she placed a hand on her abdomen. Andreas, sharp-eyed as ever, caught the movement and his eyes narrowed.
‘I am truly sorry for having failed to protect you,’ he said softly, sliding his hands around her face and forcing her to look at him. ‘There is no excuse and I have to confess that it is the first time in my life that I’ve ever lost control.’
She could well believe it. Andreas Christakos was the original Mr Cool.
So what was he saying? That she was special? Different?
Did he really expect her to believe that?
Trapped by that dark gaze, Libby was severely tempted.
No, no, no!
She was doing it again.
Losing herself in the fairy-tale when she should know better.
Gentle words were just part of the standard male seduction technique, she reminded herself firmly. Andreas wasn’t any different. Except perhaps that he was more skilled at it than the average male.
Any minute now he’d produce the wife or start the ‘I don’t do commitment’ speech.
‘It was my fault as much as yours,’ she said finally, still unable to understand what had happened. She’d totally lost control and that had never happened to her before. She had never lost control with a man. Never felt remotely like ripping off all her clothes and making love by a lake with a couple of hundred people only metres away.
His voice was gentle. ‘We need to talk about what you want to do.’
Do?
Libby looked at him, startled, and noticed that he seemed strangely tense.
‘Do you want to take the morning-after pill? I could give you a prescription.’
Trying not to mind that he was so keen for her to sort the matter out, still shell-shocked by the revelation that she could be pregnant, Libby shook her head.
‘I—I’ll sort something out,’ she mumbled evasively, totally confused by her feelings.
She was a single woman with no partner. She ought to be rushing to the chemist to get the morning-after pill.
So why were her legs glued to the spot?
Andreas frowned slightly. ‘Libby—’
‘I don’t want to take the morning-after pill,’ she said flatly, unable to be anything but honest. ‘It doesn’t seem right.’
Suddenly the confusion in her head cleared and her thoughts were clear.
There was absolutely no doubt at all in her mind.
If she was pregnant then she was going to keep the baby.
There was a strange look on his face that she couldn’t interpret.
‘There’s no need to panic,’ she muttered, her eyes sliding away from his. ‘I don’t expect you to take any responsibility.’
Andreas frowned. ‘Responsibility? Libby—’
The door opened and one of the staff nurses stuck her head round, interrupting him before he could finish his sentence.
‘Dr Christakos, A and E are on the phone. It’s urgent.’
Andreas gritted his teeth and strode out of the room, almost sending the nurse flying.
Libby stared after him and she was still staring into space when he returned only moments later.
‘That was your brother-in-law,’ he said, his mouth set in a grim line. ‘There’s been a nasty house fire and two children were involved. They’re on their way in now but they’re already struggling in A and E so he wants some help.’
Libby pulled herself together. ‘Of course. I’ll just tell Bev.’
She hurried off to find the ward sister and then met Andreas in the corridor and they both made their way to A and E. Andreas didn’t make further reference to their conversation but she felt his eyes on her.
The department was frantically busy. The waiting room was bulging with people and the screen was flashing up a waiting time of five hours.
‘And it’s going to be longer than that,’ Katy told them quickly, following their gaze. ‘We’re having a bad day down here. Thanks for your help. We thought that you could sort the children out—maybe take them straight to the ward if you prefer.’
Andreas gave a brief nod. ‘We’ll assess them here and then decide. What’s been going on?’
‘A coach overturned on one of the bridges,’ Katy told him, her face drawn and tired. ‘We’re all struggling. And now Ambulance Control has rung about the fire. Apparently it was a nasty one. The mother jumped from the window with the baby. She’s fractured both femurs and she’s in a bad way, although they think the baby is fine. The father went back into the house to try and get to the other child.’
Before they could discuss the case any further they heard sirens as several ambulances pulled into the ambulance bay.
‘OK, let’s move!’ Miraculously, Jago and one of the A and E consultants appeared and took charge. He spoke swiftly to the paramedics, conducted brief triage in the back of the ambulance and then reappeared, his expression grim. ‘Katy, I want the mother and the father into Resus straight away, and fast-bleep the orthopaedic surgeons. Andreas, do you want the children on the ward or down here?’
‘I’ll assess them here.’ Andreas stepped forward to talk to the other paramedic. ‘What’s the story?’
‘The baby seems to be unhurt. The mother took the brunt of the fall and she was cradling the child so the little one may be all right, but she herself jumped from the bedroom window, which was quite a drop. Baby’s been crying non-stop but no signs of burns. The four-year-old is a different matter. Her pyjamas caught fire and she’s got nasty burns to her legs. We’ve given her oxygen at the scene and covered them.’
‘OK—take them both through to Paediatric Resus,’ Andreas ordered, and Libby hurried ahead of him to the area of A and E that had been designed specially for children.
The paramedics lifted the howling four-year-old onto the trolley and kept hold of the baby, who was also shrieking.
Charlotte, one of the A and E sisters, hurried forward. ‘I’ll take her while you examine the older child.’
Andreas was already by her side, talking to her gently, trying to assess the degree of damage. ‘Can we weigh her quickly? Once we’ve done that I want to estimate the surface area of the burns and then get this child some pain relief,’ he ordered quietly, and Libby did as he’d instructed. ‘We need to get a line in and then we’ll give her a bolus of morphine.’
Libby gathered the necessary equipment while Andreas examined the screaming child, calculating the percentage of the body surface that had suffered burns.
‘If we take her hand to be the equivalent of one per cent of her body surface area, she’s suffered about ten per cent burns, most of them partial thickness,’ he murmured, as he examined the little girl’s legs. ‘Would you agree?’
‘Sounds about right.’ Libby nodded, running her eyes over the burns on the child’s legs.
‘These blisters have ruptured and they’re weeping. She’s obviously feeling pain.’
‘Which is a good thing,’ Libby said softly, and Andreas nodded.
‘Absolutely. As we both know, it’s a sign that the nerve endings aren’t damaged. I’ve checked her chest and it seems clear so there’s no sign of smoke inhalation. What we have to worry about now is fluid loss.’
Libby nodded. She knew that fluid loss was proportionately greater in children than adults.
‘Poor little mite. You’ll want to admit her,’ she said immediately. ‘When you’re finished here I’ll call Bev and see if she can go in the side room. Melanie Parker is well enough to be on the main ward now.’
Andreas nodded. ‘It would probably do her good to be mixing with the other children. OK, let’s get on with this. What’s her name?’
Libby checked the notes that the paramedic had left. ‘Jenny.’
‘Right, Jenny…’ Andreas positioned himself so that he was close to the girl without actually touching her. She was still screaming hysterically. ‘We are going to take that pain away.’
Jenny continued to scream for her mother and Libby exchanged worried looks with Andreas.
‘Let’s get on with it,’ he muttered, and Libby breathed out heavily. It was horrible, seeing the child so distressed.
She was sobbing now and Libby couldn’t stand it a moment longer. She pulled up a chair, wrapped the child in a sterile towel and scooped her onto her lap, cuddling her close.
‘There, sweetheart,’ she crooned. ‘Mummy will be coming in a minute. There’s a good girl.’
She continued to talk soothing nonsense while Andreas searched for a vein. Libby prayed that he’d find one quickly, watching his lean, brown hands as he tapped and squeezed until he was satisfied.
He rocked back on his heels and pulled a face. ‘Well, I think that looks hopeful.’
The A and E sister stepped forward. ‘I’ll squeeze.’ She wrapped her hands around the tiny wrist and squeezed while Andreas slipped the cannula into the vein with ridiculous ease.
Libby let out a sigh of relief and Charlotte whistled in admiration.
‘Nice work,’ she said cheerfully, taping the cannula in place and attaching it to the bag of intravenous fluids. ‘Here’s that morphine you requested.’
She waved the syringe under his nose and Andreas checked it carefully before taking it from her and injecting it slowly into the tube.
‘We’ll start with this and she can have more in ten minutes if it hasn’t done the trick.’
Jenny clung to Libby, shivering and sobbing until gradually the drug took effect and the little girl slumped in Libby’s arms.