The Doctor's Surprise Bride

by Fiona McArthur

Mary looked down at her bulging belly and smiled.

  ‘I love pregnancy and I love Bellbrook and…’ Mary smiled softly, ‘…like a brother, I love Jack.’

  Mary’s face softened even further with a whimsical smile. ‘Thanks to Jack, I met my husband, Mick. He was best man at Jack and Lydia’s wedding. We fell in love and married in about three days. I’ve felt at home here ever since. Life is funny with what it deals out.’

  So there were good love stories out there, Eliza sighed. Mary looked so content with her life and her love. Lucky Mary. Eliza herself definitely wasn’t interested in taking any more chances with love.

  But she was curious about the dashing Dr Dancer’s wife. How could any woman hate Jack? ‘What did your sister do here?’

  ‘Nothing. We tried to get her involved in community activities, tennis, I suggested she run an art class for the town but she wasn’t interested. She was bored silly and became very bitter at wasting her life, as she called it. Before Lydia died, I’d even decided it hadn’t been a bad thing she’d left, because she had made Jack so unhappy. I think Jack was leaning that way too, until the crash.’

  Mary shook her head sadly. ‘I went to pieces. Jack and I both felt so guilty because maybe we should have supported Lydia more. Jack was devastated about the loss of his son as well. He blamed himself and Lydia’s pregnancy for making her temperamental, as if if he’d paid more attention to her she wouldn’t have left and his son would be alive today.’ Mary sighed.

  ‘Jack studied up on maternal trauma and resuscitation of pregnant women for months afterwards, wondering if the hospital she had been taken to should have done anything different when Lydia was brought in barely alive.’ She looked at Eliza.

  ‘I think it’s still all locked away inside him behind his carefree smile. I guess that’s why he’s not in a hurry to marry again.’

  Mary patted her stomach. ‘He said he’d leave all the hassle of kids to me and be a doting uncle. I think it’s a shame—and watch out. Everyone in town agrees.’

  Eliza felt a flicker of panic at Mary’s hint. ‘Don’t look at me. I’m off men.’

  Mary looked across at Eliza. ‘That doesn’t matter. You’d better be prepared for some matchmaking uncles and aunts because they’d all like nothing better than to see Jack settled with a family here.’

  As they turned towards the back door the sound of a car pulling up outside coincided with the ringing of the telephone. Mary looked torn and Eliza shrugged. ‘I’ll get the door, you take the phone.’

  Eliza wished she’d taken the phone because she was still affected by the conversation with Mary and the visitor was Jack.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ They both spoke and Eliza shook her head. Her whole life was a cliché.

  ‘Snap!’ She shrugged and stood back so he could enter. ‘Mary’s on the phone. She shouldn’t be long.’

  Jack’s mouth twitched wryly. ‘Unless it’s her husband, in which case the record is three hours and ten minutes.’

  Eliza whistled. She did not need three hours and ten minutes of Jack. Just looking at him jangled her nerves, and with all the new insight from Mary she didn’t know how to cope with him. ‘Tell Mary I’ll come back another day. I’m tired anyway.’

  He looked out the window to Eliza’s car and grimaced. ‘Is that your Mustang?’

  Eliza’s gaze shifted to the now dusty red duco of her car. ‘That’s my baby.’

  ‘How much fossil fuel does it use?’

  She glanced in the direction Mary had disappeared but relief wasn’t in sight. There were undercurrents. ‘That depends how I drive it, Doctor.’

  When she looked back at him his face was hard. ‘And how do you drive it?’

  She shook her head. ‘What possible interest could that be to you?’

  She thought he wasn’t going to answer that one but he did and she almost wished he hadn’t. ‘I don’t like waste of life and a car like that just isn’t as safe as the modern vehicles of today.’

  ‘I’ll be at work tomorrow. Don’t worry.’ She put her hand in her pocket and pulled out her car keys. ‘Please, tell Mary I’ll catch up with her later. Goodnight.’

  Eliza didn’t gun the engine but she would have liked to. Jack Dancer, emotionally scarred human being—she’d known it. Someone up there was plotting against her, although she had to admit Jack had had a tough couple of years.

  Jack watched the dust ball disappear down the road just as he’d watched another car when his wife had left him to settle back into the city. He turned at the sound of Mary’s footsteps and she crossed to his side and kissed his cheek.

  ‘I think she’ll be good for the town,’ Jack said.

  ‘She could be good for you,’ Mary said slyly.

  His emotions were still too mixed when it came to Eliza May. ‘I didn’t come here to talk about Eliza.’

  ‘Why not? We talked about you.’

  Jack lifted his brows but refused to bite. Mary lowered herself into a chair. ‘So why did you come?’

  ‘To see you.’

  ‘And why has Eliza gone?’

  ‘She said she’ll come back another time.’ He turned to face Mary. ‘Workwise, she’s good. If she stays, we’ll manage fine until you feel like coming back.’

  ‘You are being nice to her, aren’t you, Jack?’

  Jack shrugged. ‘Not too nice. I think she has a lot of emotional baggage.’

  ‘And you don’t?’

  His face hardened again and he changed the subject. ‘I can’t stay. Just wanted to see how you like being on maternity leave.’

  ‘Putting my feet up is bliss but I think I’m going to go stark raving mad without something to occupy my brain. Stay and have tea with me. I was planning on persuading Eliza to stay but you chased her away.’

  ‘I didn’t chase her away,’ he said, but he wondered if that was wholly true. He had to admit that so far the new matron had not brought out the best in him, and maybe that was because she scared him a little. Not physically—tiny bundle that she was—but at some deep instinctual level that he didn’t want to think about. Maybe he owed Mary his company.

  ‘Fine. Tea would be great. I’ve had a less-than-perfect day and not having to cook the evening meal will brighten the end of it.’

  ‘I’ve told you before. You should get a housekeeper and she could prepare your meal before she leaves for the day.’

  ‘I know, but I like my privacy, and you know what this town is like.’ He followed Mary into the kitchen and tried to make his next comment seem inconsequential. ‘I rang Julie again today and apparently she and Eliza are friends. She said she’s very reliable.’

  Mary tilted her head at him and he knew what she was thinking before she said it. ‘Now, why would you do that? I thought you said you were satisfied with her work.’ Trust Mary to question his motives.

  ‘I decided to listen to my instincts.’

  ‘Well, my instincts say that there is a wonderful woman inside Eliza May, and already I count her as a friend.’ She looked at him as if daring him to comment, but he wasn’t that silly. When he kept his peace, she nodded. ‘Let’s eat. I was thinking we might dine outside because it’s such a lovely evening.’

  ‘Good morning, Matron.’

  Jack was all bonhomie this morning, Eliza thought sourly. Her back and legs ached from a third night on the lumpiest mattress in the southern hemisphere but that wasn’t the real reason she hadn’t slept. Her eyes felt scratchy from lack of sleep.

  ‘Morning.’ She turned from his scrutiny but he was observant.

  ‘You don’t look like you slept well.’

  ‘I’ll make the hotel a present of a new mattress.’

  ‘Like that, was it?’ He seemed determined to be nice and Eliza could feel herself softening more towards him—no doubt because she’d tossed and turned thinking over Mary’s revelations last night.

  ‘Hmm,’ she said, and changed the subject, opting for safety. ‘Keith looks a little better this morning so I
gather the antibiotics are kicking in.’

  They walked down the hallway together and now she was aware of his height beside her and when he smiled and even the sound of his feet quietly pacing beside her. She couldn’t switch off her awareness of him. This was not good. She began to edge away from him.

  He seemed oblivious. ‘I’m pleased. And did Joe sleep better than you did?’

  What was with the personal comments this morning? She remembered his tone last night when he’d been anything but friendly—of course, she’d left him with Mary so he’d probably had instructions to lift his game. Please, don’t encourage him, she prayed to the absent Mary.

  Eliza needed to create some space, quickly, until she could build her defences again. ‘Did Mary tell you to be nice to me this morning?’

  He actually blushed. Eliza felt mean, but he did withdraw. Ironically, a part of her regretted his distance now but the sensible Eliza sighed with relief.

  They crossed to the little maternity room. Janice had Newman floating in the baby bath with the back of his neck draped across his mother’s wrist. Mother and baby both looked relaxed.

  ‘You’re an old hand at this, Janice,’ Jack said. He stared down at Newman, who floated with his eyes open, staring up at his mother. He was a cute little fellow, Jack thought, and this time the pain of his own loss didn’t follow as strongly as it usually did.

  ‘He loves his bath.’ Janice smiled as she glanced up.

  ‘How’re your tummy stitches? Not too painful?’ Janice seemed to be standing up straight enough, Jack thought.

  ‘No. I’m fine. Eliza gave me some tablets earlier so I could enjoy giving Newman his bath, and we’re both going to have a sleep after this.’

  ‘How’s he feeding?’ On cue, Newman burped loudly and they all laughed.

  ‘Piggy,’ his mother said, and she grinned up at Jack. ‘He feeds like there’s no tomorrow. There’d better be a tomorrow because we’d like to go home then. Afternoon if we can?’

  Jack glanced at Eliza and she nodded. He had no trouble reading Eliza’s wordless message that Janice was ready to leave. ‘You must take it easy.’

  ‘Janice’s mother is staying for a week.’ Eliza said. ‘I’ve suggested she shouldn’t go home until after her mother’s been there for at least a day.’

  Janice chuckled softly. ‘Peter is a terrific farmer but not much of a housewife. Eliza reckons I’d be better to wait till Mum’s had a chance to sort the mess.’

  ‘Sounds like a plan to me. I’ll do the newborn check tomorrow morning and see your sutures. If all’s well you’ll be right to leave after lunch.’

  ‘Thank you.’ She lifted her son out of the water carefully and wrapped him in the fluffy towel Eliza had spread out beside the bath. The baby whimpered at the sudden change in temperature but quietened as Janice snuggled him, wrapped tight, up against her shoulder.

  Jack caught a look of wistfulness on Eliza’s face and stamped down a sudden desire to find out more about his new matron. He hadn’t thought that fairy queens went clucky.

  Before he could even think about investigating that concept, Eliza had moved on to the two-bed ward and she began to pull the curtains around Keith’s bed.

  The streaks on Keith’s stomach had paled a little but the old man’s cheeks were still flushed. ‘How’s the pain?’ Jack was glad to focus on the old man and noted Keith’s rapid respirations and elevated pulse rate.

  ‘Not too bad.’

  Jack hadn’t expected Keith to say anything else but they’d keep a weather eye on him. ‘I think we caught the new infection in time, Keith. Hopefully you’ll feel better this afternoon. The wound looks a little less angry. I’ll leave you in Matron’s capable hands.’

  ‘I’ll be fine then, Doctor. She doesn’t miss much.’

  Jack rested his hand on Keith’s shoulder. ‘So I’m learning.’

  ‘Seems a shame such a good woman isn’t married.’ Keith winked at Jack who stepped back from the bed as if he’d seen a snake. ‘Don’t start, old-timer. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

  They crossed to the other bed and Jack smiled at his patient. ‘You’ve lost the dark circles under your eyes, Joe. I’m glad the pain is more under control.’

  ‘Felt a bit of a wimp.’ Joe shrugged his shoulders gingerly with a rueful grin. ‘Matron put the wind up me and I have to say the sleep hasn’t gone astray.’

  ‘You’ll actually get better faster if you have reasonable pain relief,’ Jack said. ‘Pain is there to tell you something is wrong. Once we know why it’s there you don’t need to put up with the discomfort any more.’

  ‘That’s what Matron said. She’s a good woman.’ Joe glanced slyly between Jack and Eliza, and Jack had the feeling his able assistant was hard-pressed not to laugh. He admired her for her control. In fact, he admired her far too much for his own peace of mind but it was purely a physical attraction and he knew better than to listen to his libido, or his patients, in his own back yard.

  ‘So, home tomorrow, Joe?’ Jack smiled at the younger man’s belongings all neatly lined up beside the bed. Joe’s hands were out of bandages except for a four-inch strip just past both elbows where the petrol had splashed and burnt the deepest.

  ‘Your fingers are healing well, even though they’re pink—that’s all new skin growth. You’ll have to keep them clean and out of the sun. Remember I told you the new skin has no protection. Lots of sunscreen every couple of hours if you’re outside—OK?’

  Joe’s eyes were shining with anticipation. ‘Will do, Doc. My sister will pick me up. She’s lending me one of her sons to stay at my place to do the dirty work for the next few weeks.’

  ‘That’s great. Stay away from the bush-fires—it looks like we’re in for a bad couple of weeks. If fires come your way, you’re to pack what you can and come straight back into town and join the sandwich brigade. No firefighting. OK?’

  ‘If you say so, Doc.’

  Jack lifted his hand in farewell and glanced at Eliza. He thought she’d paled a little and he narrowed his eyes.

  ‘You OK?’

  ‘Fine,’ she said, ‘I had a bad experience with a bushfire once, but that was a long time ago.’

  ‘Can I do anything to help?’ He’d thought there was something, and she’d looked quite distressed. He followed her out of the room.

  She paused and waited for him to catch up, and he caught the drift of her soap, or shampoo, or whatever it was that seemed to linger in his mind after he’d left her.

  The scent played havoc with his concentration. Plenty of people smelt like herbal soap, and he didn’t take a scrap of notice. Why should she be any different?

  Jack frowned his mind back into gear. ‘So what happened?’

  ‘I don’t want to talk about it. What did you think of Keith’s wound?’

  He didn’t say anything for a moment, just looked at her, and then he shrugged and followed her lead. ‘The wound may look better but I’m not happy with Keith. If you’re concerned or the night girls get worried, give me a call. If he gets any worse, stop all food and fluids and watch for paralytic ileus. The infection could slow down his gut. We’d have to send him back to Armidale if his bowels shut down, and he doesn’t like being that far from home.’

  Eliza nodded. ‘Keith’s worried about Ben, his cattle dog. The neighbour’s looking after him but Keith’s still fretting.’

  ‘He’ll have to wait a day or two longer.’

  There was silence as they both contemplated Keith’s problem. Jack led the way to the aged wing and they managed a thorough round with time to spare before he was due to start his surgery day. He was consistently surprised how cheerfully Eliza was greeted after only a few days. It seemed the older residents were more than happy with their new matron.

  ‘You seem to have your finger on the pulse here already.’

  Eliza rolled her eyes. ‘Is that a pun?’

  ‘Definitely.’

  She groaned and almost laughed. ‘Don’t. My father used to t
ell puns all the time up until…’ She stopped and frowned. ‘Never mind. Tell all the puns you want, it’s your hospital. I’ll phone you if we have any worries.’

  Eliza watched him go and reminded herself she needed to be careful not to care too much for Jack. He unsettled her and made her feel like blurting things out, and that was something she’d never done—or had even had the opportunity to do. She’d always been the listener, the one who attracted needy people, but suddenly Jack felt like a father confessor. He was opening old wounds she’d had sealed off for years, and it was scary how easily he could do it.

  She regretted she’d come here. Then she thought of Mary and how she’d have just kept working on despite her pregnancy with no one to relieve her, and Eliza couldn’t wish that back.

  She must have ended up here for a reason and she’d guess she’d find out why. She just hoped it wasn’t so that Jack Dancer could be emotionally healed at her expense and she’d pay the price again.

  ‘I said, my piles are getting worse, Doctor.’

  Jack roused himself from remembering the way Eliza had looked that morning and concentrated on the elderly woman seated in front of him.

  ‘I’m sorry to hear that, Mrs Rowe. Have you been taking those paracetamol and codeine tablets again?’

  The elderly lady avoided his eyes. ‘I might have had a couple in the last few days, now that you come to mention it, Doctor. Would they hurt my piles?’

  ‘Not directly they won’t, but the codeine in the tablets will make you constipated, and all that straining is sure to make your haemorrhoids worse. So something else must be troubling you. Where are you getting the pain?’

  ‘Only in my piles.’

  Jack blinked. ‘Why are you taking the pain tablets, then?’

  ‘To be honest, Doctor, it’s my Jem. His snoring is that loud, I can’t sleep. If I pop two of them tablets, I sleep like a baby.’

  Jack shook his head. ‘I’ll give you a prescription for a mild sleeping tablet and ask Jem to come and see me. I’ll have a look down his throat and we might see about booking him into a sleep lab for his snoring. He could be having some breath-holding while he’s asleep.’

  Mrs Rowe sat up and her eyes brightened. ‘You wait till I tell Norma. To think my Jem could be sick when he’s never had a sick day in his life. Well, I never.’ She sat back with a thoughtful expression on her face. ‘Would that make him tired? He’s always saying he’s tired these days.’