The Nurse's Secret Son

by Amy Andrews

  ‘What?’ she asked, looking at them like they’d both escaped from the psych ward.

  They laughed and began their routine, their work shoes clicking away on the hard linoleum of the department floor just like real tap shoes. Sophie laughed. How had they done that?

  Todd hummed a tune and they tapped and leapt and pirouetted their way through an entire song. Sophie was laughing so hard as they built up to their grand finale she could hardly see. But thankfully she didn’t miss the beautifully executed dip and the playful kiss Todd placed on his partner’s lips.

  ‘What exactly is going on here?’ A shrill voice interrupted Sophie’s clapping and Todd quickly pulled Leah to her feet.

  ‘Ross,’ said Sophie, sobering quickly and groaning inwardly. Not Ross, please. The after-hours nurse manager didn’t have a humorous bone in his body.

  ‘Doctor, I do not appreciate you leading my nursing staff astray. Sister Monday,’ he went on, pointing his pencil at her, ‘I expected more of you.’

  ‘Ross, it’s not as bad as it looks,’ sighed Sophie. ‘I was a bit down after what happened earlier and they were just trying to cheer me up.’ Heaven forbid they should actually enjoy their work!

  ‘I shouldn’t have to lecture either of you on appropriate workplace behaviour.’ His pencil jabbed the air again. Sophie looked behind Ross’s head to see Leah pulling a funny face. She had to chew down on the inside of her cheek to stop herself from smiling.

  ‘If you have nothing to do, I’m sure I could send you to another ward to help out.’ With that he stuck his pencil behind his ear and turned on his heel, leaving them feeling like naughty schoolchildren.

  They waited five seconds until they heard the squeaking of Ross’s rubber soles fade away. And promptly burst out laughing. They laughed so hard they had to take it to the tearoom. Todd and Leah tippy-tapped in behind her.

  ‘OK, what did you two do to your shoes?’

  Leah bent her knee and flipped her foot up behind her, exposing the sole of her shoe. Two ECG dots, normally used when monitoring a patient’s heart rhythm, were stuck to her shoes. They were round with a raised central metal nipple. And made a perfect tapping noise against the floor.

  Sophie shook her head at the pair of them and laughed again. They each got a cup of tea and sat at the table.

  ‘Is that guy for real or what?’ asked Todd.

  ‘Unfortunately, yes. Ross is a bureaucrat. He acts like every glove, syringe and bandage is paid for out of his own pocket. It’s not important to like your job, just to do it well.’

  ‘What’s with that pencil? Where did it come from? He acts like he walks around with it shoved up his you know what!’

  Sophie laughed at the image Todd had evoked.

  ‘I would have thought something larger than the pencil.’ Leah grinned and they laughed again. Oh, it was good to forget about their awful night.

  ‘Speaking of which, I saw someone with a pineapple in his rectum a few years ago,’ said Todd.

  Leah and Sophie turned and looked at him with horrified expressions.

  ‘True story,’ he said, crossing his heart.

  ‘Ouch,’ said Leah.

  ‘How did he do that?’ asked Sophie.

  ‘Slipped in the shower,’ said Todd.

  Sophie thought Leah was going to choke to death, she was trying so hard to breathe and laugh at the same time. She slapped her on the back and they all had a quiet chuckle.

  They were still there fifteen minutes later when Daniel strode into the room. Daniel had heard Sophie’s familiar laugh from out in the hallway and noticed the slight kick of anticipation quicken his step. He had some paperwork to complete and needed a cup of coffee. Sophie’s presence would be a bonus.

  The first thing he saw was Todd touching Sophie on the shoulder. Something else kicked him this time. And it wasn’t pleasant! He felt his stomach clench as the mere thought of Todd with Sophie did alarming things to his pulse rate. They didn’t belong together. It was all wrong.

  The second thing was that something was obviously highly amusing. All three of them looked like they’d been caught with their hands in the cookie jar. He noted the relief on their faces as they realised it was only him.

  ‘Hello, Daniel,’ Sophie said.

  ‘Something funny?’ he asked.

  ‘Todd was just telling us about a patient with a foreign body in an awkward spot,’ she said.

  ‘That’s one way of putting it, Soph. Seen any of those in your time, Daniel?’ Todd asked.

  Daniel watched as Todd kept his arm loosely around the back of Sophie’s chair. Todd had called her Soph. Only he ever called her that. He felt his hackles rise. He didn’t know why but…he just didn’t like this guy. ‘I’ve seen a few,’ said Daniel quietly.

  ‘Funny, isn’t it?’

  Sophie could tell from Daniel’s face that he didn’t find it particularly amusing. His face looked closed, tense. He looked kind of angry and she really wasn’t sure why.

  ‘I’ve never found them to be particularly funny.’

  Daniel’s comment clanged like a loud bell around the room. Sophie shut her eyes and shook her head. Would it have killed him to have agreed? Was he going to make a scene now?

  ‘O-O-K, then,’ said Todd dropping his arms to his side and standing to go. ‘Well…I have charts to tend to so I think I’ll get going.’

  Leah followed him quickly.

  ‘What?’ said Daniel, as Sophie glared at him.

  ‘What the hell was that all about?’ she demanded.

  ‘I think laughing at a patient’s expense is extremely poor form, don’t you?’

  ‘What?’ she asked incredulously.

  ‘Very unprofessional.’

  She stared at him like he’d grown another head. Why was he acting like he had something shoved up his rectum? ‘What?’ she repeated.

  Oh, damn! He sounded so pompous. Even to his own ears he sounded like a disapproving school teacher. He couldn’t help himself—Todd irritated him big time! ‘I mean, did the man not take the Hippocratic oath? And I don’t think he needs any further encouragement from his groupies. Do you?’ What was wrong with him? Why couldn’t he just shut up?

  ‘Groupies?’ Was he implying that she was some simpering brainless fan?

  ‘Yes, groupies. Is there something going on between you two? Because you’re looking pretty damn cosy.’

  Sophie’s head was spinning. She was finding it hard to keep up. Her and Todd? Was he insane? Todd no more wanted to settle into a relationship than fly to the moon. And, besides, he was too…too…cute!

  ‘And what if there is? What the hell’s it got to do with you?’ She was too angry to give him the satisfaction of a denial.

  ‘You’re right, it’s got nothing to do with me. You just do whatever the hell you want. I keep forgetting that. I keep forgetting that you jump from man to man without a backward glance!’

  Sophie felt sure her gasp could be heard all over the department. The unfairness of his comment stung. She heaved in some ragged breaths, two angry spots of colour staining her cheeks.

  ‘How dare you?’ she spat, dragging air into her lungs. ‘How dare you come in here and accuse me of things and completely absolve yourself from any responsibility? Everything I’ve done you’ve driven me to, you sanctimonious bastard!’

  Daniel immediately regretted his words. Too late. They were out now. He watched her as her dark blue eyes blazed in outrage. ‘I’m sorry. OK? Hell, Sophie, I’m so sorry! That was unforgivable.’

  She didn’t look very mollified as she continued to glare daggers at him. ‘I just think he has designs on you that you’re maybe not aware of. Are you ready for that, Sophie? I mean, really ready?’

  He had to be joking, right? He was so wrong about this it was almost laughable. ‘Two things, Daniel. It’s been two years since Michael died. I hardly think that constitutes jumping from man to man, do you? Secondly,’ she went on, not wanting or caring for him to answer, ‘you have no idea w
hat we’ve been through tonight. I’ve watched a seventeen- and an eighteen-year-old die. I’ve comforted their fathers and I’ve held their mothers. I’m sorry that we seemed a little callous to you, but we really needed to laugh about something.’

  Daniel shut his eyes. He’d stuffed up—big time. He knew that sometimes you had to laugh or you’d cry. Was sorry going to cut it? It seemed inadequate. ‘Soph, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me.’

  ‘Frankly, Daniel, I don’t really care. I didn’t think you could possibly hurt me any more than you already have over the years. Guess I was wrong about that.’

  And with as much dignity as she could muster, she brushed past him without a backward glance.

  CHAPTER SIX

  SOPHIE’S legs shook all the way to her car. Daniel’s accusations had hurt. She heaved in a breath and closed her eyes hard to stop the tears that were threatening. She’d cried too many tears over Daniel Monday.

  But the tears were easier to stop than the memories, and as she drove to Arabella they crashed all around her and flooded her with their smells and voices. Michael’s funeral replayed in her head, the grief and sorrow still there two years on.

  The heady smell of roses that Charlie had cultivated over the years and picked from Arabella’s rose garden to place on the coffin. The poignant notes of the flute that had played as Michael had been committed to the ground. The smell of the rain hitting the earth as the drizzly weather had mirrored the sombre mood.

  The utter misery of Wendy’s sobs as she’d thrown soil into the hole in the ground and Max’s confusion as he had grizzled and clung to her, too young to understand but canny enough to know something really awful had happened.

  People had been so kind. Marquees had been erected in Arabella’s gardens and everyone had made a special effort to seek her out and express their deepest sympathies. Even Daniel’s presence hadn’t managed to pierce the bubble of grief that had encapsulated her. Her husband, her best friend was dead. Michael…

  Later that night Max had taken for ever to go to sleep. He had cried for his daddy and she had lain with him, hugging his little body close, their tears mingling. She had rocked him gently and crooned ‘Beautiful boy’ to him, just as Michael had done every night of Max’s life. Finally they had both fallen into an exhausted sleep.

  Sophie woke a few hours later taking a few seconds before she orientated herself and the unrelenting grief settled around her again. She got up carefully and didn’t know what to do with herself. She couldn’t face going to bed. Lying alone in the king-sized bed was too painful to think about.

  She wandered around the house for a bit, finally coming to the formal lounge. She moved to the bay window and absently fingered one of the two comfy, over-stuffed chairs that faced each other. A low coffee-table that held the chessboard separated the two.

  This room held so many memories. This was where John had taught the three of them to play chess. Michael hadn’t been overly interested but Daniel had and so, therefore, had she. The hours they had spent, the games they had played, sitting on these chairs.

  A noise from behind disturbed her and she turned to discover Daniel standing in the doorway.

  ‘Sophie,’ he said in a voice that echoed her misery and grief.

  She didn’t answer him. Just turned back to cast her unseeing gaze to the river view. She heard him approach and could feel her body tremble with a build-up of emotion.

  ‘I’m so sorry, Soph,’ he whispered, and placed his hands on her shoulders.

  And it was her total undoing. She crumpled. Days of putting on a brave face and being strong for Max disintegrated in an instant. She turned in his arms and he pulled her tight into his chest and she let it all flow out.

  If there was one person in this world who understood how she felt, it was Daniel. For so many years they had been like the Three Musketeers. Inseparable. Her memories of Michael were so joined with those of Daniel that it was hard to separate them. She knew he was grieving every bit as much as her.

  He held her and whispered his sorrow and kissed her forehead and her cheeks, as he had always done when she had hurt herself as a child. It was comforting and seemed so right, so natural. And then she stopped crying and just stood in the circle of his arms, listening to his heartbeat.

  She wasn’t sure when it changed, if there had been a moment or a nuance when she had become aware of his body on a physical level. But suddenly it felt different. Like he was holding her differently or his breathing had changed.

  And then she became aware of his hardness. The events unfolded as if in slow motion. His obvious arousal, the thudding of his heart against her ear, the sudden stiff-armed, robot-like way he held her. Kind of awkward, like he was trying to create some space between them.

  She looked into his eyes and even in the gloom she could see the flash of desire that dilated his pupils and took her back to the days when they had been lovers.

  ‘Sophie,’ he said again, and his voice was full of aching and need and want, and he was so close and smelt so good and felt so wonderful.

  And then they were kissing. Flashpoint had been reached and they exploded. Sophie couldn’t get enough of him. He tasted just like she remembered. Kissed just like she remembered. And she hadn’t been kissed in the longest time.

  Sure, Michael had kissed her but their marriage had never been consummated. After many frustrating attempts they had let the idea go. Michael had said if he couldn’t have it all then he didn’t want anything, and she had been more than happy to agree.

  They’d shared a bed and been as close physically as was possible for two people who weren’t having sex. She’d never had sexual feelings for him anyway and apart from the odd frustrated episode she’d put all those emotions on ice.

  But Daniel had melted them away with one kiss and she was so hungry for more she was frightened she’d die of starvation before she could be sated.

  The inevitable happened. They gave no thought to the consequences or the guilt that would follow. All they could think and feel was the moment and the wonderful sensation of coming home.

  It took about a minute after they’d made love for the realisation to kick in.

  ‘Oh, God. What have we done?’ Daniel sat up, pushing himself away from her, disgust at his actions in every line of his semi-naked body.

  She didn’t answer and he turned back to look at her. She remembered flinching as his eyes, full of disgust, had flicked over her. Her blouse had been yanked open, her bra pushed aside, her skirt had ridden up around her waist.

  He had stood, straightening his clothes as she’d lain there, still trying to work out what had happened. ‘For heaven’s sake, Sophie, fix yourself up,’ he had snapped.

  She had got up from the floor feeling sullied and used. He’d refused to look at her and she hadn’t understood why he’d seemed to think it had been her fault. ‘Daniel?’ she said, her voice small.

  He ignored her. ‘What were we thinking?’ he asked, turning to her, his eyes beseeching her, looking for an answer she didn’t have.

  They hadn’t been thinking. It had just happened. A reaction to their grief and loss at a time when they were both seeking comfort. It hadn’t made it right. It hadn’t made it any easier to swallow. But it was what it was.

  ‘Why did you let me do that?’ he demanded.

  ‘Daniel—’

  ‘We just put your husband in the ground a few hours ago. How could you do this to him?’

  Sophie knew that Daniel was struggling with what had happened, struggling with his own guilt, but his words stung and she remembered the deafeningly sound of her slap as it connected with his cheek. ‘My husband. Your brother. How could you, Daniel? How could you?’

  She walked out on him then and Daniel went back to New York a couple of days later. They hadn’t talked about it then and had only skirted around it the other night. As Sophie parked her car she acknowledged it was still there between them. Still a thorn in their sides.

  �
�Unit 001, thirty-year-old male. GSW to left femur. Is conscious and breathing but leg is apparently haemorrhaging significantly. Injury followed a bungled bank robbery. Assailants have left the scene and police are present. Being backed up by unit 912.’

  ‘Roger, Coms.’

  Daniel hung up the radio and sped, lights and sirens blazing, to the address in Fortitude Valley given to him by the communications centre. Years of living in New York had fostered a certain nonchalance concerning gunshot wounds. He’d seen hundreds of them! Rarely would a day go by on the job when he hadn’t dealt with at least one.

  So, consequently, his mind wasn’t full of possible scenarios and clinical issues. It was full of Sophie. He hadn’t slept a wink the last couple of nights, thinking about what had transpired between them. He pushed those thoughts aside and tapped into the hum of adrenaline running through his system and channelled it to sharpen his mind and prepare his body.

  He reached the scene fairly quickly. The experience of years of being a paramedic came to the fore as he climbed out of his vehicle. Someone had been shot and needed him. Everything else took a back seat.

  There was chaos at the scene as Daniel approached. Four police cars blocked the road. The victim had been shot on the footpath outside the bank and a crowd of curious onlookers, being held at bay by the police, was adding to the noise.

  The man was clutching his bloodied leg and groaning in agony. A large pool of blood was congealing on the cement. Another bank employee was trying to apply pressure but quite ineffectually as the victim kept rolling around.

  Daniel’s mind was in purely clinical mode as he drew nearer. D for danger. Police were present and the bad guys had fled. Check.

  R for response. Patient was groaning and swearing about the pain. Normal response. Check.

  A for airway. The man appeared to have a perfectly patent airway if the swear words were any indication. Check.

  B for breathing. Well, it was a bit hard to swear if you couldn’t breathe. Check.

  C for circulation. Again, swearing was exceedingly difficult to achieve if you were pulseless. Check.