The Doctor's Longed-For Family

by Joanna Neil

  ‘You don’t have to see him if you don’t want to. We can make sure that he’s not allowed to come anywhere near you or your son. You have to start thinking of what’s best for you. It’s time for you to start taking control of your own life.’

  Abby watched him gently coax the woman into talking to him. He carefully tried to shore up her defences and as she listened to his deep, calm voice Abby felt a ripple of heat start up in the region of her chest and slowly spread throughout her whole body. He was making sure that this woman wouldn’t suffer at the hands of that violent man ever again. She knew, without doubt, that he would see this plan through, and that Ryan would have the chance to grow up to be a happy child. She could feel it in her bones.

  A smile curved her mouth. Matt began to straighten up and he looked at her across the room at just that moment, as though he had intercepted the warm thoughts that were winging their way towards him.

  ‘They’ll be OK,’ he said softly.

  ‘Yes. Thank you for that.’

  When she was sure that Ryan’s breathing had stabilised and that he was comfortable once more, she left him and his mother in the care of the nurse.

  Matt followed her out into the main thoroughfare of the A and E department.

  ‘I was really glad to have you on my side then,’ she said. ‘It was such a relief when you stepped in and stood up to him.’

  ‘I was glad to be able to do something.’ Matt gave her a faint smile. ‘That’s the thing about A and E, isn’t it? No day is ever the same.’

  ‘I suppose that’s true.’ A sudden thought occurred to her and she sent him a penetrating stare. ‘I’m warning you, don’t you dare repeat anything of what went on in there.’ She used a stern tone, but her mouth tilted at the corners, softening the effect, and he nodded acknowledgement.

  His expression was wry. ‘You don’t trust me an inch, do you?’

  ‘Well, perhaps a little bit more than that, after what you did in there,’ she murmured. ‘You were brilliant, but don’t let it go to your head, will you?’

  ‘As if I would ever get the chance,’ he retorted, sending her an assessing glance. His blue eyes glimmered momentarily. ‘I don’t know what it is about you, Abby, but there’s something that intrigues me. I can’t quite work you out.’

  ‘Then perhaps you should stop trying.’ She headed towards the reception desk and began to sift through the patients’ files.

  He smiled crookedly. ‘You know that’s not my way.’ He watched her as she picked out one of the folders and began to glance through it. ‘I thought you handled Stanton very well back there. You were unfailingly polite, but you let him know that you weren’t someone to be messed with.’

  He let his glance travel over her face, lingering on the determined curve of her mouth and the upward tilt of her jaw. ‘I just have this feeling that you have pretty much the same attitude towards men in general, and I’m wondering how that might have come about.’

  ‘I think you’re misguided,’ she said. ‘After all, I get on very well with my male colleagues, and as far as I’m aware they don’t appear to have a problem with me.’

  ‘Hmm…maybe that’s true, but there’s something that doesn’t quite add up.’ His expression was thoughtful. ‘I wonder what kind of personal life you have, if any.’

  ‘The kind that’s personal,’ she retorted. She wrote something on the chart and then looked up at him once more. ‘I really have to get on,’ she said.

  ‘Yes.’ He studied her. ‘You’re a tough nut to crack, Abby, but I expect I’ll manage it sooner or later, one way or another. It’s just a question of finding out where the fracture line is.’

  Her eyes widened. And then her vulnerabilities would be exposed for all to see, wouldn’t they?

  Abby wasn’t about to let that happen, under any circumstances. She had been hurt once before, and now she kept a guard on her feelings with a passionate intensity. Matt was in for a surprise if he really thought she was going to be an easy challenge.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  ABBY was driving into the hospital car park as the radio news bulletin came to a close. The theme tune for Morning Surgery started up, and she blinked in surprise. The man seemed to be with her everywhere she went. Was there no escaping him?

  She carefully negotiated her way into her parking slot, and the last notes of music faded away, to be replaced by Matt’s deep, honeyed tones. The voice was coming to her over the airwaves, she knew that, but it startled her all the same, because it felt every bit as though he was there in the passenger seat beside her. She suddenly felt warm all over.

  ‘A patient came to see me the other day,’ Matt was saying. ‘He looked haggard, as though he was washed out. “I don’t understand what’s wrong with me, Doctor. I’m always so tired these days,” he said. “There’s so much that I need to do, and I’ve no energy to do anything. It’s beginning to get me down.”

  ‘I sympathised with him. “Yes, I know exactly what you mean,” I said. “You just want to sleep all day, and you can’t be bothered with anything. It’s odd, you know, but I feel that way, too. It’s horrible, isn’t it? I wonder what’s causing it?”’

  Abby laughed, in spite of herself. The man was impossible. It was hard to stay cross with him for too long, because every time she steeled herself for a fight, he disarmed her with his understanding and his calming ways. It was very strange, but he was starting to get to her, and even though she hadn’t seen him for a couple of weeks, she found herself thinking about him at odd times of the day and night.

  She was almost disappointed that he had finished shadowing her in the department…almost, but not quite. Any empathy she felt towards him had to be a blip, didn’t it? She simply hadn’t been herself lately had she?

  When she switched off the radio a moment or two later, he was advising the listeners about the benefits of a nutritious diet and giving them pointers about how to get a good night’s sleep.

  His voice was soothing, easy on the ear, and, despite his humorous remarks, he made it seem as though he cared about people and their problems. Part of her wanted to go on listening to him, but time was running on and she quelled the urge to do that and hurried into A and E instead.

  ‘Someone’s waiting to see you,’ Helen said as she walked into the main thoroughfare of the unit.

  ‘Oh, who’s that?’

  ‘Do you remember Adam, the three-year-old boy from the traffic accident a few weeks back?’

  ‘Of course, yes I do.’ Abby’s eyes widened. ‘I’d heard that he was discharged from hospital a fortnight ago. How is he doing, do you know?’

  ‘Go and see for yourself.’ Helen was smiling. ‘He’s in the waiting room with his mother. He was asking for you.’

  ‘Was he? I’d better go and see him, then, before I get started on anything else.’ She hurried away, turning into the corridor and walking briskly towards the waiting room. She pushed open the door.

  The little boy was in a wheelchair, and his mother was by his side, but they weren’t the only people in the room. Matt was there, too, and Abby stood for a moment, absorbing that fact. It took her aback to see him standing there, looking so fit and energetic, so full of vitality and enthusiasm for life.

  He was chatting to the young woman, the boy’s mother, and she was clearly enjoying the encounter. Why wouldn’t she? He had charisma in bucket loads.

  As Abby walked into the room, he must have said something to make the little boy smile because Adam said brightly, ‘I’m going to do that. Mummy said she’d buy me a new football so that I can practise my kicking when my leg’s mended.’

  ‘My word, but you’re getting better fast,’ Abby said, closing the door behind her and going further into the room. She smiled at the boy and his mother, and then nodded towards Matt.

  ‘I hadn’t realised that you would be at the hospital today,’ she told him. ‘I thought you had finished collecting material for your article.’ She frowned. ‘Besides, weren’t you on the radio just a
short while ago? How is it that you’re here now?’

  ‘You’re right, I was on the radio. The programmes are prerecorded for the most part an hour or so before they go out on air. That gives me time to do other things. As to the article, yes, it’s finished. I came here to talk to Admin about something else, and I just happened to run into Adam and his mother.’

  ‘That was fortunate,’ Abby commented.

  ‘Yes, it was,’ the boy’s mother put in. ‘I’ve been wanting to thank him for helping Adam that day. He was there from the moment the accident happened, and I’m so glad that he stopped to take care of him. We wanted to thank you, too, for all that you did for us.’

  ‘It’s good to see him on the mend,’ Abby said. ‘I’m more than glad that I was able to do something for him.’

  The three-year-old looked up at Abby and said shyly, ‘I bringed you some flowers, cos you was nice to me when I was poorly and you maked me better. You gived me some sweeties when I didn’t like the medicine, and you bringed me a jig-saw puzzle when I was grumpy in bed.’ He thrust out a posy of sweet-smelling freesias in front of him, and Abby accepted them from him, her lips curving in a smile.

  ‘Thank you, so much, Adam,’ she said. ‘What a lovely thought. These are so beautiful, and the scent is lovely. These are my very favourite flowers.’

  Adam’s face lit up with pleasure. ‘I choosed them,’ he said. ‘I thought you might like them.’

  ‘I do, very much. I shall put them in water straight away.’ She sent a warm glance towards his mother to show her appreciation, and then she turned to look at the cast on the boy’s leg. It was covered with pictures and signatures. ‘You’ve quite a collection there, haven’t you? Can I add a picture?’

  The child nodded, and she bent down to add a pretty butterfly and a get-well-soon message. He beamed at her and started to examine all the other drawings. ‘Matt drawed me a football,’ he said. ‘There it is, see? That’s me, kicking it into the goal.’

  ‘That will remind you what to do when you’re up and about again, won’t it?’ Abby said. She spoke to Adam and his mother for a little while longer, before reluctantly excusing herself. ‘I have to go and get on with some work now,’ she told Adam, ‘but I’m really glad that you came to see me, and I’m so happy that you’re feeling better.’

  Matt said his goodbyes, too, and they left the room together. They made their way back to the main unit.

  ‘So what is it you’re here to see Admin about today?’ she asked him as she went into the small kitchen area and filled a vase with water. ‘Is it about another article that you’re writing?’ A sudden thought occurred to her, and she added quickly, ‘You’re not here to set up a TV programme, are you?’

  He lifted a dark brow. ‘Actually, that had crossed my mind. From what I’ve seen so far of what goes on around here, it would make a terrific series.’

  She shook her head. ‘No, no…believe me, it wouldn’t.’ She arranged the flowers in the vase and sniffed their delicate perfume. ‘This is children’s A and E. It’s far too harrowing for home viewing, and I really don’t think it’s a good idea. Besides, it would mean that you would be filming me at some point, and I certainly don’t want to be paraded on television like a specimen in a jar for all to see.’

  He looked her over. ‘You’d make a very nice specimen,’ he said, his mouth tilting slightly. ‘You’re extremely photogenic, with those classic features and that cascade of dark gold curls. You’re beautifully turned out…’ His glance made an appreciative tour over her before he continued, ‘Very shapely, and easy on the eye.’

  Her cheeks heated under his penetrating scrutiny. Did he really think she looked good? ‘Well, I don’t think it’s a very good idea, so please drop it,’ she said in a firm tone.

  ‘That would be a great pity,’ he murmured. ‘It’s more than just the way you look. You’re good at your job, and you have lots of different vocal attributes to go along with it. We get the whole gamut with you, don’t we, from brisk and businesslike to gentle and soothing. I think you’d make for very good TV.’

  ‘I’m afraid I don’t agree with you on that.’ She drew back her shoulders…brisk and businesslike indeed. Her mouth set in a straight line. ‘In any case, I’m far too busy to have cameras following me around. They’ll just get in the way, and that will make me cross. You wouldn’t want to see me when I’m cross.’

  He chuckled. ‘I think it’s too late for that already. I was there when you first discovered who I really was, remember? You may not have been hopping mad, in the literal sense, but you managed to get your opinion of me and my work across pretty well all the same. Somehow I think cold dismissal can be far more effective than fire and fury.’

  She flicked a glance over him. ‘I doubt that it had that much effect on you,’ she murmured. ‘I don’t recall that you were put off in any way.’ She started on her way out of the kitchen and walked over to the reception desk in the main area of the A and E unit.

  He went with her. ‘Ah well, I’ve had a fair amount of experience of dealing with people of all kinds of temperaments. I suppose it goes with the territory—being an emergency doctor helps to prepare you for anything. I think you would find that being so overwhelmed with work as you are usually, you would soon forget that the cameras were around.’

  ‘I doubt that would happen, and I shouldn’t think any of the children in my care would be too happy to be filmed either.’ She placed the vase on the table. The flowers were colourful and they brightened up the place.

  ‘You’d be surprised. Children are wonderful when it comes to TV. They are so natural, and so inquisitive. It’s a delight to work with them.’

  ‘It isn’t so delightful when they’re poorly. If you’re so experienced in emergency work, I would have thought you would know that.’

  He nodded. ‘I do. But the thing with children is that they’re down one minute and up the next. They often recover remarkably well from the horrible things that befall them. Take Adam, for instance. You wouldn’t think that he was the same child that was brought in here unconscious not so long ago, and I can well imagine how he would be on camera. He’d be a star.’

  ‘I dare say you’re right, but it’s still an intrusion.’ She picked out a chart from one of the wire trays on the desk. ‘How did you get on with Mrs Stanton and Ryan, by the way? I heard that you were making arrangements for them to go and settle in a new place where they would be safe from Ryan’s dad. Did everything go off all right?’

  ‘It did. I made sure that they reached the shelter safely, and I gather that they’ve made friends with some of the other women and children who are staying there. I’ve put out some feelers to find a more permanent home for them when they’re up to moving on at some point in the future.’

  ‘It sounds as though you’re planning on keeping in touch with them.’

  ‘I am. For the moment, though, I think Melanie needs breathing space to build up her self-esteem and find her confidence, so that she’ll be better able to cope. I know the woman who runs the shelter, and she’s very good at helping women to help themselves.’

  ‘I’m glad that Melanie’s managing to make a fresh start. It will be good for Ryan’s health, too, if he can be free from the worry of wanting to protect his mother.’ She studied the chart momentarily and then said, ‘I really have to get on and see some patients. We’ve a full waiting room already, and I dare say before too long we’ll have youngsters coming in by ambulance.’

  ‘Unfortunately, you’re probably right.’ He made to move out of her way and said, ‘I need to go and have a word with Admin.’

  She watched him walk away and then tried to put all thoughts of him from her mind. That wasn’t too difficult to do with an influx of casualties needing her attention, but in the odd moment when there was a lull, she caught herself thinking about him. She especially wanted to know what he was discussing with Admin.

  ‘He’s looking into the facts about MRSA in hospitals and how we cope with k
eeping this place relatively free from dangerous bacteria,’ Helen told her. ‘I offered to help him with his research, but he said he thought he could manage.’ She looked crestfallen about that, and when Abby sent her a wry look, she added, ‘Well, can you blame me? He’s gorgeous.’

  Yes, he was, even Abby had to concede that, but she didn’t want to think about it any more than was absolutely necessary. Her nervous system was on the defensive already where he was concerned, and it went against the grain that he should be so much on her mind, because she had told herself that she didn’t want anything to do with men. She was better off without them, wasn’t she?

  Over the course of the day, the pace of activity in the unit was hectic and her mood became decidedly frazzled. If only they could have filled the temporary post, life would be so much easier. As it was, she and her team had been busy dealing with the aftermath of a nasty traffic accident, and then there were several children who presented with difficult to diagnose problems.

  Once she had sorted those out, she was hoping that she might be able to take a well-earned break, but it wasn’t to be. Sam was struggling with a number of high-priority patients, and had turned to her for help on a number of occasions, and the nurses were asking for her advice on several of the children in their care, as well as having trouble with some of the equipment. Even Helen was debating what she ought to do about a child with an unexplained limp. Right now she was looking after a two-year-old girl who had a high fever. The child was convulsing and the parents were frantic in case she was seriously ill.

  Abby went to examine the little girl. ‘I think Maisie is having a simple febrile seizure, probably caused by an infection of some sort,’ she reassured the parents.

  She wrote out the medication chart and handed it to the nurse who was assisting her. ‘We’ll have to wait for the results of the tests before we can be sure of exactly what’s going on. In the meantime we’ll give her diazepam to control the seizures and Calpol to bring down her temperature. She may need antibiotics, too, if it turns out that there’s a bacterial cause.’