His Diamond Like No Other (Mills & Boon Medical)

by Lucy Clark

  ‘Hmm.’ Jane processed this information. ‘OK. Have the night staff keep a close eye on her and call me if there are any concerns. I’m staying in the residential wing so I can come right over.’

  ‘I’ll make a note in her file.’ Anthea’s words had been soft and the two of them stood there, watching the little girl, for a few more minutes, Jane’s concern rising. With Tessa being so unsettled, as well as not feeling well because of the urinary tract infection, this first night might be hard for her.

  Now as Jane lay down on the bed, taking off her glasses and kicking off her shoes, she couldn’t ignore the niggling sensation that there was something going on with Tessa that no one was aware of. Little girls of six only had eating disorders if something else was very wrong in their lives.

  Her phone started ringing and Jane sluggishly opened her eyes, reaching out her hand to the nightstand, patting around until she located it. It was only then she realised she’d dozed off, still completely dressed and lying on top of the bed covers.

  ‘Dr Diamond.’

  ‘Oh, uh…Jane, is it?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I’m calling from the ward. There’s a note in Tessa’s file to call you if—’

  ‘I’m on my way,’ Jane interrupted, as she quickly disconnected the call and hunted around in the now-dark room for her shoes. Collecting her glasses and the hospital lanyard, which contained her hospital pass key as well as the key to her room, Jane headed back to the hospital, smoothing a hand down her hair to ensure it wasn’t sticking out all over the place.

  ‘Thanks for coming,’ the night sister said. ‘Tessa’s been lying in her bed, whimpering and crying softly. Every time one of us gets near her, she stops, closes her eyes tight and completely ignores us.’

  ‘OK. Thanks.’ Jane nodded politely at the sister before heading to Tessa’s bed. Although there were other children in the ward, she didn’t want to pull the curtain around Tessa’s bed for privacy because if the little girl had been abused in some way, which was the way Jane’s intuition was leading her, then the last thing Tessa would want was to have herself ‘cut off’, as it were, from the rest of the ward.

  Instead, Jane walked quietly over to Tessa’s bedside, her heart almost breaking at the whimpering sound coming from the child. Just as the night sister had stated, Tessa immediately stopped the instant she realised there was an adult present.

  ‘Hi, Tessa. It’s me. Dr Jane. We met before.’

  No answer.

  ‘I’m really a bit tired. Do you mind if I sit down here for a minute or two?’

  Again no answer.

  ‘Thanks,’ she remarked, and sat in the chair beside Tessa’s bed. Jane remained silent to begin with then quietly began to sing, her soothing, clear voice audible to the rest of the small ward but not disturbing any of the other patients.

  When one song finished, Jane would be quiet for a few minutes before starting another song. After an hour the night sister quietly walked over, handed Jane a bottle of water, gave her a thumbs-up and a nod of approval before leaving them alone.

  Jane gratefully took a sip of the cool water before starting on another song. When she’d finished that one, she settled back in the chair and relaxed.

  ‘Can I hear another one?’ a little timid voice asked, when Jane hadn’t started the next song for a good five minutes.

  Jane’s answer was to start singing again. No need for words or questions, the melodious sound of her voice was having a positive effect on Tessa and that was all that mattered. Another hour later Jane couldn’t help but smother a yawn, pleased to note that Tessa was now in a deep, relaxed sleep.

  Very slowly, Jane stood from the chair, stretching out her tired limbs before heading over to the nurses’ station. She wanted to take a closer look at Tessa’s case notes, eager to try and find something, anything, that would give her some clues as to what was really going on in the little girl’s life.

  ‘That was beautiful,’ the night sister said, and Jane smiled her thanks.

  ‘Agreed. I never knew you had such a lovely voice.’ The deep words were spoken from directly behind her and Jane spun round, coming face to face with Sean. Unfortunately, she’d moved too quickly, making herself light-headed.

  ‘Whoa.’ Sean’s arms came around her instantly, for the second time since she’d come back into his life. ‘We’ve really got to stop meeting like this,’ he murmured as Jane tried to steady herself. She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination or fatigue but she could have sworn Sean’s voice seemed kinder, gentler. Was this a good thing? She certainly hoped so. If he could see her for who she was, not just as Daina’s sister, then perhaps she stood some chance of him approving her request to see Spencer.

  Sean led Jane over to a vacant chair and helped her to sit down, trying to ignore the way her soft sunflowery scent captivated his senses. How could she smell as fresh as a daisy when it was almost six o’clock in the morning?

  ‘I think all your beautiful singing might have drained your oxygen reserves.’ The night sister chuckled. ‘Although I have to say, you’ve made the night more pleasant to deal with.’

  ‘That she has,’ Sean agreed, immediately stepping back when Jane eased herself away from him, her hands held up in front of her in a defensive manner.

  ‘I’m fine.’ She tried not to snap, but it was difficult given she was cross with herself for being far too aware of Sean, of the way his warm hands had caused her to feel safe and secure, even for the briefest of moments. ‘But thank you,’ she added belatedly.

  ‘At least Tessa’s sleeping—really sleeping now.’ The night sister looked over towards ward room two, where she could hear giggling. ‘Which is more than I can say for some of the other children.’ With a sigh she left the nurses’ station to go and deal with whichever recalcitrant patient dared to be awake at this hour in the morning.

  Sean was left alone with Jane but she seemed more than happy to ignore him as she picked up Tessa’s file and started reading it. After watching her for a moment, he decided to take a leaf out of her book and began reading his patient files, catching up on the notes the nursing staff had made during the night. If Jane wanted to play the professional card, so could he. They would sit there, ignore each other and do their work. The fact that he’d known her since she was a teenager, the fact that he’d been married to her older sister, the fact that her sister had ripped his heart out, cut it into tiny pieces and then set fire to them, in reality, had nothing at all to do with Jane.

  And yet…he didn’t seem able to keep his curiosity levels in check. She’d said she wanted to get to know Spencer. Why? Why now? Was she dying? Had something terrible happened to her…again? Sean closed his eyes on the thought. He knew all about the accident that had taken Jane’s and Daina’s parents from them, Daina annoyed that she’d been thrust into the role of responsible adult to care for her thirteen-year-old sister.

  Jane had looked directly at him, her intent clear when she’d asked, ‘How well did you know Daina? Really know your wife?’ and he’d felt as though she’d slapped him. There was so much about his marriage that he’d shoved aside, promising himself never to think about it but with Jane returning, infiltrating his world, that resolve was becoming difficult to control.

  Sean opened his eyes, glancing surreptitiously at Jane. Had her hair been that long, that deep chocolaty brown in colour, that silky, all those years ago? He clenched his hand into a fist to stop himself from wanting to reach out and run his fingers through it, wondering if it really was as glorious as it appeared.

  He needed to stop thinking about Jane, to control his thoughts. She’d asked him how well he’d known his wife, and to begin with he had to admit he’d thought he’d known Daina fairly well…until he’d discovered, thanks to an ex-friend’s guilty conscience, the number of other men who had also ‘known Daina fairly well’. That confession had come after Spencer’s traumatic birth and Sean, in his stubbornness, had insisted on a DNA test to reassure himself that Spencer w
as indeed his. Thankfully, Daina had been telling the truth for once and from that moment on Sean had devoted his attention and energies towards his baby son, rather than towards his wayward, cheating wife, serving her with divorce papers as soon as possible.

  ‘Would you stop staring at me, please?’

  Jane’s voice cut through his thoughts and it was only then that Sean realised he was doing exactly what she’d accused him of. Her green eyes bored into his and he quickly looked down at the case notes in his hands. ‘Er…sorry.’

  Jane sighed heavily before returning her attention to Tessa’s case notes, flicking back through the pages again, intent on reading everything possible about every admission, right back to her birth.

  ‘Looking for anything in particular?’ he asked.

  ‘I’ll know it when I see it.’

  ‘Determined, eh?’

  ‘And stubborn.’

  ‘I’m sure those qualities have served you well over the years.’

  Jane lifted her head and glared at him for a moment. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

  Sean raised his eyebrows at her tone and when he looked into her eyes he was a little surprised to see them filled with repressed fire. ‘You’re…angry with me?’ He searched her gaze again to ensure he’d read her emotion correctly.

  Jane merely rolled her eyes at his words and returned her focus to the paperwork before her. ‘Haven’t you learnt not to tease women when they’re frustrated because they can’t find the answer to the problem plaguing them?’

  ‘Er…actually, I have learnt that lesson, seeing as I have younger twin sisters, but sometimes, Jane, it’s difficult to resist.’

  Jane raised her head and stared at him for a moment. ‘You have sisters?’ Then, before he could answer, she shook her head as though to clear it from unnecessary distractions and returned her attention to the notes. ‘There has to be something in here, some event, some incident, even a small one, that was enough to cause these disruptions in Tessa’s life.’

  ‘Disruptions?’

  Jane stretched out her hand towards where Tessa was now sleeping soundly. ‘She doesn’t eat, she doesn’t sleep, she whimpers any time an adult comes near her at night.’

  ‘You think she might have been abused by an adult?’

  ‘That’s the most common assumption but it may not necessarily be an adult. She’s scared, not of the dark but of the night.’

  ‘What’s the difference?’

  Jane breathed in deeply, her eyes flashing with fire, and Sean could see her hackles were beginning to rise. He immediately held up one hand to stop her tirade before she began. ‘I’m not teasing or trying to be difficult, Jane. I haven’t had the training or life experiences you’ve had. I’m only enquiring because I don’t understand your statement. Nothing more. I’m as concerned about Tessa as you are. Perhaps, if we head to the cafeteria and grab a cup of coffee, we can make some sense of the situation.’

  Jane immediately shook her head. ‘I’m happy where I am, thank you.’ The last thing she wanted was to be sitting in close proximity to Sean in an almost deserted hospital cafeteria, listening to the sultry sound of his voice. It was bad enough that the night sister had left them alone at the nurses’ station, forcing Jane to erect her automatic defences.

  She’d had to protect herself from so much over the years, just like Tessa was doing now, not from physical or sexual abuse but from verbal and emotional abuse, which were every bit as damaging as the others. There had been one particular side to Daina only Jane had been privy to…and she couldn’t stop the niggling question in the back of her mind as to whether or not Sean had also seen that side of her sister.

  ‘Fair enough. In that case, would you mind explaining your statement? Why would Tessa be afraid of the night and not of the dark? I always thought the two were synonymous.’

  ‘Look at the ward,’ Jane invited. ‘There are lights on. Small nightlights. It’s not dark, not pitch black. Tessa’s not afraid of the dark because that’s where she feels the safest. It’s dark in her mind, she can curl up into a corner in a dark room and no one will ever find her, but night-time…there’s a real fear associated with that because the majority of people sleep at night and sleeping is when a person is most vulnerable.’

  ‘You’re saying that night-time makes her feel vulnerable?’

  ‘Yes. How many times have you heard people saying they just wished for the night to be over, that they couldn’t wait for the first rays of sunlight to start seeping through into the day? Insomniacs feel it all the time. All those hours they just lie there, not sleeping, just waiting. In Tessa’s case, whatever has happened to her happens at night, which is why she refuses to sleep, which is why she whimpers, filled with anticipatory dread at what might or might not happen.’

  ‘The mind is a powerful thing.’

  ‘Most definitely.’ Jane’s voice was soft as she sighed, her previous annoyance having vanished as she once more stared down at Tessa’s case notes.

  ‘Do you want me to have a look?’

  Jane handed them over without a word before standing and walking towards the edge of the ward where she watched Tessa sleep, the little girl’s breathing still calm and relaxed. ‘I wonder if this is the first decent sleep she’s had in…well, I don’t know how long.’

  She continued to stand there while Sean read through Tessa’s entire file. ‘You’re right. There’s nothing that stands out.’ Jane’s shoulders slumped dejectedly at this news. ‘But I do have a suggestion.’

  ‘I’m open to it.’

  ‘Why not task a few medical students to do a case study on Tessa?’

  Jane raised an eyebrow at this. ‘Go on.’

  ‘For the next forty-eight hours they are to unobtrusively observe Tessa, her parents, her siblings, her friends—anyone and everyone who comes into contact with her, including all hospital staff, whether male or female, and also any interaction with other patients. I see you’ve already requested she have a consult with the dietician and the hospital’s child psychologist, so once we have the data from the students, we can organise a conference and really see if we can’t get to the bottom of this.’

  ‘Wouldn’t we need the parents’ permission?’

  ‘The medical students aren’t treating Tessa, they’re observing her. Tessa has been admitted to the hospital for observation as well as treatment for her urinary tract infection. Tessa wouldn’t be a part of any sort of research study, she’s just being observed in the interest of her health.’

  Jane turned from watching Tessa and looked at Sean. ‘I’ll speak to Luc, and I’d also like her taken off the ward round during this time.’

  ‘Agreed.’ He nodded. ‘It’s a plan.’

  ‘Yes. Yes, it is.’ Jane couldn’t believe how much lighter her heart felt now that there was a way forward, a way to hopefully figure out whatever was hurting Tessa. ‘Thank you, Sean.’

  He smiled at her then, a full-blown, twinkling-eyed smile that somehow pierced the barrier she’d so carefully constructed around her heart and flooded her world with light. She immediately returned to her seat, dropping down into the chair before her knees refused to support her weight due to the fact that they’d turned to jelly. Boy, oh, boy, Sean Booke’s smile was lethal! ‘You’re more than welcome, Jane.’

  He didn’t seem to notice the effect he was having on her. Such a smile should be outlawed. The action had completely changed his features from ones she’d always considered to be dark and brooding to pure handsome sensuality.

  When the night sister returned, Jane was more than thankful that Sean’s attention was diverted as he asked about the patients who had been playing up but Jane didn’t listen to half of what they were saying. She was still trying to gain control over her senses, swallowing over her suddenly dry mouth and fervently trying to quell the multitude of proverbial butterflies presently going haywire in her stomach.

  No man…not even her ex-fiancé…had ever affected her in such a way. Things like this
simply didn’t happen to her. She wasn’t the romantic, girly, lovey-dovey type so why had she been this affected by one simple smile from a man she wasn’t even sure she liked?

  ‘I know it’s almost time for the ward to wake up and I’ll make sure Tessa’s not disturbed for as long as possible,’ the night sister was saying, ‘but I also think you need to get some rest, Dr Diamond. You’re not due back on the ward until eight o’clock, so head over to the residential wing now and try to get some sleep.’

  ‘You’re staying in the res wing?’ For some reason this news surprised Sean.

  ‘Yes. It’s convenient.’

  ‘For the moment.’

  Jane shrugged. ‘I have no problem staying there for the rest of the year.’ She looked over at Tessa, who was still sleeping soundly. ‘You’ll—’

  ‘Call you if there are any problems,’ Sister interrupted, nodding her head. ‘Absolutely.’

  ‘I’ll walk you over,’ Sean stated, rising to his feet.

  ‘It’s fine. You don’t have to do that.’

  ‘It’s a safety thing.’

  For who? Jane wanted to ask, because even the thought of having Sean close to her as they walked through the quiet hospital was disconcerting enough for her. She gingerly stood, pleased to discover her legs were now going to support her. She looked from Sister to Sean, realising there was no way out. It was easier to accept.

  ‘Right,’ Sister continued. ‘You two are organised, so off you go. I’d best go and receive updates from the rest of my staff before the breakfast trolleys are brought up.’

  Sean swept a hand in front of his body, indicating Jane should precede him. ‘Shall we?’

  It was easier for her to accept his offer than to kick up a stink because she knew if that was the case, she’d have to explain exactly why she was kicking up a stink and the last thing she wanted to say to Sean Booke right now was that she found his spicy scent rather intoxicating.

  Neither of them spoke as they walked through the deserted corridors, heading to the rear of the hospital towards the residential wing. Even after they’d entered the res wing and Jane had signed in, Sean still insisted on accompanying her right up to her room. The clerk behind the desk in the foyer was watching them intently and once more Jane decided it was easier to go with the flow than argue. She gritted her teeth, desperately trying to ignore her awareness of Sean’s close proximity, and started for the stairwell. It wasn’t until the door had closed behind them, their footsteps echoing around them, that Sean spoke.