But she knew she couldn’t just forget Ed Tremayne. She did love him.
She had come on board this ship to be away from marauding men. She had never wanted to think of love again. But she had found a man and she had fallen in love with him and he didn’t want her. What to do?
She shrugged, smiled a bitter smile. There was nothing she could do but suffer.
She dressed, stayed in her cabin until she heard the sounds of the other staff coming into the medical centre. It was time for handover, the reports of staff who were coming off duty to those who were coming on. She’d be happier meeting Ed again if they were in company.
She went out, saw Ed talking to Dr Wyatt. ‘Morning,’ she said pleasantly. ‘How are things going?’
She saw the faint relief in Ed’s eyes, knew that he realised she was going to remain professional. Well, of course, she was going to remain professional. At the moment it was all she had going for her.
‘Things are now definitely improving,’ Ed reported. ‘There are no new cases, the worst are improving, those who are nearly better are complaining about not being able to go on shore. I think we can congratulate ourselves.’
‘In that case, may I have the morning to deal with the few patients who have problems other than gastroenteritis?’ Maddy asked him. ‘There are some dressings to be checked and changed, some injections to be given. A few people I just like to keep an eye on.’
‘Good idea. It’s too easy to forget that there might be problems other than the gastro.’
She wondered if there were also the faint signs of relief in his voice at her suggestion. This way they wouldn’t have to spend time together.
It was good to get back to her old job, good to be able to do it well. Apart from the medical attention she could spare the time to chat for a few minutes, instead of being in the vast hurry she’d been in recently.
Most of her patients were eager to get ashore now, some were quite annoyed. Maddy managed to calm most of them, making them feel relieved that they hadn’t been infected themselves. It was all part of a cruise ship nurse’s job.
But as the morning wore on she felt worse and worse. At first she thought that it was misery because of her mistake with Ed. Then she wondered if she was going down with the illness herself. That wouldn’t be fair! She had been so careful with the necessary precautions. But then she decided that she was not showing any of the initial symptoms. She just felt dreadful.
Her last call was to Mrs Cowley’s cabin. Robbie’s dressing ought to be changed. Robbie’s dressings got dirty faster than anyone else on the ship.
He wasn’t in the cabin. ‘His friend Joey just came to call,’ Mrs Cowley explained. ‘Came with his dad and asked if Robbie wanted to go to the play area with them. Well, he’d been getting restless and I felt a bit tired so I said he could go. They’ll bring him back in time.’
‘Feeling tired?’ Maddy questioned. ‘You are sticking to the diet, aren’t you?’
‘Well, sort of…’
For what must have been the tenth time Maddy went through the dangers of binge eating if you were diabetic.
Finally she left, telling Mrs Cowley that she’d find Robbie some time later. She still felt dreadful, so she decided to go back to the medical centre and have a drink of water. Was she dehydrated? She didn’t think so. Perhaps it was just fatigue catching up on her.
Just as she thought this Ed came into the room. He looked at her and frowned. ‘You don’t look too good, Maddy,’ he said. His tone was medical, professional, but she thought she could detect some touch of personal feeling there.
‘I’ll be all right. It’s catching up on me, I just need to sit down a moment.’
‘We’d better make sure you’re not coming down with the bug as well. Come into your cabin and I’ll examine you.’ There was a pause and then he said, ‘Do you want a chaperone?’
She managed a small smile. ‘I think it’s a bit late for that now.’
They went into her cabin so he could examine her. She noticed that he took rubber gloves out of his bag—and then dropped them back in. ‘You should wear gloves to examine every patient,’ she told him.
‘On this occasion I’ll manage without.’
She knew why. The last time his hands had been on her body they had… To touch her again with rubber gloves would be an insult to them both.
He said, ‘You know, Maddy, we have to talk and—’
She cut him off. ‘Not now,’ she said. ‘I just can’t deal with it. Perhaps not ever. Just get on with your work.’
It didn’t take long and she knew what the result would be. ‘Nothing too seriously wrong with you, Maddy. Nothing physical, that is. You’ve just done too much. A body can’t take stress indefinitely. Now, pay attention to me. You’re going to rest now. Just for three hours; I promise I won’t leave you longer than that.’
‘But, Ed, I’m needed.’
‘Things are a lot better. You’re not needed now.’
Telling her she wasn’t needed was the wrong thing for him to say, she saw that he recognised this at once. But he said nothing and neither did she. ‘I’ll do as you say,’ she said.
The moment he had gone she remembered her last task—finding Robbie and re-dressing his arm. Well, it would only take a minute. She’d do that now and then have her rest.
First she went back to Mrs Cowley’s cabin. No Robbie there. And Mrs Cowley was asleep. Having checked that she hadn’t fallen into a diabetic coma, Maddy went up to the children’s indoor play area. It was a large, glassed-in room with the usual games. There were ship attendants there and children being watched by their parents. The children’s room was busy. The storm had abated slightly but it was still too cool and windy for anyone to go out on deck.
But no Robbie. Maddy said hello to a few people she knew, and asked about Robbie. Everyone knew Robbie. She was told he had been there playing with Joey Billings and his dad but he had left half an hour ago.
Maddy was now feeling slightly worried. But probably Robbie was in the Billingses’ cabin. She went down to ask.
‘Left the play area with us about half an hour ago,’ Mr Billings said with a big smile. ‘The boys had a great game of pirates. I took him down to his corridor, saw him walking to his cabin.’
‘Did you take him into the cabin?’
Mr Billings looked uncomfortable. ‘Well, no. I’ve been in there before… Often Mrs Cowley doesn’t like to be disturbed.’
‘So you didn’t actually see him go into the cabin?’
‘No. But he was only three doors away.’
Maddy thanked Mr Billings and left. Somewhere Robbie was wandering. There were an awful lot of attendants on the ship so he couldn’t really get into mischief, could he? Possibly, yes. Robbie was gifted that way.
It would cause an awful lot of trouble and alarm to broad cast a request for people to look for a small boy in a pirate’s outfit. She might have to in time, of course, but where could he be? Then Maddy remembered. Robbie wanted to be a pirate. And the pirate ship he wanted was one of the life boats—he’d been stopped from climbing on them before. He had pointed out to Maddy that if the cruise ship sank, this would be the best one for a pirate.
Maddy climbed to the lifeboat deck, and went out onto the deserted companion way. The wind wailed around her, pushing her back against the railings. There was absolutely no sign of Robbie. She walked closer to the life boats. From a distance they looked small but nearer they were quite alarmingly large. She spotted the one that Robbie wanted and went to stand underneath the lifeboat, looked up at the davits, the complex gear for swinging the boat out and lowering it into the sea. One last look around—no Robbie. She’d go back to the play area.
The biggest noise was still the wind but suddenly Maddy thought she heard something else. A cry, a whimper? But from where? Then she remembered that Robbie had had to be stopped from trying to climb on top of this lifeboat. Had he succeeded this time? ‘Robbie,’ she shouted, ‘it’s Nurse Maddy.’
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‘Nurse Maddy, help, I’m frightened,’ a little voice came.
‘Where are you?’
‘I’m on top of the boat. And I’m slipping.’
Maddy looked up at the launching gear, saw how a determined little boy could have climbed up. Quickly she climbed onto the railings, reached up to where there was a handhold, a place to wedge her feet. Then somehow she wriggled upwards and came to where she could see the top of the lifeboat. There was a covering over it, two smooth sloping surfaces. And on one of the surfaces Robbie was stretched out. He had boarded his pirate ship. But there was nowhere to hang onto and he was in danger of slipping off the edge and falling. Possibly even bouncing into the sea. He knew it and he was terrified.
Somehow Maddy struggled a bit further upwards— Robbie must have been like a monkey to get up here with a bandaged arm! She mustn’t alarm him, mustn’t let him panic. ‘How’s the pirate chief, Robbie?’
‘I want to get down!’
‘All right. Now, you just stay there and I’ll reach forward and grab your hands. Then I’ll slide you towards me. But keep still till I reach you!’ Robbie nodded.
Maddy looked down. She was in a difficult position, her feet braced on a rail, one hand clutching a thick wire cable, the other hand stretching out to Robbie. Robbie grabbed for the out stretched hand, missed it and started to slip. Maddy lunged, just managing to get a hand to him, to grip him by the collar of his jacket. But with only one hand she didn’t have the strength to pull him to safety. And now both she and Robbie were starting to slip. But she wouldn’t let him go!
What to do now? It was something she had never done before. She cried out for help, hoping someone would hear her over the wind and sea.
Dimly she was aware of the rattle of feet on the deck below her. The strain on her arm was getting to be too much, she could feel her grasp on the cable loosening. She had to hang on!
CHAPTER NINE
ED’S morning had not been good. For once in his life he had absolutely no idea of what to do. And he didn’t like being in doubt. It was driving him crazy.
He had just sent Maddy to bed—the bed he had climbed out of not four hours before—and walked away from the medical centre with his feelings in turmoil. Of course, he’d realised how hurt Maddy had been but as usual he’d managed—he thought—to hide his own feelings.
He thought back over the past two days. What decisions had he made and why? First, why was he on the ship at all? He knew his father could have dealt with the situation just as well as him. But he had insisted. This job had to be his.
The worst time of his life had been spent dealing with an epidemic, so why had he wanted to experience it again? In fact, he knew why. He had to face up to things, he couldn’t go through his life knowing that he was afraid of something. And it had been hard but he had managed somehow.
Now he knew the crisis was almost over. He wasn’t needed any more. He could go ashore knowing that he had done a good job And he had faced down his devils. Well, some of them.
But while the fear of the outbreak was behind him there was another, bigger problem. No, not a problem! Maddy was the best, the most exciting… No way could he call her a problem. But what should he do about her?
He had tried to be fair to her by telling her there could be no future in their affair. And later he had tried to explain why—how, after his wife had died, he’d never wanted to fall love again. Because of the risk of being hurt again. And this was unusual. He’d never felt the need to explain his actions to any other woman. So why Maddy?
And why had he felt some kind of peace or relief when he had told her? They had had a hard couple of days—probably it was good that the work had been so hard because so many memories, feelings had been dragged to the surface. The outbreak itself, the birth of a baby which had reminded him of his own unborn child. Penny, who had the same name and fatal combination as his dead wife—gastroenteritis and a compromised auto-immune system. But this Penny had survived and there had always been someone with her.
He had tried to insulate himself against these negative feelings. He couldn’t, wouldn’t suffer again.
He realised that he was going round in circles, not facing the big question. Could he give Maddy up? Always supposing she wanted to see more of him. Halfway along the corridor he made a decision and turned back to the medical centre. He had to see her. Never mind if she was tired, she must help him. He wasn’t sure of what he was going to say to her, he just knew he had to say something.
Then he realised what he was trying to do. He was handing over responsibility to her. What did she think he ought to do? He had never done this before in his life. He was asking, not deciding. But he felt he had made some kind of a decision.
Back in the medical centre he tapped on Maddy’s door then peered inside. No Maddy. A nurse came in to collect some more medicines, and when Ed asked her she said that she had seen Maddy two minutes ago on her way to the children’s playroom. And she had looked terrible.
Ed nodded, rushing off to the playroom. There he was told that Maddy had just been in, asking for Robbie, and someone had seen her climbing up to the next deck. They didn’t know what she was doing there. Ed wondered, too. There was nothing for her up there except life boats. Then it struck him. Robbie the devil who wanted to be a pirate. Who had already picked out the lifeboat he wanted as his pirate ship. Who had fallen off it once.
Ed ran up the stairs and out onto the lifeboat deck. It was windy, cold and there was no one about. No sign of Maddy or Robbie. He looked up and down and down and something flapping in the wind caught his eye. A scrap of blue—the colour of the scrubs Maddy was wearing. What was it doing halfway up a lifeboat davit? That was dangerous!
He ran along the deck, looking up to see Maddy precariously balanced, leaning over the lifeboat. She shouldn’t climb in the state she was in! He shouted to her, then climbed up behind her, seeing her half-spread-eagled over the lifeboat canopy. She held Robbie by his jacket collar to stop him sliding off the edge of the canopy and into the sea. Her face was twisted with pain.
He was bigger, stronger, more fit than Maddy. He lunged forward, grabbed Robbie and dragged him under one arm. The three of them were balanced there. What should he do next?
‘I’m all right for a minute,’ Maddy gasped. ‘I can hang on. You get Robbie down.’
He looked at her, thinking frantically. Was he abandoning another woman he loved? Then common sense took over. Carefully he climbed back down to the deck, keeping a tight arm round the little boy. For once, Robbie had the sense to stay still.
Robbie was now safe on deck, scared but otherwise fine. Ed looked up again to see the woman he now knew he loved.
Maddy’s grasp loosened. He saw her plummet and desperately he dived to catch her but he just couldn’t manage it. Her head hit the deck. And he recognized the sound that sickened him—Maddy had a fractured skull.
Feelings that he had hoped to forget rushed back so strongly that he had to choke back a cry of despair. This couldn’t happen again! He loved Maddy!
It was nearly the hardest thing he had ever done. He was a doctor. Maddy was someone injured. What was needed now was professional skill, not emotion.
Calling to Robbie to stay where he was, he checked Maddy’s vital signs. She was still alive. ABC—airway, breathing, circulation. All seemed, well, adequate. Still alive. The gentlest of palpations of the skull—yes, fractured. A delicate touch at the back of the neck. There appeared to be no damage to the spine but it was hard to tell.
He needed help! He buzzed the medical centre. Dr Wyatt was there. ‘I’m up on the lifeboat deck, star board side. Come up yourself and get two stewards to bring up a stretcher. Maddy has a fractured skull. I want you here now!’
‘On our way,’ said Dr Wyatt. ‘I’ll bring some stuff and a hard collar.’
A distant bit of Ed’s brain told him to remember to congratulate her on her quick thinking. He needed a hard collar and had forgotten to ask for one!
>
Now the captain. Ed buzzed again, told Ken, the captain’s steward, to interrupt the captain, whatever he might be doing. This was an emergency. And while he waited for the captain to come on the line he looked at the sky. Yes, it looked possible.
‘Yes, Dr Tremayne? Captain Smith here.’
It was good to hear that calm efficient voice. He would be calm, efficient himself. As much as he could. ‘Captain, Maddy Granger has just had a bad fall and has a fractured skull. This is serious, far beyond my expertise. I’m taking her to the medical centre for now but she needs to go to hospital urgently. Is it possible now to get a helicopter to the ship?’
‘I think so. I will see to it at once as a matter of extreme urgency. I’ll ring down to the medical centre as soon as there is news.’
‘The nearest competent hospital is St Piran’s,’ said Ed. ‘The head of A & E is Ben Carter. I’ll contact him.’
‘Good. I’ll arrange the helicopter trans port.’
There was the rattle of feet on the deck and a horrified Dr Wyatt and two stewards ran up. Ed detailed one steward to take the now crying Robbie back to his mother. Then, with help, he slid Maddy’s neck into the hard collar. Then they gently lifted their unconscious patient onto the stretcher and took her down to the medical centre.
Ed looked at her white face. Another white face kept flashing into his mind, and there was the memory of a death. Please, this couldn’t happen again. But he had to concentrate!
In the medical centre Maddy was examined for other injuries. There didn’t appear to be any. Just the skull. Just!
He looked down and his heart rate suddenly surged as Maddy’s eyes fluttered open. She looked at him, blinked and waited for consciousness to arrive. ‘Hello, Ed. I fell, didn’t I? Is Robbie…?’ and then she lapsed into unconsciousness again.
Twenty minutes later there was a phone call from Captain Smith. ‘The chopper is on its way. Can you prepare to load the patient in half an hour?’
Nurse Bride, Bayside Wedding Page 11