The Icelandic Doc's Baby Surprise

by Louisa Heaton

  ‘What are we here for?’

  ‘Kid with a suspected broken leg.’ He looked around him and saw a guy clambering out of one of the far tents and begin beckoning them. ‘Grab the kit.’

  Merry nodded and threw back the furs, grabbing the incident bag. She passed it to Kristjan, who slung it easily over his shoulder.

  ‘Can you bring the Entonox?’

  She picked up a smaller blue bag and tramped with him through the knee-high snow towards the man standing outside the tent.

  ‘Egill?’ asked Kristjan.

  The man nodded. ‘Já. Sonur minn er inni.’

  Egill held the tent flaps open for them both to enter, and Merry ducked her head and went in. The inside of the tent was warmer than she’d expected, and they both hurried over to the small boy who lay on the floor, on top of a couple of sleeping bags, with one leg raised on a pillow.

  ‘Hey, there, little man. I’m Dr Gunnarsson, but you can call me Kristjan, and this here is Dr Merry Bell. She’s English. You speak English?’

  The boy nodded. ‘A little.’

  Merry knelt down beside the boy and smiled at him. ‘What’s your name?’

  He looked shyly up at her. ‘Arnar.’

  ‘Can you tell us what happened, Arnar?’ asked Kristjan, taking off his woollen gloves and putting on some medical ones.

  ‘I try to climb tree.’

  ‘And you fell?’

  Arnar nodded his head and winced slightly.

  Merry looked down at his legs, still clad in a thick snowsuit. ‘How high were you in the tree?’

  ‘The top.’

  Merry turned to look at the boy’s father. ‘How high was that?’

  ‘I guess about eight feet? I was in the tent making breakfast. I thought he was just playing. He’d been chasing rabbits.’

  ‘Okay. Well, we’re going to have to take a look at that leg, Arnar.’

  The boy nodded.

  ‘And we’re going to have to cut open your suit, because we don’t want to move your leg if we don’t have to.’

  Kristjan unzipped the medical bag and found the scissors and began gently cutting the suit from the ankle upwards. Whilst he did that, Merry continued with her questioning.

  ‘Did you hit your head, Arnar?’ She pointed at his skull.

  ‘No.’

  ‘You’re sure? Can I take a look?’

  She began to feel around the boy’s skull, checking that there were no signs of fluid leaking from his ears or nose and constantly asking him questions as she worked, to check his level of consciousness and response. There were no visible wounds to his head or neck...nothing she could palpate amongst the bones. She gently checked his clavicles, and then both arms and his chest.

  She turned to his father. ‘Have you given him any painkillers?’

  ‘We gave him some íbúfen.’

  She frowned. ‘Is that ibuprofen?’

  Kristjan nodded. ‘Look at this. Visible malformation of the lower leg towards the ankle. We need to splint him. Arnar? Merry is going to give you some medicine to breathe in. It’s called Entonox and it’s a painkiller, okay? It may make you feel a little woozy...svimandi...and it might give you a dry mouth, but that’s okay. It will help, all right?’

  ‘Okay.’

  She unzipped the bag, attached a new mouthpiece to the tubing and passed it to Arnar. ‘Okay, you breathe in and out with this...’ Kristjan translated quietly as she spoke ‘...without removing your mouth from the mouthpiece. It’s got a special two-way filter, so you just keep breathing...nice and steady. Can you hold this for me?’

  She passed the child the Entonox, so he could hold it himself—that way she could help Kristjan with applying the splint and keep Arnar calm when his leg was moved.

  ‘Now, we’re going to move your leg to apply the splint and make sure you have good blood flow.’ She smiled at the boy and then turned to look at Kristjan. ‘Good dorsalis pulse?’ she whispered.

  He nodded, whispering back, ‘Yes, but we still need to adjust the break by pulling on his foot.’

  ‘Okay.’ She turned back to Arnar. ‘I’m going to hold your other hand, and I want you to try and relax, Arnar—okay? Keep breathing for me...that’s it. Nice and deep. In and out.’ She looked up at the boy’s father. ‘Egill, can you talk to him? About anything, really. Keep his mind off the adjustment.’

  Egill nodded and knelt down by his son and began chatting in Icelandic.

  Merry couldn’t understand a word, but she helped Kristjan lay an inflatable splint under Arnar’s leg and then watched as he took hold of the boy’s foot and quickly, expertly, pulled it back into place.

  Arnar groaned.

  ‘Keep breathing in the gas!’ she told him.

  ‘You’re doing great, Arnar!’ said Kristjan. ‘I’m just fastening the splint now, and then you’re going to get a ride on a dog sled. Ever been on one of those?’

  Arnar removed the mouthpiece and nodded. ‘My dad has one.’

  ‘They’re great fun, aren’t they? Merry took her first ride on one today, to get here and see you!’

  The boy smiled at Merry, and then Kristjan scooped him up easily and carried him out to the sled.

  The dogs lay in the snow, completely oblivious to the cold, their hot breath freezing in the air around them.

  Merry helped wrap Arnar in furs and then fastened him to the sled with a couple of safety belts. She got in alongside him. ‘Ready?’

  He nodded, smiling, happy on the Entonox.

  Kristjan clambered onto the back of the sled and called out to Egill. ‘We’ll be at the children’s hospital in Snowy Peak. You know it?’

  The father nodded. ‘I’ll follow. I have skis.’

  ‘Okay.’

  Kristjan cracked the reins and shouted to the dogs to get going and they all clambered to their feet and began to trot.

  Kristjan guided the sled out of the trees towards Wonderland, in the direction of Snowy Peak. Merry found herself marvelling at the way people got around in Iceland without even thinking about it.

  In England, snow had people hiding away indoors, moaning about the icy roads, being stranded on motorways, or complaining about the disgusting slush as everything melted away afterwards, saying that everything seemed to slow down or stop because of snow. But here they just adapted. The weather was expected to be like this, and they thought nothing of it. They had dogs, or sleds, or skis. Snow was a way of life here. Blocked roads? They didn’t matter. They’d find another way. In Britain, if a road was blocked, someone would have to complain to the council before anything got done.

  She took hold of Arnar’s hand under the furs as they raced back to the hospital with their patient. She hoped he wouldn’t need an operation. The bone hadn’t broken the skin, but they had no real idea of how bad the break was or whether he’d need plates or pins.

  He kept on taking the occasional suck of Entonox, especially if they bounced about as they went over some of the shallower bits of snow where there was less padding on the road.

  They passed under the antler arch and she noticed a couple of people waving at them as they flew by. She and Arnar waved back, smiling, as they headed towards the busier roads of Snowy Peak. They passed a snow plough, with bells jingling on the front, and the driver waved at Arnar and tooted his horn in greeting.

  Arnar looked up at her and smiled, and she couldn’t help but smile back. The people here seemed so friendly! Maybe it was just the time of year, and people had a tendency to be nicer during the festive season, or perhaps that was just how they were. A small community who looked out for one another because they all knew how difficult life could be sometimes?

  Kristjan wanted her to stay here. At least to consider it anyway. So he could see his child. So he could be a father.

  She hadn’t expected even to be thinking
about this. Changing everything. Was it possible? Or was she just looking at everything with rose-tinted specs because she wanted to believe?

  They slowed down as they got closer to the hospital doors and Merry recognised Henrik, who had brought them the dog sled in the first place, coming out of the hospital, pushing an empty wheelchair with a leg rest. He was all wrapped up in a thick sheepskin coat.

  He waved a greeting and the dogs barked at him in happy recognition.

  ‘Here you go, Henrik! Back in one piece.’

  ‘Thank you. How’s the boy?’

  ‘Suspected tib and fib fracture. We need to get him to X-Ray.’

  ‘I’ve got the chair ready.’

  ‘Good man. I never introduced you properly earlier... Henrik? This is Dr Merry Bell.’

  She clambered down from the sled to shake his hand. ‘Hello.’

  He smiled. ‘I’m the guy they come to when they want to attend a rapid response event. Mostly the dogs take tourists out, but in bad weather I keep them at my kennels for emergencies.’

  Behind them Kristjan was lifting Arnar easily from the sled into the chair.

  ‘Your dogs are wonderful. Very strong. Very quick.’

  ‘The best hounds in Snowy Peak by far. The secret is to feed them reindeer.’

  ‘Reindeer?’ Merry felt her stomach churn at the thought.

  ‘Because then they fly!’ He boomed a laugh and clambered onto the sled, urging the dogs into a slow trot.

  She turned to look at Kristjan and Arnar, who were both laughing at Henrik’s joke. She pursed her lips, as if she was offended, but couldn’t keep a straight face and laughed too.

  ‘I guess I walked right into that one, huh?’

  ‘You certainly did,’ said Kristjan. ‘Now, then, Arnar—shall we get you registered and then take some pictures of your leg?’

  Arnar pointed towards the doors. ‘Let’s go!’

  Merry followed them inside.

  * * *

  ‘Look at that. He’s fractured both the tibula and fibula shafts.’ Kristjan pointed at the X-ray on the screen of the computer.

  Merry sighed beside him. ‘It’s a comminuted fracture. He’ll need surgery.’

  A comminuted break meant that the bone had broken into more than two fragments.

  ‘I’ll get him referred to the surgeons. They’ll need to come down and talk to Arnar’s father.’

  ‘Poor kid. He was just out there trying to have some fun.’

  She was leaning over his shoulder to see the screen and he couldn’t help but breathe in her scent. She smelt good enough to eat and it was highly distracting...

  The time they’d spent together on that short trip to collect Arnar had been enlightening. He’d not been sure how she would react to the dog sled, but she’d seemed to enjoy every minute. At one point he’d looked down on her from his vantage point as he’d steered it and had seen a huge smile on her face, and he’d smiled himself at her pleasure.

  It was important to him that she enjoyed her time here if he was to have any contact with his child, and he’d lain awake in bed last night, very much aware that she was in his guest bedroom, trying to figure out how he felt about having her there. Because if he had the baby in his life then she would be in his life too, and that would mean forming a commitment to someone else—something he had avoided at all costs.

  Now it was unavoidable, and how did he feel about that? Everything had changed since yesterday. He’d expected a normal day at work and now this... A relationship was the last thing he wanted, and yet in the space of a few hours he’d gone from a confirmed bachelor to a prospective father, practically living with the mother of his child!

  He certainly liked having Merry close. She stirred his blood like no other woman had ever done. He’d counted himself lucky that she lived in a whole other country, so he wouldn’t be tempted to follow up how he’d felt about her in Hawaii, but... Even now he could easily turn her to face him and guide her lips to his—but they were at work, and there were boundaries, and...

  Was it worth breaking all his rules for this woman? He had to remember what was important here. He was doing this for his child. Not for her. And, although she was staying in his home for now, she wouldn’t always be. It was temporary. A means to an end, right now. He had to think of the bigger picture.

  If only she wasn’t so damned desirable!

  With a growl, he pushed himself away from the screen, knowing he needed to get some space. Some perspective. She was getting under his skin and he didn’t like it. He wasn’t used to it.

  ‘I’ll go tell the father.’

  ‘Okay.’

  He stalked away, trying to work out why he felt so damned irritable all of a sudden. Was it because she had changed his entire future by turning up here? Because the news of her pregnancy had derailed everything he’d thought important? Perhaps he’d been a fool to think he could get through life without forming any meaningful attachments? But it had worked so far, and he’d thought he was doing fine—until she’d told him that she was expecting their baby, and then he’d jumped tracks. Just like that. The idea that she was carrying his daughter, or his son, had suddenly become the most important thing in his world, and he didn’t want to let it go.

  I want to be the best father there is. My child deserves it. I lost my parents. I can’t let my son or daughter lose their father.

  So he couldn’t let her go, could he? And the inclement weather was doing him a huge favour! All he had to do now was work out how he was going to adapt to having Merry in his life. His body yearned for her in ways he couldn’t imagine. His desire to touch her was incredibly strong...to absorb himself in her the way he had in Hawaii...

  Perhaps if they slept together one more time he’d be able to get her out of his system?

  Or was that the most ridiculous thought he’d ever had?

  What if it worked the other way and it left him craving more? Because that was how he felt right now. Like an addict—wanting more. She was his drug. His oxygen...

  After he’d spoken to Egill, Arnar’s father, he left him in the capable hands of the paediatric surgeons and went to make himself a coffee. As he passed the ward he saw a male colleague talking to Merry, saw her laugh out loud at some sort of joke. He tried not to feel anything about that and headed up to the staffroom.

  It was nothing. Just colleagues chatting. They were getting to know one another, that was all. She was fitting in at her temporary place of work. It was a normal thing to do. Making friends. But he hadn’t known that Jóhann could even speak English!

  As he sat with his cup of coffee he couldn’t help but think about how he wanted to be the one to make her laugh, and that thought—that acknowledgement of his feelings—made him frown to himself and wonder just what the heck was going on in his head?

  Because it wasn’t normal.

  Not for him.

  He didn’t care about that sort of thing.

  He didn’t care about having relationships.

  Right?

  * * *

  ‘You cooked supper?’

  Kristjan closed the front door behind him, stamping his feet on the mat to get rid of the excess snow, and then went over into the kitchen, where Merry stood, stirring a pot.

  ‘Well, you made breakfast—it seemed only fair.’

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘Homemade minestrone soup and bread rolls that I made myself.’

  She lifted a clean tea towel off the tray of rolls that were gently cooling on a rack, expecting to see him smile—only he didn’t. Had she overstepped?

  ‘I hope you don’t mind. But you’ve been good enough to give me a place to stay—the least I can do is help out...especially since you won’t let me pay you for board and lodging.’

  He nodded, walking away from her, and pinched a satsuma from the fruit bowl
and peeled it, popping chunks of it into his mouth. ‘It’s fine.’

  ‘Really? You don’t sound fine.’

  ‘I am. It’s just...an adjustment, that’s all.’

  She understood. ‘Having someone live with you?’ she asked.

  He said nothing, just kept eating his satsuma.

  ‘I get it. I do. If it’s too much and you want me to go to the B&B I can do that. I’ll phone them later—after we’ve eaten.’

  Considering she’d been shocked at his offer for her to stay with him, she now felt sad at the idea of moving out. Kristjan had such a lovely home—even if it did look like Santa’s grotto. It was warm and comfortable and spacious. With huge comfy sofas, squishy pillows and blankets, roaring log fires. And it was the perfect situation for them to get to know each other a bit more.

  She had no doubt that the B&B would struggle to be as comfortable as this place. But she would move if Kristjan was having second thoughts about inviting her into his home.

  ‘No. Don’t do that. Stay. Please.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  He nodded. ‘Yes.’ He dropped the satsuma peel into the kitchen bin and then washed his hands, drying them on a towel patterned with snowmen.

  She couldn’t help but smile. Kristjan really loved Christmas, didn’t he? He’d gone all out, putting to shame all those houses she’d seen at home, festooned in lights and outdoor decorations. They were nothing compared to Snowy Peak. They were nothing compared to Kristjan.

  She tried her hardest not to stare at him, but it was difficult. She had been intimate with this man. He had seen her naked. Had stroked every inch of her skin. And she, in turn, knew every pore of his body. The feel of it. His solidity. His strength. How it felt to have him lie alongside her, to feel his arms wrapped around her body, to have his lips caressing her most intimate places...

  Sometimes when she was with him it was all she could think of. And now she stood in the heart of his home, making dinner, filling the house with the aroma of delicious delights, and all she could think of was forgetting the soup, turning off the hob and stripping him naked right there and then.