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‘And...?’ Chloe reached across to feel Amy’s forehead. She was a little feverish, and her cheeks were flushed.
‘I agreed with Hannah. So I brought Amy here, where she could be examined and treated properly.’
‘But where’s Hannah?’ Chloe couldn’t keep the frustration from her voice.
‘She’s at your place. She was...a little distressed.’
‘A little distressed?’ Chloe frowned at him. Jon didn’t need to play the situation down for her benefit.
‘She was crying her eyes out, and she insisted on staying behind while I brought Amy here.’ Chloe’s eyebrows shot up and he flashed her a cool smile. ‘It’s okay. I got to know Hannah quite well when she was staying with James. She wasn’t entrusting Amy to a stranger.’
So, however distressed Hannah was, she was still thinking straight. That was something. James had mentioned that a friend of his had helped out a lot with Hannah, spending time with her and letting her talk, but Chloe hadn’t realised it was Jon.
But if Hannah had found someone to talk to in Jon, then Chloe couldn’t see how. He seemed somehow distant, as if Amy was the only person in the room he could trust with an unreserved smile.
‘Then you’ll know that Hannah’s...vulnerable.’ Chloe twisted her lips. Vulnerable wasn’t quite the right word. Hannah could be surprisingly strong and very determined. But she was young. Troubled sometimes.
‘I know that she’s almost ten years younger than you, and that she was only nine when you lost both your parents. That you and James have done your best to look after her, but it hasn’t always been easy.’
‘No, it hasn’t.’ Chloe hadn’t made it any easier. Hannah had always wanted to live with her, and Chloe had worked hard, saving every penny she could and adding to her third of the money from the sale of their parents’ house so that she could afford a home for the two of them. She’d bought the house, and then two months after they’d moved in Chloe had fallen ill. Hannah had gone to live with James instead, but had never really settled.
‘Look, Hannah’s okay for the moment.’
Okay for the moment. Most people had learned to settle for that where Hannah was concerned, but Chloe wanted more for her sister.
‘You do know that Hannah’s still only eighteen? And that Amy’s father isn’t on the scene?’ Hannah had run away two weeks before her sixteenth birthday. Chloe had been too ill to do anything but worry, while James had moved heaven and earth to find their sister. When he had, she’d been living with a boy of nineteen, who had been more than eager to give her up when James had wondered aloud whether Hannah’s queasy spells might be morning sickness.
‘Yes, I know. She’s all right.’ It seemed that Chloe was going to have to take his word for it, because Jon’s face showed no evidence that he really understood the gravity of the situation. His whole attention was focussed on Amy.
‘I’d just feel a bit better if she were here and I could see for myself.’ Her words sounded rather more accusing than Chloe had meant them to.
‘I felt that Amy needed to be looked at sooner rather than later, and that was my first priority. Hannah calmed down when she saw I was taking her concerns seriously and promised to stay put while I was gone.’
‘Yes...I’m sorry. Thanks.’ None of this was Jon’s fault. Hannah had put him in a difficult position and he’d taken the only decision he could. Chloe stretched her arms out towards Amy. ‘I’ll take her now.’
He didn’t move. ‘Why don’t you let me examine her? I can do it now—my shift won’t be starting for another three hours.’
‘And you’re better qualified than me?’ There was something he wasn’t saying, and Chloe guessed it might be that. It was true, after all. Jon’s speciality was paediatric emergencies, and even though he’d only been here a couple of weeks he was already gaining something of a reputation as an excellent doctor.
‘Yes, I am. And I’m not Amy’s aunt.’ He said the words dispassionately. ‘I dare say you’re a lot better at dealing with Hannah than I am. Why don’t you give her a call, while I fetch my stethoscope from my locker?’
Maybe he was just giving her something to do to keep her quiet, because it seemed that he had already come to some kind of agreement with Hannah. But he was right. Chloe nodded and Jon delivered Amy into her arms.
‘She’s two years old. All of her immunisations are up to date and she’s on no medication.’ If she was going to take up the role of concerned aunt then she may as well give Jon all the relevant information. And ask the relevant questions. ‘What do you think?’
‘I don’t know anything for sure yet.’ He got to his feet and walked out of the room, without looking back.
* * *
Jon had woken to the sound of the front door banging closed, and had got out of bed, groggily thinking that he must have overslept if Chloe was home already. And then he’d heard Amy crying and had gone downstairs to find that it was Hannah.
He shouldn’t really have been there at all. But the hospital had asked him to fill in for someone who was sick, six weeks before he was due to start his new job there, and he’d had to find a place to stay in the area. Chloe’s place wasn’t ideal as it reminded him too much of the family that he’d never again be a part of. But the renovations on the new house he’d bought had been the perfect excuse to stay out of her way and only return to her place to get some sleep while she was at work.
Although he’d seen little of Chloe herself, the slightly shabby, eclectic warmth of her home surrounded him. He slept between her sheets, saw her bottles in the bathroom when he went to take a shower and her food in the fridge when he went downstairs to make coffee. And if love had been something he ever wanted to do again, he would already have been a little in love with Chloe’s scent.
But that wasn’t an option. He walked back into the consulting room, armed to the teeth with all the reasons why he shouldn’t get involved with Chloe. She was cuddling Amy in her lap, her phone tucked against her shoulder, her brow creased in concentration.
‘Yes, don’t worry, we’ll make absolutely sure she’s all right. What about you?’
A pause, and then her lips twitched into a smile. It seemed that whatever was being said at the other end of the line was a reassurance.
‘Okay. You’ll stay there until I get back. Promise? Yeah, love you too.’ Chloe caught her phone as it slid from her ear and ended the call.
‘Hannah?’
‘Yes. She sounds all right, but she won’t come to the hospital. She says...’ Chloe shook her head. ‘She’s so terrified that she’s not doing well enough, and that people will think she’s a bad mother.’
Jon nodded. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard that particular sentiment, and it was ironic that it was often the most loving and capable mothers who voiced it. But, then, family relationships weren’t exactly his forte.
‘First things first. I’ll take a look at Amy.’ That he could do, and he knew he could do it well.
He was aware that Chloe’s gaze was on him, an intrusion that felt so warm and welcome that all he could do was try to shut it out. Amy was fretting a little, obviously out of sorts, and he concentrated on soothing her, trying to make the examination into a game.
‘I think she may have a urinary tract infection.’ Finally he turned and faced Chloe.
‘Why?’
A fair enough question. She was a doctor too, and he couldn’t completely relegate her to the role of faceless care-giver. ‘She has a fever, but there’s no sign of a cold. Her blood pressure is slightly high, which is a concern, and...’ He shrugged. ‘I changed her nappy pants before I brought her here.’
‘And?’
This was the part where instinct corroborated medical fact. ‘There’s a particular smell that can point to a UTI in young children. Not always, but it’s an indicator.’
She nodded and Jon thought he saw her lips purse slightly. Maybe it was just his imagination. ‘Is that an old wives’ tale?’
‘It was something that a very experienced health visitor told me when I was starting out. It’s been statistically confirmed since.’
‘Which means you need a mid-stream urine sample?’
‘Yes. I think I can get that the natural way, without having to catheterise her.’
He passed this test every day. Concerned parents, who needed to know whether they could really trust him or not. It was only right that care-givers should question him and weigh everything he did up for themselves, but it was different with Chloe. He wanted very badly to make her smile.
Suddenly she did, and the effect left him momentarily transfixed, taking in all the tiny details that he’d forced himself not to notice before. The way her light auburn hair, scraped back away from her face, escaped in curls around her brow. The tiny freckles across her nose, and her pale skin. Long legs encased in a neat, business-like skirt. She was the kind of woman that a man could spend a lot of time watching.
She reddened slightly—enchantingly—and Jon looked away quickly. It was nothing. He was human, and it was just an echo from a long-gone past, when wanting to watch every move a woman made had been something that might lead somewhere.
‘Did your very experienced health visitor give you any clues about how to get a two-year-old to pee on demand?’
‘As it happens, no. But I’ve picked up a few pointers from their mothers. And I gave her a drink as soon as I got here.’
He bent over Amy, smiling at her, and she rewarded him with a smile in return. That’s what he liked so much about children, they were usually a lot less complicated than adults. ‘Right, young lady. Let’s give this a go.’
CHAPTER TWO (#ud8bb723b-07c8-5a58-af50-2ffeda5534a9)
HE WAS SO good with Amy. Confident, gentle and playful. The kind of doctor that every parent wanted to see when their child was sick. Chloe knew that a mid-stream urine sample, one that wasn’t contaminated by any bacteria from the skin, wasn’t an easy proposition, and she waited to see what Jon was going to come up with.
He didn’t disappoint. Taking Amy’s nappy pants off and cleaning her carefully, he made a game out of sitting her on a potty and splashing her hands and feet in a bowl of warm water. Even though she was fretful and drowsy, he somehow managed to make her drink a little more and make her laugh at the faces he pulled. When she did finally give in, he seized the opportunity and deftly caught a mid-stream sample in the small container he had ready.
‘Well done, sweetheart.’ He hugged Amy and she grabbed at the sample bottle, almost spilling its precious contents. Chloe took it from him, snapping the lid on firmly, and Jon set about dressing Amy.
‘The urinalysis test kits are over there.’ He nodded towards a cupboard in the corner of the consulting room.
It seemed that, finally, she was going to be allowed to do something, instead of sitting and watching Jon work. Even if sitting and watching him did have its good points. Chloe carefully divided the small sample into two, one for the lab, if needed, and the other for the test strip from the urinalysis kit.
‘You were right.’ She showed the coloured test strip to Jon and his brow darkened. There was a clear indication of the presence of white blood cells and bacteria.
‘I think it’s best if we take her into the children’s ward, for tonight at least. The infection’s clearly putting her under some stress.’
And Amy’s home situation wasn’t ideal at the moment. At least he had the delicacy not to mention that. Or maybe he was just ignoring it, since that was Chloe’s problem, not his.
‘Yes, I agree. Thanks, Jon.’
‘Are you finished for the day?’
Chloe nodded. ‘Yes, I’ve seen all the patients on my list. I had some paperwork to catch up on but that can wait.’
‘Then what do you say to my staying here with Amy and sorting out a bed for her? I think it’s time you went home and had a conversation with Hannah.’
He was absolutely right and wishing that Jon would come with her, in the hope that he might be able to conquer Hannah’s fears as effortlessly as he’d conquered Amy’s, was just selfish. Amy needed someone with her here, and Hannah needed some support too. This was the obvious solution.
‘Are you sure? I don’t know how long I’ll be.’
‘I’m fine here until my shift starts. You’ll be back by then?’
‘Yes, I’ll make sure if it. With or without Hannah.’ A thought occurred to her. ‘Have you eaten?’ He shook his head, as if that didn’t really matter. ‘I’ll get you something. I’ve got some rosehip teabags if you’d like tea?’
From the look on his face, rosehip teabags didn’t quite hit the spot. ‘Thanks, but...actually anything with caffeine and a few calories would be great. And a drink for Amy. My wallet’s in my jacket pocket.’
He picked Amy up, soothing her gently. Chloe ignored his jacket and made for the door. The least she could do for him was to stand him breakfast, even if it was just a sandwich from the canteen.
* * *
Chloe had left a large cup of coffee and a sandwich from the canteen perched on the window sill, well out of Amy’s reach. Then she’d hugged Amy, gifted Jon with a smile that had been as delicious as it had been hurried, and had left.
‘Just you and me, then, eh?’ He rocked Amy in his arms. She was becoming increasingly fretful, and the sooner he started the antibiotic drip the better. He’d sent one of the nurses to get what he needed, and he was alone for a moment.
‘Don’t you worry, now, sweetheart. Everything’s going to be okay, and we’ll make you better.’ Making Amy better was reasonably straightforward. Making everything okay was a lot more fraught with uncertainty. Hannah hadn’t just been distressed when she’d arrived at Chloe’s house, there had been a wild look in her eyes that had told Jon she was very close to breaking point. He’d been loath to leave her alone, but Hannah hadn’t given him much choice in the matter.
‘Mum-eee...’ Amy’s little face started to scrunch up and tears escaped her eyes. Jon held her close, soothing her.
‘All right. Mummy’s coming.’ Not straight away but soon, he hoped. ‘You want to know a secret, Amy?’
‘I love secrets...’ Jon jumped as someone spoke. He hadn’t heard the calm-faced nurse re-enter the room, and when he turned she was standing behind him.
‘This one is that I’m gasping for that cup of coffee over there.’ Jon gave her a smile and a shrug when her lip curled slightly in disbelief.
‘I’ll take her. Go and drink your coffee.’
‘Thanks.’
He’d leave the real secret until later. It was one thing to tell Amy that her Aunt Chloe was one of the most beautiful women he’d seen in a long while but, then, Amy could be relied on not to syphon that information into the hospital gossip network. Neither would she betray the part about Chloe’s special magic. Jon couldn’t quite put his finger on what kind of magic it was, but he wasn’t so far gone that he couldn’t recognise it was there.
He sipped his coffee, watching as the nurse busied herself, trying to tell himself that he shouldn’t be shaken by any of this. It was straightforward. A housemate for six weeks while he made his own place habitable. A child who needed his help. It was neat and clean and nothing that he couldn’t deal with.
Not like his marriage. Jon had often wondered whether the time bomb that had finally blown everything apart had been primed on his and Helen’s wedding day. Ticking away the moments of pure happiness, measuring all the times that attention to two blossoming careers had demanded they spend apart, and tallying up each moment of tired indifference. Then exploding suddenly, sending shards of vitriol that scattered themselves across every aspect of Jon’s life, embedding themselves deep into his heart.
A heart that had been hardened by time, but now felt under attack. Chloe’s house was a long way away from the perfect, magazine-cover home that he and Helen had shared, but he’d found himself suddenly at ease there, as if he’d just pulled on a favourite shirt. Maybe it was a little frayed in places but it was warm and comfortable, fitting him perfectly. And if her house made him yearn for something he didn’t have, then Chloe herself turned an obscure ache into an urgent stab of longing.
‘Chloe’s gone now?’ The nurse interrupted his reverie.
‘Yeah.’
‘So you’re left holding the baby...’ The nurse bent down, smoothing Amy’s brow in a motion of comfort. ‘Pretty little thing, isn’t she?’
‘Yes, she is.’ Jon had always assumed that Amy’s light auburn curls and the freckles across her nose must be inherited from her father. But some quirk of genetics had rendered the little girl the image of her aunt, right down to her honey-brown eyes.
The feeling that he was being sucked in by Chloe’s eyes wasn’t an entirely unpleasant one. But he was in control of his life now. He could decide to ignore whatever part of Chloe he wanted to.
‘This is the last thing Chloe needs right now. I hope she doesn’t overdo things.’ The nurse smoothed the blanket over Amy in one of those entirely unnecessary acts of caring that always made Jon proud to be part of a team.
‘I heard she’d been ill.’
‘Yes. I don’t think that any of the doctors down here could miss a case of Guillain-Barré syndrome if they tried. Chloe made sure of that.’
The thought made Jon smile. Guillain-Barré was enough to deal with on its own, without undertaking an information awareness exercise. But somehow he expected no less of Chloe.
‘She shared her experience?’
‘You bet she did. Before she could even walk, she persuaded someone to wheel her down here and told the senior houseman that if any of the juniors hadn’t seen Guillain-Barré before, she was ready to be examined. It was pretty painful for her, but she sat through it and slurred her way through all of their questions as well.’
‘That’s...’ Suddenly Jon couldn’t find the words.
‘Beyond the call of duty, I’d say.’
‘Yeah. Way beyond...’ If Chloe could do that, then backing off now was suddenly unthinkable. Jon put his cup down, ignoring the film-wrapped sandwich. ‘Why don’t you get on, now? I’ve everything I need here, and I’ll make sure that Amy’s all right.’
* * *
