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‘No. But we need to be on the safe side.’
‘Oh, man! Mum’s going to kill me.’
‘I also need her number. To inform her that you’re here.’
‘She won’t come.’
‘Even so...’
Reluctantly, Tiffany gave him her mother’s mobile number. ‘Don’t tell her I was shoplifting.’
‘She’ll find out. I’m sure that security guard will let her know.’
‘Well, let’s hope she’s too drunk to take it all in.’
Leah slipped into the morning handover, hoping nobody would notice that she was a good ten minutes late. It wasn’t her fault. She’d been on her way in to work, perfectly on time, when a giant seagull had let rip from above, splattering the front of her jacket. There’d been no way she could turn up at work looking like that, and the one solitary tissue she’d had in her pocket had not been enough. So back home she’d gone, to swap jackets and put the dirtied one in the laundry.
She’d heard that having a bird poop on you was meant to be good luck, but she really couldn’t see how that worked. Just because it was a rare occurrence, it didn’t mean that she was going to be more likely to win the lottery, did it?
What it had made her was late for work...
She closed the door quietly behind her and slipped into the nearest available chair. She placed her bag on the floor and beamed a smile at the person closest to her—and then looked up, only to see that Ben was sitting directly opposite her.
‘Nice of you to join us, Dr Hudson.’
All eyes turned to her and she coloured under the onslaught. ‘Er...thank you. Sorry I’m late. There was a poop incident...’
Her voice trailed off as she realised that maybe not everyone would want to hear about that. Or, God forbid, thought she was the one with the dodgy bowels!
‘It was a seagull. It wasn’t me! I...er...’ As everyone began to smile at her, she flushed and made a zipping motion over her mouth.
Best be quiet, I think...
‘Dr Evers, if you’d like to continue?’ Ben spoke to the doctor who had been in charge of last night’s shift.
Leah politely accepted the handover sheet passed to her by the doctor to her right as Dr Evers filled them in on what had happened last night and who they still had in bays in Resus, Majors and Minors.
As always it had been busy—a mix of falls, chest pain, broken bones, and one patient with rhabdomyolisis, a condition in which muscle broke down rapidly. He was being treated with isotonic saline to deal with the swelling of the muscle tissue and to prevent damage to his kidneys and was currently resting, awaiting transfer to a ward.
She glanced at Ben, appreciating the chance to be able to look at him without being observed.
He’d been perfectly nice to her over the last couple of weeks. He’d even asked her if she wanted to go on a trip the department had organised. That had surprised her...
‘If you’re not working on the fifteenth, a group of us are going to Finley Towers—the amusement park. Want to come?’ he’d asked.
‘Are you asking me out on a date?’
‘Well, it’s a group thing, so... Anyway, if you’re free. Thought it might be fun for you. You know—before the shackles of parenthood weigh you down.’
She’d smiled at the time, but his comment had left her wondering. There had just been something a little off with him, ever since she’d told him about Sally and the surrogacy.
He was keeping her at arm’s length—pretty much as she’d suspected he would—but just because she’d expected him to do it, it didn’t mean it was any less disappointing and upsetting. They’d had a closeness. An intimacy. And now there were barriers.
They’d spent a night together and, yes, it had been only a one-night stand, but they’d had a rare connection. At least she’d thought so! Or perhaps she was behind the times and this was how people behaved nowadays? But she did feel he was letting her down.
What did I even want from him? He’s my boss—it would never work.
But knowing it didn’t make it any easier. It was just another example of people failing her expectations. And she was used to that. Having to stand alone. Why should it be any different with him?
He was just a guy who’d discovered his one-night stand had complications in her life—why would he want to be a part of that?
She sighed, and it must have been louder than she realised, because once again all eyes were on her. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean...’ Her cheeks flushed. ‘Carry on.’
She looked down at the table and scribbled something on her piece of paper that she hoped made it look as if she was concentrating. Which she wasn’t. Which was bad.
Why couldn’t she get him out of her head? She was always thinking about him. Looking for him. Each day she came in and checked the roster, and she felt her heart sink if he wasn’t on the same shift as her. And yesterday she’d been coming out of a cubicle at the exact same time as he came out of the one opposite and their eyes had met and they’d smiled and...
Nothing. He’d given her a slight nod, an acknowledgement, but that was all, and after he’d walked away she’d felt...deflated. Yep. That was the word, all right!
He’d made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t interested.
So why did he ask if I’d go to Finley Towers? It sounded like he wanted me to go.
And she did want to go. It would be fun. She wasn’t rostered that day and neither was he.
Not that I checked or anything...
Perhaps it would be a chance to spend some time with him away from the hospital? Where they would get a chance to talk? Not many people got the opportunity to get to know a one-night stand better and she really wanted them to be different. She hoped he would be a good friend, if nothing else. They had to make something good out of this.
Leah glanced up at him and met his gaze.
He was looking at her with a hunger she recognised, but as soon as he realised she’d caught him looking he quickly glanced away. He looked awkward for a moment, and then he shifted in his seat. He began to nibble on the end of his pen.
Had he been thinking of their night together?
She wouldn’t blame him. Because she did it, too.
He was a difficult man to forget.
CHAPTER FOUR (#ufab99083-6508-5bf0-b2de-de0bf1cc9687)
AS SOON AS the handover had finished Ben was out of his chair and on his way out through the door. It was getting increasingly difficult for him to spend time with Leah, simply because of the way his thoughts kept running. And a small part of him was hoping that she wouldn’t make it to the work outing at Finley Towers, because if she did he’d have to spend time with her and it wouldn’t be work. It would be laughter and fun and friendship, and he might see yet another side of her that he really liked, and...
She’s beautiful. I love the way she blushes when she’s embarrassed. I love it when she smiles.
His thoughts were running away with themselves, as if he were some young teenage boy with a crush, idolising her, putting her on some kind of pedestal. He was hungry for every glimpse he could get of her, eager for every word she spoke, yearning to spend some more intimate time with her once again.
Where was it all coming from?
He hadn’t been on a second date with anyone for years, and the one he had gone on before that had been disastrous. He’d liked the woman—of course he had—but something just hadn’t been there the second time. The spark had gone. The thrill of being with someone new hadn’t been there and he’d gone home early.
Why did he suspect it would be very different with Leah?
Anyway he’d asked her if she was free to go on the department outing to Finley Towers, the amusement park. It had the UK’s highest, fastest rollercoaster and there was nothing he loved more than a rollercoaster.
A group trip would be fine, wouldn’t it? Safer. Less pressure on them to be alone together. And he would be able to see what she was like away from the hospital.
And out of bed!
Not that bed hadn’t been amazing. It had. It was just that he knew there was more with someone like Leah.
Someone like Leah... Of course there’s more. She’s going to be a mother.
That bothered him more than he cared to admit. He’d seen so many people lose who they were when they became parents. They forgot their own loves, their own passions, because they were so busy being Mum or Dad. Days became all about mealtimes and nappy changes and bedtime routines, and the people they’d been before becoming parents disappeared in all that care and concern and worry.
Where would Leah go?
How long would it take for her to disappear beneath the avalanche of baby care?
Irritated by the thought, he picked up his first patient file and saw that it was for a child with a cut above his eyebrow. Frowning, he went to the cubicle, and as he got closer could hear a cacophony of noise that only a large amount of children could produce. There was crying and tears, the urgent low voice of a parent trying to calm everyone down, and mischievous rebellion of children ignoring her urgings.
I’m not going to tolerate that noise whilst I’m working!
He yanked the curtain back, hoping that the sudden movement would make everyone pipe down, but he was barely noticed.
A mother sat on the edge of the bed, cradling one child to her, holding a tea towel against his head, whilst another child jumped on the bed, a smaller toddler rammed his toy car repeatedly into the wall and another sat in the chair, holding a book that had the ability to make irritating musical sounds at the press of a button.
‘Alfie Cotton?’ he asked.
The mother looked up, her face breaking into relief at the sight of him, a doctor. ‘Yes! Thank you! He’s got quite a large cut above his left eyebrow.’
Ben grabbed a pair of gloves from the dispenser on the wall and then got the mother to lower the tea towel for him to have a proper look. It wasn’t that big—maybe a centimetre—but it was enough to have caused what looked like a lot of blood loss. Head wounds were notorious for bleeding a lot.
‘How did it happen?’
‘He was bouncing on the bed and he fell off and hit the radiator on the wall. I told him not to do it! But they never listen.’
Considering there was a child on the bed behind her, also bouncing around, he could see quite clearly that they didn’t listen. Why had she brought them all with her to A&E? Perhaps she had no one she could trust to babysit?
Never mind, he’d have to get on with it. He needed to check the wound properly, to see whether it needed gluing or stitches, but first he’d have to clean it.
As he leaned forward for another look little Alfie screamed a protest and tried to slither from his mother’s arms.
‘Alfie, no! Sit still!’ His mother tried to hoist him back up.
Ben could tell this was going to be difficult. Perhaps he’d need those bubbles again?
‘I’ll just go and get what I need and then we’ll see what we can do, all right?’
He closed the curtain behind him and went to the room where all their equipment was laid out on trays stacked from ceiling to floor. He could get everything in here—plasters, tweezers, Vicryl acrylic for stitching, saline wash. All that he needed to help soothe or cure all manner of ills and injuries.
He let out a heavy sigh.
‘Hey.’
It was Leah. She stood in the doorway and smiled at him and he could have sworn his heart almost skipped a beat.
‘Hi.’
‘You look tense.’
‘I am tense.’
‘Oh, dear. The shift’s only just started. Need a hand with anything? Or anyone?’
‘Don’t you have a patient of your own?’
‘Just gone to X-Ray. Suspected fracture of the clavicle. Came off his bike and hit a railing. You?’
‘Child with a head wound. Only the mum has had to bring the entire brood and it’s like working in a nursery. Kids everywhere.’
She smiled. ‘I’m used to that. Do they bother you? Kids? I kind of get the feeling you’re not their biggest fan.’
‘Whatever gave that away?’ He raised an eyebrow and laughed.
She smiled at him. ‘Just some of the things that you say.’
‘I’m the oldest of three. I’ve done my fair share of hanging around with toddlers.’
‘Three kids? Your mum and dad must have loved having babies.’
He grabbed the glue. She had no idea what it had been like for him at home.
‘Having them—maybe. Looking after them? That was a different story.’
Now she frowned. ‘Do you want to talk about it?’
He never wanted to talk about it. Which was why the urge to tell her everything felt strange. He wanted her to know. Felt that she would sit and listen to him if he blurted it all out. The whole sorry mess. All he’d had to do.
He had to fight the urge to let it all come out of him, even though he knew Leah would understand. But it wasn’t right to burden her with all that. Although she’d shared a secret with him... It would balance them out, right?
Ben hesitated, torn between wanting to tell her everything and keeping it all to himself. As he always had done. His fear won out.
‘I’m okay. Though are you any good at blowing bubbles?’
‘Erm...yes...’
‘Good.’ He handed her a pot that came with a wand. ‘You can be my distraction technique. Follow me.’
