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‘What the hell took so long?’

For an instant she had thought that the man was Dominic.

And in that instant, she told herself that Dominic was way too much on her mind if she was starting to think that complete strangers were him.

This man was younger. It was the accent that had sideswiped her.

And also, Victoria knew, Dominic didn’t panic, which this man was clearly doing.

It was all just for an instant, so small that even Glen did not notice her pause.

Just a tiny slice of time, but it was enough for Victoria to realise that this was Dominic’s brother.

And so this must be Lorna.

Dominic’s ex.

A tearful Lorna was kneeling on the floor beside the bed and bending over her son.

‘Why were you so long...?’ Jamie persisted.

‘Jamie,’ Lorna shouted to him to stop. ‘He’s turned grey! At the hospital we were told he was fine,’ Lorna said. ‘But I knew though that something was wrong.’

Something was very wrong.

A very small baby was lying on the bed on his back with his limbs flaccid by his side. He wore only a nappy and Victoria could see even before she reached the bed that he was grunting and struggling to breathe.

‘Come on, William,’ his father cried. He was frantic. ‘Come on, son!’

As Glen checked the baby’s vitals, Victoria administered oxygen to the infant via a bag and mask. He was breathing, but it was with effort, and so she bagged him a few times, pushing oxygen into his little lungs to assist the little one with his breathing.

As Glen attached him to the cardiac monitor she could see from the trace and hear from the beeps that his heart was beating far too fast.

‘We came down to London to bring him to Paddington’s,’ Jamie explained. ‘My brother is a doctor there.’

And this was no coincidence, Victoria was starting to realise—they had come here to seek help for their baby.

‘I know your brother,’ Victoria said, and looked up briefly from the struggling infant. ‘In fact,’ she said to Jamie, though she was too busy to look at him, ‘I thought that you were him for a second.’

She felt it better to say she knew Dominic now, rather than to say nothing. There was no time for small talk though; Victoria just felt it was better that she stated it up-front.

The baby had responded to the oxygen and was beginning to pick up; now his little hands were making fists and he was starting to kick at the air.

He went to cry and that was the best moment to bag him—Victoria actually saw him pink up before her eyes. In the background, she could hear them explain a little more of what had happened.

‘I was feeding him and he just went all floppy,’ Lorna explained.

‘He’s on the breast?’ Victoria checked.

‘For the most part.’ Lorna nodded. ‘He had formula yesterday while we were travelling. Sometimes he feeds well, other times it’s a struggle, so I’ve been mixing them up.’

Little William had started to cry in earnest now and was looking a lot better than when they had first arrived.

Victoria and Glen discussed their options for a couple of moments. Inserting an IV would distress him and calling for backup wasn’t required yet. Though stable now, he needed to be at the hospital if he deteriorated again, so the decision was made to transfer him as a babe in arms, the priority being to keep him from getting distressed.

They worked swiftly but calmly.

‘He’ll be more settled if he’s held by you,’ Victoria explained. As Glen watched the baby, Victoria helped Lorna onto the stretcher. Little William was placed in her arms and the monitor was laid by her legs, and soon they were in the ambulance and on their way to the Castle.

He was pinker now and looked so much better, but Victoria would relay to the staff at Paddington’s just how very ill this baby had presented when they had first arrived.

‘I’ve been so worried,’ Lorna said. ‘I’ve been saying that there was something wrong with him for weeks and everyone said I was just being neurotic.’

‘You’re not neurotic,’ Victoria said.

Lorna started to cry, for, while it was nice to be believed, it was awful to have it confirmed that there was something very wrong with your child.

‘There’s been so much going on...’ Lorna said.

‘It’s okay, Lorna,’ Jamie said. ‘None of this is your fault.’ He looked over to Victoria. ‘There’s been a big family fallout. My wife’s been through a lot of late.’

So they had married.

Victoria kept a very close eye on the baby and listened to the couple trying to comfort each other while so very scared for their child.

‘Should we ring your parents?’ Jamie asked Lorna, and she nodded. ‘They’re in Greece,’ he added to Victoria.

‘Maybe we should wait and see what the doctors say?’ Lorna suggested.

Little William was a picture of contentment now, pink and warm in his mother’s arms, but Victoria’s eyes never left him except to glance up and see how far away they still were.

Paddington’s came into view, and when there was a very sick child in your care, it was such a sight to see.

That was why so many were fighting to save it.

There were many who knew from painful experience the value of this wonderful establishment.

Little William’s arrival was seamlessly dealt with, though the department was clearly very busy.

Victoria knew that even before she stepped inside because there were several ambulances in the foyer when they arrived.

It did not affect the care that William received.

Even though he was pink and crying, Victoria swiftly conveyed that this was rather more urgent than it appeared, more with her eyes than anything else, and the triage was rapid.

They were taken through to the resuscitation area and that was busy too. There must have been a vehicular incident just brought in because most of the bays were full and there was a sense of urgency all around. It was then that she saw him.

Dominic.

He was standing talking to Alistair North, a paediatric neurosurgeon, but he glanced over as Victoria came in.

And then she watched as he looked down to the stretcher and she saw his forehead furrow and his jaw tense at the sight of Lorna holding her small baby.

‘Dominic!’ Jamie’s voice was raw as he called out to his brother. ‘He’s not at all well.’

And she was right about him—Dominic wasn’t one to panic.

He said something to Alistair and then he came straight over.

‘William MacBride,’ Glen said. ‘He became unresponsive while his mother was feeding him...’ He relayed some more details as Victoria lifted the baby from his mother’s arms and placed William in an examination cot.

‘I was going to call you today,’ Jamie said to his older brother, ‘and ask you to take a look at him.’

‘You’re in the right place now.’ Dominic nodded. He called for assistance, but when there was none forthcoming, he knew that these next few moments were down to him and took command. ‘What’s been happening?’

‘He’s been struggling to feed and put on weight. The doctor didn’t seem too concerned and the nurse said that Lorna, well...’

‘She thinks that I’m overly anxious.’ Lorna spoke for herself.

‘How was the pregnancy?’ Dominic asked.

‘It went well.’ Lorna just sat on the stretcher, helpless and wringing her hands as her son was transferred from the ambulance’s monitor to the hospital’s. ‘It’s just been these past two weeks. We’ve been getting nowhere. Finally, I got an appointment to see a paediatrician, but it’s not for a couple more weeks. In the end Jamie suggested that we bring him down to be seen by you.’

Dominic nodded but did not comment on that—he was too busy taking care of the infant and, despite the pressure he must surely be under, he did not miss a beat. He was feeling the little boy’s scalp and checking his fontanelle, which Victoria knew from her own examination was sunken, a sign that he was dehydrated, and Dominic asked for more information.

‘So what happened today?’ Dominic asked as Victoria helped Lorna from the stretcher.

‘We were at the hotel.’

‘How long have you been there?’

‘We got there around midnight. The journey down was fine and he had a really good night. I was starting to think we were making a fuss to have come all this way. I was feeding him and saying the very same to Jamie when he started to make all these choking noises and he went floppy.’ She started to cry and Dominic nodded when Karen suggested that she find someone to take the parents to get a detailed history.

Victoria had helped Lorna from the stretcher and the anxious couple were gently led away, but at the last moment Jamie turned and came back.

‘Dominic, he looks fine now, but—’

‘I get that he’s unwell,’ Dominic said. ‘Jamie...’ His voice was firm. ‘You need to hold it together right now. You need to keep your head.’

‘I know but—’

‘Come on,’ Karen said, and he was again led away.

Victoria guessed that it wasn’t the first time Dominic had had to tell his brother that.

The baby was listless again—even crying seemed to exhaust him—and while he lay quietly, Dominic had a very long listen to his heart.

And still she stood there.

Glen made up the stretcher and replaced the used equipment, and still she watched as Dominic took blood. Victoria stood outside as a portable chest X-ray was taken.

But then, instead of heading for the ambulance, she went back in.

‘Can we get the on-call cardiologist down here,’ Dominic instructed.

‘Victoria,’ Glen called out to her. ‘We’ve got another job to go to.’

She knew that they had to leave.

They were extremely busy, but Victoria found herself wanting to linger and to know more.

She admired how calm Dominic was. Oh, she knew it was his job to be, but no one could even guess what he was going through right now.

There was a sense of agency to him that Victoria liked.

And then he looked up and caught her eyes and she gave a thin smile, one of support, one that said she knew how hard this was.

And he gave back a grim smile of thanks.

‘We’d better go,’ Glen said.

Only she didn’t want to go.

For the first time she wanted to linger—unfortunately, there was no choice but to leave.

It was a long day.

An incredibly long one, and there wasn’t a patient aged under sixty in sight, which meant that they didn’t get back to Paddington’s once.

Oh, how badly Victoria wanted to go to the hospital to find out how William was, but instead they were in and out of Riverside and nursing homes. And in a quick coffee break, where Glen rang Hayley, Victoria thought not just about little William and how he was, and not just about Dominic and how he was coping.

But about Lorna.

Victoria had had neither the time nor the inclination to think about it when they had been dealing with the baby, but now, pausing for the first time since it had happened, she reflected on the woman that Dominic had once loved.

Perhaps he still did.

In her head Victoria had painted Lorna as some sort of vixen; in fact, she was softly spoken and pretty.

Dominic and Jamie were very similar in appearance.

Jamie, though, was expressive, not just with his emotions but with the information he shared. Oh, she knew the circumstances had been dire today and that people’s reactions were often extreme when under pressure, but she just could not imagine Dominic opening up in front of someone else the way that Jamie had.

By Dominic’s own admission, even when he had found out the baby wasn’t his, he had stayed quiet as a doctor was present.

They were similar, yet different.

And it was the more stoic MacBride brother that Victoria very possibly loved.

It was a scary thought and one she did not want to pursue, but at the end of a very long shift she could take it no more.

‘Could we stop by the Castle on the way back to the station?’

‘Sure,’ Glen said. He could see her tense face and was wise enough not to probe.

It had been a long day for Dominic too.

A new cardiologist had started at Paddington’s and Dominic had felt a wash of relief to hand little William over, especially as Dr Thomas Wolfe seemed very thorough, if rather stern.

‘He’s my nephew.’ Dominic had given his findings and then started to explain the relationship he had with the patient but had immediately been interrupted.

‘Then you need to step back,’ Thomas had said. ‘I’ll be in to speak with the family shortly.’

Dominic relayed that information to Jamie and Lorna and though they had communicated throughout the day it had all been about the baby.

Lorna contacted her parents, who were holidaying in Greece, and Dominic was the one who rang his and Jamie’s.

They had been very upset by the news and the call had been brief. They had soon rallied though and had called back to say that they were flying down to London and could Dominic meet them at the airport.

The underground would be far easier but their plane came in near the end of his workday and so Dominic agreed. Though he warned that he might be half an hour or so late, depending on traffic.

Then he rang his cleaner and asked her to stop by and give his apartment a quick once-over.

On top of that there were patients, of course, and near the end of a long and difficult day he looked up and there was Victoria walking towards him.

‘Do you need me to come out?’ he checked, assuming that she wanted him to come and assess a patient in the ambulance, as happened at times.

‘No, no,’ Victoria said. ‘I just stopped by to see how William was doing.’

And he knew from experience that she chose not to get involved with patients, so it touched him that, for his nephew, she had made an exception.

‘He’s in the catheter lab at the moment. He’s had a day of tests and they think he’s going to need surgery.’

‘Cardiac?’ she asked.

‘Yes.’

‘How are his parents?’

‘Exhausted. They’re going to be staying with him overnight, of course.’

And tomorrow? she wanted to ask.

Would he be opening his home to them?

But it was not her place to ask such personal questions; Victoria had made very sure of that, so she was vague in her questioning.

‘Do your parents know?’

‘Of course. They’ll be landing in an hour or so,’ Dominic said. ‘I’ll be heading to the airport soon to pick them up.’

‘I thought you weren’t speaking.’

‘We’ve always spoken,’ Dominic said. ‘We just didn’t know what to talk about for a while.’

And she just looked at him as if he was speaking in a foreign language, and then she gave her smile.

‘I’ve got to go,’ Victoria said. ‘Glen’s waiting.’

‘Okay.’

‘I hope things go well.’

He watched her walk off, somehow elegant in boots and green overalls, and he did not want it left there. ‘Victoria...’ he called out, but she carried on walking.

She was, Dominic decided, a complicated lady.

And he wanted to understand her.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

DOMINIC RAN DEEP.

His thoughts he did not readily share and his emotions he kept under wraps.

And it took all that he had within him to keep it like that today.

He was on the phone when Jamie knocked on his office door.

‘How is William doing?’ Dominic asked.

‘A lot better than he was this morning,’ Jamie said. ‘He’s got a hole in his heart and he’s going to be reviewed tomorrow by a cardiac surgeon to see if they’ll repair it or wait.’

‘Well, he’s certainly in the right place,’ Dominic said.

It was a phrase used often here but it was a heartfelt one and Dominic better understood it now. There was something very special about this place and he could see why Victoria and the others were fighting so hard to save it.

Little William really would get the very best care.

‘Lorna can see that now. She didn’t want to come down to London given...’ Jamie gave a tense shrug. ‘I insisted though. I wanted you to take a look at him rather than wait.’

‘You did the right thing.’ Dominic nodded.

‘Look, about—’ Jamie said, but Dominic interrupted him.

‘Let’s just leave it for now.’

‘I don’t want to leave it though!’ Jamie said, his voice becoming distressed as he started to get upset. ‘I’m beside myself, Dominic.’

‘Listen,’ Dominic said. ‘For now, you’re to focus on Lorna and William. That’s it.’

‘I need to know that you’ve got my back.’

‘I’ve always had your back,’ Dominic answered. ‘You know that I do or you wouldn’t have come down to London to have me take a look at William.’

Jamie nodded but he was impatient and wanted resolution. But Dominic would not discuss it today. ‘All of that can wait,’ Dominic said. ‘You need to take care of your wife and son and let nothing else get in the way of that.’

‘I know.’

He wanted to tell Jamie that it was time to grow up, but that took things too close to personal and it was everything Dominic knew they had to avoid for now.

‘What time do they get in?’ Jamie asked.

‘Soon,’ Dominic said. ‘In fact, I need to get to the airport.’

He brought his parents back to the hospital where they fretted for a while, and then somehow the MacBrides did what families do in an emergency—they put differences aside and dealt as best they could with the new hand they had rapidly been dealt.

Most families.

He understood that look now from Victoria.

That brief look where she clearly hadn’t understood what he was saying, but he wanted her to understand.

More than that, he wanted to see her.

It was late, he was tired and, yes, he had been told by her to stay back, but instead he found himself at her door.

Victoria opened it and she was wearing the same short white robe that she had been wearing the last time he was here.

She rolled her eyes when she saw him. ‘It didn’t go well, then?’

‘What?’ Dominic frowned.

‘The family reunion.’

‘It went very well, Victoria. I’m just here to see you.’

‘Why?’ she asked, and then she laughed. ‘Stupid question.’

Sex was the last thing on his mind. Well, not quite, but with those three words he knew her a little bit more.

She didn’t get relationships.

Not in the least.

‘I’m actually here because I’ve had a crap day and I wanted to see you at the end of it. Are you going to let me in?’

Her flat was dark; clearly she had been about to go to bed but she let him in and turned on a side light.

He took a seat on the sofa and she sat on a chair as if they were in a waiting room.

‘How are your parents?’ she asked.

‘Worried, but they feel better now that they’ve seen him. They’re back at mine.’

‘How’s the baby?’

‘He’s on the cardiac unit and he’s settled for the night. Lorna’s staying with him.’

‘Is Jamie back at the hotel?’

‘No, he’s staying at mine too.’ He saw her eyes widen a fraction and chose to explain how it had come about. ‘Jamie didn’t know the way to the underground, nor about Oyster cards and things, so I offered to drop him off at the hotel. In the end I said to just check out and to come and stay at mine.’

‘Are you two talking, then?’

‘A bit,’ he said, and then admitted more. ‘Not really.’

‘Then how come he’s staying at yours?’

‘Because he’s my brother and his baby is sick, and right now the baby is the priority. The rest will have to wait.’

His voice was brusque, though he hadn’t meant it to be. ‘Sorry.’

‘No, no...’ Victoria said.

It really had been a difficult day.

‘Thomas seems to think he might need surgery.’

‘Thomas?’ Victoria checked.

‘Thomas Wolfe. He’s a new cardiologist.’

‘He’s not new,’ Victoria said, and shook her head.

‘Yes, he is. He only just started at Paddington’s the other day.’

‘No, he used to work there years ago when I first started. He’s a lovely guy.’

Dominic didn’t comment; lovely wasn’t how he’d describe any guy, but certainly it was not a word he’d expect to hear to describe Thomas, who he had found rather stand-offish.

Still, he didn’t dwell on it.

He took in a breath and closed his eyes. It was the first time he had properly paused since he had looked up and seen Victoria walking towards him with Jamie by her side and Lorna and William on the stretcher.

‘Jamie was going to call and ask me to take a look at him this afternoon...’

‘I know that.’

And it was then she knew for certain that she loved him.

She didn’t even have to ask what his response to that phone call would have been.

And yes, while she wanted happy reunions and for him to say that his family was fine, she was starting to understand that Dominic did not say what you wanted him to. He spoke the truth.

Having seen Lorna and Jamie for herself, she was starting to comprehend the magnitude of the betrayal.

It was a miracle, really, that Dominic had followed her into the underground that night when she had first told him she was pregnant, and that he kept coming back when so many men would have turned away.

She wanted to ask him about Lorna, how it had felt to see her today after all this time, but she knew that wasn’t needed now.

‘Jamie tried to talk about it,’ Dominic admitted. ‘But I told him that for now he has to focus on the baby. I am trying to work on things with my family, Victoria,’ he said. ‘But I need to do it at my own pace, not theirs.’

‘I know that,’ she said. ‘But how can you sort it out living so far apart?’

‘Because I couldn’t work on it from there. Victoria, families fall out. You yourself said you’ve had words with your father...’

‘Your family wants you to be in their lives though.’

‘Doesn’t he?’

‘He wants me there to attend functions when he’s between wives.’

‘What was the row about between you?’

‘I told you,’ she said, but she knew she hadn’t properly. ‘I said I could see why my mother left him.’

‘And what did he say to that?’

She shrugged.

Victoria simply wasn’t ready to go there.

‘Do you want a drink?’ she offered.

‘I do, but I have to drive.’

‘I meant tea.’

‘No thanks, then.’

She stood up to get him a Scotch or whatever she had to hand. ‘Have a drink. I can drive you home.’

‘No thanks,’ he said. ‘I need the car in case something happens overnight.’

She stood still. There were other solutions and both of them mentally explored them. Dominic wanted her to come back to his—he needed her tonight—but his family were all there and so he could not suggest that.

And though he wanted to stay here a while, both knew where that could lead.

Would lead.

He could see her nipples protruding through the dressing gown—life would be far less complicated if they did not so completely turn each other on.

But no, he could not stay here for the night.

‘I really do need to get back home. I just wanted to stop by and tell you what was happening.’

It was nice that he had stopped by, Victoria thought, for she had been fretting about it all evening. It didn’t really make sense to Victoria—after all, she had been to the hospital to see how the baby was, but she had just felt a bit sick about little William since the moment she had realised that the baby they had been called out to was Dominic’s nephew.

‘Will your parents worry if I keep you out late?’ Victoria teased, and he rolled his eyes.