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The rest of her shift seemed interminable and it almost felt to Jenny as if they were all holding their breath while they waited for news of the surgery.
The report that Aliyah’s husband had survived the removal of several large shards of bone from his brain and that the plate of skull they’d removed to access them would not be replaced until some of the swelling had gone down was the final part in the lengthy process.
Not that surviving the complex operations would guarantee the patient’s survival, and there was still an extremely long way to go before they would even begin to know how much permanent damage his brain had suffered in the impact and its aftermath.
‘Are you as exhausted as I am?’ Jenny demanded as she emerged from the locker room still sliding her arms into the sleeves of her jacket to find Daniel performing almost exactly the same task as he walked towards her.
‘Probably,’ he grumbled. ‘And it’s not as if the day was unusually busy.’
In fact, the unit had been relatively quiet, beyond the usual round of clinics and assessments. Of course, there was an almost electric buzz in the air every time the phone rang, with everyone seeming to hold their breath in case it was news about Sheelagh Griffin’s desperately struggling baby or the outcome of Faz Farouk’s lengthy surgery. It was always that way when one of ‘their’ patients had bad news, and in a unit that saw the highest-risk patients, they saw more sadness than most.
This seemed somehow different, almost as if the whole world was waiting to hear the outcome. And still the tiny baby clung to life as though oblivious to the fact that his fight was doomed to failure, while Aliyah Farouk waited impatiently to be given permission to go to her husband’s side.
‘I never realised that tension could be so draining,’ she said as she automatically fell into step beside him, both of them heading towards the exit after their brief detour to glimpse the tiny scrap that was barely as long as her hand. ‘But I suppose that when everything revs into high gear every time the phone rings …’
‘And your body gets flooded with adrenaline in anticipation of news,’ he added.
‘So your pulse and respiration speed up, causing you to burn up so many calories that you feel completely limp and empty even before the situation resolves itself.’
‘ So, you’re saying that you’re about to collapse with lack of nourishment and are in imminent need of sustenance?’ he asked and she was grateful that he’d changed the topic to something so mundane and normal.
‘How did you guess?’ Jenny pulled a face as she rubbed a hand over the noises coming from her stomach. ‘I know it’s not the best thing nutritionally, but I think I’m going to get a takeaway, for speed.’
‘I could do tagliatelli carbonara, if you’re interested?’ he offered tentatively and she blinked in surprise, then wondered if, like her, he didn’t want to be alone with his thoughts just yet.
She had to squash the bubble of excitement that started to swell inside her at the idea that she’d be spending some off-duty time with him. After all, it hadn’t been so long ago that he’d let her know he saw her as more of a little sister than an attractive woman.
‘How long would I have to wait to eat?’ she demanded, concentrating on looking suspicious. ‘Is that a crafty way of getting me to do the shopping so you’ll have the ingredients to cook?’
‘I’m mortally wounded that you could think me so devious!’ he complained as he stepped aside to allow her to exit the automatic doors first. ‘When have I ever given you cause to think that I’m anything other than honest and straightforward?’
His teasing words died away as she came to a halt, her way blocked by a darkly scowling Colin Fletcher.
‘There’s something wrong with your phone,’ he announced bluntly. ‘I’ve been trying to ring you all day to tell you I’d be picking you up at the end of your shift.’
Jenny swallowed hard, tempted to close her eyes tightly to pretend that the obnoxious man wasn’t standing there, clearly unconcerned that he was about to cause a scene in front of goodness knew how many colleagues, patients and visitors.
‘There’s nothing wrong with my phone,’ she said quietly, not certain whether she was glad to have Daniel’s silent presence at her back or embarrassed that he was a witness to the result of her stupidity in ever agreeing to go out with Colin in the first place.
‘There must be something wrong because I haven’t been able to get through,’ Colin argued with a pointed glance at his watch then a disparaging look at her favourite pair of well-worn jeans. ‘You’ll need to get yourself tidied up enough to go somewhere decent like the Pastorale. I’d better give you a lift to your flat or you’re not going to have enough time to make a good job of it.’
The classy French restaurant that had opened recently at the top end of the high street had quickly made a name for its elegant ambiance and superb cuisine, but it certainly wasn’t the place she wanted to go after a stressful day like today … nor was Colin the company she’d ever choose.
‘Thank you for the invitation, Colin,’ she said, so perfectly politely that even the pickiest manners maven couldn’t have found fault, ‘but I’m really not in the mood for—’
‘Not in the mood!’ he interrupted angrily. ‘Do you realise how exclusive Pastorale is; how hard it was to organise a reservation at such short notice so I could stage the romantic—?’ He stopped himself suddenly, almost as if he’d said more than he’d intended, then continued, sounding angrier than ever. ‘And you’re standing there saying you’re not in the mood?’
‘Excuse me.’ It was Daniel’s turn to interrupt and Jenny almost giggled when the unexpectedness of it left Colin with his mouth agape.
It was tempting to allow the strong silent man at her back to take over for her, but she’d never been one to back down from a battle that was important to her, and this one definitely qualified.
‘Colin, there’s no point in trying to browbeat me into going for a meal with you, because it isn’t going to happen,’ she said firmly.
‘Well, I’d have been able to get hold of you to arrange it properly earlier on today if your phone had been working,’ he began again, but this time she interrupted him herself.
‘There is absolutely nothing wrong with my phone,’ she declared. ‘I’ve already told you that I won’t go out with you, several times, in fact. So I’ve had my phone programmed to refuse any of your calls. Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s an enormous plate of tagliatelli carbonara with my name on it and I’m starving. Goodnight, Colin.’
Her knees felt rather wobbly as she forced herself to stride briskly past the man, but the matching echo of Daniel’s feet following close behind fanned the spark of defiance that kept her chin in the air and bolstered the confidence that her nemesis would never know how uncertain she’d been that she could cope with such an uncomfortable confrontation.
‘So there’s an enormous plate of carbonara with your name on it, is there?’ Daniel mused as he lengthened his stride to catch up with her as they set off across the vast car park to the other side of the hospital grounds. ‘I’m not certain that I’ve got enough ingredients for that. Perhaps we should detour to do a bit of shopping, just to be sure.’
Jenny had no idea why his teasing should suddenly make her feel like crying and laughing aloud at the same time, but it took a real effort not to do either … or both.
‘No shopping,’ she decreed imperiously, warmed beyond words that she had such a friend and overwhelmingly grateful for his ready sense of humour. ‘I need food now!’
A leisurely hour later they were both coming to the end of plates full of perfectly cooked tagliatelli smothered in the most delicious creamy sauce, and Daniel’s light-hearted banter had temporarily managed to push their concerns about their patients to the back of their minds. It had also all but banished the memory of that unfortunate scene at the entrance to the hospital’s main Reception. In fact, she was feeling so relaxed that that she wasn’t sure she was going to be able to summon up the energy to walk to her own flat, and there was a real danger that she would fall asleep where she sat if she stayed much longer.
Regretfully, she began to fish under the table for the shoes she’d kicked off soon after she’d arrived, trying to find the words to thank him, not only for the delicious meal but also for standing by her while she faced Colin down, yet still allowing her to deal with the situation herself.
She was just drawing a breath to bring the evening to a close when his mobile phone began to vibrate its way across the centre of the table.
‘Carterton.’ His brisk response told her she wasn’t going to have to eavesdrop on a one-sided private call and the resigned expression that came over his face was enough to tell her that Sheelagh Griffin’s baby had lost his fight.
‘Poor woman,’ she whispered, her heart heavy for the couple who would have to start the whole IVF process all over again if they were ever to have the family they wanted.
Before Daniel could comment his phone was ringing again, but this time the shocked way his eyes widened told her the news he was getting was totally unexpected and it wasn’t good.
Listening in on a call that largely consisted of one-word questions was both frustrating and frightening, especially when she saw the regret fill his face.
‘What?’ she demanded as soon as the call ended. ‘What’s happened? Oh, no! Is it Aliyah? How bad is it?’
He raked his fingers through his thick dark hair and swore ripely, something she very rarely heard him do.
‘It’s not Aliyah,’ he said but before she could let the relief flood through her he added, ‘it’s her husband. He coded in ICU and it took five tries to get him back.’
Jenny felt close to tears when she remembered what a lovely caring man Faz was and how concerned about Aliyah and their baby. ‘How long was his heart stopped? Do they know why?’
‘They’ve taken him back to theatre. There’s blood building up in the pericardium that’s stopping the heart from working properly. It nearly stopped it permanently.’
‘Surely they would have checked for other sources of bleeding when they were retrieving the bone fragments from the broken ribs and sorting out the collapsed lung?’
Daniel’s expression was wry because they both knew that such things could be missed when a patient presented with so many life-threatening injuries at once, especially if the damage was small enough to make any bleed insignificant amongst all the other gore.
Sadly, she realised that their almost idyllic evening was over—the outside world back with a vengeance—and suddenly her exhaustion made everything more than she could bear—the situation with Colin and their embarrassing confrontation, the worry that Aliyah might be losing her longed-for babies, Sheelagh Griffin’s accident right at the hospital’s gates and the loss of both of her precious babies. Now this! The horrible events still seemed to be piling up.
With barely a second’s warning her breath caught in her throat and her eyes burned as they filled with tears.
‘Oh, Daniel,’ she wailed, then whirled towards his door, wanting nothing more than to escape before he saw them start to stream down her face.
‘Hey!’ He caught her arm as she fumbled with the lock on the front door and swung her gently around. ‘Are you going without your shoes?’
The concerned frown pleating his forehead was the final straw, releasing the first sob from the dammed-up agony in her throat, and when he pulled her into the sanctuary of his arms the floodgates burst.
‘Shh!’ Daniel soothed helplessly as he awkwardly patted her back, realising wryly that, for all his extensive education, he had no more idea of how to deal with a crying woman than any other man.
And the fact that a large part of his brain was taken up with registering just how perfect Jenny felt in his arms wasn’t something he had any control over, either.
She was such an energetic person with such a lively personality that it was all too easy to forget just how slender she was, especially when she was swathed in a shapeless uniform or several bulky layers of off-duty clothing—one of the down sides of spending her working days in a heated building.
Now that he had her wrapped in his arms he realised that she was more than a head shorter than he was, easily able to burrow herself into the angle under his chin as she clung to him.
The hand that started stroking her back traced the perfect curve of her spine from the silky hair at the base of her skull all the way down to the top of her jeans, and he was almost certain that, had he tried, he could have wrapped both hands completely around her waist, fingertip to fingertip.
And as for her legs, those deceptively long legs, one of which he was bracketing with his own as she leaned against him, sparking his imagination to fill with images of how they would feel without the layers of fabric separating them, how it would feel if they were both naked with those endless legs wrapped around his waist as he.
‘Oh, Daniel, I’m sorry,’ she whimpered against his throat and he had to swallow a groan as the puffs of moist warmth on his bare skin ratcheted his pulse still higher even as he tried to remind himself that he was supposed to be supporting and comforting her, not wasting his time imagining impossible scenarios in which.
‘There’s nothing to be sorry for,’ he growled, hoping she couldn’t hear the way his voice betrayed the effect she was having on him.
‘I sh-shouldn’t be falling apart all over you,’ she hiccupped. ‘It’s not fair to you to have to m-mop me up.’
‘You let me worry about that,’ he reassured her, even as he tried to push to the back of his brain all the other things he’d be willing to do for her. To her. With her. ‘Everyone needs a friend they can let the barriers down with, otherwise we’d all go crazy in a high-stress job like ours.’
He rested his cheek briefly on the crown of her head just long enough to draw in the fresh scent of the shampoo she’d used earlier mixed with the indefinable something that belonged to no one but his little Jennywren.
‘It never seems to get to you,’ she complained. ‘Even when you came back up to tell us about Sheelagh Griffin’s babies.’ The thought sent her off into renewed sobs and he realised that, as it didn’t look as if she was going to be fit to leave any time soon, it was time to make them both more comfortable.
She was weeping so hard that she was probably almost unaware that he’d half-led, half-carried her back into his living room. In fact, she only reacted when he lowered himself into the corner of his oversized settee and tried to settle her on his lap.
‘Daniel, no,’ she objected, floundering in her attempts at getting her feet on the floor. ‘You don’t have to do this. It’s not. You can’t want. I shouldn’t …’
‘Calm down, sweetheart,’ he said, thwarting her halfhearted efforts by drawing her closer to his chest. ‘It’s not a problem.’ Well, that was a blatant lie for a start, because having her squirming on his lap was quickly becoming a big problem, and if she squirmed much more, she would discover just how big.
‘It’s difficult to calm d-down,’ she sobbed against his throat. ‘All I can think of is those poor people and everything they’ve l-lost and … and …’
She turned her head to look up at him just as he angled his to press his face against hers and somehow, accidentally, fleetingly, their lips brushed.
He froze, unable to breathe, convinced that even his heart had stopped beating for several timeless seconds as he savoured the softness of her mouth against his for the first time.
‘Daniel?’ she whispered huskily, and while he was utterly amazed that she hadn’t immediately broken the contact between them, he was intimately aware that he could taste the salt of her tears.
The last thing he wanted was to draw back, afraid of what he would see in her eyes. Shock? Rejection? Or worse, disgust if she thought he was taking advantage of her emotional state?
In the end it was Jenny who moved just the few inches that would allow them to see each other’s expressions, and the wide-eyed wonder on her face as her gaze flicked from his eyes to his mouth and back again jolted his heart into double time.
‘Jenny?’ It sounded more like a growl than a question and he wasn’t really sure what he was trying to ask her, but to his everlasting relief she seemed to take it as an invitation.
‘Please,’ she whispered as she angled her head and leant forwards just far enough to stroke her lips over his … once … twice. ‘Please, Daniel,’ she said again as she wreathed her arms around his neck, this time pressing not only her lips against his but the whole of her body, too. ‘Please, Daniel. I need you,’ she begged breathlessly before she plunged them both headlong into the kind of kiss he’d been dreaming of ever since he’d met the tantalising woman … only better.
CHAPTER THREE
DANIEL woke to find Jenny still in his arms and an unexpected image suddenly sprang into his mind.
He’d been sent to stay with his grandfather one summer, and every morning he’d been woken by the elderly man’s favourite cockerel that used to fly to the top of a big wooden gatepost and crow.
Now, for the first time in his life, Daniel knew exactly how Ruben the Rhode Island Red rooster had felt. After the night he and Jenny had just spent together, he almost believed he could leap to the top of the roof to shout to the world how good he was feeling.
Except …
Except there was a very honest part of him that was kicking himself for his loss of control. Guilt was telling him that he should have been stronger when Jenny had been falling apart; that he should have been able to comfort her without succumbing to the desire that had been building in him ever since he’d met her.
And while he was relishing the fact that he had this precious time with her in his arms, he was dreading the moment when she woke, afraid he would see the same expression in her eyes that she’d had when she’d spoken about Colin’s attempt to take advantage of her.
It was easy to push that thought to the back of his mind when he was looking down at her curled up trustingly at his side, her head nestled into his shoulder and her forehead against the curve of his neck. He couldn’t think of a more arousing way to wake up than with the warmth of her breath soughing over his chest, ruffling and teasing the hairs and tightening his nipples into hard points that were begging for more of her attention.
Even then, with the evidence all around him, the tumbled bedding, the scattered clothing, the musky, totally arousing scent that was partly his and partly hers … he still could hardly believe that it had really happened.
It wasn’t simply the fact that it had happened at all that had him reeling, either; it was the sheer scale of it that had been enough to blow his mind for the next millennium or so.
That hadn’t been the Jenny he had thought he was coming to know at the hospital. She was the calm, caring, concerned professional who could be counted on to go the extra mile for every one of their patients with sympathy and tact. It hadn’t been the off-duty Jenny, either; the cheerful, friendly young woman with a welcoming smile for everyone even while surrounded by an indefinable air that sometimes came across almost as naïveté.
No, the Jenny he’d discovered last night had been a complete revelation; an unbelievably arousing combination of uncertainty and boldness; of alternating shyness and daring that had rendered him speechless and breathless and utterly captivated.
Making love with her had been more—much more—than he’d ever imagined, and it was something he’d be delighted to repeat on a daily basis far beyond the foreseeable future but.
He drew in a controlled breath as he fought down a feeling of dread.
Yes, it had been, without exception, the most spectacular night of his life, and hers, too, if her eager reaction was anything to go by, but would he still be basking in this contented glow thinking the night’s pleasure had been worth it if it meant he’d lost her friendship?
He’d already admitted to himself the fact that there was little chance of anything permanent between them, but he’d hoped that at least in the time they spent together they could be friends as well as colleagues. Had he ruined that, now?
A glance at the alarm clock told him that it was still early. Too early to get ready for work. In fact, it was early enough for a leisurely repeat session that he was craving more with every second, even though he knew he couldn’t have it.
He should leave the bed, now. Leave her in the hopes that she wouldn’t be too angry that he’d taken advantage of her distress.
His mobile phone suddenly buzzed into life, the vibrate function making it rattle noisily on the chest of drawers beside the bed.
Daniel was glad that at least he’d had the presence of mind to switch off the noisy ring tone. Now all he had to do was silence the wretched thing quickly enough that it didn’t wake the sleeping woman in his arms. It was going to take a while longer before he’d be ready to face her.
But before he could untangle an arm to reach for the infernal gadget, her eyes flicked open, their hazel irises glowing with golden fire as they gazed straight up into his.
The phone buzzed again and she glanced fleetingly at it before her eyes returned to his, the slumberous expression in them almost making him groan aloud as his body started to respond.
‘Are you going to answer that?’ she prompted with a hint of a grin. ‘It doesn’t sound as if they’re going to give up.’
The impish curve of lips that had met his own time and time again during the night was almost enough to make him forget his name, but there was no way he could ignore his phone when there were vulnerable patients relying on him.
‘Car—’ he began then had to clear his throat before he could continue, the husky tone far more suited to the bedroom than his professional persona. ‘Carterton,’ he announced crisply on his second attempt, mentally switching gears. The last thing he needed to be thinking about was bedrooms when he was taking a call from the hospital.
