Читать книгу The Shy Nurse's Christmas Wish - Abigail Gordon, Abigail Gordon - Страница 9
ОглавлениеUNAWARE OF THE promise that Daniel had made to himself the night before, when he had finished his ward round the next day and was about to depart Darcey said, ‘I am so sorry about your boat, Dr Osbourne, and I do hope that the two boys who are being treated here will soon recover. I was on the promenade last night near the harbour and saw it.’ She added with a wistfulness that surprised him, ‘If my young brother lived here, he would be most keen to join your sailing club.’
‘So he doesn’t live near, then?’ he commented with the chaos of the night before still upon him.
‘No. I’m afraid not,’ she replied, and when a small child in one of the cots began to cry she went to him and lifting him carefully, soothed the little boy gently until he was comforted, and watching her Daniel thought that whoever had designated her to be sister-in-charge of the children’s ward had got it right.
On the point of departure, he informed her, ‘Needless to say, I’ve seen the two lads with the injuries and am treating them myself now that I’m back. We are talking about a badly fractured leg and a spinal problem at the moment, and tonight I intend to visit my old friend Ely who is in a hospital in the town centre with a heart problem and doesn’t know about the boat and the sea rescue.’
His wife has sensibly kept it from him under the circumstances. As there was never really any time for chatting in his working day he turned to go, yet it didn’t stop him from turning for a last look at her with the child in her arms.
* * *
The day had run its course. The night staff had arrived and Darcey and those she worked with were homeward bound. She had been the last to leave as she’d needed to discuss problems with the night sister that had arisen with one of their young patients just before the changeover, and when she left the ward the corridor outside was empty apart from a small group gathered near the exit consisting of Daniel Osbourne, the attractive woman who had been waiting for him in the car at the station, and two small girls who were cuddling up to him.
If there had been another exit close by she would have taken it, but there wasn’t, and hastening past the small family group she was out in the cold winter night in a flash, her curiosity about his background satisfied after seeing the happy family group.
As Darcey walked the short distance to her apartment loneliness was wrapping itself around her. It was something that she’d only experienced since Alex had gone, and having just seen the happy family group in the corridor it had hit her even more as she thought that she had been right in her surmise that Daniel Osbourne would have an attractive wife and adorable children, and didn’t begrudge him them. He was too charismatic and attractive not to have a family of his own.
* * *
Engrossed with his visitors, he hadn’t seen her coming swiftly towards them and by the time it registered she was past and going through the outer doors of the hospital into the night. As he gazed after her Daniel was conscious of her solitariness and hoped that there was someone else in Sister Darcey Howard’s life besides the unavailable young brother that she’d mentioned.
Cordelia and the children had been on their way home from the birthday party of one of their friends and as they’d had to pass the hospital she had taken them to see him briefly. When the passer-by had disappeared she asked, ‘Who was that, Daniel?’
‘The day sister in charge of the children’s ward,’ he replied briefly, and volunteered no further information because he had none, and once those he loved had said goodbye he didn’t wait long before calling it a day and returning to the familiar solitude of his apartment, which usually replaced the day’s strains and stresses with tranquillity, but not this time. He was restless, couldn’t settle, but wouldn’t admit to himself that it had anything to do with having watched Darcey leave without any assurance that once she had taken off the garments of her profession she wouldn’t be exploring the night life of the promenade on her own, as she had done the night before.
* * *
Daniel was not to know there was nothing further from Darcey’s mind. She was feeling low and lost, and after a snack followed by a shower Darcey went to bed and until drowsiness took her into sleep, she spent the time listening in vain for the phone to ring.
A fourth day had dawned with no more contact from Alex and as the three young men were staying anywhere they could with friends and relatives until flight time she was wishing she had been more adamant about him keeping in touch. But something new was appearing in her life as well as his. Alex was happy in the choices he was making, so why shouldn’t she be the same?
The opportunity was there that hadn’t been present before for her to experience something new in the form of a freedom of her own after all the years that she had cared so devotedly for her young brother. She had put him first in everything and suddenly that was no more, the need for it was gone.
But she still had to know that all was well with him before even contemplating anything else, and, as if he’d read her mind, just as she was about to go to present herself on the ward, Alex called. He told her that he hoped that she would be happy in her new job and that he would keep in touch when he could. To hear his voice was solace after the hours of anxiety that he had caused her.
* * *
Over recent days the smile with which the new ward sister greeted Daniel and his entourage on their arrival on the ward had been missing, but he saw that today there was a change, not totally but she was more relaxed, less pale and stressed than of late.When he stopped at the first bed in the ward, where its little occupant’s condition was causing concern, Darcey was as clear and confident as she always was when doing the rounds with him and was tuned in immediately to his comments, just the same as while he was examining the young girl who had suffered a spinal injury after falling off a swing the previous day and was in much pain.
At that moment the child was in a fretful doze, unaware that she was the centre of attention. Daniel read the notes clipped to the bottom of the bed and said, ‘Sister, I want this child to have a scan and some blood tests to check if there is some injury that hasn’t shown itself previously and has surfaced during the night.’
‘Yes, Mr Osbourne,’ she said levelly, and immediately sent for a porter to follow his instructions. Then, picking up her desk phone, she rang the parents of the injured child to explain there was a new development regarding their daughter’s accident, which came as a shock as they had been at her bedside until late the previous evening and had only left when she had fallen into a deep sleep that had indicated no cause for alarm.
But the little girl had awakened in a winter dawn feverish and in pain, and as the porter moved swiftly towards the ultrasound unit with the crying child on the trolley Daniel was close behind, having left his second-in-command to do the rest of the rounds in the children’s ward.
* * *
The doctor’s name was Brendan Stokes and Darcey braced herself to spend the next hour or so being patronised by him. He had already asked her for a date and been refused because he was arrogant and pushy, and it annoyed her that on something as important as caring for sick children he was still eyeing her up and down. While Daniel Osbourne was just the opposite, this one was the opportunist of all time, she thought.
But having seen the man on her mind in the corridor with his family the other day, it was easy to understand his contentment. With a wife and children of such a kind he must be totally happy. His interest in her would be merely keeping an eye on a newcomer to Oceans House, and as far as she was concerned looking after Alex all those years had left little time to make any commitments with the opposite sex.
There had been a couple of times in the past that she’d let herself be dated by local Romeos, but always Alexander had been her main concern, which had put a dampener on every occasion.
When Daniel came back, she observed him questioningly and he said with reasonable calm, ‘I was concerned that we might have missed something when the child was brought in, but there is nothing of that nature. It seems that she was in the process of developing a chest infection at the time of the accident and now it is making itself felt and causing her temperature to soar. Our young patient is on her way back to bed and I’ve put her on antibiotics to cope with it. So keep a close watch on her, Sister, and don’t hesitate to send for me if you have any more concerns about her.’
‘Yes, of course,’ she replied, ‘and I’ll make sure that the night staff are fully informed.’
He was looking around him and questioned, ‘Where is Dr Stokes? Has he done the rounds?’
‘Not quite,’ she told him, pointing to a small side ward off the main one.
‘Right,’ he replied. ‘I’ll join him,’ and as he turned to go, ‘Is all well with you?’
‘Ye-es,’ she said hesitatingly, and he glanced at her.
‘Are you sure? I’ve thought that you seemed to have lost some of your zest. The kind of work that the likes of us have to cope with can be wearing sometimes, to say the least.’
His concern was quickening her heartbeat and her colour was rising as she repeated that she was fine. Partly reassured, he left her and went to find his assistant and with his departure Darcey wondered what Daniel Osbourne would have said if she’d told him the reason for the melancholy in her that he had picked up on. He would probably have thought she was crazy to be so upset at the freedom that Alexander’s departure had given her.
When a couple of the nurses said they were going to go for a meal at a nearby restaurant on the promenade when they’d finished for the day and did she want to join them, she said yes, and thought that if Daniel saw her out and about he would have no cause to question her lowness of spirit.
Inevitably his name came up in the conversation during the meal as the three nurses chatted about their working day, and Darcey commented that it was to be hoped that the sailing club he was connected with didn’t meet every night or he wouldn’t have much time to spend with his family if both his days and nights were spoken for all the time.
The comment caused her two companions to observe her in surprise and they wasted no time in informing her that Dr Osbourne wasn’t married, that he was a free agent, and if he ever decided to change that situation there would be no shortage of would-be brides.
‘It would have been his sister and her children that you saw him with,’ they told her, and Darcey listened in amazement. ‘The dishy doctor was married way back, but it didn’t work out, from all accounts, and it seems that since then he has steered clear of matrimony with all its joys and sorrows, and gives all his attention to his sister’s children. You’ll know from seeing him on the wards how good he is with young ones.’
‘Er...yes,’ she agreed weakly, and thanked the unseen fates that had prevented her from saying anything out of turn to him. She’d been crazy to take it for granted that he was a family man that day, that the woman and children were his, and wondered what it was that had been the cause of his marriage break-up.
It was still early evening when Darcey arrived back at the apartment after the meal with the two nurses, and now, thinking back, it seemed a long time since her brief conversation with Daniel Osbourne after they’d done the ward rounds, but short as it had been there had been a oneness about it that had never been present before with any man she’d met.
* * *
The man on her mind had gone straight to the harbour after leaving Oceans House Hospital at the end of the day to enquire what progress the repairers were making with the damaged boat, and had been told by them that it would be at least a week before it was seaworthy again. With a grim nod Daniel had proceeded to the hospital where Ely was and had been relieved to find him much better.
The old man’s face lit up when he saw him and the first thing he said was, ‘I know about the boat, Daniel. Those young scallywags will get the length of my tongue when I get out of here. A couple of them came to visit me this morning and let the cat out of the bag because Bridget has been keeping quiet about it.’
‘Did they tell you that two of their friends are in Oceans House with injuries from the accident?’ Daniel questioned.
‘Aye, they did,’ he was told. ‘They’ll have to do better than that if they want to be in the lifeboat crew when they’re older. Has it been called out at all while I’ve been in here?’
‘No,’ his visitor said, ‘for which I’m thankful, as we both know the need for sea rescue can be sudden and dangerous to undertake, but at the moment all is calm.’ Daniel got to his feet. ‘I’m going to leave you now, Ely, and go for a bite at one of the places on the promenade to save me bothering when I get home. I’ll call to see you again soon and in the meantime take care.’
‘Aye,’ he agreed, ‘and you take care too. I’m expecting to be discharged in a week or so.’
As he drove along the promenade Daniel was half expecting to see Darcey Howard, as on other occasions, somewhere along the way, but not this time, and as he ordered a meal in his chosen restaurant the memory surfaced of how his second-in-command Brendan Stokes had been trying to chat her up when they’d arrived at the children’s ward that morning and how her lack of response had made him hide a smile.
But he was far from relaxed about the new ward sister’s seeming lack of family and friends. Was the romance she’d mentioned still off? Was that why she sometimes seemed remote? he wondered, and had to remind himself that it was absolutely nothing to do with him. He had his own life sorted and wasn’t looking for any side turnings.
* * *
The grip of winter was taking hold as October made way for November and Darcey was not looking forward to Christmas. Alexander had been in touch briefly to say that they were having a great time so far with no mention of being home for Christmas or the New Year.
When he asked what plans she had made for the festive season she was vague, not wanting to tell him that she hadn’t got any and that being so had volunteered along with others to work over Christmas and the New Year to give staff with families time with their loved ones.
* * *
She was surprised when one Friday morning in early November, Daniel took her to one side when he had finished his rounds and said with a smile, ‘The boat is now seaworthy again. Some of the club members with me in charge are taking it for a sail down the coast some time over Christmas, and remembering your comment about your brother’s interest in that sort of thing I wondered if you would like to come with us instead as he isn’t around to join us.
‘Some of the young ones seem to be at a loose end on Boxing Day so I thought maybe to go sailing then if the weather is suitable. That is if you’re free, of course, as I’m aware that Christmas is a busy time for most people.’
Darcey could feel her colour rising. The last thing she wanted was to have to explain to him that she was so lonely that she’d volunteered to work all over Christmas. So instead she told him truthfully that she would be otherwise engaged elsewhere.
‘Thank you for asking me,’ she said weakly. ‘It was a very kind thought, but I won’t be free any time over Christmas. I’m fully booked, I’m afraid.’
She saw surprise in his expression and thought that she could at least have explained why she wouldn’t be available, but there was no way she wanted anyone to know how alone she was, least of all him.
Daniel Osbourne had probably never had anyone of her sex not want to be with him, though it hadn’t exactly been for a date, she reminded herself. The other two nurses she’d been with that night had described him as a loner. There would have been a boat full of teenagers to keep them apart if she’d accepted the offer.
‘That’s fine, then, if you aren’t going to be alone,’ he said levelly, and went on his way.
When he’d gone Darcey could have wept with shame at the way she’d thrown his concern back in his face, but the fact remained that she just couldn’t have admitted what a miserable thing her life was at the present time, and if Daniel Osbourne was the loner that she’d been told he was, maybe he was also going to be on his own during the festivities, which would make her refusal of his suggestion even more bizarre.
Though having seen his sister and her children briefly, and in spite of the haste with which she herself had made her exit, she had noted the affection between them that day when they’d called to see him, so it seemed hardly likely.
* * *
The day, like any other when she was on duty, was demanding her time, energy and patience, and she put the unexpected conversation they’d just had to the back of her mind until such time as when she would be free to absorb it fully, which was fortunate as at that moment a ten-year-old boy was admitted to the ward in pain and fractious with the osteomyelitis, which was more common in children than adults.
Daniel had seen Evan Roberts in his clinic and given orders for him to be admitted to the children’s ward and given a course of antibiotics to clear the inflammation, and as Darcey and her staff followed his instructions and comforted Evan, there was an ache inside her at the memory of how she’d been so quick to refuse to sail in the ex-navy whaler that his club practised in.
Her reply to the effect that she was already going to be occupied on that occasion had been the truth and the reason for it had been understandable as far as she was concerned, having volunteered to work during the most important days of Christmas.
But would she have made that sort of commitment if she’d known that he was going to want to take her sailing, and what would he say should she tell him that she would love to go with him on some other occasion when she was free as long as the offer wasn’t made out of pity because of her solitary state.
Daniel had referred to the lifeboat on a few occasions, a bigger and more powerful craft than his club used, as theirs was involved more in the safety of local events, and the thought of it made her keen to know more about the man who had come into her life on a crowded passenger train.
* * *
As she was leaving the ward after checking on Evan and having handed his care over to the night staff, Darcey saw Daniel glance unsmilingly in her direction as he went to speak to one of them, leaving her to make her way home with the feeling that it was going to be a miserable evening and if that was what it turned out to be, she had only herself to blame. With that thought in mind she decided to eat out at one of the restaurants on the promenade to delay enduring the gloom of the evening ahead any more than she had to and went to the nearest one, only to discover that it wasn’t a good plan as just as she was about to enjoy the food put before her, Brendan Stokes appeared. Looking down at her upturned face, he said, ‘Hi, Darcey. Do you mind if I join you?’
Before she could say yes, no or maybe, he was seated opposite and was beckoning to a nearby waitress who had eyes only for a customer who had just presented himself at a table at the other side of the restaurant but had paused to answer his phone, and as Darcey followed the woman’s gaze she stifled a groan.
Why hadn’t it occurred to her? she thought. It was to be expected that staff from Oceans House who had been working all day would choose the nearest restaurant, as had been the case on the night she’d dined with the two nurses.
‘The boss just appeared,’ her unwelcome companion said. ‘He hasn’t had much to say today, but it’s clear that someone has rubbed him up the wrong way.’ As she glanced over again, she saw Daniel abruptly standing and preparing to leave. ‘Look, he’s no sooner arrived than he’s going, which I suspect will turn out to be a lifeboat alert.’
‘So tell me about Mr Osbourne’s connection with the lifeboat service,’ she said. ‘How does he come to be part of it?’
‘His father was in charge at one time, him and old Ely were the main crew members, and when he died a couple of years back Daniel agreed to fill the gap his passing had left.
‘He and Ely are hoping that some day new members of the lifeboat crew will come from their Young Sailors’ Club, but their antics while he’s been away haven’t exactly filled him with confidence.’
* * *
As he turned to leave, Daniel glanced across and saw Darcey and Brendan dining cosily together, it seemed, and his jaw tightened. Was his second-in-command the reason for Darcey’s fully booked Christmas, he thought grimly, the womaniser who never missed a trick if an attractive member of the opposite sex was anywhere near? Had the apparent lack of interest she’d shown when Brendan Stokes had eyed her up on his rounds merely been a pretence?
He had entered the restaurant by another door, but in leaving he passed their table and with a brief nod was gone in answer to the request for his presence on the lifeboat, taking with him the thought that she was the first woman he had even looked at since Katrina’s welcome departure, and he might have been on the way to making another big mistake.
