Читать книгу A Forever Family Collection - Коллектив авторов - Страница 30

ABBY’S eyes flickered over to the white board. There were currently fourteen patients in the ER, six of whom were children. It was busier than normal, with patients appearing to crawl out of the woodwork on the dull, overcast day.

Her eyes caught the tail of Luke’s white coat as he swept into the trauma room to deal with the third chest pain of the day. What were they going to do in a few days’ time when he went back to Washington? They hadn’t managed to arrange a replacement yet for Valerie Carter, their cardiologist, who’d just delivered a bouncing baby boy.

There was a little nudge at her elbow. David Fairgreaves, for once dressed immaculately in theatre scrubs, gave her a little smile. ‘It’s day four and Jennifer Taylor’s just started to labour. I’ll let you know when we’ve got a baby.’ He gave her a little wink and disappeared around the corner. A shiver ran down Abby’s spine. Pelican Cove would well and truly be on the map once the First Son or Daughter arrived. Did this mean the President would be coming? James Turner would spontaneously combust!

For the next few hours she worked steadily, seeing one child after another. Asthma attacks, nettle stings, tiny things stuck in places they should never be made the time fly past. By lunchtime she was ready for a break, but there was still one child to be seen. She lifted the chart and trudged behind the curtains. A familiar face sat in front of her. Jon King was a teenage skateboarder and spent his spare time in her emergency room, getting the latest part of his body stitched back up again. She gave a sigh. ‘What is it this time, Jon?’

He lifted his elbow, which had a large blood-soaked dressing pad on it. She gave a nod of her head. ‘Right, let’s get this cleaned up and see what we can do.’

Ten minutes later, Lincoln Adams stuck his head around the curtains.

‘Abby, can I steal you for a while?’ A wicked smile spread across his lips. ‘It’s a special request.’

Abby looked up as she finished snipping her last stitch. ‘There you are, good as new, Jon.’ The teenager gave her a nod as he examined his latest row of sutures in his elbow. ‘Nancy will put a dressing over that.’

She snapped off her gloves and rinsed her hands at the sink before joining Linc outside the curtain. ‘What’s up?’

He wrinkled his nose. ‘Things are progressing quicker than expected and I’d like another pair of hands in the room.’ He paused for a second. ‘And right now I strongly suspect Jennifer Taylor could do with the moral support.’

‘Doesn’t she have anyone with her?’

He shook his head. ‘Her husband isn’t here yet and she’s thrown all her aides out of the room. It’s medical personnel only.’

Abby gave a nod. ‘If you need me, I’m yours.’

‘Fabulous. Come on.’

He led her down the corridor and they pushed past the six men in black positioned outside the door. ‘I think we’re going to need Luke,’ mumbled Abby. ‘James Turner looks as if he could have a heart attack.’

Linc shot her a smile and nodded in the direction of the corner of the room where Dr Blair, the original obstetrician, sat positioned in a chair. ‘We might need Luke anyway. It seems that the family obstetrician doesn’t want to miss the main event—cardiac condition or not.’

‘Abby, you’re here. Thank you.’

Jennifer’s voice sounded strained. Her face was pale and sweating, with strands of hair sticking to her forehead.

Abby walked over and picked up the nearby hairbrush from the locker and automatically started combing Jennifer’s hair from her eyes, re-doing her hair and pulling it into a ponytail, just like she would have wanted someone to do for her. ‘Can I give you a shoulder rub?’ she asked as she positioned herself on the bed to support Jennifer.

Jennifer sighed and leaned back against her. ‘That would be great, Abby.’

Abby lifted her hands and started kneading away the tight knots in Jennifer’s shoulders. ‘How are we doing, David?’

David gave her a relaxed smile. He looked like the cat who had got the cream. Not like a man who was about to deliver the premature First Baby.

‘We’re doing great.’ He gave Jennifer’s hand a squeeze. ‘Mom is doing great. Almost fully dilated and this baby will be crowning any time soon. The main man had better get a move on. This baby waits for nobody—President or not.’

Jennifer gave a little gasp as another contraction hit her. ‘But I don’t want to do this without Charlie. I need him here with me.’

Lincoln Adams took a look at her face. The last thing he needed right now was a stressed mom. ‘I’ll get an update,’ he said as he stuck his head outside the door. There were muffled voices. ‘Five minutes. James Turner is apparently out on the helicopter pad, waiting for him.’

Jennifer sagged back against Abby as the contraction eased. ‘Thank the Lord,’ she breathed, and turned her weary head towards Linc. ‘Is this where I tell you I really, really want to push?’

He glanced towards David, who gave a nod of his head. ‘We’re ready when you are, Jennifer. On the next contraction feel free to push as hard as you like. I’ll tell you when to stop.’

Jennifer glanced towards the window as the noise of a helicopter approaching grew louder. Seconds later the sounds of thudding feet came down the hall.

Abby held her breath as the door swung open and the President swept into the room. James Turner and the rest of the security detail came to a halt at the door as it swung shut.

Jennifer gritted her teeth as another contraction racked her body. ‘What time do you call this, Charlie Taylor?’

Abby bit her lip as the man she’d only ever seen on television before dodged around the multitude of bodies in the room. He only had eyes for his wife. Abby slid out from behind the First Lady to give him room and went to take her place by Lincoln at the neonate cot.

She watched as Charlie Taylor, the President of the United States, kissed his wife on the forehead and then gently on each tensed eyelid. ‘I love you, baby,’ he whispered. ‘And there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.’ He slid into place behind her, supporting her shoulders and sliding his arms around her stomach, feeling the contraction grip her. His eyes lifted, acknowledging the others in the room but resting on David. ‘Everything okay?’

David smiled, as if he spoke to the President every day. ‘Let’s get this baby out.’

For Abby it was surreal. She stood in a room, surrounded by others but feeling as if she was the only person there. The slippery bundle was delivered within minutes, David lifting the baby out and laying her on top of her mom’s stomach. Lincoln sprang into action, checking the baby while the cord was cut and clamped and Mom and Dad had a cuddle.

A minute later he carried the First Daughter over to the neonate cot for a full examination. Abby breathed a sigh of relief as he did the routine newborn checks. She could see for herself that the little girl was breathing and her colour was good. A few seconds later she let out a hearty cry. Lincoln finished his checks, wrapped her in a blanket and took her back over to her parents.

‘Here we go,’ he said, handing her over. ‘A beautiful baby girl. 4 pounds 10 ounces—not bad for 32 weeks. She’s breathing well and her colour is good, but we will need to monitor her for the next few days. We will need to keep a careful eye on her feeding too, but for now she’s all yours.’

Jennifer breathed a huge sigh of relief as she and her husband bent over their baby daughter.

‘Hi, gorgeous.’ Charlie Taylor stroked his daughter’s face. ‘Just like your mommy.’ He bent over and gave Jennifer a kiss.

David smiled. ‘Do we have a name for the First Daughter, Mom and Dad?’

Jennifer looked up at her husband with tear-filled eyes. ‘Well, do we, Charlie?’

The President gave a little smile. ‘Jennifer got to pick the boy’s name and I got to pick the girl’s name. So our daughter will be called Esther Rose Taylor. After Jennifer’s grandmother.’ He gathered his wife and daughter in a warm embrace as the rest of the staff smiled and nodded at the gesture.

Esther, a biblical name. Just like Reuben’s. But Abby hadn’t got to choose Reuben’s name. It had been the one he’d come with and she would have never dreamed of changing it.

Abby felt her knees start to tremble and her arms start to shake. A beautiful, perfect baby. A little early maybe, but with the best care in the world. This little girl would have a better than average chance at life. But what about her own precious bundle? What would Reuben’s chances be? Her head started to swim.

‘Do you still need me, Linc?’

He looked up from where he was making a few notes and shook his head. ‘No, everything’s fine here. I’ll give you a call if I need a hand.’ He took in her pale expression. ‘Are you okay, Abby?’

She nodded wordlessly and pushed her way out of the room, her legs on autopilot as she strode down the corridor. Her hand reached into her pocket and she pulled out the hospital letter with Reuben’s appointment on it. She needed air. She needed clean, fresh air that you could only get from being outside.

All of a sudden she couldn’t be in there. But why now? Why, when it was probably the most important birth of the year? She hadn’t felt this way when she’d seen Valerie Carter’s new baby boy yesterday. But then again, she hadn’t witnessed the birth. She hadn’t seen the commitment and love of two devoted parents getting their first chance to hold their child—the child that would quickly become the centre of their whole universe.

And it made her want to cry. Because her little boy didn’t have that. He didn’t have two devoted parents and the best expert care in the world. He had one scared-out-of-her-wits mom.

‘Abby…’

She heard the voice shout her name, but ignored it, throwing open the outside door and walking out into the streaming sunshine. She tried to take some deep breaths, to fill her lungs and calm her heartbeat.

Seconds later a pair of arms swept around her, then a hand brushed her blonde hair from her eyes. ‘Are you okay, Abby? Did something happen to the baby?’

Luke’s voice was filled with concern, his arms supporting most of her weight while her legs were buckling under her. He pulled her over to the nearby bench outside the front doors of the hospital.

She sat for a few seconds, her eyes fixed on the horizon, her trembling hands in her lap. The hospital appointment card was screwed into a ball in her hands. ‘The baby’s fine, Luke. It’s a girl. And she’s perfect.’

The words broke her. Broke her last few seconds of stern resolve and she dissolved into tears.

And Luke just knew. Knew exactly what was wrong. The irony of the perfect baby wasn’t lost on him. Not while Abby feared for her son’s life.

He gathered her into his arms and stroked her hair. ‘One more day, Abby. Just get through today and we’ll find out tomorrow.’ He could feel the tension in her shoulders, the strain in her face.

‘I can’t do this,’ she whispered. ‘I can’t lose my baby.’

‘Stop thinking the worst. This might only be a minor setback. The bruises—they might just be that, bruises. It might not mean anything.’

The words made her angry, as if he wasn’t taking this seriously. She sat up. ‘You don’t know that. I don’t know that. Tell me something. Did you manage to get a good night’s sleep last night? Because I didn’t—I couldn’t sleep a wink.’

Her frustration was coming to a head now. ‘And don’t say “we”. Don’t say that as if you’re going to be here—you’re not. I can’t rely on you, Luke. I can’t let myself rely on you. This isn’t your life. It’s mine.’ She stood up now and started pacing around. ‘You don’t even like Reuben that much. Do you think I don’t know how awkward you feel around him? How much of a struggle it is for you to spend time with him?’

The whole world seemed to be exploding around her right now. Luke’s reappearance, Reuben’s threat of illness. And it was all her fault. She’d allowed him to slip back into her life. Because the truth was, she’d never stopped loving him. That’s why she’d never found room in her heart for anyone else. And from the second he’d walked through the doors of the ER everything had just fallen into place.

And right now it all just seemed so wrong.

Luke hadn’t moved. He sat on the bench and watched her pacing. She was venting her frustration and he knew that. Hell—he’d been there and worn the T-shirt. But she was right. And it was embarrassing.

He bit his lip. A voice echoed in his head— Ryan. Speak now or for ever hold your peace. They’d always joked that they would like to have walked into a wedding at that point and said something—anything—to the shocked congregation. How could he explain this?

‘Abby, it’s not that I don’t like Reuben. I do like him. I do.’

‘Then what is it?’ Her voice was clipped.

He swept his arms outwards. ‘It’s everything. It’s all of this. He’s just…so familiar to me. I feel as if I’m getting the chance to relive part of my life with Ryan all over again. And I know that’s wrong. He’s not Ryan—he’s Reuben—and I’m trying really hard not to get the two mixed up.’ He ran his fingers through his hair. His eyes met hers and he held his hand out towards her. ‘And then there’s you.’

She kept her arms firmly by her sides. ‘What does that mean?’

He stepped closer, putting his hands on either side of her waist. ‘This.’ He bent his head and kissed her gently on the nose. ‘I can’t separate out how I feel about you from all this.’

She shook her head. ‘I don’t understand…’

‘You’re a package deal now, Abby, and I know that. I can’t have one without the other.’

Her hands started to shake again. ‘You’re absolutely right, Luke, you can’t. So what do you mean—you can’t have one without the other?’ She stepped back to distance herself from him.

‘You would prefer it if Reuben wasn’t here, wouldn’t you?’

He hesitated, for just a fraction too long as he tried to find the right words.

The tears streamed down her cheeks. ‘I’m trying to face up to the fact my little boy might be having a relapse of his illness—one that could steal him away from me—and you wish he wasn’t here? What kind of a person are you?’

‘Abby, no…’ He reached out to touch her, but she jumped backwards.

‘Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me again, ever! You’re right, I am a package deal. It’s not enough that you have feelings for me. I need you to love Reuben too. I need to know that if something happened to me tomorrow, you would be willing to step in and be there for him—not wish him away!’

‘You’re putting words into my mouth that I never said.’

‘You didn’t have to say them, I can see them in your eyes!’

He shook his head. ‘You’re wrong, Abby. That’s not what you see. You’re not the only one that’s scared here.’

‘Scared of what?’

‘Scared of losing something that’s infinitely precious to me. I’ve been there—and barely survived. I don’t know if I can do that again. What happens if I love Reuben and I lose him too? What happens if I watch you fall apart before my eyes? Do you think there’s anything about this that’s easy?’ He was suddenly conscious of the fact he was shouting. The more upset he’d become, the louder his voice.

He looked out towards the sea. ‘This isn’t about the fact I’m awkward around kids. I am, and I know I am. When I knew I couldn’t have children I distanced myself from them. I didn’t really want to know what I was missing out on. Because that just makes it tougher to take. I’m not entirely sure what a four-year-old wants in this world. I’m trying to relate to Reuben, really I am. But I can only base what I know on my own memories— memories of me and my brother.’

His mouth curled upwards. ‘But Reuben’s different. The likeness to Ryan aside, he’s not your average kid and I’ve spent the last few days seeing that.’

He took her hands in his and pulled her back over towards the bench. ‘I want to be here for you, Abby. I want to be your friend.’

She took a sharp intake of breath. A friend. What did that mean exactly? This was all too much. She didn’t have the time or energy to waste on this right now. She needed to focus. She needed to prioritise.

She pulled her hands backwards into her lap, as if she was trying to put some distance between them. ‘You’ve confused things for me, Luke. I thought I had everything I wanted here. Then you appeared and…’ Her words trailed off. She shook her head. ‘I need to concentrate on Reuben right now. We’ve got an appointment tomorrow at San Fran Children’s Hospital.’ Her voice grew quiet. ‘I’ve no idea what will happen, but right now…’ she raised her eyes again to meet his ‘…I need to be a mom.’

His hand reached over and stroked her cheek. ‘I wouldn’t want you to be anything else, Abby. Being a mom is what I always wanted for you. You were made for this job.’

Her face changed and he couldn’t read it. A multitude of expressions flitted across her face as she obviously processed her feelings. Her eyes fixed on the screwed-up ball of paper still in her hand. Luke felt as if he was on a cliff edge, dangling, waiting for the right or wrong words that could send him tumbling into oblivion. If only he could say what she really needed to hear. That he loved her and he needed her. And that he could be there to hold Reuben’s hand no matter what the outcome. But he had to be sure. He had to be absolutely sure that this was something he could do. And the one person he could talk to about all this wasn’t here.

Ryan. Ryan only existed in his head now. He didn’t have him to laugh and joke with, to ask advice, to lend a sympathetic ear. And Abby was the person who would naturally fill that role for him now. She was the person who knew him best. So why couldn’t he talk to her about this? Why couldn’t he make her understand?

She looked so lost. And alone. Alone, with the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Noise surrounded them. A siren, approaching fast. He watched as a police car pulled up at the entrance, closely followed by a procession of sleek black cars. He jumped up and ran over to the police chief. ‘Is something wrong?’

The police chief took a second to give his badge a cursory glance, before watching as an array of men in black exited the cars. James Turner strode through the main entrance, his hand outstretched towards the chief.

‘Thanks for coming.’

Luke looked from one to the other. ‘What on earth is going on?’

James Turner raised his eyebrow. ‘Word’s got out about the First Lady. We’re just about to turn this into a no-fly zone. Our plans have changed. We need to resecure this area.’

‘What does that mean?’

The police chief shook his head. ‘Before, no one knew the First Lady was here. Now the media have hired every moveable object in the area and are trying to reach the hospital. The President’s here, so the whole area above Pelican Cove needs to be declared a no-fly zone for security reasons. It’s going to be chaos around here. And now we have a baby to protect too.’

Luke took a deep breath. This was the last thing they needed. He glanced over his shoulder towards Abby. She’d heard every word.

‘I’ll try and clear the ER.’ She headed back inside. Their conversation was clearly over.

She strode away from him and Luke watched as the crumpled hospital appointment rolled across the ground at her feet, like a tumbleweed ball across a desert.