Читать книгу Perfect Proposals Collection - Lynne Marshall - Страница 46

CHAPTER NINE

KATRINA woke twice in the night. Once when she kissed Rhys awake and, while all his defences were down, repaid him the pleasure he’d given her that morning. And once when she was startled out of a bad dream, and cuddled into him as if having his arms round her would protect her from the nameless fears that still lingered. As if he sensed it, he tightened his arms and murmured something she didn’t catch but which made her feel safe again.

And then it was morning.

Sunday morning, when neither of them had to be at the hospital.

When she woke, she half expected Rhys to be up already, reading the paper or a magazine at the kitchen table and nursing a cup of coffee, but he was still curled around her, holding her close.

It felt very, very odd.

She wasn’t used to waking up in someone’s arms. Not since Pete.

And today was a whole new day. Despite what they’d shared the previous night, would it be different now between them? Would Rhys have had time to think about it and come to the same conclusions that Pete had? Would he back away?

She stretched, very slightly, and was rewarded with a kiss in the curve between her neck and shoulder.

Oh.

So he was awake.

How long had he been awake? Had she snored or embarrassed herself by talking in her sleep or anything? The fears flurried through her mind.

‘Good morning, sleepyhead.’ His voice was clear, slightly amused. ‘I thought you said you were a lark?’

‘I am.’ It couldn’t be much past seven.

Then she glanced at the clock. ‘Nine o’clock?’ she asked in horror. ‘But I never sleep in this late!’ She twisted round to face him.

‘Neither do I. But I didn’t want to move,’ he admitted. ‘I liked waking up with you in my arms, all soft and warm.’

So he hadn’t changed his mind. He’d been awake for ages and he’d just wanted to hold her.

Warmth spread through her and her worries faded away. Maybe, just maybe, she thought, this was going to work out just fine.

‘So what now?’ she asked.

‘I thought we could take a shower. A long one. Together. And it’s miserable weather outside, so I’ll make us some breakfast. If there’s something on at the cinema, maybe we could go out.’ He stroked her face. ‘And if there’s not… Well, I’ll just have to lie with you on the sofa and watch a film here.’

A lazy Sunday afternoon in autumn spent with Rhys. She couldn’t think of anything she’d rather do. ‘Sounds good to me.’

The shower took a long, long time, and Katrina knew afterwards that she’d never be able to see her bathroom in quite the same light again. She’d always remember the way Rhys had lifted her against the tiles, the way the water had poured over their bodies as her body had tightened round his, the way he’d soaped her all over afterwards and dried her in a warm, fluffy towel.

Breakfast was forgotten; it was more like lunchtime when they finally made it downstairs. When they checked the cinema listings, there wasn’t anything on that either of them was keen to see. Glancing out of the window at the kind of drizzle she knew from experience was miserably penetrating, Katrina didn’t really want to go out anyway. They ended up cooking Sunday lunch together and having a quiet, domesticated day indoors—one of the sweetest, loveliest days Katrina had ever spent. They closed the curtains against the rain to watch a film noir, curled up together on the sofa, and afterwards Rhys played the cello for her before making love with her again.

If she’d been able to stop time and bottle it, she thought, she would’ve chosen that day. Because it was just perfect.

The next few weeks were the happiest Katrina had ever known. At work they kept things strictly professional, only having lunch together if it was a case conference on a patient, but outside she spent nearly all her free time with him.

Madison was right, Katrina thought. She had been missing out. And she knew without a doubt that Rhys was The One.

He hadn’t actually told her he loved her. Just as she hadn’t told him. But she knew. It was in his eyes, in the way he touched her, in the way he surprised her with tickets to a rarely shown film, in the way he made sure she could see his face when he said anything to her.

And even though Rhys moved back into his flat when the landlord had given him the all-clear after the roof repairs, he still spent his nights with her—either at his place or hers. She even kept a toothbrush and spare clothes at his places, as he did at hers.

Life didn’t get any better than this, Katrina thought. And he was gradually letting her close. Maybe, just maybe, things were going to work out. For both of them.

‘I’m the one who’s supposed to be glowing,’ Madison remarked, adding far too much pepper to her mushroom and avocado pizza.

‘You are glowing.’ Then Katrina realised what her cousin meant. ‘If you’re asking if I’m pregnant, don’t be daft. Of course I’m not. Clearly these cravings for disgusting pizza toppings are addling your brain.’

Madison rolled her eyes. ‘There’s nothing disgusting about avocado on pizza. And I wasn’t saying that you were pregnant. Just glowing. As in the glow that means you’re having absolutely loads of fantastic sex.’

‘Maddie!’

Her cousin grinned, totally unrepentant. ‘Well, you are, aren’t you?’

Katrina felt herself blushing to the roots of her hair. ‘Yes.’

‘Excellent. It’s good to see you happy, Kat. He’s the one, isn’t he?’

Katrina had quietly confided to her cousin that she was seeing Rhys. ‘We’re taking it day by day.’

‘But you’re in love with him, aren’t you?’

‘I’m not saying the words.’

Madison raised an eyebrow. ‘Take the risk. It’s worth it, I promise you.’

‘Not yet.’ There was still something holding Katrina back. She wasn’t sure what, but she couldn’t say it just yet. It was too new. And she’d only recently realised herself just how deeply her feelings went for Rhys. It was as if a missing piece of her life had slotted quietly into place.

‘Well, I’m pleased for you anyway.’

‘You haven’t said anything to anyone, have you?’ Katrina asked, suddenly worried. Now her cousin was ecstatically happy with Theo, she was trying to make sure that everyone else was, too.

‘Of course not. You told me in confidence.’ Madison sighed. ‘When your mum rang me the other day to find out if there was a special reason why you sounded so happy nowadays, I said it was because you loved your job and you’re doing well in your exams and you’re probably going to make registrar quicker than I did.’

‘Thank you.’ Katrina toyed with her own pizza. Though she wasn’t surprised that her mother had called Madison for a quiet word. Madison’s mother always called Katrina when she was concerned about Maddie, knowing they were close and always looked out for each other.

Madison reached over and squeezed her hand. ‘Hey. Remember what you said to me about Theo when I was scared? You told me to hang in there because when he’d sorted out whatever the problem was in his head, he’d be worth the wait. And you were right. He was.’

‘This is different.’

‘It isn’t different at all. It’s merely that Rhys hasn’t got around to telling you what’s in his head yet. And have you told him about Pete the Toad?’

‘Yes. And he says my hearing’s part of who I am—he doesn’t have a problem with it.’

‘Good. Otherwise I’d break every bone in his body. Twice,’ Madison said, very coolly and very seriously.

‘Maddie!’ Katrina said, shocked.

‘Well, I love you,’ her cousin said, looking completely unrepentant. ‘And anyone who hurts you has me to deal with.’

‘He’s not going to hurt me, Maddie.’ She bit her lip. ‘At least, not intentionally. But I don’t want to be the first one to say how I feel,’ she admitted, knowing that her confidence to her cousin would go no further. ‘In case I’ve got it wrong.’

‘For the record,’ Madison said, ‘I don’t think you’ve got it wrong. He’s quiet and deep, but you’re the quiet one of the family so he suits you perfectly.’ She smiled. ‘And I’m expecting to be a bridesmaid, you know. Or matron of honour, whatever you want to call it.’

‘You,’ Katrina said, ‘aren’t just counting your chickens, you’re giving them all names! But if—and I mean if—I ever get married, of course you’re walking down the aisle behind me. Except your dress won’t be pink.’

‘The colour’s negotiable. But I want high heels,’ Madison said with an irrepressible smile.

‘Anyway, we should be planning your wedding, not mine.’

‘It isn’t going to be until late spring—probably the first week of May—and we have loads of time to plan.’ Madison spread her hands. ‘It’s the same deal. Well, almost. I can’t marry Theo in a church, so you won’t be walking down the aisle behind me… But you’ll be there, in a dress—and very, very flat shoes.’

‘How about a trouser suit?’ Katrina suggested hopefully.

‘Dress,’ Madison said firmly. ‘As a bridesmaid or a bride. But I might let you off with a trouser suit at the christening.’ She paused. ‘Christening. That reminds me. Christmas. We’re having it at ours this year. Mum and Dad are coming down, Theo’s parents are flying over from Greece, and I want you to meet them.’

Katrina looked ruefully at her. ‘Sorry, hon. I’d love to be there, but I’m working on Christmas Day.’

‘Early or late shift?’

‘Early.’

‘Good, that makes it a bit easier. Then this is how we’ll do it,’ Madison said. ‘I’ll invite Aunt Babs and Uncle Danny up for the day, too, so they get to meet Theo and his family before the wedding, and they can see you on Christmas Day instead of making do with a phone call—and you can come round to our place straight after your shift.’

‘Don’t hold Christmas dinner up for me,’ Katrina said. ‘I’ll grab something on the ward. Just save me some turkey and salad for a sandwich and a big bit of Christmas cake.’

Madison laughed. ‘Stop worrying. Theo’s cooking, not me—and, actually, I was hoping you’d make us your special chocolate Christmas cake.’

‘Course I will. But I mean it. Don’t wait for me to get there before you have lunch. I’ll join in when I get there.’

Madison coughed. ‘Actually, the invitation was for “you” as in plural. I meant Rhys as well. Unless he’s going back to Wales?’

‘I’m not sure.’ They hadn’t discussed it. ‘I’ll check and let you know,’ Katrina promised.

‘Good. Because this is going to be the best Christmas ever,’ Madison said.

Rhys could hear the screams from the other end of the ward. Quickly, he reassured his patient and his mum that he’d be back in a second, and headed straight for the sound. Katrina clearly had the same idea, because she arrived in the cubicle at the same time.

Denise—a four-year-old who’d been patched up in Theatre following a car accident and had been brought to the ward from the recovery room thirty minutes previously—was thrashing on the bed and screaming.

‘All right, sweetheart. It’s going to be OK,’ he soothed, holding the little girl’s hand.

Lynne was in the doorway. ‘What happened? I did her obs five minutes ago and she was asleep.’

‘My guess is she just woke up to find herself in a strange place and she’s scared and she wants her mum,’ Katrina said. ‘Plus there was the trauma of the accident—it might just have hit her. Does anyone know the situation with her parents?’

‘I’m on it. Back in a tick,’ Lynne said.

‘Check her notes,’ Rhys said. ‘Could be pain, too.’

Katrina flicked swiftly to the drug chart. ‘According to this, they gave her pain relief in the recovery room. So if she’s hurting…’

She didn’t need to say the rest of it. They both knew that it meant Denise’s injuries could be more severe than the emergency and surgical teams had thought and the little girl needed to go back into Theatre.

‘Can you tell me where it hurts, bach?’ Rhys asked.

But Denise was still wailing too much to listen to him.

‘Let me give her a cuddle,’ Katrina said. ‘I’ll tell her a story, and if I can calm her down a bit she might be able to tell us what’s wrong.’

Rhys had seen how children responded to Katrina—how she’d calmed nervous and upset children on the ward before. There was something about her that made the ward feel like a still, calm place when the world was raging and spinning outside.

And that was how she made him feel, too.

So he let Katrina take his place at the little girl’s bedside and lingered a while to watch her as she cuddled the little girl and started talking to her about fairies and princesses and a magic star that could guide everyone home. Gradually, the little girl’s screams subsided to noisy tears, and finally to the odd hiccuping sob as she listened to Katrina’s quiet, soothing voice. Katrina rocked the little girl gently, stroking her hair and calming her.

Seeing her like that, Rhys suddenly realised the unthinkable.

He loved her.

Really loved her.

Being around Katrina was like being bathed in spring sunshine. And his world had been a much, much brighter place since she’d been in it.

Oh, lord.

This was seriously scary.

He’d never felt like this before. He didn’t know how to tell Katrina—where to start, even. Though he knew that in the middle of the ward when they were looking after a distressed child definitely wasn’t the right time or place.

‘So can you tell me what’s wrong, sweetheart?’ Katrina asked. ‘Does it hurt?’

‘Want my mummy,’ the little girl hiccuped, her lower lip wobbling.

Katrina glanced up at Rhys, her eyes full of questions.

He knew exactly what she needed to know. Whether Denise’s mum was out of Theatre and when she’d be able to visit. He nodded. ‘I’ll go and find Lynne and see what’s going on.’

He met the paediatric nurse halfway back to the reception desk. ‘Any news on Denise’s parents?’

‘Not good,’ Lynne said. ‘Her mum’s still in Theatre, and her dad’s not answering his mobile phone.’

‘How about grandparents? Aunts and uncles? A family friend, even?’ he asked. ‘Denise’s mum must have had an emergency contact number somewhere—even if the paramedics couldn’t find one on her mobile phone, maybe there was something in her diary or a notebook. Even a scrap of paper. There has to be something.’

‘They’re snowed under in the emergency department. I had a word with Eve—’ one of the senior nurses in the emer¬ gency department ‘—and she says she’ll get one of her juniors on it as soon as she can. She suggested trying the GP.’

‘That’s assuming we can get in touch with the GP in the first place. And even then it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll have emergency contacts.’ Rhys shook his head impatiently. ‘Katrina’s doing a brilliant job, but she can’t stay with Denise indefinitely. She’s due in clinic in half an hour and we don’t have anyone to cover her—Will’s in surgery and I’m in clinic myself. I know Tim’s shadowing Katrina, but we can’t chuck him in the deep end and make him do a clinic without supervision or back-up. It isn’t fair to him or the patients.’ And cancelling the clinic wasn’t an option either.

‘If Denise has bonded with Katrina, she’s not going to want to let someone else take over,’ Lynne said with a sigh. ‘And screaming the place down really isn’t going to be good for the little one, let alone the fact it’ll upset the other kids.’

‘She needs a familiar face,’ Rhys said. And although they could probably send someone down from the ward to try and find a contact, it’d be quicker for him to do it because he could give an update on Denise’s condition at the same time and answer any questions for anyone he managed to get in touch with. He folded his arms. ‘I’ll go down to the emergency department myself. Bleep me if you need me, warn Reception that this afternoon’s clinics are going to be running late—and if there’s a problem, I’ll take the flak. I’ll let Katrina know the situation on my way out. Can you ring Eve and tell her I’m on my way down?’

‘Will do.’

‘Thanks, Lynne. You’re a star.’ And it was good to know he could leave everything in the nurse’s more than capable hands.

This was definitely a scenario where Katrina’s hearing loss came into its own, he thought. Because he’d be able to mouth the message to her so the little girl didn’t hear and get worried, but Katrina would be able to understand him. He dropped by the cubicle to explain the situation, then headed to the emergency department.

Eve, who’d been primed by Lynne, got Denise’s mother’s handbag out of the department safe for him.

‘The paramedics tried the ICE number,’ Eve said, referring to the ‘in case of emergency’ number that some people had included on their mobile phones. ‘But apparently it’s the same as her husband’s number. There’s just no reply.’

‘Let’s try the diary.’ He flicked through the pages until he found the addresses section. ‘Oh, hell. Either she hasn’t written down her parents’ number because she knows it off by heart, or she’s not in contact with them. But there’s a number here under “Nursery”.’ He gave Eve a relieved smile. ‘That means they’ll know Denise—and they’re bound to have emergency contacts in addition to Denise’s father.’

He managed to get through to the nursery manager and explained the situation. ‘So do you have an emergency contact number we could use, please?’

‘I’m sorry,’ the nursery manager said, ‘I can’t give out a number.’

Rhys sighed. ‘I rather think that a car accident ending up with a frightened little girl in a hospital bed following surgery, while her mother’s still in Theatre and her father’s not answering his mobile phone, counts as an emergency. Surely you can give me someone I can contact?’

‘We can’t give out a number,’ the nursery manager repeated. ‘It’s a breach of the data protection rules and we’d get into a lot of trouble.’

Rhys was very tempted to yell at the woman that sometimes rules needed to be broken, for the sake of common sense and kindness, but kept a lid on his temper. ‘Then would you be prepared to call your contacts on my behalf? And, just so you know this isn’t some kind of stupid prank, you can call the children’s ward here and check. I imagine, as a local nursery, you’d have our number anyway—but, just in case, do you have a pen?’

‘Yes.’

‘Good.’ Rhys gave her the number for the direct line to the ward. ‘I’m Dr Rhys Morgan. Ask for me—or if I’m not back from the emergency department you can speak to the senior sister, Lynne Brearley. Right now my senior house officer’s with Denise and keeping her calm, but Denise really needs someone she knows with her as soon as possible.’

‘Is she going to be all right?’

‘She’s comfortable,’ Rhys said dryly.

‘Um. Data protection.’

He’d just bet the woman’s face was bright red. And right at that moment he didn’t have much sympathy with her. ‘Indeed. Thank you for your help. And I’d appreciate it if you could call someone for Denise right now.’

When he got back to the ward, Lynne accosted him.

‘I’ve just put the phone down to Denise’s grandparents. They’re on their way in,’ she said. ‘You’re a star.’

‘Hey, I’m not the one who’s managed to make a little girl feel that the whole world hasn’t completely collapsed on her. Our Katrina’s the one who deserves the credit.’

‘She’s so good with the little ones. Really lights up their world,’ Lynne said.

She lit up his world, too. And Rhys decided that he would tell her that night.