Читать книгу Her Miracle Twins - Margaret Barker - Страница 9

‘IT WAS THAT wretched stone just under the surface that tripped me up, Michel. Look at that dreadful, jagged monster. Somebody must have—’

‘Chantal, keep still, will you? I’m trying to assess how much damage you’ve done.’

‘Damage I’ve done? I’m trying to keep still but— Ow, that hurt!’

Sprawled on the sand, Chantal glared up at the tall, athletic man in white running shorts and black tee shirt who was now kneeling on the sand beside her. He appeared to have come from nowhere as she’d tripped and hurt her ankle. She deduced he must have been running behind her, but he was barely recognisable as the suave director of Accident and Emergency she was used to seeing as she worked alongside him at the Hôpital de la Plage.

‘If you weren’t my boss I’d …’

He looked down at her, smiling in the most patronisingly irritating yet surprisingly sexy way, his fingers firmly supporting her swelling ankle. She told herself to concentrate on the pain, which would help her to stop fantasising about something that was never going to happen to her again—especially with the usually serious, work-focussed Dr Michel Devine.

‘I’m going to have to carry you up the beach to my car up there on the promenade so I can get you back to the hospital.’

‘No! I don’t want to be carried. Just help me to my feet so I can hop as far as—’

‘Be quiet, Dr Winstone, and that’s an order! ’

She frowned as she decided to give in to him. He always got his own way in Urgences but she’d never seen him quite so domineering before. She couldn’t help admiring the expression on his face. It made him appear even more desirable as a man. And she didn’t do desirable any more. Not since last September.

She decided the pain was addling her brain, filling her head full of mad ideas. Weird feelings she would never have contemplated since she’d changed completely on that awful night.

Effortlessly, Michel picked her up and carried her in his arms across the sand. The pain in her ankle was now becoming more intense. She decided to give in completely. He was, after all, the most experienced expert in accidental injuries for miles around, probably in the whole of France. And it was a good feeling to simply relax in his arms.

Yes, she should be grateful he’d come along when he had. And the pleasant feeling of strong, muscular, masculine arms around her helped to counteract the pain. Since the two-timing Jacques had done the dirty on her she’d never expected to tolerate a man’s arms around her again.

As he was loading her into the back seat of his car she put on a contrite tone of voice and told him she was sorry.

‘Sorry for what? Being a difficult patient? Forget it. I get to see them every day. Once I’ve shown them how to co-operate, as I did with you, we get on fine. Your childish behaviour was because you were suffering from shock, probably still are.’

He was looking directly into her eyes now, an expression of concentration creasing his forehead. She found herself admiring his warm, brown, expressive eyes.

‘How’s the pain now? Worse?’

She nodded as a particularly sharp spasm passed through her ankle. ‘Mmm. Do you have any—?’

He was already pulling out a strip of painkillers from his glove compartment. ‘Swallow those two with this water.’ He opened a new pack. ‘Now, try to keep the ankle as still as you can. I’ll get it X-rayed as soon as we get back to hospital.’

She lay still as Michel drove off. The welcome sight of the Hôpital de la Plage came into view and she gave a sigh of relief.

‘It was the warm spring sunshine that tempted me out this Sunday morning,’ she muttered, almost to herself, as Michel drove up to the front entrance of the hospital. ‘I should have stayed in bed.’

‘So should I. I hadn’t planned that I would have to work on my day off.’

He switched off the engine as a porter arrived to remonstrate with the owner of this car parking in an ambulance space.

‘Oh, sorry, Dr Devine. I hadn’t recognised you. I see you’ve got a patient on the back seat so— Oh, it’s you, Dr Winstone. Are you all right?’

‘No, she’s not all right. Could you please bring a stretcher and then park my car in the staff car park?’

Chantal could tell that Michel was reverting to type after his initial attempt to be patient with her. She remained very still and quiet as a nurse came out to help the porter load her onto the trolley. Michel supervised while holding her right ankle to prevent any further damage as they trundled along to X-Ray.

‘Good news No fractures.’ Michel was pointing out the X-rays illuminated on the screen.

She raised her head from the pillow.

‘Thank heavens for that. So it’s simply a sprain. I’ll get the ankle strapped up and I’ll be on duty again tomorrow morning.’

He frowned. ‘Chantal, there’s nothing simple about a sprain, as you well know. I think you’ve been lucky that you haven’t torn the surrounding ligaments but there’s been mild stretching of the ligaments which will have to be dealt with. The treatment is to minimise the pain. You’ve started on the paracetamol. Two five hundred mg every six hours will take the edge off it. For the first three days you need complete rest, ice-pack applications pressed on to the injury for fifteen minutes every two hours and—’

‘Michel, I can’t possibly do all that. I’ve got too much to do.’

‘Exactly. That’s why I’m going to put you in a side ward attached to Female Orthopaedic. I take no chances with my staff. Deal with a sprain properly at the beginning and future problems shouldn’t arise.’

Chantal lay back on the trolley, looking up at the bright lights above her head. Michel was on the phone to the orthopaedic sister. He was smiling now. ‘Yes, we’re coming along now if that’s OK with you, Sidonie? Good. Yes, you know Chantal, Dr Winstone. She’s been with us in Emergency since February. We’ll go over the treatment she needs when I arrive. I’ve got hold of a porter at last. Be with you in a couple of minutes.’

Half an hour later Chantal was safely settled in an orthopaedic bed, wearing the most unglamorous hospital pyjamas. Her right leg was elevated on hard orthopaedic cushions, Sister Sidonie was applying an ice pack to the painful area. Michel was watching her every move as if ready to criticise.

‘Ow!’ Chantal found it impossible to check her cry as Sister pressed on the painful area.

Michel was nodding his approval. ‘That’s exactly right, Sister. More pressure on the injury just there. Keep it like that for fifteen minutes. Here, let me show you the exact pressure required to reduce this inflammation.’

Taking over from Sister Sidonie, he placed his fingers on Chantal’s ankle.

‘Michel!’

‘Yes, I expect that did hurt a bit but you’ll thank me for this later.’

Chantal lay back against the pillows and gave in. She didn’t know what he had in mind for the thanks she would have to give him. Even through the pain he was inflicting she got a thrill at the touch of his fingers. Most bizarre. She’d worked with this man for over two months and hadn’t ever thought of him in this way. As she’d suspected earlier, the pain must have addled her brain. She’d gone back to childhood days and was imagining he was a knight in shining armour who’d come to rescue her from danger, probably on a white horse instead of simply jogging along the beach.

‘That’s better.’ He smiled and patted her hand.

His teeth were very white, she noticed now, very even. His dark hair, which was hanging down over his forehead as he leaned over her, gave him a rumpled, little-boy look, something she’d never seen before as he worked efficiently on his patients. But it was those sexy dark brown eyes that were impossibly attractive. How come they hadn’t registered with her until this morning?

‘Sister, I’ll be back later in the day. Reapply the pack for fifteen minutes every two hours. In about four days we’ll be able to put the ankle in a tubular compression bandage and get the physiotherapist to introduce massage, ultrasound therapy and gentle joint movement.’

Chantal raise her head. ‘Michel, when can I go back to my room in the medics’ quarters?’

‘That will depend on your progress. Hopefully in a few days we should be able to get you up on crutches. Once you can move around with the use of a stick I might let you go back to your room so long as you don’t take any weight on the right ankle. You may even spend an hour or so in Emergency doing paperwork or something non-strenuous. We’ll have to see how you get on.’

She couldn’t help noticing that he’d reverted to his totally professional manner with her. She was just another patient requiring attention on his day off. Fine. He was just another medical colleague. When these unusual flights of fancy left her she would revert to type as well.

He was glancing at his watch. ‘Any questions before I have to go?’

She suddenly felt a moment of panic. ‘When will you be coming back?’ As soon as she’d asked the pathetic question she regretted it. What was the matter with her? The pain gave her an excuse perhaps but she hoped he didn’t read anything into it.

Sidonie was smiling at her in a reassuring, almost maternal way. ‘It’s OK, Chantal, we’ll take care of you.’

‘I’ll be back this evening. Don’t worry. A month from now you’ll wonder what all the fuss was about.’

She certainly would. As she watched the lithe, athletic figure disappear through the door she was experiencing mixed emotions. Somehow she felt she was getting to know the real person beneath the dour façade Michel presented to his professional colleagues. Her emotions this morning were dangerously out of order. She too had always elected to present a façade to her colleagues to cover up the agony she’d been through before she’d started working here.

Sidonie applied more pressure with the ice pack. ‘Quite a charmer, isn’t he?’

Chantal hesitated. ‘Well, I wouldn’t say that. He’s good at his job.’

‘Oh, he’s devoted to his job. You know his wife died don’t you? Over three years ago, I believe. Apparently, she died of cancer and he’s never got over it. We all fancied him when he arrived to be Director of Emergency, over a year ago now.’

Sidonie gave an expressive sigh. ‘Well, who wouldn’t fancy him? Tall, dark and handsome and built like an athlete. But he made it quite clear to all of us that he wasn’t interested in relationships. He’s the sort of man who obviously adored his wife and will never take a long-term girlfriend. Definitely not remarry, that’s for sure! She must have been a very special woman to deserve such loyalty from him.’

Sidonie paused in her observations and gave another sigh. ‘That’s unfortunate for all the unmarried staff who lavish attention on him. If I wasn’t a forty-year-old married woman with two children I’d fancy him myself.’

She removed the ice pack and smiled down at her patient. ‘You’ve been working in Emergency since February, haven’t you? I heard you were on the medical staff of a hospital in Paris before you came here. How does the Hôpital de la Plage compare to your previous hospital?’

Chantal hesitated. ‘Well, it’s different. Actually, it’s like coming home for me. You see, I was born just a few miles away in Montreuil. My English father died when I was seven. My French mother resumed her teaching career after that and she took me to live in Paris where she’d got a job. That’s where she brought me up, although we always used to return to this area and stay here during the long summer vacation.

‘This coastline feels like my second home because I know it so well. When I was old enough I did my medical training in Paris and took a staff position when I qualified.’

Sidonie put the ice pack down on a trolley and sat down beside her patient. ‘Was it because you regard this area as your second home that you chose to leave Paris?’

Chantal looked at the figure of the kindly woman and found her experienced presence very comforting. She welcomed a girly chat to take her mind off the pain and the unexpected turn of events today.

She lay back against her pillows. ‘It was a sudden decision. Very sudden.’

She drew in her breath as the awful memory of that fateful day flooded back to her.

‘One minute I was on cloud nine, in love with the man of my dreams, three months pregnant with his much-wanted baby.’

She hesitated. Should she, indeed could she, go on? What did she have to lose?

‘Then the phone rang and everything changed.’

Her voice was quavering as she gathered her thoughts. Was it really a good idea to unload the sordid details onto someone who was a colleague?

The orthopaedic sister was watching her with a deeply sympathetic expression on her face, as if anticipating what was to come. Oh, it would be good for her to get it off her chest. She’d bottled it up ever since she arrived at the Hôpital de la Plage. It was about time she relaxed and socialised a bit more. It wasn’t her fault she’d been totally hoodwinked by a despicable, two-timing scoundrel.

She could hear the sound of a heavy trolley being pushed past her door through the swing doors into the ward and the murmur of the nurses and patients as the doors opened.

A nurse knocked, before opening her door. ‘Dr Winstone, would you like some lunch?’

Chantal shook her head. ‘No, thank you, Nurse.’

Sidonie turned her head. ‘Is everything OK in the ward, Sylvie?’

The young nurse smiled. ‘Fine, Sister. A nice quiet Sunday for once.’

‘I’ll be back to check the medicines after you’ve served the lunch. Pay attention to the patients on extra fluids, won’t you?’

‘Of course, Sister.’ She turned back to her patient. ‘So what happened after the phone rang?’

Chantal moved her good foot into a more comfortable position at the side of the cushions supporting her injured ankle as that fateful evening last September came flooding back.

‘I was in the kitchen in my apartment, roasting a chicken for our supper, I remember. My boyfriend had phoned earlier to invite himself round that evening so I’d picked up a chicken at the supermarket on my way home from hospital.’

She swallowed hard. ‘The phone rang. I answered it. It was a woman’s voice. She asked if Jacques was there. I called him over and went on preparing the meal. I assumed it was probably one of his private patients. He seemed to have lots of those. He was such a charming person. Unpredictable, though. I never knew when he was going to turn up.’

Already she could feel the bitterness welling up inside her. ‘He took the phone into the sitting room. I could hear his voice, very low, more like a whisper. Then suddenly he started shouting. ‘No, you mustn’t do that! No, you can’t come here. You can’t! ’

Sidonie sat very still as she waited for Chantal to continue. She could see how upset she was.

‘He slammed down the phone and came back into the kitchen. His face was drained of all colour and he was trembling. At the same time I could hear footsteps on the stairs coming up from the ground floor of my apartment block. Then hammering on the door.’

‘Who was it?’

‘His wife. I had no idea he was married. It transpired that she’d been caring for her sick mother in the south of France for a few months. A friend had tipped her off that her husband was being unfaithful and had given her my address and phone number.’

‘So what happened when his wife arrived?’

Chantal cleared her throat. ‘She started shrieking at him. Hitting him in the chest with her fists. He grabbed her wrists, fending off the blows as he tried to placate her. He said he could explain everything. How pathetic! The evidence was there before the poor woman’s eyes, for heaven’s sake. I found myself feeling sorry for her.’

‘So, did she start shouting at you?’

‘No, that was the strange thing. She barely glanced at me. It was her pig of a husband she was mad with. I’d heard enough about his womanising as she continued to hurl abuse at him. I just wanted it all to stop. So I opened my door and asked them both to leave.’

‘And then?’

‘They noticed me at last. His wife grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the door. I continued to hold the door wide open. She was still shouting. I told them both again to get out of my apartment. After they’d gone I went into my bedroom. My brain had gone numb. I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes, willing myself to sleep.’

No, she couldn’t tell her any more of the agony that had come afterwards, not now anyway. She wanted to move forward with her life. She was a different person from the innocent, trusting woman she’d been. The heartbreaking experience later that night had changed her for ever. She couldn’t even speak about her miscarriage.

‘I’m sorry, Sidonie, to burden you with all this.’

Sidonie leaned across and patted her hand. ‘Thank you for sharing a confidence with me. I feel privileged to have been told something of your background. You always seemed so quiet and withdrawn when you first started working in Emergency. I hadn’t realised the suffering you’d been through. If ever you need a shoulder to cry on …’

‘Thanks, but I’ve done all the crying I’m going to do. The past is over. It’s the present and the future that are important to me now.’

She must have fallen asleep after Sister had gone back into the ward. The sun, which had been shining full into her window, had dipped below the rooftops of the hospital. She became aware of someone being in the room and turned to look at her bedside chair.

‘I hope I didn’t wake you?’

‘Julia! What a lovely surprise.’ She held out her arms at the sight of her cousin then winced as she unwittingly moved her damaged ankle.

Julia rose to her feet. ‘Don’t try to move, Chantal.’ She bent down and kissed her cheek. You looked so peaceful when I came in. Sister said you would probably be waking up soon.’

‘Oh, it’s so good to see you again. How did you know I was here?’

‘Well, Bernard phoned Sidonie this afternoon to say he was coming in to Orthopaedics to check on the patient he’d chosen for teaching purposes tomorrow morning. Bernard always asks their permission, checks these patients carefully and makes sure they know that he will be supervising his students all the time. I remember when I was one of his students I was always so impressed with the care he took to ensure the patients knew exactly what they were letting themselves in for.’

‘I love to hear about when you were one of Bernard’s students and you found him so difficult and demanding as a professor while you were studying with him for that prestigious exam in orthopaedic surgery.’

Julia laughed. ‘He was only being difficult, he told me afterwards, to ensure I got the best results. After that I managed to thaw him out and … well, you know how it all ended. Marriage and a baby on the way. Anyway, Sister Sidonie told Bernard you were in the side ward here, having sprained your ankle and stretched the ligaments. That must be really painful. I just had to come and check how you are and if there was anything you need.’

‘I can’t fault the way they’ve treated me. Right from the time Michel picked me up off the beach’

‘Michel? What on earth were the two of you doing on the beach together?’

Chantal, well aware of the insinuating grin on her cousin’s face, quickly set her straight with the basic details, starting with the important fact that they hadn’t gone to the beach together. Michel had arrived just as she’d tripped up on a killer of a stone absolutely lying in wait for her.

‘Ah, I see. So Michel brought you back to hospital, set up your treatment and then disappeared.’

‘He’s coming back this evening to check on me. How’s young Philippe?’

Julia’s expression softened. It was always obvious that she adored her husband’s son from his first marriage.

‘He’s fine. Marianne—you remember our brilliant housekeeper who’s been with the family since she was sixteen? Well, she’s at home with Philippe. We told him we were going to see you but that he couldn’t come to see you this time because he had an early start tomorrow. School in the morning, so it was an early night tonight. Marianne was giving him supper when we left and we’ll be back in time to read him a bedtime story.’

Chantal gave a nostalgic sigh. ‘I always loved the bedtime stories you and I had when we were staying together at your house or mine in Montreuil before Mum and I went to live in Paris, didn’t you?’

Julia smiled. ‘We lived more like sisters in those days, just like our mothers had been, didn’t we?’

Chantal giggled. ‘And because our mothers are identical twins I used to wake up sometimes in the night at your house, calling out for my mother. When your mother came in I was convinced she was mine. Oh, hello, Bernard.’

Her cousin-in-law came over and kissed her cheek. ‘How are you getting on, Chantal? Are they treating you OK?’

‘I’m being spoiled rotten.’

‘Even by the exacting Michel?’

Someone else was pushing open the door. Chantal watched as Michel advanced into the crowded side ward. He grinned as he overheard Bernard’s comment about him.

Bernard shook his colleague’s hand. ‘Sorry, Michel, I didn’t know you were coming back this evening. Such devotion to duty.’

Michel raised an eyebrow. ‘And on my day off too!’

‘Actually, we were just leaving. Promised to be back home before Philippe goes to sleep. He adores Marianne but there’s nothing like a paternal voice reading the bedtime story, is there?’

Bernard held out his hand to help his wife as she got to her feet.

She smiled up at him. ‘Oh, so you’re volunteering to read the story tonight, are you?’

‘Don’t want to tire you out, my love.’ He placed a hand gently over Julia’s pregnant bump. ‘Only a few weeks to go now.’

‘Don’t forget you promised to make me godmother,’ Chantal said.

‘You’ll be the most perfect godmother,’ Julia said as she bent over the bed to give her cousin a kiss.

After they’d gone Michel lost no time in checking out her injured ankle. He looked down at her as his experienced fingers gently palpated the damaged area. She winced but refrained from comment as she looked up at him. His expression was so sensitive, so caring, so totally wrapped up in what his patient had suffered and was going through. She told herself that was all she was, another patient. And that was how she wanted their relationship to remain.

‘Good. The swelling’s going down. Sister’s done a good job this afternoon.’

He sat down in the chair beside the bed. ‘Anything you’d like to ask before I go?’

She found herself wishing she dared ask him to stay longer but instead she shook her head and told him she was sure the nurses would continue to take care of her. Better to dampen down the ridiculous feelings she was experiencing. Who needed male company anyway? Certainly she didn’t.

He stood up. ‘I’m sure they will. I’ll go and see Sister now and find out who’s on duty this evening. You must have some supper, Chantal. Got to keep up your strength. I’ll be back in the morning to see you.’

She watched as the door closed after him, willing the sad feeling to go away. She knew she mustn’t allow these insane seductive feelings about Michel to enter her mind. In her post-Jacques life she’d convinced herself that she could never trust a man with her heart again. She would never open herself up to potential pain. She must remind herself every day and never weaken her resolution.

Michel drove out of the staff car park at a furious rate. He slowed as he started to ascend the narrow winding road to the top of the hill. This was always where he began to relax after he’d been on duty. But today he found it harder than usual to switch off, even though technically, it had been his day off.

Reluctantly he admitted to himself that the problem was Chantal. Ever since she’d joined the staff in Emergency in February he’d been aware of her. She was different from all the others. Someone whose company he enjoyed. But it was a totally platonic feeling. It had been more than three years since Maxine had died and his love for her had grown stronger. Every day he still grieved. But somehow when he was with Chantal he became interested in her as a woman.

Surely, that didn’t mean he was being unfaithful to the memory of Maxine, did it? It just meant he was a full-blooded normal male and being with an attractive, intelligent woman like Chantal stirred him. But he wouldn’t allow himself to go along with those feelings. Being with her today, touching her skin, smelling the scent of her body had brought it all to a head. He certainly didn’t want to act on any of these feelings. Heavens above, she’d been his patient today! He would have to hand her on to a colleague for further treatment.

He got out of the car in his driveway and looked out over the stunning sea view. He turned to watch the sun setting over the hill. He was alone, as he was meant to be for the rest of his life. To love a woman was to risk the bitter pain he’d felt when Maxine had been taken from him. He couldn’t risk that again. Not in one lifetime.