Читать книгу Australian Affairs: Claimed: Dr Chandler's Sleeping Beauty / Countering His Claim / Australia's Maverick Millionaire - Margaret Way - Страница 20

‘WAS that Jake Chandler’s car I saw you getting out of this morning?’ Cathy Oxley asked in the locker room.

Kitty put her bag in the locker and closed the door. ‘He gave me a lift to work as my car is being repaired.’

‘What is going on with you two?’ Cathy asked. ‘One of the doctors from Paediatrics said Jake took you to an orchestra rehearsal. Are you or aren’t you an item?’

‘Nothing’s going on,’ Kitty said. ‘Dr Chandler kindly offered to take me to the rehearsal at short notice when my car refused to start. He also kindly offered to deliver my car to his friend’s workshop.’

‘Why would he do that if he wasn’t interested in you?’

‘He was just being neighbourly.’

‘Some people have all the luck,’ Cathy said. ‘All my neighbour does is complain about my cat or my kids.’

‘I’m not Dr Chandler’s type,’ Kitty said. ‘Apparently I don’t let my hair down enough.’

‘Did he say that to you?’

Kitty compressed her lips. ‘Amongst other things.’

Cathy grinned. ‘I think he likes you. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He sure as hell doesn’t look at anyone else like that.’

‘He has a different lover every night,’ Kitty said, scowling furiously. ‘He probably doesn’t have time to look at them before he shoves them out the door again.’

‘You know it’s the hardened playboys who always fall for the old-fashioned girls in the long run,’ Cathy said. ‘I’ve seen it many a time.’

‘You won’t be seeing it this time,’ Kitty said as they walked out of the locker room together. ‘I’ve never met a more irritating, beastly, odious man.’

‘Er…’ Cathy gave a grimace. ‘I’ve got to go. See you.’

Kitty turned around to see Jake Chandler standing there with an inscrutable look on his face.

‘Haven’t you got better things to do than discuss me with the nursing staff?’ he asked.

She stood her ground. ‘I’m trying to put out the rumours that are circulating about us,’ she said. ‘I thought if everyone knew how much I hated you it would stop them speculating.’

‘Hate is a strong word, Dr Cargill.’

She refused to be intimidated by his steely gaze. ‘I know,’ she said. ‘But it’s appropriate in this case.’

‘I have a feeling you don’t hate me as much as you’d like to,’ he said. ‘I threaten you. That’s what you hate, isn’t it, Kitty? I make you feel things you don’t want to feel. You don’t want to feel desire, do you? It frightens the hell out of you.’

Kitty glowered at him. ‘I don’t feel any such thing.’

‘Sure you do, sweetheart,’ he drawled. ‘You want me. You want me real bad.’

‘You’re mistaken,’ she said, her heart racing, her breath catching.

He captured her wrist in his strong fingers, his thumb finding her pounding pulse. ‘This is what I do to you, isn’t it?’ he asked. ‘It’s the same thing you do to me.’

Kitty swallowed again, her stomach plummeting when she saw the naked desire in his gaze. She felt the sensual pull of his body, and the heat and fire of his touch set off every nerve screaming for more.

She was frightened by how he made her feel. Frightened and yet exhilarated.

‘Dr Chandler?’ One of the residents approached from further down the corridor.

Jake dropped Kitty’s wrist and turned around. ‘Yes?’

The resident looked from Kitty to Jake. ‘I’m sorry to interrupt…’

‘You’re not interrupting anything,’ Jake said, dropping his hand by his side.

‘There’s a patient just come in who keeps asking for you,’ the intern said. ‘He says he’s your brother.’

Jake went to Bay Two, where Robbie was lying groaning on the trolley. It angered him to see his younger brother so wasted at this time of the day. His skin looked grey and pasty and his hair looked as if it hadn’t been washed in a week. His clothes were little more than filthy rags and his shoes had holes in them. How had his kid brother got to this? What choices had he made that had sent him on this crazy, senseless trajectory? Why couldn’t he just turn his life around? Did he have no self-control or self-respect? Didn’t he want things to be different? How could he expect to live a full life when he was abusing his health so wilfully?

‘Isn’t it a bit early for a hangover?’ he said as he twitched the curtain closed. ‘Or is this one left over from last night?’

Robbie clutched at his head. ‘Don’t talk so loud.’

‘You know, if you’re here for a hand-out there are much better ways to do it.’ Jake said. ‘I told you I’d pay for rent and food. You don’t have to use emotional blackmail.’

‘I’m sick, damn it,’ Robbie said.

‘Yeah, well, I would be too if I was on the same liquid diet you’re on,’ Jake said. ‘When was the last time you had a proper meal?’

‘I don’t know…couple of days ago, I think.’

‘Perhaps I should assess him?’ Kitty said. ‘I’m not family. I can be a bit more objective.’

Jake fought with himself. He was used to handling his family issues on his own. He didn’t want the train wreck of his brother’s issues to intersect with his professional life. It wasn’t only that it was embarrassing. He felt so damned helpless. He was used to sorting out other people’s problems. His life was devoted to saving other people’s sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, and yet he couldn’t do a thing to put his kid brother’s life back on track.

‘Go for it,’ he said. ‘You won’t find anything but a chip on his shoulder.’

Kitty stepped forward. ‘Hello, Robbie.’

‘Don’t listen to him,’ Robbie said. ‘I am sick. I know I am.’

‘What have you been doing to yourself?’ Kitty asked as she examined him. ‘Can you open both eyes for me? Yes, that’s right. Sorry the light is so bright.’

‘My head is killing me.’

‘Have you had a recent fall?’ she asked.

‘I’ve had a few falls lately,’ Robbie said.

‘Excessive amounts of alcohol will do that,’ Jake put in sardonically.

Kitty gave him a quelling look before turning back to his brother. ‘How many falls?’ she asked.

Robbie frowned. ‘I can’t remember…two, maybe three in the last twenty-four hours.’

‘Did you know you were falling, or did it happen so fast you had no warning?’ Kitty asked, examining his pupils again.

‘I just found myself on the ground with no idea how I got there,’ Robbie said.

‘Do you take any medication?’ Kitty asked. ‘Prescription or otherwise?’

‘Not for a while,’ Robbie said. ‘I used to smoke dope. I stopped a few months back.’

‘Nothing else?’

‘No,’ Robbie said. ‘I have the odd drink but I’m trying to cut back a bit. I don’t like how it makes me feel any more.’

‘So it feels different when you drink now from how it felt before?’ Kitty asked.

‘It just takes more to get him drunk than it did before,’ Jake muttered.

Kitty threw him another gnarly look. ‘Do you mind?’ she asked.

‘He’s my brother.’

Her eyes flashed grey lightning. ‘He’s my patient.’

Jake twitched aside the curtains. ‘I’ll leave you to him,’ he said. ‘I have better things to do with my time than try and help people who won’t even lift a finger to help themselves.’

Kitty put a hand on Robbie’s shoulder. ‘Sorry about that,’ she said.

Robbie put a hand over his closed eyes.

Kitty sat on the edge of the bed trolley. ‘Do you want to talk about it?’

He shook his head, and then grimaced as if the movement had caused him pain. ‘Not much point, is there? Nothing’s going to change. I’ve stuffed everything up.’

‘It’s not too late to turn things around.’

He turned his head on the pillow and cranked open one bloodshot eye. ‘You think?’

She covered his thin hand with hers. ‘Jake’s concerned about you.’

He gave a grunt as he laid his head back down and closed his eyes. ‘Jake needs to get a life.’

‘Maybe he can’t do that until he feels you’re on the right track,’ Kitty said.

A muscle ticked in Robbie’s jaw, which reminded Kitty of Jake so much she felt a little ache settle around her heart.

‘I’m not doing this on purpose,’ he said.

‘Sometimes it’s hard to see that from the outside,’ Kitty said. ‘The effort you put in might not seem like much effort at all from Jake’s perspective.’

Robbie put his wrist across his forehead and closed his eyes. ‘I don’t know why I’m like this,’ he said. ‘I just can’t seem to get my life sorted out.’

‘There are people who can help you with that,’ she said. ‘Psychologists, counsellors, even a life coach can help you put steps in place to get back on your feet.’

‘I’m not going to a shrink,’ Robbie said, dropping his arm back down on the bed. ‘They just put you on drugs and bomb you out.’

‘Not always,’ Kitty said. ‘If there’s a mental health issue that needs to be addressed, then certainly one way of managing it is drug therapy, but there are other options.’

‘I’m not a nut case,’ Robbie said scowling at her.

‘Then let’s see if there is something else going on, shall we?’ Kitty said. ‘I’m going to run a couple of tests to check your blood count and thyroid and kidney function to start with. Have you had any recent tests done? Blood? Scans? That sort of thing?’

He looked away. ‘Jake ordered some tests a while back,’ he mumbled.

‘Are the results with your GP, or did Jake deal with it directly?’ Kitty asked.

‘He doesn’t usually treat me or my sisters,’ Robbie said. ‘He’ll write the occasional script but he prefers us to have our own GP.’

‘Did anything come up?’

Robbie looked sheepish. ‘I only had a blood test done. When Jake asked me about the scan he ordered I told him it’d been clear.’

Kitty wondered why Robbie’s GP hadn’t formally written to Jake to inform him of the results, as per the usual protocol. But on questioning Robbie further she found out that he had been attending a large and busy medical clinic and had not seen the same practitioner twice. Perhaps Jake had been satisfied another colleague was taking over the care of his brother and had left it at that.