Closing his eyes, he counted to ten, twenty, thirty. Finally his breath eased out and his muscles loosened up a little. ‘Here, you’re dry. Get some clothes on, will you?’
She didn’t have to give him that wicked smirk as she opened her bag to find something clean to wear. Bloody woman, she’d be the death of him. She tugged on underwear and a T-shirt that only came down to mid-thigh—and ramped up his heart rate dangerously high.
Now that he’d made love with her he knew he wanted it again and again. Once was not enough. Jodi was back in his life in another way now. This was one way he knew her well, what he’d missed so much, and wanted for the future.
His head reared up. The future? With Jodi? Yeah, well, weren’t you getting to that? Hasn’t the idea been flapping around in your brain for days now? As the shock of learning about Jamie has ebbed you’ve been more and more aware of Jodi as the woman you once loved.
Food for thought.
‘Time for that chicken,’ he muttered, trying desperately to get back on track.
Jodi looked up at him from under her eyelashes and swayed some more. ‘Think I’ll have a snooze first.’
‘Yes, you’re asleep on your feet, sweetheart.’
Her eyes widened at that but for once she remained quiet. Not having second thoughts, he hoped. Tugging down the covers, he said, ‘Come on. Climb in.’
‘Mitch,’ she murmured as she snuggled down.
‘Ye-es.’
‘We’ve still got what it takes, haven’t we?’ Her eyes closed and he’d swear she’d fallen asleep on her last word.
‘Yes, sweetheart, we have.’ He brushed a kiss on her forehead and tucked the sheet under her chin. Then crept out of the on-call room and went to sit with his son.
CHAPTER NINE
THE FOLLOWING AFTERNOON in the ED Mitch gently felt along Mark Williams’s arm. ‘Any pain where I’m touching?’
The fifteen-year-old nodded. ‘Hurts like stink everywhere. That prop was a big guy.’
‘You’re no midget yourself.’ Mitch gave the mud-covered lad a smile. ‘Did his head crash into you or his shoulder?’ Not that it mattered. The damage was done.
‘Think it was his head, but then his whole body slammed on top of me as I went down. Pow. But I got the try.’ Mark grinned despite his obvious pain.
‘Good for you. Hope your team wins and makes the mess you’ve got yourself into worthwhile.’ Mitch filled out a form requesting X-rays of Mark’s humerus and ribs.
‘Inter-school rugby matches tend to be physical,’ Carl said from the corner.
‘All rugby is physical,’ Mitch muttered. ‘Hang around here on the weekend and see how many bodies we get to patch up.’
‘Am I going to be on TV?’ Mark grinned at the camera being directed his way.
‘You might,’ answered Carl. ‘Depends on the editing process and what other cases we get over the next couple of days.’
Mitch pulled in a lungful of air. Yeah, focus on Mark and forget all about Jamie.
‘Cool,’ Mark said. ‘Wait till I tell my mates. They’ll be green.’ Then he jerked round to offer a better profile to the camera and groaned in pain.
‘Take it easy. You have some broken bones that won’t take kindly to sudden movement.’ Mitch carefully pressed the boy back against his pillow and glanced across to Samantha. ‘Can you arrange for an orderly to take Mark up to Radiology, please?’
Mitch headed to the station where he picked up the next patient file. Turning, he almost bumped into Carl. ‘See, plenty of willing patients for you and your crews to make an excellent documentary about.’
‘You’re right. Mark’s rugby accident will resonate with many teenage boys and their parents.’ Carl’s gaze was steady. ‘But nothing like the human-interest story we could have about the head of this department and his very ill son.’
Mitch bit down on an expletive. He still couldn’t get used to other people knowing he was a father when a week ago he’d been blissfully unaware himself. At least no one knew that. They might be wondering, since he’d never mentioned his son, and he could almost hear the debates going on about the situation, but he’d leave them to it. He wasn’t about to make an announcement to all and sundry that he’d never been told he was a father.
In the meantime Carl was standing there, expecting an answer to his ridiculous suggestion. ‘No.’
‘So it’s all right for us to interview your patients but not all right to interview you as a parent of one of your patients?’
‘You’ve got it in one.’ This guy wasn’t going to pull the guilt flag on him. He would protect Jamie, and Jodi for that matter, from all the publicity this man’s documentary would generate.
Carl shrugged. ‘Believe me, I do understand. As I said, if my daughter was going through what Jamie is I don’t know how I’d react to a request like mine.’
‘Good, then we understand each other.’ Mitch pushed past him, on his way to examine Jocelyn Crooks, who’d apparently been found an hour ago lying on her bathroom floor in a dazed state. ‘Anyway, Jamie is no longer a patient in this department.’ Just so the guy really got it.
‘You know my thinking about that.’ Of course Carl was right behind him.
‘Right from that very first conversation you and I had about your crews coming in here we established that any patient uncomfortable with your presence could request that they be left alone. As a parent I’m exercising that right for Jamie. Leave him be. He and his mother have got more than enough to deal with.’ He snapped his mouth shut, his teeth banging together hard enough to vibrate in his ears.
‘We’ll talk some more later on.’ Carl was so damned calm, so sure of himself.
Whereas he could feel his blood heating to boiling point. But he couldn’t lay the blame on Carl. The man was doing his job while he himself was struggling to deal with absolutely everything at the moment. What had happened to his busy but orderly life? Jodi Hawke had happened, that’s what. Instantly his temper eased. Jodi. Jodi had come to town. And turned his life around. And given meaning to his existence. And woken his heart up, as she had once before.
Surely this time he could manage to do things the right way and not lose her again. Because if Jodi walked out on him a second time he doubted he’d cope half as well as last time, and he’d barely managed then.
Chas poked his head around the cubicle curtain. ‘Rescue Helicopter One on way in from Waiheke Island. Touchdown in ten minutes. Sixty-three-year-old male, chainsaw accident, partially severed leg.’
Mitch looked up from reading Jocelyn Crooks’s obs. ‘Get the on-call general surgeon on the phone. Call the blood bank and have someone on hand for an urgent crossmatch. Let me know the moment the patient is here.’
He glanced across at Carl and saw the guy go grey. ‘This one will be messy. If you or your crew can’t deal with that, please stay well away.’ His staff would have enough to deal with without having to pick up fainting sightseers.
‘I’ll talk to the cameraman now.’ Carl pushed out of the cubicle.
Mitch called after him, ‘This could be a good one to follow up on if the man’s agreeable. You’d probably get the Department of Occupational Health and Safety to come on board too.’
Carl turned to shake his head at him. ‘Nice try.’
I thought so. Mitch turned back to his middle-aged patient. ‘Now, Jocelyn, has this happened to you before?’ Pretty much everything was normal, including her blood pressure.
‘Never.’
‘Do you remember what you were doing before you ended up on the floor?’
Jocelyn looked away. ‘No.’
Okay, what was going on here? ‘Were you alone?’
‘I think so.’
‘Drinking alcohol?’
She muttered, ‘I only had a couple.’
‘I see you’re on codeine. Alcohol and codeine don’t mix.’ Why didn’t people adhere to the warnings that came with their drugs? Mitch wanted to lecture the woman but what was the point? If
this incident hadn’t taught her anything then nothing he could say would have any effect.