‘Cubicle seven. Fifty-six-year-old female, fell down the stairs around midnight. Concussion, broken arm, bruising to her face and upper body.’ Nothing major enough to still be here.
‘What’s the problem?’ Conor asked.
The registrar leading handover said, ‘Her husband doesn’t believe his wife drinks, yet her bloods showed a very high reading. He blames the lab for the results.’
‘Had he been out for the evening and not known?’ Tamara asked as she focused on work and nothing else.
‘Nope. Her liver tests were abnormal. I’d suggest that’s from a high and sustained alcohol intake.’
‘So the husband’s playing ostrich,’ Conor noted.
The registrar added, ‘I’m concerned about sending her home.’
‘I’ll talk to Social Services when their offices open.’ Conor looked around, caught her eye. ‘Tamara, I want you on this one.’
‘Not a problem.’
It was like any other day in ED. But for Tamara it was different. Everywhere she went Conor was there, whether it was him or his voice through the curtains or his laughter as he chatted with other staff. Once she even smelt his spicy aftershave when she entered a cubicle he’d just vacated. Her body wouldn’t settle down, as though her hormones had got a taste for Conor that had to be fed at regular intervals. Sure made working beside him awkward. And thrilling. This time Conor was responsible for her inability to eat, not baby.
The buzzer sounded.
‘Tamara, can you take that?’ Conor nudged her out of her reverie as he walked past, flicking her one of those smiles she adored.
And, yes, cranked up the desire level. ‘Sure.’ The man could ask her to do anything when he smiled like that. He oozed charm.
Charm? As in used to getting his own way? Was this all just a ruse to soften her up before he explained how he was going to deal with her and their baby? Tamara shivered, rubbed her hands up and down her arms. Please, not that. One Peter in her life was one too many.
No. Conor was nothing like her ex. Conor was genuinely kind, caring, honourable. Gorgeous, sexy. Oh, and sexy.
But... What if she was wrong? What if he was laying out plans for her already?
No. He wouldn’t. He’d told her so.
‘Peter Gillespie is a hard-working man with your and my interests at heart. He’ll always look out for you and Washington Engineering.’
So had said her father as he’d pushed documents in front of her to sign that would give her control over the company and its finances once he knew his mind was going because of the dementia.
‘He’ll explain everything to you before you sign any papers. You can trust him completely.’
Yeah, Dad, thanks for that.
Yeah, Dad, I miss you like it all happened yesterday.
Tonight she’d look into the laws covering a mother’s rights. Only being a responsible parent.
* * *
In the end Conor had to let the woman with alcohol issues go home. There were no grounds for keeping her in ED, and no other ward would take her. Alcoholism, a broken arm and an unkind husband were not reasons for admittance.
He’d forwarded the details to the woman’s GP with his concerns and to Social Services after talking to them. Then he got on with the day, treating a steady stream of patients coming through the doors.
For the last hour Tamara seemed intent on avoiding him, swapping from cases he was on as often as possible. Too often for his liking. Seemed that morning’s cosy mood had gone, replaced by apprehension and long, questioning looks that didn’t give him confidence in their upcoming discussions.
Conor had seen her yawning far too often. The pregnancy was taking its toll. Nothing to do with a very physical night, of course. He winced. Tam had been more than willing to make love last night. And this morning. Yet now she was treating him like she would a white-tailed spider.
An ache stabbed him under the ribs. Unfair. But he had to be patient. Give her time and space to get used to him in the role of father to her baby and hopefully someone she would learn to rely on in the coming weeks and years. To love him? Seriously? No, that was going too far. He couldn’t ask more of her than he was prepared to give. Love meant sharing their lives, losing his freedom to do as he pleased, always having to check with Tamara before doing things he normally just went and did. He wasn’t sure he knew how to do that. Or wanted to. But the baby was going to give him a few lessons along the way.
‘You know you’re going to be on the news tonight?’ Tamara nudged him during one quiet interlude.
That’s why Tamara couldn’t let go enough to trust him completely. The past was still in her face, refusing to go away. He replied, ‘If that’s all people have got to make their day, they’re the ones with problems, not me.’
As reporters jostled for position in front of them when they’d walked down her path to his car that morning, his rare temper had leapt to the fore. At least he’d managed to hang onto it. One look at the resignation in Tamara’s face and he’d known not to react, not give the media what they wanted. Ignoring every one of them, he’d been rewarded with Tamara holding her head high like she didn’t care about what they’d write. ‘We did all right this morning.’
‘You haven’t thought it through. Everyone here’s going to start talking about us.’
‘Then let’s fix that. We’ll announce it ourselves.’
‘Announce what?’ she gasped, the colour draining from her cheeks. ‘The baby?’
‘Why not? You won’t be able to hide it for much longer. Personally I’d prefer for it to be out in the open.’
‘I’m not ready for that,’ she snapped. ‘I’ve only just told you, and we—we haven’t planned anything yet.’ Tamara pulled that frightened look away from him but left him with a sense of having betrayed her somehow.
Guess he had. He hadn’t asked her how she felt about telling others. ‘Hey.’ He stepped close.
A hand went up between them in the universal stop sign. ‘I can’t believe you’d suggest such a thing.’
Now what? Think, man. What was behind this? Tamara was rattled big time. Calm her down, get her back on her feet so she ca
n face her colleagues without going into another meltdown. ‘Fair enough. We won’t mention the baby yet. But we can say we’ve spent some time together and are continuing to do so. Sounds a bit like a press release from the rich and famous.’ Hell. That’s what she was used to, had had to put up with before. ‘I’ll reword that.’
That thick blonde braid swung across her back from shoulder to shoulder. ‘They’ll understand.’ She headed for the ambulance bay, though there’d been no sign of a patient arriving.
Conor followed, reluctant to let her go on a bad note. ‘Since we’ve got lots to discuss, want to do it over a meal tonight?’ As in a real date.
Hope warred with resignation across her face when she turned to look at him. ‘I don’t think so.’
‘With what’s ahead we should be getting to know each other better.’ Next he’d be down on his knees, begging her to spend time with him. Only went to show how his thinking had changed since hearing about the baby. ‘Say yes. We’ve got to eat anyway.’
‘We’ve spent the last two evenings together and haven’t got around to the big issues. Why would tonight be any different?’
‘We won’t have had an eventful day to use up all our energy?’ Tempting fate, buster. He continued when she wasn’t forthcoming with a reply. ‘Are you changing your mind about my role in our baby’s life?’
Guilt flickered. ‘I don’t know exactly what your role’s going to be.’
Got you. ‘Then we need to go out to dinner and talk. Before we get much further along the track.’ Try asking, not pushing. ‘Please?’
One eyebrow rose, but she only stared at him.
‘Have you tried that new Indian restaurant on K Road?’
‘Low blow, Dr Maguire.’
‘Did it work?’
A shrug. Then a tiny, reluctant smile full of caution. ‘What time are you picking me up?’
She didn’t trust him. Despite everything he’d said. Despite showing her with his lovemaking. It was going to take time. And that sucked.
Could she want more from him? The boundaries he’d lived with were coming down because of a baby. His baby. And because of this amazing woman who’d first tipped his world a little bit sideways, and was now following up with a big shove just by revealing more about herself. He wanted to support her, stand by her and deal with the past, and not just for the baby’s sake. As long as he could do it without losing his heart, without giving up that solitude he’d struggled to maintain. The solitude that kept him safe. And which had begun cracking wide open these past few days. And since he no longer needed to push Tamara away. Conor shivered. Hell, did he want the whole deal after all?