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Mrs Andrews’s gruff voice made Molly glance at her. Something wasn’t sitting right.
‘Has anyone got in touch with a member of your family?’ Molly asked as she sponged the lady’s arms where small cuts from windscreen glass had caused bleeding.
‘You don’t want them descending on the ED,’ Colin answered quickly. ‘Too noisy.’
‘You can’t tell one without telling them all,’ his wife hastened to add.
When Molly lifted her patient’s arm she felt a tremor in the soft muscles. There was definitely something not quite right going on.
‘We’ll sort it,’ Colin growled.
Glancing at Hank, Molly saw he’d also got the sense something was wrong. But what could they do? Their role was to patch people up and send them home again, or pass them on to specialists and wards, not to solve family problems. ‘Right, I’m going to do a bit of stitching.’
‘Bet you’re not as good at it as Sylvia. She used to make wedding dresses for the nobs.’
‘Is that so? Then she can sew you back together when I’ve finished with her.’ Molly laughed. ‘Can I get you both a cup of tea while I’m at it?’
‘Best offer I’ve had all night.’ Colin smiled, relief underlining his words. So getting in touch with their family was a no-no.
As it wasn’t her place to interfere, Molly let it go with a heavy heart. Families were so important, and to lose one was beyond comprehension. When her mother had insisted she was wrong about Paul, that he’d never meant to hurt her, she’d felt she’d lost everything—her marriage and her family. Nowadays her mother was working hard at getting back onside, and as much as Molly wanted that, she was taking a cautious approach. ‘Tea along with the needles and thread coming up.’
‘Molly.’ Mike appeared round the corner of the hub. ‘Sixteen-year-old girl, overdosed on paracetamol. Resus, please. Hank, you okay in here?’
‘Sure.’
‘On my way.’ Shuddering, she sped along to the well-equipped room and straight up to the bed where Nathan, a junior doctor and another nurse were working with the teen while an ambulance paramedic was filling them in on the scant details.
‘The mother thinks she swallowed at least twenty tablets. When they found her she was unconscious, but has since woken and been throwing up.’
‘Resultant liver damage will be the biggest concern,’ Nathan explained to the other doctor as he listened to the medic reading out the obs she’d taken on the ride in. ‘If she’s been vomiting then I don’t think it’s necessary to pump the stomach. I’ll give her some charcoal to soak up any remaining traces of drugs in her digestive system.’
Molly began wiping the girl to clean her up. Along with the other nurse, they stripped her and dressed her in a gown and got rid of the grubby clothes.
‘Nathan, you’re needed next door,’ someone called.
‘Now we’re getting busy.’ He looked to Molly, a wry smile lifting his mouth. ‘That’ll keep us on our toes and too busy for anything else.’
‘Seems like it.’ She smiled back. Why did he have to be so sexy even when dressed in a boring green uniform? This should be the one time her mind didn’t drag up images of him looking like a centrefold, or holding her against his naked body, or sitting opposite her having breakfast in the café.
* * *
When he joined her and Hank in the café for coffee and sandwiches just after eight, she was glad they weren’t alone or she might’ve dropped her intention of keeping him at a distance—a very short one—while at work. He was near irresistible.
‘You survived my lot okay.’ Nathan bit into a thick bread roll filled with meat and a dash of salad. ‘They can be intimidating.’
‘I enjoyed myself, so thanks for inviting me along.’
Hank’s eyebrows rose, before he went back to checking his phone for messages.
‘You obviously like kids,’ Nathan observed.
Hadn’t they done this on Saturday? Because of her scar had he guessed there might be an issue with her infertility? ‘Who doesn’t?’
I’m not seeing where this is going.
‘Not everyone thinks children are the best thing since sliced bread.’
‘Certainly everyone in your family does. I’m only surprised you’re capable of walking without a limp. They used you as a trampoline half the time.’
‘I’m used to it. Though as they get bigger I’m going to have to tone down the level of bounce.’ He was watching her like there was no one else in the room, and certainly had no qualms about Hank knowing they’d spent time together.
Hank put his phone down and picked up his mug. ‘I’ve seen Nathan bruised and limping after a round of ball games with the Lupton bunch. He hurt for days, and got no sympathy from any of us.’
Nathan grinned. ‘You were pathetic, not joining in to help me out.’
‘A group of us were at Nathan’s for a barbecue when some of his family showed up unexpectedly. Those kids took over like they owned the place, and we had a lot of laughs watching Uncle Nathan do his impersonation of an active seven-year-old for hours on end.’
‘I know what you mean.’ Obviously she wasn’t the first he’d invited to his house. Why did she think she might’ve been when they were having a party there next weekend? It was his way of being friendly, and she’d thought there was more to it. Though he’d offered her the flat to live in. After kissing her. And now he’d made love to her. ‘Kind of cute, I think.’ She grinned at Nathan, who screwed his face up. ‘Shows he’s not always the boss.’
‘I’m getting another coffee. You two need any?’ Hank stood up.
‘No, thanks,’ Molly and Nathan answered simultaneously.
She watched Hank walk across the room, stopping to yarn with nurses from the general ward.
‘I missed you yesterday.’
Knock me over with a feather.
‘You did?’ Warmth stole through her, softening all those knots that had begun tightening since she’d seen how much he adored his nieces and nephews and heard how he wanted to add to the bunch.
‘Yes. I came that close...’ he held up two fingers only millimetres apart ‘...to driving over to your apartment late yesterday but I know you were busy at the charity shop.’ His smile hit her in the chest. ‘Anyway, I sat down on the couch, and didn’t know a thing until seven.’
‘You old man, you.’
‘You think?’
‘Not for a minute.’ This was fun, and relaxing, and she could do it for ever. Except—
Shut up, conscience. Let me have some fun before it’s time to get real.
‘Sorry I had to race away but that’s how it is.’ Now that she was getting a life.
‘It wouldn’t be if you moved into the flat.’
She hadn’t seen that coming. Leaning back in the hard plastic chair, she tried to lift the blinkers and study Nathan as others might see him. There was much to like, to trust, to love even. And she couldn’t help the way he turned her on, how she wanted to be with him more often. But, ‘Everything’s happening in a hurry. I need to keep my own space at the moment.’
‘Fair enough.’ His face lost its relaxed expression. ‘I understand. But I’m an impatient brute at times.’
‘The last thing you are is a brute, Nathan. Believe me, I know.’
He gulped, and sighed. ‘It was a loose term. I need to learn to be careful of my words around you.’
She shook her head. ‘No, you don’t. I need to lighten up. Though I thought I was doing okay.’
‘You know what? We’ve suddenly become serious. This isn’t the place to be mentioning what’s happened to you so let’s relax again.’ There was a plea in his eyes.
She nodded, more than happy to go along with him. ‘Done.’
‘So how many awkward questions did the sisters ask you?’
‘Not one.’ She’d been as surprised as Nathan looked. ‘Not usual?’
‘Not at all. My sisters believe there’re no rules when it comes to their brother.’ He drained his coffee.
‘Families know all the buttons to push.’ Would Gran have liked Nathan? She had no idea why but Molly thought she probably would have, and that gave her comfort.
‘I’m glad you had a good time and enjoyed being with the kids.’
‘Nathan...’ She swallowed. Every time he mentioned the kids and her in the same sentence the worry intensified. It was beginning to seem like she wouldn’t be able to have a few weeks of fun before telling him the truth. To be fair, that would be selfish of her. Sometime in the next few days they were going to have a full and frank conversation about her fertility—or lack of.
‘Hey, guys, we’re needed. All hands on deck. A van full of American tourists rolled on the highway and the first ones are expected here in ten.’ Mick was already moving away in search of more ED staff.
‘Mondays are supposed to be quiet,’ Nathan muttered before he took a last mouthful of his roll.
CHAPTER TEN
WHAT WAS MOLLY’S PROBLEM? She seemed all out of sync. One moment happy beyond description, the next eyeing him with trepidation. Nathan watched her calming a teenager whose friends had brought her in with numerous bee stings.
‘You’re not having a reaction.’ Molly wiped the girl’s arms. ‘Yes, you copped a lot of stings, which have been removed, and you’re hurting, but your windpipe is not about to close up.’
He stepped in. ‘Hi, I’m Nathan, a doctor. What Molly’s telling you is correct. If you’d had an allergic reaction your throat, tongue and face would be swelling by now.’ He hoped that backing Molly and playing it down would quieten the shrieking, shaking girl. ‘Just to make absolutely certain, let me have a look inside your mouth.’
