AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It snowed again overnight and Christmas Eve was busy in the emergency department.
‘People should be at home, decorating their trees,’ Jane muttered as she directed yet another patient towards X-Ray.
Lara nodded. ‘Can I ask you a favour?’
‘Ask.’
‘Can I run the treatment room today? I need a break from Resus.’
There was a long silence. ‘You’re finding it that hard to work with him?’
‘Actually, yes.’ Lara didn’t bother with excuses or denials. ‘Pathetic, no?’
‘Not pathetic.’ Jane let out a long breath. ‘I’ll put Helen in Resus. But you know he’ll probably ask for you. He always does.’
‘There are plenty of good nurses in this department. And I’m only here for another few weeks.’
‘Yes.’
At that moment Fran came dashing up to them, her hand over her mouth. ‘Oh, my—you’ll never guess what!’
Jane and Lara glanced at each other and then back at the receptionist. ‘What?’
‘I’m pregnant!’
Lara swallowed and Jane started to laugh. ‘You are joking.’
‘No.’ Fran shook her head, tears in her eyes. ‘I’m pregnant. I’m pregnant. That psychic woman said I’d be pregnant by Christmas and she was right. Can you believe it? At the time I thought she was delusional, but she obviously knew what she was talking about.’
Without giving either of them the time to respond, Fran danced off down the corridor in search of someone else to tell.
Jane cleared her throat. ‘She’s obviously pleased, then, is she?’
Lara was staring at Fran’s retreating form with an expression of disbelief on her face. ‘Tell me she doesn’t think she’s pregnant because of the psychic. I mean—she does know the facts about human reproduction, I assume?’
‘Well, you’ve got to agree that it’s a spooky coincidence. I mean, first Jack has a little boy, even though the scan said it was a girl. And then Fran gets pregnant.’ Jane was smiling. ‘All that’s left is that for you to—’ She broke off and Lara gave her a withering look.
‘Oh, please! Give me a break! On second thoughts, you take a break. If you’re starting to believe what a psychic tells you then you obviously need one. I’m going to bury myself in the treatment room and I’m staying there until it’s time to go home.’
But talking to Jane about leaving got her thinking and during her lunch-break she followed up some calls she’d made earlier in the week to nanny agencies. If she was going to Australia, she needed to find Christian some help.
By the end of her shift she was tired and, when she saw Christian standing in the doorway, her heart sank.
Not now.
‘Everything all right?’ She threw the remains of the dressing pack into the bin and washed her hands.
‘Have you been avoiding me?’
‘Of course not,’ she lied, ‘far from it. In fact, I wanted to talk to you.’
He walked into the room and let the door swing shut behind him. ‘I’m listening.’
She forced herself to continue tidying. It was the only way to be absolutely sure that she wouldn’t embarrass herself by throwing herself at him. ‘I’ve been asking round the hospital. One of the staff nurses on Paeds had an excellent nanny-housekeeper who’s leaving in January. She’d be perfect for you. I could help you interview her, if you like, before I go.’
He frowned. ‘Lara—’
‘Obviously I have loads of things to do before I go to Australia. If we could persuade her to start immediately in January, I’d have time to clear out my flat and pack. If she could move in more or less straight away, that would be perfect.’
