A Family Of Their Own

‘You need to be careful in here,’ he said in a tone that made her heart bump. ‘It would be easy to fall and hurt yourself.’

‘Especially when you aren’t watching what you’re doing,’ she replied, trying to inject a little levity into her voice.

She shot him a wary glance as they left the room, but it was hard to decide why he had sounded so edgy. Maybe he’d been worried about what would have happened if she’d fallen off the ladder? After all, it wouldn’t reflect well on him if a new employee ended up injuring herself on her first day in the job.

Funnily enough that idea stung, but she forced herself to ignore it when he turned to her. ‘I wonder if you would mind taking a look at a patient for me?’

‘Me?’ she exclaimed, not attempting to hide her surprise.

‘Yes, you.’ Nick grinned. ‘Don’t be so modest. You wouldn’t have been hired for this job if you weren’t good at what you do.’

‘Why, thank you, Dr Slater. I’m completely overwhelmed.’ She smiled back, unable to resist the warm amusement in his eyes.

‘So you should be. I don’t hand out compliments like that every day of the week,’ he retorted, leading the way along the corridor.

‘In other words, you’re soft-soaping me because you want a favour?’

‘Something like that.’ He gave her a last smile then made an obvious effort to concentrate on what he needed to tell her. And it was the fact that it was such an effort that made Leanne’s heart race.

She wasn’t a complete innocent and knew that men found her attractive. She had dated her fair share back home in Australia before she’d met Michael. She had believed at first that what she’d felt for Michael had been the embodiment of everything she’d ever wanted, but she’d been wrong. She knew that now when she looked at Nick, because he made her feel things no other man had made her feel.

All of a sudden she was overcome by sadness that she should have met him when her life was in such a state of flux. Until she found out about the mother who had abandoned her, she wasn’t in a position to start a relationship, not that Nick would be interested, of course. She had heard what he’d said that morning about not wanting a woman cluttering up his life, so it would be silly to imagine that he was looking for commitment.

It should have made it easier to know that he felt the same way she did, but it didn’t. It felt as though there was a big gap in her life, one that might never be filled. Knowing that you couldn’t have something, it didn’t stop you wanting it. It didn’t stop her wanting Nick.

‘This is Leanne Russell. Would you mind if she takes a look at that lump on your hip, Mr Jacobs?’

Nick moved aside as the patient readily gave his permission. It was rather crowded in the room with three of them gathered around the bed. He felt Leanne’s arm brush his as she stepped forward, and gritted his teeth when a spasm shot through him.

He had just about managed to damp down the desire he’d felt when he’d steadied her on that ladder. However, once again he felt his body surge to life and had to swallow a groan of dismay. What was it about her that seemed to push all the right buttons or, rather, all the wrong ones?

He wasn’t interested in commitment, he couldn’t be. How could he commit himself to a woman when he had nothing to offer her? It had been hard to accept that he should remain single all his life, but it had been the right decision. He couldn’t take the risk of letting himself fall in love, wouldn’t take the risk of breaking anyone’s heart. Love, marriage and commitment led to children, and children were the one thing he couldn’t have.

He knew how he had to live his life, but it made not a scrap of difference in this instance. When he looked at Leanne, when he touched her, common sense deserted him. All he could think about was how much he wanted her…

‘I’ve seen this type of insect bite on a number of occasions.’

Nick jolted back to the present, feeling a little colour run up his cheeks when he found her watching him. He could only pray that he wasn’t quite so open about his feelings as she was because he’d had a pretty good idea what she’d been thinking in the supply room.

‘You have?’ He cleared his throat when he heard how rough his voice sounded. He couldn’t afford to think about that now, but it was hard not to. Knowing that Leanne had wanted him as well gave him hot and cold chills. ‘You’re sure about that?’

‘Quite sure. It’s a tsetse fly bite.’ She turned to the patient and smiled. ‘I take it that you didn’t get this in London, Mr Jacobs?’

‘I most certainly didn’t,’ Ian Jacobs replied with a laugh.

Nick held himself rigid when he saw the appreciation in the older man’s eyes as he looked at Leanne. There was no way that he would allow himself to feel jealous! But telling himself that didn’t seem to make a scrap of difference.

‘So you were in Africa, I take it? Which part?’ she continued.

‘On the west coast.’ Ian Jacobs frowned. ‘Why did you both ask me that? Isn’t the disease prevalent all over the continent?’

‘Yes, it is, but there are two different forms of trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness as it’s more commonly called,’ she explained. ‘The strain which is found in the east of the continent mainly affects cattle, although it can be transmitted to people. It’s a far more aggressive strain and develops in weeks rather than months. You may find this hard to believe, but if it is sleeping sickness, you’re lucky that you caught it in the west.’

‘Really?’ Ian sounded shocked. ‘Exactly how much damage can it cause? I’ve heard about it, of course, but I’m rather vague as to the details.’

Nick took over then when Leanne glanced at him. He guessed that she wanted him to decide how much to tell the man. They weren’t in the business of lying to people, but it would be wrong to scare him.

‘The west and central strain of the disease is fairly slow running. Once the parasites have got into your bloodstream then it can take months or even years for the disease to develop fully. Fortunately, you will be receiving treatment immediately so that won’t be a problem. The heart and the brain are both severely affected if sleeping sickness is allowed to run its course, but it can be cured with the right combination of drugs.’

‘There’s no chance of it having affected my heart and brain, is there?’ Ian demanded, anxiously.

‘It’s most unlikely at this early stage,’ Nick assured him. He glanced at Leanne. ‘How did the patients you treated fare?’

‘They made full recoveries,’ she said immediately, but he could tell that she was glossing over the facts. Although it was true that a cure could be effected with the right drugs, they were known to have unpleasant side-effects. Obviously, Leanne knew that but didn’t want to worry the patient by telling him so.

He sighed because it brought it home to him once again how aware of her he was. Robert didn’t appear to have noticed that she’d been somewhat economical with the truth and neither had Ian.

She excused herself soon afterwards and Nick concentrated on explaining to Ian what would happen next. The man would be referred to a specialist at a nearby hospital, who would be able to start him on the most appropriate form of treatment.

Ian was eager to make the appointment that day so Nick went to his office and put through a call. It all took some time, plus a little gentle persuasion on his part, but eventually everything was arranged. Ian was despatched by taxi to the hospital.

It was lunchtime by then, but Nick didn’t bother going out for anything to eat. He still had the report to finish and he would be hard-pressed to get it done on time. He looked up when he heard footsteps pausing outside his door and felt his heart perform the strangest manoeuvre when he saw Leanne in the doorway. It was an effort to act as though there was nothing wrong when it felt as though his pulse was trying for a new Olympic record.

‘Are you off now?’

‘Yes. I’ll see you tomorrow.’ She started to leave, stopped, glanced back then shrugged. ‘Bye.’

‘Bye,’ he repeated, because it was easier than thinking up anything more witty.

He took a deep breath as she hurried away and held it for a count of ten. It didn’t help. His pulse was still hammering at high speed. Whichever way he looked at it, working with Leanne was going to be a challenge.

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