A Consultant's Special Care

She had never before come across anyone who was such a peculiar mixture of abrasiveness and compelling vigour…except perhaps for her ex-boyfriend, Richard. He had certainly been one to make decisions and sweep her along with him, hadn’t he?

He hadn’t started out that way, though. To begin with, he had simply been kind and considerate, wanting only to please her. It had only been later that his strength of will had emerged and eventually turned to something infinitely more disquieting.

Catching up with the consultant, Abby went with him into the intensive-care unit. Kieran was asleep, his body needing rest after the trauma he had gone through. His vital signs were being monitored, and there were tubes and drips of various sorts attached to him to support his recovery. Vicky sat beside his bed, and she looked up and smiled as the two of them came into the room.

‘The nurses said they think he’s going to be all right.’

‘I know,’ Abby said softly. ‘I’m glad.’

‘He’s still drowsy from the anaesthetic,’ Jordan put in, ‘but his vital signs have improved, and he seems to be doing well enough. The tubes can probably come out in a day or so.’

They stayed by his bedside for a moment or two, while Jordan explained to Vicky about Kieran’s condition and told her what was likely to happen next. Then he signalled to Abby that it was time to leave, and they said goodbye and quietly left the room.

Out in the corridor, Jordan looked down at the gold watch on his wrist. ‘I have to go. That’s my stint finished for the day, and I’m due at a charity function within the hour.’ He threw her a quick look. ‘You said you have to pick up your car—where is it?’

‘By Blue Ridge Cove. I was spending the afternoon there, taking some time out to get to know the area.’

‘That’s more or less on my way home. I’ll give you a lift.’

The unexpected offer threw her off balance. ‘I don’t want to put you out…’

‘You won’t. Let’s go, shall we?’ Briskly, without giving her any more chance to discuss the matter, he led the way down to the car park and across to a gleaming midnight blue saloon.

He appeared to be in a hurry, and as soon as she was settled in the luxuriously upholstered seat beside him, he started the engine and drove smoothly out onto the main highway.

‘You said that you were getting to know the area…you’re new to Cornwall, then?’ he queried as they left the town and headed towards the cove. He glanced at her obliquely, and when she nodded, he asked, ‘Where have you come from?’

‘London. I’ve lived there for a number of years, because that’s where I did most of my medical training, but I decided that I wanted a change, the chance to come and live by the coast for a while and breathe in some fresh sea air.’

Abby wasn’t going to tell him that part of her reasoning in coming here was that she had hoped to escape from her ex-boyfriend. She was determined to make a new start, free from the worries of Richard’s persistent refusal to accept that the relationship was over.

‘That’s a big change,’ he murmured. ‘Have you left your family behind? Friends?’

‘Friends, yes—I shall miss them. My brother lives down here, though, and my mother lives fairly nearby, in Devon, so I shall be able to see more of her than I did before.’

‘And your father?’

She might have known that he would pick up on that omission. She was saddened, thinking about her father. ‘He died some years ago,’ she said quietly.

‘I’m sorry.’ He flicked her another brief glance. ‘At least you’ll have your brother close by.’

She shook her head. ‘Unfortunately, I won’t. He’s working abroad for a few months, but he’s letting me stay at his house in the meantime. It makes things easier for me, and Daniel will feel happier knowing that the house is being looked after while he’s away.’

‘Even so, you’re taking a huge step, moving away from everything you’ve been used to. Choosing a coastal area when you’ve been used to city life is an immense change. You can’t have come to that decision lightly.’

‘I didn’t, of course. I wanted to study emergency medicine, and the Roseland has a good reputation as a teaching hospital.’

His blue-grey eyes searched her face. ‘So do a lot of others.’

She sensed that he was still doubtful of her logic, and that he was expecting her to say more, but she didn’t want to go into her real reasons for moving down here. She wasn’t ready to talk to anyone about the worries she had back in London, least of all to Jordan Blakesley.

If he knew that she was afraid of a man who had become too possessive, too demanding, his opinion of her would take a nosedive. He would probably dismiss her as incredibly weak and lacking in backbone. How could he possibly comprehend the way that Richard had begun to exert an insidious hold on her, refusing to let her live her life as a free agent? She could barely understand it herself.

By now, they had arrived at the clifftop where her car was parked. Drawing up alongside it, Jordan cut the engine and let his gaze narrow on her. ‘Life down here is vastly different from that in the City, but if you’re expecting it to be easier, you’re in for a disappointment. In the summer months we’re inundated with visitors to the area and the hospital takes the strain.’

‘Yes, I guessed that.’

‘Are you sure? You’ll be under pressure a lot of the time.’

‘I appreciate that. I’m not afraid of hard work.’

‘There will be no time for indecision and wallowing in uncertainty.’

Her mouth quirked in a wry grimace. ‘I’ll try to bear that in mind,’ she murmured. She guessed his opinion of her wasn’t great. No matter that she had managed to save a man’s life this afternoon, he believed that she had been uncertain and anxious, and he wasn’t a man to tolerate shortcomings in his colleagues.

‘Good. I’ll expect to see you tomorrow, bright and early, then. Just remember,’ he added on a warning note, ‘that if you do make any mistakes, I want to know about them straight away, so that they can be put right.’

‘I understand that.’

‘I hope that you do.’

She hunted for her car keys in her bag, and then slid out of the passenger seat. ‘I must go. Thanks for the lift.’

‘You’re welcome.’ He watched her walk to her car, waiting until she had unlocked it and started up the engine. Then he drove away.

Abby’s glance followed him, her emotions a chaotic jumble of uncertainty and apprehension. The man was an enigma and, not for the first time that day, she wondered just what she was letting herself in for.

CHAPTER TWO

‘WHERE are you going? Are you going to work?’ A small voice sounded by Abby’s side as she left the house to go to her car the next morning, and she looked down to see a young girl, around four years old, her golden curls gleaming in the morning sunshine.

‘Hello,’ Abby said. ‘Yes, I am.’ She smiled at the little girl. ‘You must be Chloe—do you live next door?’ Abby’s next-door neighbour, Jessica, was her brother’s girlfriend. She had met the woman once, when her brother had introduced them, but on the various occasions when she had seen her since, Chloe had been at nursery school or playing at a friend’s house, and this was the first time that she had seen her to talk to her.

‘Yes. I live with my mummy.’

‘Where is your mummy?’ Abby asked thoughtfully. She was concerned, all at once. What was the child doing out here on her own on the shared drive? Luckily, the front gates were shut, and their latches were probably too stiff for the child to manage by herself, but there was always the possibility that she might try to climb over them.

‘She’s not very well.’

‘Isn’t she?’ Abby frowned. ‘What’s wrong with her, do you know?’

Chloe shrugged her shoulders, and Abby glanced over at her neighbour’s house and saw that the front door was open.

‘Did you open the door?’ she asked.

Chloe nodded, pleased with herself. ‘I got a stool and opened it,’ she confided. ‘I’m big now.’

‘Yes, you are, aren’t you? I can see that.’ Taking the child’s hand, she said, ‘Let’s go and see if we can find your mother, shall we?’ Abby led her towards the house, just as Jessica appeared at the door, looking frantic.

‘Oh, there she is. Thank heaven. I was so worried.’

‘It’s all right, Jessica. She’s safe.’ Abby briefly scanned her neighbour’s face and noted the dark shadows beneath her eyes, which emphasised the paleness of her features. Her skin had a faintly sallow appearance, and her dark hair tumbled to her shoulders in straggly waves. ‘Are you OK? Chloe said that you were ill.’

‘I was being sick.’ Jessica pulled a face. ‘Some kind of stomach bug, I expect. I thought Chloe was still asleep, but she must have got out of bed and come downstairs while I was in the bathroom.’ She frowned. ‘I never imagined she could get out of the house by herself.’ She opened the door wider. ‘Come on in.’

Abby went into the house. ‘Perhaps you need to have a bolt fitted,’ she suggested, inspecting the doorframe. ‘I’m surprised that you don’t have one already.’

Jessica grimaced. ‘There was one once.’ She rubbed her stomach, clearly still feeling unwell. ‘It obviously wasn’t a very good one, because it was damaged when my ex-husband came around one night and tried to force his way in. I’ve been meaning to get it fixed, but with going out to work and not feeling too well lately, and one thing and another, I haven’t had the time.’

Abby frowned. It sounded as though Jessica’s ex-husband was a belligerent character. No wonder Jessica looked tired and washed-out if that was the kind of problem she was experiencing on a day-today basis. No one could live with that kind of strain for any length of time without it affecting her health, especially now that Daniel was away. ‘Isn’t that a bit worrying?’ she murmured. ‘No wonder my brother wanted me to keep an eye on you.’

‘Did he say that? Daniel’s a lovely man.’ Jessica gave a faint smile. ‘He’s so thoughtful and kind…nothing at all like Colin, my ex.’ They walked through to the kitchen and she sighed wearily and sank down onto a wooden chair.

‘Is Colin likely to try to do the same thing again?’ Abby asked.

‘He might do, although the police have warned him to stay away. They gave me a panic alarm so that I could contact them any time I needed help. I’ll get the bolt sorted out today. I don’t want Chloe to wander off again.’

‘Are you going to be all right looking after her if you’re not feeling well?’ Even though she was conscious that she ought to be setting out on her journey to work, Abby was worried about leaving her neighbour to cope on her own, and she felt even more responsible as she was her brother’s girlfriend.

‘I’ll manage, thanks.’ She ran a hand through her hair. ‘I’ll drop her off at nursery school and go and see the doctor. I shan’t go into work today.’

‘What about your family? Are your parents able to help out?’

Jessica shook her head. ‘We had a big falling out when I married Colin. They didn’t like him and they warned me against marrying him, but I went ahead anyway, and they were angry with me. I haven’t had much contact with them over the last few years. At first I was loyal to Colin, and later I was too proud to admit that they had been right all along. It got more difficult to get in touch as time went on.’

‘I’m sorry.’ That seemed so sad to Abby, to be isolated from your family when they were still around, but there was no time for her to talk about it now, and Jessica was looking poorly again.

Abby said quickly, ‘Look, you don’t look at all well. I’ll have a word with Mrs Matthews next door, shall I? She seems nice and friendly, and she’s on her own. She’ll probably be glad to help out if you’re in a fix.’

Jessica was probably feeling too ill to disagree, because she bent over as though she was in some pain. Abby stayed with her long enough to see that she wasn’t about to collapse, and then hurried away to find her other neighbour.

Mrs Matthews’s eyes widened when Abby explained the situation a minute or so later. In her sixties, she was a widow, and she generally kept herself to herself, although she was friendly whenever Abby spoke to her.

‘Of course I’ll go round there right away and help out. You get yourself off to work, love. They’ll be all right with me. Don’t you worry.’

Relieved that she had resolved the situation in part, Abby got in her car and set off for work. After all these delays, she was certain that she was going to be late, and she was sure that Jordan wouldn’t take kindly to that.

She had half hoped he would be too busy attending to a patient to notice her arrival when she finally hurried into the accident and emergency department, but she was out of luck.

‘So you’re here at last, Dr Curtis,’ he said tersely, subjecting her to a laser-eyed scrutiny. ‘I would have expected you to at least make an effort to be here on time on your first day.’

‘I’m sorry I’m late,’ she said. ‘I would have been on time, but my neighbour—’

‘Please, don’t give me any excuses,’ Jordan said crisply. ‘I don’t want to hear them, and I’m sure the patients don’t either. You’ll find the first one waiting for you in cubicle three.’

‘I—I’ll go and deal with it now. Right away.’ She backed away from him, feeling flustered and out of sorts, then turned and headed for the cubicle. He could have at least let her explain.

As the day wore on, she settled uneasily into her role as senior house officer. The summer season was on them and, as well as the usual number of local people who attended A and E because of traffic accidents or work-related injuries, there were many holidaymakers who found themselves in trouble of one sort or another.

Abby did her best to stay calm and clear-thinking, and deal with everything that came her way, and after a while she began to feel that she was coping reasonably well. Then a child was brought in, suffering from flu-like symptoms, with muscle and joint pains.

The boy was ten years old, and complained of a headache. ‘He has a fever,’ the nurse said quietly, and Abby nodded acknowledgement.

She smiled reassuringly at him, and said gently, ‘I just need to examine you, Fraser. Can you tell me where it hurts most?’

‘My knees,’ he said, with a hint of breathlessness. ‘I hurt everywhere, but my knees are the worst. My chest hurts as well.’

‘OK. Let’s take a look at you.’ She ran the stethoscope over his chest and heard a faint irregularity of the heartbeat. ‘We’ll do an ECG,’ she told the nurse in an undertone. ‘There may be some inflammation around the heart that’s causing his breathlessness.’

The boy’s knee joints were swollen, she discovered. Frowning a little, she tried to work out what it was that was causing Fraser’s symptoms. ‘Let’s do blood tests as well to see if there’s an infection.’

Turning to his mother, she said, ‘We’re going to do tests to find out what could be causing his illness. As soon as we have the results, we’ll be able to consider our treatment options. In the meantime, we’ll need to admit him for observation.’

Jordan appeared at her side just then, and indicated that he wanted to talk to her privately. She wondered how long he had been watching her. Throughout the day, she had been conscious of him in the background, and she was sure he was keeping an eagle eye on her progress. The last thing she wanted to do was to let him know that she was floundering, but she didn’t know quite how she could avoid it.

‘Are you having trouble making a diagnosis?’ he asked softly, when they had retreated outside the cubicle, leaving the boy with his mother.

‘It isn’t anything I’ve come across before,’ she admitted. ‘I think it may be an infection of some kind, especially if it’s affecting his heart in some way, as well as his joints.’

‘May I take a look?’ he enquired, and she agreed readily enough.

Jordan introduced himself to the boy and his mother, and made a careful examination, just as Abby had already done. ‘On holiday, are you?’ he asked Fraser, and the boy nodded.

‘We came here about ten days ago,’ his mother said.

Jordan smiled. ‘It’s beautiful around here, isn’t it?’ He glanced back at the boy, and said lightly, ‘Have you been taking the coastal walks hereabouts, or do you think you might have been overdoing the football?’

‘No football,’ Fraser answered, struggling a little for breath, ‘but we’ve done lots of walking.’

Jordan gently examined the boy’s calves. ‘Did you keep to the paths, or have you sometimes wandered through the fields?’

The boy looked puzzled, and said anxiously, ‘Both. Did I do something wrong?’

‘Nothing at all,’ Jordan answered cheerfully. ‘I like to take the coastal walks myself. There are some lovely views over the bay.’ He turned to Abby and pointed out a slightly reddened area on the boy’s calf. ‘Do you see that?’ he asked.

She had missed it. It was fairly insignificant, and it wasn’t something that she would have paid much heed to under normal circumstances. Now, though, she sent Jordan a questioning look.

‘What is it?’

‘A tick bite, most likely. Sometimes they’re quite pronounced, but if this happened a few days ago the area around the bite might have settled down a bit.’ He showed the child the reddened patch and said quietly, ‘I think you might have been bitten by a tick when you were on one of your walks. They’re usually found on sheep or deer, but walkers can suffer from their bites occasionally. They can pass on an infection called Lyme disease, which may lead to symptoms like yours. We’ll know for certain when the test results come through.’

‘What does it mean?’ Fraser’s mother asked. ‘Can you treat it?’

‘We can. If it is Lyme disease, we’ll start him off on a ten-day course of antibiotics, and he’ll need anti-inflammatory drugs to bring down the swelling and help relieve the pain. We’ll most likely put him on corticosteroids for a while, too.’

He smiled once again at Fraser and moved away from the bedside. ‘We’ll sort you out,’ he said. ‘Don’t worry.’

The mother followed Jordan and said in a low voice, ‘Will he be cured? I mean, will there be any after-effects, any permanent damage to his joints?’

‘There shouldn’t be. It may take a few weeks for him to be fully well, but he should be fine before too long. He’ll need to rest in the meantime.’

Looking a little more reassured, the woman went back to her son.

Away from the cubicle, Abby bit her lip. ‘I’ve never come across that before. Can you be certain that’s what it is?’

He gave a crooked smile, one that added a roguish attractiveness to his features. ‘You’re a city girl,’ he said bluntly. ‘You’re not likely to be familiar with it. In any case, the tests will take away any element of guesswork. Lyme disease is known mostly in the US, but it’s also a problem in Europe and part of our own southern heathlands. You were right to admit him. He’ll need support over the next few days, especially if his heart is involved, but he should make a full recovery.’

‘I’m glad. He looks so ill and wretched just now, poor boy.’

He slanted her a narrowed glance. ‘If you’re not sure about anything, just ask.’ His tone was brisk. ‘You can’t be expected to know everything, and it doesn’t reflect badly on you if you ask for a second opinion.’

‘I’ll remember that.’

‘I hope you will.’

He moved away then, to attend to another patient, and she was left thinking that perhaps he wasn’t as bad as her first impression of him had led her to believe. He could be acerbic at times, but at least he hadn’t had a go at her in front of the patients.

There was no time to dwell on things, though. More patients needed her attention and she made an effort to pull her mind back to her work. Whatever she did, she was going to be watched, but maybe in time he would realise that she was a capable doctor and he would learn to trust her.

The day wore on, and at mid-afternoon, when she was thinking she could do with a break and a cup of coffee, Sarah, the nurse who had been working with her said, ‘There’s a phone call for you, Abby.’ She laid the receiver down on the desk and walked over to where Abby was signing off some charts.

Abby frowned. ‘Who is it?’ She couldn’t think of anyone who would be ringing her up at work. Her mother hardly ever called during working hours, not wanting to interrupt her in case she was busy.

Sarah gave a grimace. ‘I don’t know, he didn’t say. He just said he wanted to talk to Dr Abby Curtis.’ She lowered her voice and confided, ‘I wouldn’t mind getting his number, though. He sounded wonderful. His voice is really deep and sexy.’ Her blue eyes crinkled at the corners. ‘If you don’t want him, just pass him my way, would you? I’m footloose and fancy-free.’

Abby chuckled. ‘Well, I will, if it’s my brother. I can certainly pass him on to you…but I have to warn you, you might have to wait a while to meet up with him. He’s in South America right now, and he’s not due back for several months.’

Sarah pulled a rueful face. ‘Isn’t that just my luck?’ she said, turning away to find Jordan waiting for her.

He must have heard their conversation, but his expression revealed no hint of his thoughts. ‘Would you suture a gashed hand for me in cubicle four?’ he asked.

Sarah nodded. ‘Will do.’

Jordan went to follow up on a patient of his own, and Abby walked over to the phone on the other side of the room.

In fact, she didn’t think Daniel would be ringing her at the hospital. If he wanted to get in touch, he would be far more likely to use a cheaper method of communication, like e-mail or fax, with perhaps a more private call home once a month.

The phone was housed in a Plexiglas booth, which provided a modicum of privacy. Abby picked up the receiver and said, ‘Hello.’

There was no answer, just a silence, and she repeated, ‘Hello, this is Abby Curtis. Who is it…who wants to speak to me?’ Again there was silence, and after a moment the phone cut to the dialling tone.

Abby frowned. That was odd. She waited a moment, still holding the receiver and wondering what had happened. Perhaps the caller had been inadvertently cut off and would ring back. She replaced the receiver and waited, but nothing happened.

The more she thought about it, the more she wondered who the mystery caller could have been. She didn’t know that many men who had deep, sexy voices, and the only one to spring to mind was the last person she would have expected to hear from.

Surely Richard couldn’t have tracked her down? How could he have found out where she was? Unless someone had unwittingly told him…

Quickly, she dialled her mother’s number and asked the question that was burning into her mind.

‘Do you think there’s any way that he could have found out where I am? You haven’t said anything to him, have you? He hasn’t phoned you?’

Her mother was calm and unruffled. ‘You know I wouldn’t have told him anything, Abby. I know how important it is to you that you get away from him. I always suspected that there was something strange about him, and I didn’t want him anywhere near you once I got to know him better. I thought his obsession with you was unnatural.’

‘I’m sorry. I was just afraid that you might have let something slip, without meaning to.’

‘I didn’t. I can’t think how he could have found you so soon—and, anyway, you don’t know for sure that it was him, do you? The caller could have realised that he had made a mistake and that it was a different Abby Curtis he was looking for—someone older perhaps, and that’s why he rang off without speaking. He was probably embarrassed. Or it might have been that the nurse heard him wrong and he had asked for someone with a similar-sounding name.’

Abby might have known her mother would react like that. She was a sensible woman, whose reasoning was nearly always straightforward.

‘You’re probably right. I expect I’m making a fuss about nothing.’ Abby talked to her mother for a minute or two longer, then said goodbye and hung up.