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Sometimes the frightening environment of an emergency department made people act differently to what they might have done normally, but Joe was a surgeon. He should have been as much at home here as anywhere, and more capable of reassuring his daughter than most people. On reflection, it was hard to believe that the pair were father and daughter. The atmosphere of awkwardness was more like that of a relative or care-giver being thrown into dealing with an unfortunate and unexpected incident. A care-giver who only had limited contact with children, perhaps.
Felicity crumpled the polystyrene cup and threw it away. Maybe Joe was just a father who couldn’t be bothered and left the upbringing of his children entirely to his wife. Or maybe he had been missing an important appointment because of the accident. What did it matter anyway? It was really none of her business. Instinct had already told her that the unusual atmosphere was highly unlikely to be due to some dysfunctional or abusive relationship that needed further investigation so Felicity was slightly annoyed at her continuing level of interest.
No distractions were immediately available in the department.
‘I’ll be in my office,’ she told Mike. ‘I’ve got some paperwork to catch up on. Beep me if you need me.’
The left turn at the doors into the main part of the hospital took Felicity past the store cupboards, the sluice room and the relatives’ room on her right. The bed coming from the observation ward on the other side of the corridor slowed her decisive walk for only a few moments, but it was long enough to recognise the voices coming from the area set aside for relatives. One of the voices, at least.
* * *
‘For God’s sake, Joe. I just can’t understand how it could have happened!’
Joe had had almost enough. The day had already been a disaster and Dayna was just making things worse.
‘I told you, Dayna. It was an accident. She missed her footing when she jumped off the swing. She fell over. Accidents happen.’
‘I would have thought you could manage a simple trip to the park without some sort of disaster.’ Dayna’s tone was scathing. ‘This is just typical of you, Joe. How bad is it?’
Joe sighed. It was typical. Dayna expected any time he spent with Samantha to cause problems and no matter how hard he tried her expectation always seemed to be justified. Usually it was something minor like stained clothing from a spilled drink or a damaged toy—things that Dayna could have ignored easily enough if she chose to. He had to concede that a broken arm wasn’t something to dismiss lightly.
‘It’s a greenstick fracture.’
‘What on earth is that?’
‘It’s where the bone doesn’t break completely. One side breaks and the other side gets bent. It happens commonly with children.’ Joe frowned. ‘For heaven’s sake, Dayna. It’s exactly what Scott did to his arm a couple of years ago.’
‘He’s a boy.’ Dayna clearly dismissed the reference to her older son’s injury as unimportant. ‘Where is Samantha, Joe? I hope you haven’t left her sitting somewhere by herself.’
‘Of course I haven’t. She has a nurse with her.’
‘Well, I want to see her. Now.’
‘Of course.’ Joe stood back to let his sister-in-law exit the small room first. He followed, edging past the bed being manoeuvred awkwardly in the corridor outside. Another sigh escaped him. Just how much of Dayna’s rather heated conversation had been overheard by Dr Felicity Munroe? And why was she standing there at this particular moment anyway?
Joe led Dayna towards the emergency department. He was still appalled at having discovered Felicity’s qualifications and position. The fleeting memories of things he had said to her on the building site had made him cringe inwardly. Fancy suggesting that a consultant in emergency medicine might not know what she was doing and cause further damage. Or suggesting that if she wanted to be useful she could hold the head still. Of course, she could have told him she was a doctor but Joe had a sneaking suspicion that she had been right in saying she hadn’t been given much of an opportunity. The scene had reminded him too strongly of Catherine’s accident and the ghastly aftermath of a mismanaged spinal injury. He hadn’t been about to allow anyone to interfere with what he knew to be expert leadership.
Joe pulled back the curtain to cubicle 3. If only he hadn’t compounded the error by assuming that Felicity Munroe was a nurse when she’d arrived to look after Samantha. If he hadn’t been so worried about his daughter he might have noticed that she hadn’t been wearing a uniform. He might have taken the trouble to read the identity badge pinned to the waistband of her skirt.
‘Hello, Mum.’ Samantha was smiling. ‘Look at my arm plaster. It’s pink!’
‘Very pretty.’ The nurse beside the bed stepped back as Dayna leaned over to kiss Samantha. ‘Does it hurt a lot, darling?’
‘Not any more. I had some medicine. I’m hungry now.’
Joe smiled at Samantha. She was looking a lot happier. All that he needed now was some more time with her and he could probably wipe out the unpleasant aspects of their outing. ‘Maybe we could go out for a hamburger.’
‘No,’ Dayna said firmly. ‘It’s time to go home.’
Samantha looked disappointed enough to prompt Joe to try again. ‘I could drop Sam home a bit later.’
‘I’ve come into the hospital now, Joe. I’ve left the boys with Nigel and he’s busy at work. We’ve got grocery shopping to do and Scott’s due at his piano lesson at 4:30. I haven’t got time to chop and change arrangements. I’ll take Samantha home with me now.’
Joe gave in. It wasn’t worth the stress of trying to talk Dayna out of a decision. Not this time anyway, when Samantha was probably tired. He watched Dayna help his daughter off the bed.
‘Mum?’
Dayna was folding up Samantha’s cardigan, which had been abandoned on the end of the bed. She didn’t appear to have heard.
‘Mum?’
Joe gritted his teeth at the repetition. Dayna wasn’t Samantha’s mother. She was her aunt. Samantha had started calling her ‘Mum’ because of the example set by Dayna’s two sons. And Dayna certainly hadn’t discouraged her.
‘Mum?’ Samantha was trying again. ‘Can I give Woof Woof Snowball a bath with me tonight? He’s really dirty.’
‘He can go in the washing machine.’ Dayna turned her attention to the nurse who required a signature on the discharge papers. Joe bent down towards his daughter and spoke quietly.
‘When you come and stay with me you can give Woof Woof Snowball a real bath.’
Samantha’s grin at the private suggestion was worth a lot. The one-armed hug was worth even more, despite the obstacle the soft toy presented. It almost restored the pleasure Joe had anticipated from the afternoon’s outing. He could watch Dayna lead Samantha briskly away without the usual heartache. He even found himself smiling. Using that awful name for the toy hadn’t been that difficult at all. Maybe he just needed to relax. He just hadn’t had enough time with his daughter and that wasn’t entirely his fault.
He could learn. Look at how easily Felicity had established such an easy rapport with his child. Instead of being resentful at the way she’d effortlessly gained what he was having such difficulty achieving, he should follow her example. He could be relaxed and confident like that. And friendly. Felicity was obviously a friendly person, good with children, and she clearly knew what she was doing if she was a consultant emergency physician. She looked far too young for the position. She couldn’t be much over thirty, surely?
It seemed, by now, typical that Joe should encounter Felicity as he left the emergency department. This woman had a knack of appearing when least expected. He paused and directed a smile at her.
‘Thanks very much for your help, Dr Munroe.’
‘A pleasure, Mr Petersen.’
The formality was ridiculous. It made them both smile.
‘The name’s Joe.’
‘And mine’s Fliss.’
They both held their hands out simultaneously. The shake was brief but firm. Not so brief that Joe didn’t notice that Felicity wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, however. His mind was turning rapidly. No, she couldn’t be much over thirty and she really was an incredibly attractive woman. Those large hazel eyes were rather difficult to look away from. They weren’t looking as friendly as they had when Samantha had been around but that was hardly surprising.
‘I’d like to apologise,’ he found himself saying hurriedly.
‘What for?’ Felicity’s tone was cool. Disinterested, perhaps?
What for, indeed. There was too much to choose from. Joe had insulted her on more than one occasion already by making erroneous assumptions about her qualifications. He’d also displayed his lack of confident parenting in an embarrassing manner. He should have known better than to answer Samantha’s questions for her. Or upset her about the dog’s name. Felicity probably thought he was an idiot. A rude idiot, at that.
‘Our acquaintance didn’t get off to the best start. I’m sorry I didn’t enlist your expertise at that accident scene.’
‘You didn’t know I had any.’ Felicity dismissed the apology.
‘I wasn’t much of a help with Samantha today either.’
‘It’s often harder to cope with one’s own family than patients.’
‘The thing is, I...’ Joe hesitated. The only hope he had of repairing this woman’s opinion of him would require her to have at least some understanding of the complicated background his actions sprang from. However, any explanation of the reasons for his behaviour on the two occasions they’d met was likely to be time-consuming, and Felicity was looking past Joe’s shoulder at present as though she wanted to escape. ‘I’d just like a chance to explain,’ Joe finished. ‘An opportunity to redeem myself, perhaps.’
‘There’s absolutely no need.’
‘Maybe a coffee?’ Joe couldn’t quite accept the brush-off. He didn’t want to be brushed off. ‘When you have the time, that is.’
‘I don’t think so.’ Felicity’s smile was polite. ‘But thanks for the invitation. Nice meeting you again, Joe.’
Joe watched Felicity walk into the emergency department and kicked himself mentally. Surely he could have handled that a bit better. He had really wanted that coffee. It would have provided the opportunity to spend time with the young consultant and gain more than the initial impression he was being left with. It was an impression he was not going to forget in a hurry. One that he would very much have liked to have built on.
Not that he was going to get the chance. Felicity had spelt that out fairly convincingly. Of course, there was always that appointment Joe had tomorrow. If that interview was successful it was just possible he might get another opportunity to persuade Felicity that he was worth spending some time with. He hadn’t been all that bothered about whether it was going to be successful because he hadn’t been sure it was what he really wanted. Now Joe was quite sure it was what he wanted.
He wanted it rather a lot.
CHAPTER THREE
‘WHAT on earth is taking so long?’
‘I have no idea.’
Felicity frowned at her watch. ‘How long is it since you put in the call for the neurosurgical registrar?’
‘Must be nearly ten minutes.’ Emergency Department Registrar Colin White looked worried. ‘They said he was just finishing a case in Theatre and would be here directly.’
‘Ten minutes is a long way from ‘‘directly’’.’ Felicity’s glance raked the monitor screens surrounding the trauma room bed. ‘I think we’ll just transfer her to CT scanning now. We’ve got two multi-trauma patients from an MVA coming in by helicopter with an ETA of eight minutes. We need to get this room cleared.’
Felicity’s gaze was on the unconscious woman on the bed as the door to the trauma room swung open. She didn’t waver from her visual reassessment and mental review of the patient as the newcomer joined the team at the bedside.
‘Hi. I’m the neurosurgical registrar. Joe Petersen.’
Felicity had never looked up so quickly in her life. For a split second she was totally distracted from the case she was managing. Her patient could have been on another planet. It had been three weeks since Joe had appeared in the emergency department with his daughter. She had forgotten about him...almost. Not only had he stepped back into her world, he was now standing on the other side of a critically ill patient whose care they needed to co-operate over professionally. Felicity snapped the lid closed on her stunned reaction.
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