CAROL MARINELLI recently filled in a form where she was asked for her job title and was thrilled, after all these years, to be able to put down her answer as ‘writer’. Then it asked what Carol did for relaxation. After chewing her pen for a moment Carol put down the truth—’writing’. The third question asked: ‘What are your hobbies?’ Well, not wanting to look obsessed or, worse still, boring, she crossed the fingers on her free hand and answered ‘swimming and tennis’. But, given that the chlorine in the pool does terrible things to her highlights, and the closest she’s got to a tennis racket in the last couple of years is watching the Australian Open, I’m sure you can guess the real answer!

Baby Twins to Bind Them
Carol Marinelli

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Dear Reader,

Sigh …

I completely loved writing this book. The only down side to loving my hero, Dr Guy Steele, so much is that he has spoiled any future relationships—because I will for ever be thinking Steele wouldn’t have said that … or Steele wouldn’t have done that … Yes, he’s really that delicious—just so assured and sexy, yet nice.

I’m actually jealous of my own heroine!

Happy reading!

Carol x

Praise for Carol Marinelli

‘A compelling, sensual, sexy, emotionally packed, drama-filled read that will leave you begging for more!’

—Contemporary Romance Reviews on NYC Angels: Redeeming the Playboy

Table of Contents

Cover

About the Author

Title Page

Dear Reader

Praise for Carol Marinelli

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

EPILOGUE

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

Before

‘YOU PAGED ME to see a patient.’

‘No, I didn’t.’ Candy, holding an armful of sheets, smiled when it would have been far easier to stand there and gape. He was stunning—tall, slender, wearing a suit and a tie. His dark brown hair was cut short and his voice was so deep and commanding that it stopped Candy in her tracks. She met his chocolate-brown eyes fully and it took a moment to respond normally. ‘Who are you here to see?’

‘A Mr Thomas Heath.’

Candy walked over to the board. Emergency at the London Royal Hospital was quiet this afternoon but as she was in Resuscitation Candy didn’t know which patients were in the cubicles. After a quick scan of the board, she located Mr Heath. ‘He’s in cubicle seven. Trevor’s the nurse looking after him. He must be the one who paged you.’

‘Thanks for that. By the way I’m Steele.’

‘Steele?’

He watched as her very blue eyes moved to his name badge. ‘Well, Dr Guy Steele, if you’d prefer to be formal,’ he said.

‘Steele will do.’ She must look like a dental commercial, Candy thought, for she simply couldn’t stop smiling at him. He must be thirty or mid-thirties, which was a lot more than her twenty-four years, and he was also way older than anyone she had ever fancied, yet he had this impact, this presence, that had Candy’s heart galloping in her chest.

‘And you are?’ he asked.

‘Candy. Candy Anastasi.’ She watched a smile twitch on his lips as she said her name. ‘I know, I know, I should be tall, leggy and blonde to carry off a name like that!’ Instead, she was short and a bit round with long black ringlets and piercing blue eyes. ‘There’s a story there.’

‘I can’t wait to hear it, Nurse Candy.’

He had the deepest voice that she’d ever heard. Like a headmaster, he was stern and bossy, yet it was all somehow softened by a very beautiful mouth that she could barely drag her eyes from. ‘You’ll never hear the story of my name,’ Candy said.

‘Oh, we’ll have to see about that.’

Had they been flirting? Candy wondered as sexy-as-hell Steele walked off.

‘Who’s that?’ Kelly said as they started to strip one of the resuscitation beds.

‘Steele!’ Candy said in a deep low voice, making Kelly laugh. She continued speaking gruffly while they bent over and tucked the sheet in. ‘Or Dr Guy Steele if we want to be formal and, young lady, I’m going to make your eardrums reverberate with my deep—’

‘Nurse Candy?’

Candy froze when she realised that Steele was behind her.

‘Could I borrow your stethoscope?’ he asked.

She laughed at being caught impersonating him and turned around and took her stethoscope from her neck and held it out to him, yet pulled back as he went to take it. ‘You can,’ she said, the stethoscope hovering. ‘Just so long as you stop calling me Nurse Candy.’

He just took the stethoscope, smiled and walked off.

They made up all the beds and checked the crash trolleys and then gave up pretending to be busy, given that Lydia, the manager, was in her office. Instead, they took a jug of iced tea to the nurses’ station, where Steele was tapping away on the computer. It was a lovely early summer day but the air-conditioning was struggling and it was nice to sit on the bench and gossip, though Steele had a couple of questions for her.

‘How do you get into the pathology lab to check results?’ he asked, not looking around.

‘You’ve got your password?’ Candy checked.

‘I have and I’ve got into …’ He tapped again. ‘Got it.’

‘Have you told your parents about Hawaii yet?’ Kelly asked Candy, resuming the conversation they’d been having in the kitchen as they’d made their drink.

‘No.’

‘You go in four weeks’ time,’ Kelly pointed out.

‘They might not notice that I’ve gone,’ Candy said hopefully, then let out a sigh. Her parents were Italian, strict and very prone to popping over to her flat unannounced. They also spoke every day on the phone. ‘I know I’ll have to tell them or I’ll be listed on Interpol as a missing person.’

Candy had, on a whim, booked a holiday to Hawaii. Well, it hadn’t been purely on a whim—she had already been aware that she needed to get away when the infomercial had appeared on her screen with a very special offer for the first ten callers. She’d been tired, a bit jaded and upset over a stupid fling with Gerry, one of the head nurses here. Thankfully he was in Greece for a couple of months, which spared Candy her blushes, but when she’d reached for the phone and, lucky her, been amongst the first ten callers, she’d known she needed this break.

She couldn’t wait for two weeks in which to lie on a beach and explore the stunning island at leisure while she attempted to sort out a few things that were on her mind.

‘They’re going to freak when I tell them,’ Candy admitted. ‘They know that I can’t really afford it.’

‘It’s all paid for?’ Kelly checked, and Candy nodded.

‘All except for spending money, but I’ve just spoken to the hospital bank and I’ve got loads of shifts. Actually, I haven’t got a single day off until I fly.’

‘Where are your shifts?’

‘In the geriatric unit.’

Kelly pulled a face. ‘Yuk.’

Candy didn’t mind. She had enjoyed working in the geriatric unit during her training and was really grateful for the extra work. Even if she was exhausted at the prospect of nearly four more weeks without so much as a day off.

As her parents would point out, when she finally got around to it and told them about her holiday, it was foolish to be working extra shifts because you were so tired that you needed a break—but Candy just wanted to get away for a while.

‘When do you start working there?’

‘The weekend. I’m working Friday night and then I’ve got a four-hour shift on Sunday morning, then back here Monday.’

‘Okay.’ Steele turned around. ‘I want Mr Heath pulled over to Resus. He needs to be monitored while I start him on some medication. His bloodwork’s dire.’

‘Sure.’ Candy jumped down from the bench and she and Trevor brought Mr Heath over.

Candy wrote his name on the whiteboard and turned to Steele. ‘Sorry, what specialty is he under?’

‘Geriatrics,’ Steele said, then he gave her a thin smile. ‘Yuk!’

Candy’s cheeks went pink; she wanted to point out that she hadn’t been the one who had said that.

‘It’s okay,’ Steele relented when he saw her uncomfortable expression. ‘You hit a nerve—I hear that sort of thing a lot.’

‘So are you a new geriatric consultant?’ Kelly asked, but Steele shook his head.

‘No, I’m only here temporarily. I’m covering for six weeks while Kathy Jordan is on extended leave.’

‘Just six weeks?’ Kelly asked shamelessly.

‘Yep,’ Steele said, and walked off.

‘Wow, talk about bringing the schmexy into geriatrics,’ Kelly said. ‘And you’re going to be working there, you lucky thing. I bet you’re not complaining now.’

She hadn’t been complaining in the first place, Candy was tempted to point out.

They soon paid for the lull in patients because, not an hour later, the department had filled and she and Kelly were busy in Resus, Kelly with a very ill baby and Candy attempting to calm down Mr Heath. He was rather shaky from the medication and was getting increasingly distressed and trying to climb down from the resuscitation bed.

‘The medicine makes your heart race, Mr Heath,’ Candy tried to explain to the gentleman. ‘It will settle down soon …’ But he couldn’t understand what she said and kept trying to climb off the bed so Candy tried speaking louder. ‘The medicine—’

‘You do it like this.’ Steele saw that she was struggling and came over. ‘Mr Heath!’ he boomed.

The people in the Waiting Room surely heard him, Candy thought as he gave the same explanation to Mr Heath that she had been trying to give. The gentleman nodded weakly in relief and then lay back on the pillows. ‘Good man,’ Steele barked and smiled at Candy and, in a comparatively dulcet tone, added, ‘I have the perfect voice for my job.’

‘You do,’ she agreed.

‘So you’re going to be doing a few shifts up on the geriatric unit?’

‘Yep.’

‘For a holiday that you can’t really afford?’

‘I know,’ Candy groaned.

‘Well, good for you,’ Steele said, and Candy blinked in surprise. ‘Okay, once Mr Heath’s medication has finished I want him monitored for another hour down here. Then everything’s sorted for him to be admitted. We’re just waiting on a bed, which might be a couple of hours. I’ve spoken to the ward and they have said that they’ll ring down when they’re ready for him to come up.’

‘Ha-ha,’ Candy said, because there was no way that the ward was likely to ring down. Instead, she would have to chase them and push for the bed to be readied.

Steele well understood her sarcastic comment. ‘Well, I hope that they do ring down in a timely manner. I’m less than impressed with the waiting times for patients to get into a bed at the Royal.’

With that he stalked off, possibly to return to whatever fluffy white cloud he’d just drifted down from, Candy thought.

She’d never, ever been so instantly captivated by someone.

Candy left Kelly watching Mr Heath when she was told to go for her lunch break. She’d forgotten to bring lunch so she bought a bag of salt-and-vinegar crisps from the vending machine and put them between two slices of bread and butter. Sitting down in the staffroom, she smiled at Trevor, who was having his lunch too, and checked her phone. Yes, her parents had called, wondering why she hadn’t been over.

She’d tell them about Hawaii tonight, Candy decided. Just get it over and done with and then maybe then she’d feel better. Yet she was incredibly tired and really just wanted to go home, have dinner and an early night.

‘Here!’

That delicious voice tipped her out of introspection and she looked up at Steele, who was holding a stethoscope, which she took from him.

‘Thank you,’ Candy said, ‘though you didn’t have to rush to bring it back down. It’s only a hospital-issue stethoscope.’

‘Oh,’ Steele said. ‘I thought I’d pinched yours. Still, it doesn’t matter, I was coming down anyway. I’m waiting for a patient to arrive—a direct admission from her GP, though she’s refusing to go straight to the ward. She’s just agreed to a chest X-ray and some blood tests, and then she thinks she’s going home!’

‘Thinks?’ Candy asked as Steele sat down beside her and stretched out his long legs. It was nice that he sat down next to her when there were about twenty seats to choose from. She turned and smiled as he spoke on.

‘Her GP is extremely concerned about her. He thinks there’s far more going on than she’s admitting to. Macey has had the same GP for thirty years and if he’s worried about her then so am I. He thinks she’s depressed.’ He turned and looked right into her eyes and Candy felt her heart do a little flip-flop. ‘It’s a big problem with the elderly.’

‘Really?’

Steele nodded and looked at what she was eating. ‘That looks so bad it has to be good.’

‘It’s fantastic,’ Candy said, and ripped off half her sandwich and gave it to him. ‘The trick is lots of butter.’

‘That’s amazing!’ Steele said, when he’d tasted it.

‘I’m brilliant with bread,’ Candy said. ‘Toasted sandwiches, ice-cream sandwiches, beans on toast …’

‘I thought a nice Italian girl like you would be brilliant in the kitchen.’

‘Sadly, no,’ Candy said. ‘I’m a constant source of concern to my mother. Anyway, who said I’m nice?’

They smiled.

A smile that was just so deliciously inappropriate for a man you’d met only an hour or so ago. A smile she had never given to another man before and, really, she had no idea where it had come from.

Candy Anastasi! she scolded herself as she looked into those dark brown eyes.

Step away from the very young nurse, Steele told himself, but, hell, she was gorgeous.

Lydia came in then and they both looked away from each other. Lydia was waving a postcard of a delicious aqua ocean and Candy found that she was holding her breath in tension as Lydia read out the card. ‘There’s a postcard from Gerry. It reads, “Glad that none of you are here.”’

Lydia gave a tight smile as she pinned it on the board and Candy just stared at the television.

Was that little dig from Gerry aimed at her?

‘When is he back?’ Trevor asked.

‘End of July, I think.’

Lydia’s voice was deliberately vague and Candy knew why. Gerry, the head nurse in Emergency, had been strongly advised to take extended leave.

Gerry was one of the reasons that Candy wanted a couple of weeks on a beach with no company.

Candy’s parents had freaked when, at twenty-two, she had broken up with a man they considered suitable and had declared she was moving out. They had been so appalled, so devastated at the prospect of their only daughter leaving home that Candy had ended up staying for another year.

She’d simply had to leave in the end.

Her mother thought nothing of opening her post. She constantly asked whom Candy was talking to on the phone and when Candy pointed out she was entitled to privacy they would ask what it was she had to hide.

Last year she had moved out and, really, she had hardly let loose. She’d had a brief relationship with Gerry when she’d first moved into her flat but that hadn’t worked out and she had been happily single since then.

A couple of months ago, aware that Gerry was having some problems, she’d agreed to go out for a drink with him.

It had resulted in a one-night stand that had left Candy feeling regretful. Gerry had been annoyed to find out that their brief relationship hadn’t been resumed.

It was all a bit of a mess, an avoidable one, though. Candy was just grateful that no one at work knew about that regrettable night and Candy wanted it left far behind.

‘You’ll be sending postcards soon,’ Steele said, but Candy shook her head.

‘I won’t be thinking about this place for a moment.’

That wasn’t quite true, though. She would be thinking about work—Candy was seriously thinking of leaving Emergency.

CHAPTER TWO

JUST AS SHE RETURNED from lunch she was informed that Steele’s patient was here but refusing to come inside the department and had requested, loudly, that the ambulance take her home.

‘I’ll come out and have a word with her,’ Candy said as Steele was taking a phone call. She headed out to the ambulance and was met by a teary woman who introduced herself as Catherine, Macey Anderson’s niece.

‘I knew that she was going to do this,’ Catherine said. ‘It’s taken two days to persuade her to come in. She used to be a matron on one of the wards here, and still thinks she is one.’ Catherine gave a tired smile. ‘She was in a few months ago and she was just about running the place by the time she was discharged.’

‘I want to go home,’ Macey shouted as Candy came into the back of the ambulance.

Macey was a very tall, very handsome woman, with wiry grey, curly hair, a flushed face and very angry dark green eyes. She had all her stuff with her, a huge suitcase, a walking frame and several other bags.

‘Mrs Anderson—’ Candy started, but already she was wrong.

‘It’s Miss Anderson!’

‘I’m sorry, Miss Anderson. I’m Candy Anastasi, one of the nurses in Emergency, and I’m going to be looking after you today.’

‘But, as I’ve told everyone, many times, I don’t want to be looked after,’ Macey retorted. ‘I want to be taken home.’

It was all pretty hopeless. The more they tried to persuade her to come into the department the more upset Macey became. The last thing Candy wanted to do was wheel her through when she was distressed and crying and so, instead, she tried another tack, wondering if, given that Macey had once been a matron, she might not want to get another nurse in trouble.

‘Dr Steele is already here to see you,’ Candy said. ‘He’s been waiting for you to arrive. Am I to go in and tell him that I can’t get you to come into the hospital?’

Macey looked at her for a long moment and then she looked beyond Candy’s shoulder and Candy knew, she simply knew, that it was Steele who had just stepped into the ambulance.

‘Is there a problem, Nurse? Only I’ve been waiting for quite some time.’ His low voice sounded just a touch ominous and Candy met Macey’s eyes for a brief moment.

‘No,’ Macey answered for Candy. ‘They were just about to bring me in.’

‘Good,’ Steele said. ‘Then I’ll come and see you shortly, Miss Anderson.’

As he headed back into the department the paramedics lowered the stretcher to the ground and Candy found out perhaps why it was that Steele was so sharply dressed. ‘At least he’s not twelve and wearing jeans,’ Macey muttered.

Candy smiled—yes, Steele’s appearance and authoritarian tone had appeased Macey.

They took Macey into cubicle seven, aligned the stretcher with the trolley, and Candy positioned the sliding board that would help to move the patient over easily. ‘We’ll get you onto the trolley, Miss Anderson.’

‘I can manage,’ the elderly lady snapped, ‘and it’s Macey.’

‘That actually means she likes you,’ her niece said, and gestured with her head for Candy to follow her outside.

‘I’ve got this,’ Matthew, a very patient paramedic, said, and Candy went outside to speak with Catherine.

‘It’s taken two days for her GP to persuade her to come in,’ Catherine said. ‘Honestly, I’m just so relieved she’s finally here. She’s got a temperature and she’s hardly eating or drinking anything. She doesn’t take her tablets or if she does she gets them all wrong …’

‘We’ll go through all of that.’ Candy did her best to reassure Macey’s niece.

‘She’s so cantankerous and rude,’ Catherine said, ‘that she puts everyone offside, but she’s such a lovely lady too. She’s always been on her own, she’s never had a boyfriend, let alone married, she’s so completely set in her ways and loathes getting undressed in front of anyone. You’re going to have a battle there …’

‘Let us take care of her,’ Candy said, ‘and please don’t worry about her saying something offensive. Believe me, we’ll have heard far worse.’

‘Thanks.’ Catherine gave a worried smile and they went back inside. The cubicle was pretty full, with Macey’s huge bag and walking frame, and Candy had a little tidy up. ‘Why don’t we first get you into a gown and then—’

‘Get me into a gown?’ Macey shouted loudly. ‘You haven’t even introduced yourself and you’re asking me to take my clothes off.’ Candy said nothing as Steele came into the cubicle. She had, in fact, introduced herself in the ambulance. ‘You’re not a nurse’s bootlace,’ Macey said to Candy just as Steele came in.

‘Hello, Miss Anderson,’ he said. ‘I didn’t introduce myself properly back there in the ambulance. I’m Steele, or Dr Steele, if you prefer to be formal.’

Candy smothered a little smile as he repeated a similar introduction to the one he had given her. He must have to say it fifty times a day.

He ran through a few questions with Macey as a very anxious Catherine hovered.

‘You had a heart attack three months ago?’ Steele checked. ‘And you were admitted here for a week.’

‘All they did was pump me with drugs,’ Macey huffed. ‘Where were you then?’

‘I believe I was in Newcastle,’ Steele said.

‘So how long have you worked here?’

‘Two days,’ Steele answered easily.

‘You’ll be gone tomorrow.’ Macey huffed. ‘You’re a locum.’

‘I am, though I happen to be a very good one,’ Steele said, completely unfazed. ‘And I’m here for six weeks, which gives us plenty of time to sort all this out.’

They went through her medical history. Apart from the heart attack it would seem that Macey was very well indeed. She had never smoked, never drunk, and at eighty still did all her own housework and cooking, with a little help from her nieces, Catherine and Linda. Macey had until a couple of days ago walked to the shops every day.

‘It’s quite a distance,’ Catherine said. ‘I offered to do her shopping weekly at the supermarket for her but Aunt Macey wouldn’t hear of it.’

‘I like to walk,’ Macey snapped.

‘It’s good that you do—exercise is good for you,’ Steele said. ‘Do you have stairs at home?’

‘Yes, and I manage them just fine,’ Macey retorted. ‘You won’t see me with bungalow legs!’

‘Right, Miss Anderson,’ Steele said. ‘I’m going to ask Candy to help you into a gown and do some obs and put an IV and draw some blood. Then I’ll come and examine you.’ He looked at two blue ice-cream containers that were filled with various bottles and blister packets of medication. ‘I’ll take these and look through them.’

As Steele went to go Macey called him back. ‘I’m not having a nurse take my blood. That’s a doctor’s job.’

‘Oh, I can assure you that you’re better off with Candy than you are with me,’ Steele said. ‘I get the shakes this side of six p.m.’

His quip caused a little smile to inch onto Macey’s lips and, after Steele had gone, Candy helped her into a gown while doing her best to keep Macey covered as she did so. But the elderly lady fought her over every piece, right down to her stockings.

‘Leave my stockings on,’ Macey said.

‘Oh, I’ll leave them for Steele to take off, shall I?’ Candy challenged.

Macey huffed and lifted her bottom but as Candy rolled the stockings down she found out why Macey was so reluctant to get fully undressed—there was a bandage on her leg and around that the skin was very red and inflamed.

‘I’ll take this off so Steele can take a look,’ Candy said. She went and washed her hands and opened up a dressing pack and then put on some gloves.

‘Careful,’ Macey warned.

‘Is it very painful?’ Candy asked, and Macey nodded.

‘Okay, I’ll just put some saline on,’ Candy said, ‘and we’ll soak it off. Has your GP seen this?’

‘I don’t need a doctor to tell me how to do a dressing.’

Candy soaked the dressing in saline and then covered Macey with a blanket and checked her obs, before heading out to Steele. He was sitting at the nurses’ station, going through all Macey’s medications. He had a pill counter and was tipping one of the bottles out when Candy came over.

‘She’s got a nasty leg wound,’ Candy said.

‘How bad?’

‘I haven’t seen it,’ Candy said. ‘I’m just soaking the dressing but her shin is all red and I think it’s very painful.’

‘Okay.’ He started to tip the tablets back into the jar. ‘I don’t want her left on her own,’ Steele said.

‘Sorry?’

‘I don’t like what I’m seeing with these tablets,’ Steele said. ‘I don’t trust her not to do something stupid.’

‘Oh!’

‘I’ll come in and see her now.’

They both returned to the cubicle and Steele examined Macey. He listened for a long time to her chest and felt her stomach, keeping her as covered as he could while he did so, and then they got to her leg.

Steele put on some gloves and took off the dressing and Macey winced in pain. ‘Sorry, Miss Anderson,’ Steele said. ‘How long have you had this?’

‘A couple of weeks.’

Steele looked up at Macey. ‘That’s very concerning. This has developed over two weeks?’

Candy could hear the note of sarcasm in Steele’s voice and watched as Macey stared back at him and then backed down.

‘I knocked my leg when I came out of hospital. It’s just not healed and it’s been getting worse.’

‘That sounds far more plausible.’ Steele smiled at her. ‘Well, that accounts for your temperature!’ He took a swab and though he was very gentle the cotton tip must have felt like a red-hot poker because Macey let out a yelp of pain. ‘Very sorry, Macey,’ Steele said. He put a light dressing over it. ‘We’ll give you something decent for pain before we dress it properly.’ He spoke then to Candy. ‘Can you take Macey round for a chest X-ray?’

Just as Candy had finished drawing some blood the porter arrived and Candy went to X-Ray with Macey and Catherine. They were seen relatively quickly but Macey was clearly less than impressed at what she considered a long wait.

Having looked at her X-ray, Steele came into the cubicle and then turned to Catherine. ‘Why don’t you go and get a drink?’ he suggested. ‘I’m going to be with your aunt for the next twenty minutes or so—you might as well take the chance for a break now.’

‘Thank you,’ Catherine said in relief.

‘I just wanted to check a couple of things,’ Steele said once Catherine had left the cubicle.

‘And then I can go home?’

‘You’re not well enough,’ Steele said. ‘Now, while Catherine isn’t here, I want you to tell me how many you smoke a day?’

‘I don’t smoke.’

‘Miss Anderson, do you want me to bring in your chest X-ray and we can go over it together?’

‘Two.’ She gave a tight shrug. ‘Maybe three a day.’

‘We’ll say ten, then, shall we?’ Steele said, and Candy blinked when Macey didn’t correct him. ‘I’ll write you up for a nicotine patch. How much do you drink a day?’

‘I’ve told you already, I don’t.’

‘Six broken ribs of varying ages.’ Steele smiled at the old girl. ‘Come on, Macey. So am I to worry that you’re falling down for no reason?’

‘I slipped on some ice,’ Macey said, ‘and I’ve got a cat that gets under my feet.’

‘Fair enough.’ Steele nodded. ‘So you don’t want me to write you down for a couple of shots of sherry at night?’ he checked. ‘You can have either your own stuff, or the hospital’s cheap disgusting stuff. We just need the bottle if you want to drink your own.’

Macey took in a deep breath before saying anything. ‘It’s in my bag.’

‘Good, we’ll make sure it’s handed over to nursing staff out of sight of your niece.’

Candy stood there feeling a bit stunned but she hadn’t seen anything yet. Steele had brought back in the two ice-cream containers that Macey had brought in with her and he started to go through them.

‘Macey, you haven’t been taking these regularly.’ He held up a pill bottle. ‘Yet you’re not.’

‘There’s so many. I can’t keep up.’

Steele picked up another bottle that had just a couple of tablets in it. ‘And these were only dispensed two days ago,’ Steele said, ‘and there are only two left.’

‘I didn’t take them,’ Macey said in a scoffing voice.

‘I know that you didn’t or we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. So where are they now?’

‘I don’t know. My niece puts them into a pill box …’

‘Macey?’

‘I tipped them down the toilet. I don’t trust the drug companies.’

‘Are you depressed, Macey?’

‘Oh, you’re going to put me on antidepressants now. You’re in cahoots with the drug companies.’

‘Are you confused and mixing up your medication or are you ignoring your health?’ Steele asked, and Candy stood there, watching him stare right into Macey’s eyes. ‘Are you depressed, Macey?’

There was a long stretch of silence before Macey answered.

‘I’m not confused,’ she said. ‘Well, sometimes I am with dates and things.’

‘But you’re not confused where your medication’s concerned?’ Steele checked.

‘No,’ Macey said, and Candy frowned at the serious note to Steele’s voice.

‘Okay.’

‘Could you just leave me, please?’ Macey asked.

‘Not happening,’ Steele said, and he took down the edge of the trolley she was lying on. His legs were long enough that he sat there easily. She would need a ladder to do that, Candy thought, and then she stopped thinking idle thoughts as she started to realise the seriousness of this conversation.

‘Why did you tip the tablets in the toilet?’ Steele challenged gently, and Candy felt the back of her nose stinging as he pushed on. ‘Were you scared that you might take them all?’

Macey’s face started to crumple and Steele took her hand. ‘Look at me, Macey. Are you having suicidal thoughts?’ Steele asked bluntly, and after a moment she nodded and then started to cry.

‘Well done for throwing them away,’ Steele said. ‘Well done for coming into hospital and speaking with me.’ Candy watched as he wrapped his arms around the proud lady as she started to really sob. ‘It’s okay.’ His voice was very deep but so gentle. ‘We’re going to look after you …’

CHAPTER THREE

CANDY SLEPT FOR a few hours on Friday afternoon before her first night shift on the geriatric ward and then she got ready and took the Underground into work.

She was actually rather nervous about her night shift. She was so used to working in Emergency that she wasn’t too sure how she would go on the ward. She also had a short four-hour shift there on Sunday morning.

It will be worth it, Candy told herself as she stepped into the geriatric unit.

Hawaii, here I come!

The handover lasted much longer than it did in Emergency and the day staff went into far more detail about the patients than she had grown used to. Candy sat as the staff discussed in depth the patients’ moods and their ADLs: activities of daily living. Steele was sitting at a desk in the room with his back to everyone but didn’t leave as the handover started; he just carried on with whatever he was doing on the computer and offered comment or clarification at times.

Candy knew that she was far, far too aware of him.

The staff clearly liked him. If there was a question they would toss it over to him and he would answer as he typed away.

Elaine, a student nurse, was giving her handover to the night staff, watched over by her mentor, Gloria. Elaine was very bossy and seemed to think she was the only one in the room who knew what she was doing. She had given a sigh of exasperation when Candy had introduced herself and said that she was from the hospital bank. ‘Another one!’ Elaine had said.

As Elaine gave her handover there were a few times when Candy caught Abigail’s eye—Abigail was the senior nurse she would be working with tonight, and they both smothered a smile.

Mr Heath, who had been so unwell the other day in Emergency, was doing a lot better and Candy was allocated to look after him for the night.

She was also given Toby Worthington, a terminal patient who was on a lot of morphine for pain control and, Elaine said, liked to have his radio on till eleven at night and then turned on again at six.

‘Then we have Macey Anderson.’ Elaine moved on to the next patient.

‘I know Macey,’ Candy said. ‘I was in Emergency when she was admitted.’

‘Could you have her tonight as well, then?’ Abigail checked and Candy nodded. They went through her history, which was pretty much what Candy already knew. How Macey had been since admission had changed rapidly, though. ‘Since she’s come to the ward she’s been very withdrawn,’ Elaine said. ‘She doesn’t want to eat, or wash. She’s on an IV regime but if she continues to refuse meals and drinks she’ll need an NG tube. Steele has taken her off a lot of her medications and has also started her on a low dose of antidepressants …’ Elaine went through her medications. ‘Make sure she takes them and she’s not hiding them,’ Elaine warned, and Candy nodded. But that wasn’t enough for Elaine. ‘You have to ask her to lift her tongue.’

‘I shall,’ Candy said, trying to keep the edge from her voice. Elaine was a funny little thing, with a very long, wide mouth that opened often.

She reminded Candy of a puppet.

‘Why does she have to lift her tongue, Elaine?’ Steele asked from the computer, and Candy felt her lips stretch into a smile because clearly he had Elaine worked out too.

‘To make sure that she’s not hiding any under there,’ Elaine said, and looked at Candy to make sure that she understood the instruction.

‘Thanks,’ Candy said. ‘I’ll make sure that she takes them.’

As Elaine left the room Abigail winked. ‘Matron Elaine!’

‘Her heart’s in the right place, though,’ Gloria, the sister in charge of the day shift, said. ‘But, oh my, she’s hard work. Elaine insists on calling everything by its technical name. The patients haven’t a clue what she’s asking. Just this evening she asked Mr Heath if she could check for scrotal oedema.’ Gloria smiled as she recalled it. ‘He said, “Do you mean my balls, dear?” It was too funny.’

They were all very nice and after handover Elaine gave Candy a quick tour of the ward before she headed for home.

Actually, it wasn’t that quick—Elaine was incredibly thorough, going through everything in detail when really Candy wanted to get started.

‘I think that covers everything,’ Candy said. ‘Thanks for the tour.’

‘I’ll just show you where the torches and things are kept,’ Elaine said, but Candy looked at the clock and it was already nearly ten. ‘Go.’ Candy smiled. ‘It’s Friday night. Enjoy it!’

Elaine gave a little nod and finally headed for home and then Candy went to check on her patients for the night.

Mr Heath was indeed looking better.

‘Hello, Candy.’ He smiled when she came over and he put down the book that he was reading.

‘You remember me?’ Candy asked in surprise, because Mr Heath had been so distressed in Resus that he hadn’t seemed very aware of his surroundings or able to hear what anybody except Steele was saying.

‘Of course I do.’

‘Well, it’s lovely to see you looking so much better,’ Candy said. She then did his obs and gave him his medications for the night and, as she did so, they chatted for a while.

‘I’m hoping to go home on Monday,’ Mr Heath said. ‘My granddaughter gets married next week.’

‘How exciting,’ Candy said. ‘Is it a big wedding?’

‘Huge!’ Mr Heath nodded. ‘She’s marrying an Ital …’ His voice trailed off.

‘Don’t stop on my account.’ Candy grinned. ‘I know what Italian weddings can be like. I must be the only girl in the world who’s dreaded her wedding day since she was little rather than dreamt of it.’

Mr Heath laughed. ‘Will it be big?’

‘You have no idea,’ Candy said. ‘I have four older brothers, all married, and my mother is itching for it to be my turn. She buys sheets and towels for me when she shops—oh, and washing baskets and the like. I’m all set up!’ Candy smiled. ‘Apart from the groom.’

It was, in fact, a very friendly ward and the staff didn’t mind that Candy had a few questions every now and then. But as she went to do Macey’s medications, Candy frowned and looked around for Abigail, but she was in with Mrs Douglas, who was very sick indeed.

‘Problem?’ Steele had come onto the ward and was writing up some medication for a patient who wasn’t Candy’s.

‘No, I just want to check something,’ Candy said, taking the prescription chart over to him. ‘Macey’s written up for sherry, but she’s on a lot of other medication.’

‘No doubt she’ll be having the sherry when she gets home,’ Steele pointed out. ‘Though I don’t think you have to worry about it tonight—she’s not having her sherry at the moment. She’s not really having much of anything.’

He was right. Candy was shocked at the change in Macey. She’d been a fierce, proud woman when she had arrived in the emergency department but now she just lay on her side and stared into space. She didn’t say anything when Candy introduced herself and her arm was listless when Candy checked her blood pressure.

‘I’ve got your tablets for you, Macey,’ Candy explained, and she helped her to sit up to take them. The old lady took her tablets without a word of protest and then tried to take the water Candy offered, but her hands were shaking terribly so Candy held the glass and helped her take a drink to wash them down. ‘Sorry, Macey, but can you lift your tongue for me?’

She lifted her tongue and, yes, she had swallowed all the tablets rather than hiding them. Then she lay back down on the pillow.

‘Can I get you anything else?’ Candy offered. ‘A drink?’

Macey gave a small shake of her head and Candy looked at the fluid balance and food charts. She was on an IV, and that was, apart from the water she took with her medicines, practically all that Macey was having at the moment.

‘Macey,’ Candy suggested as she put another blanket on and turned her pillows, ‘why don’t I get you some milk?’

Her lethargy was troubling. Candy would far prefer her to be shouting at her and telling her that she wasn’t a nurse’s bootlace.

‘Some warm milk,’ Candy elaborated. ‘I know your hands are a bit shaky at the moment but I can help you to drink it. Will you have some milk?’

Macey didn’t say yes but at least she didn’t shake her head this time.

Steele looked over and saw Candy hovering, sorting out pillows and blankets on Macey’s bed. He half expected Macey to shout for her to get off as she had done when she’d been with the other nurse that afternoon, but he was pleased to see that tonight Macey didn’t seem to mind the small attention.

Steele liked Candy, which had certainly come as a surprise to him.

The attraction had been instant, yet Candy was nothing like the women Steele usually dated.

Oh, he dated.

A lot.

Steele went for sophisticated women. He liked women who understood right from the start that this could only ever be a fleeting thing for he was never anywhere long. Six months here, two years there and now just six weeks here.

Steele glanced at the date. He had been here almost a week, so make that five weeks he had left at the Royal.

And Candy was away for the final two of them.

Steele had already done the marriage-and-settle-down thing and it hadn’t worked.

Or rather, it had worked, possibly more than he had realised, because ten years on his ex-wife, completely out of the blue, had rung him. Her second marriage had failed and she had suggested that they give it another go. Even before Steele could answer her and say he had never heard a more ridiculous suggestion in his life she had added her little postscript—there was one proviso to them getting back together.

There had been a lot of advances in technology after all.

Ten years on the hurt was there and she had just hit it with a sledgehammer again. His one raw nerve, the one chink in his confident persona, had been exposed again. Steele had promptly hung up on her without response because otherwise he might well have exploded and told her exactly the words that were in his head.

They weren’t pretty.

For Steele, finding out that he was infertile had been a huge blow. His wife’s response to the news had been devastating.

He made sure now he was never in a position to reveal that part of himself again. He kept things light; he kept things intimate sexually rather than emotionally.

Then he moved on.

Candy walked past just then, carrying a feeding cup, and she went over and helped Macey to sit up.

Candy didn’t say anything; she just gave Macey a smile as the elderly lady took sips of the milky drink. That was all Macey wanted for now: no conversation, just a warm drink and the comfort of companionable silence.

Candy was fine with that—she was used to it, in fact.

When she’d been ten, her nonna had come to live with them. Candy’s job in the morning had been to make sure Nonna got her biscotti and milky coffee and then to see her to the bathroom and make up her bed. Candy had loved the mornings—the chatty ones when Nonna had told her all about the village that she had grown up in. The reminiscent ones when Nonna had spoken about falling in love and the parties and dancing. The sad ones—leaving Italy and the death of her husband, Candy’s nonno. Candy had been comfortable too with the silent mornings, when Nonna had just eaten quietly, lost in a world of her own, as Macey was now.

‘Do you want a bedpan?’ Candy offered Macey when the milk was gone.

‘I’ll go …’ Macey sighed and pulled back the bed covers.

Glad to see that she was making the effort to get out of bed, Candy helped her with her slippers and got Macey her walking frame and they walked over to the bathroom.

Candy waited outside and when Macey came to wash her hands Candy sorted the taps and squeezed the soap for her. Macey washed her hands very thoroughly. Her nail varnish was chipped and Candy watched her examine her nails for a moment, clearly less than impressed with the state of her hands.

‘I’ll sort your nails out for you on Sunday,’ Candy offered, and then took Macey back to her bedside, where she asked her to sit for a moment. ‘Sit there and let me make it up all nice and fresh for you to get into.’

Candy made the bed so nicely that she wanted to climb in it herself. ‘You’d better get in quickly or I will.’

‘You look tired,’ Macey said, and Candy smiled at the first invitation to conversation.

‘I am, though I shouldn’t be,’ Candy said. ‘I slept all afternoon.’

She got the older woman into bed, put up the bed rails and tied the call bell to the side. ‘Press it if you need anything,’ Candy said. ‘I hope you have a lovely sleep.’

Candy sorted out her other patients and, by one a.m., when Abigail asked if she’d mind taking the first break, Candy was more than ready for an hour to rest. It would seem she wasn’t the only one who needed a doze, because when she walked into the break room there was Steele, asleep on a sofa with the television on in the background.

‘Aloha,’ he said sleepily, when Candy disturbed him as she took a seat.

‘Aloha.’ Candy smiled. ‘How come you’re still here?’

‘I’m waiting for some relatives to come in for Mrs Douglas.’

Candy remembered from handover that Mrs Douglas wasn’t expected to make it through the night.

‘How long is it now till your holiday?’ Steele asked.

‘Three weeks,’ Candy said, and set her phone alarm for an hour’s time. She saw the date and that it was now Saturday morning. ‘Actually, just under three weeks. I fly on a Friday night.’

‘Are you working right up till then?’

Candy nodded and then yawned at the very thought. ‘I almost go from here to the airport.’

‘Is it just you going?’

‘Yep.’

‘I thought Hawaii was more a couples’ destination,’ Steele said, fishing shamelessly.

‘I think you may be right but I saw an advert and I couldn’t resist,’ Candy admitted and nodded to the television, where an infomercial for knives was showing. ‘It was a limited offer, with a huge discount for the first ten to call … I fall for it every time’

‘Yep.’ Steele nodded. ‘And me. I bought the juicer, the chopper and some blender thing until I finally worked out that nothing is going to make me like vegetables.’

‘It’s one of the perils of working nights,’ Candy agreed. ‘What looks appealing at two a.m. seems stupid when the parcel arrives. Anyway, I saw the advert for the holiday when I was feeling particularly miserable. It looked absolutely beautiful and I really needed to get away …’

‘How come?’

‘Lots of things really.’

‘Such as?’

Candy hesitated. She hadn’t really spoken to anyone about the fact she was considering leaving. She glanced at Steele and realised that by the time she got back from Hawaii he’d be gone, so it really made no difference. ‘I’m not sure if I still want to work in Emergency.’

‘It must be a pretty stressful job.’

‘It is at times.’ Candy nodded. ‘Though it’s not just that. I made a mistake couple of months back.’ She didn’t elaborate; instead, she lay down on the sofa, determined to squeeze in some sleep during her break.

‘A professional mistake?’ Steele probed, and Candy let out a small laugh at his very direct question.

‘No, it was a personal one.’

‘Do tell.’

‘No way.’

‘So there are two things I have to find out about you now,’ Steele teased. ‘The story behind your name and the mistake that Nurse Candy made.’

‘You can try, but it won’t get you anywhere,’ Candy said, and closed her eyes. ‘I’m going to have a little rest.’

‘Hopefully you talk in your sleep.’

She smiled with her eyes closed and was mildly surprised when after a moment or so Steele continued to speak.

‘We all make mistakes, Candy,’ he said. His lovely deep voice was soothing and broke into her semi-doze. ‘If I’ve learnt one thing in this job, it’s that everyone makes so-called mistakes and also that everyone wastes way too much time regretting them.’

She opened her eyes and looked at him. ‘You really do like your job,’ Candy said, and it wasn’t a question, more an observation, and Steele nodded.

‘I really do.’

Yes, she should sleep and her aching body might regret it later but she chose to forgo the full hour of sleep just to find out a little more about him. She lay there and peeked over to Steele, who was still looking at her.

‘Did you always want to work in geriatrics?’

‘Not really,’ Steele said. ‘It sort of found me, I guess. I was pretty much raised by my grandmother …’

‘Are your parents …?’ Her voice trailed off and Steele grinned.

‘They’re not dead.’

‘Good.’

‘My parents are both doctors and were very serious about their careers. I was a late accident. I don’t think they ever really wanted to have children. My mother was a top thoracic surgeon—which means she had balls.’

Candy laughed.

‘My grandmother looked after me till I went to boarding school and in the holidays I stayed with her.’ He saw her frown. ‘My parents are good people. They were just very, very focused. Anyway, when I went to my grandmother’s for Easter one year, she was very confused. Just completely off the wall. I rang my mother and she pretty much would have had her shipped off to a nursing home that day.’

‘Really?’ Candy said.

‘Really!’ Steele nodded. ‘But the GP came and it turned out all she had was a urine infection. He explained the confusion it could cause in the elderly. Anyway, two days later she was completely back to herself. It just stayed with me, I guess.’

‘My nonna lived with us.’ Candy yawned. ‘I think my mother thinks she’ll be living with me …’

‘Did your mother work?’ Steele asked, and Candy shook her head. ‘You do, though. You have a career.’

Candy looked at him. Right there, right then, she felt as if he knew the wrestle in her heart because though she loved her parents they clashed a lot as Candy struggled to be independent when they didn’t want her to be. ‘I do have a career,’ Candy said, ‘and I had to fight to have one.’

‘Have your rest.’ He smiled and Candy nodded.

She’d had to fight to simply be here, Candy thought as she closed her eyes. Her parents had wanted her to marry Franco, and for her to work in the family business. They hadn’t understood that she’d wanted to study to become a nurse.

Candy fell asleep but it felt about twenty seconds later that her phone bleeped and told her that her hour was up and it was time to go back to work. The staffroom was empty and when she went round to the ward Steele wasn’t there either.

She liked him.

Candy knew it properly then because she preferred the feel on the ward when he was around.

The rest of the night flew past quickly. Candy helped out with Mrs Douglas while Abigail took her break and then it was time to start her morning routine. At seven-thirty, after handover, Candy said goodbye to her patients and told Macey that she would be in tomorrow morning and, if Macey liked and Candy had time, then she would do her nails.

Macey said nothing.

As Candy walked along the main entrance corridor she saw Steele on his way into work. His hair was damp from his morning shower and he was wearing a dark grey suit and fresh shirt, though he hadn’t yet done up his tie. He was standing looking at one of the pictures that lined the corridor, images of the hospital and the changes over the years. Renovations were taking place throughout the Royal.

‘What are you looking at?’ she asked.

‘Come and see,’ Steele invited, and as she stood beside him he started to do up his tie. ‘Do you recognise anyone?’

Candy peered at the image that he had been focused on. It was a group of nurses and doctors standing in the gardens at the rear of the hospital. It looked like a presentation had just taken place as some of the nurses were sporting medals. Candy smiled when she saw the long dresses and aprons that the nurses were wearing as well as their hats and capes. Then she saw just who it was that Steele was looking at. ‘Oh, my goodness, it’s Macey.’

‘It is indeed.’

She had the same wild curly hair, though it was tamed by a frilly white cap. Her cheekbones were high and her lips, though smiling, looked a touch strained. Her cape was around her shoulders and Candy smiled at the red cross that it made on her chest.

She looked incredibly young but certainly it was Macey.

‘Do you think she’ll come out of her depression?’ Candy asked.

‘Now I do.’

‘What do you mean?’

But Steele didn’t answer her directly. ‘You were very good with her last night. I’m glad she had a drink and got up to the bathroom. How was she this morning?’

‘Still very quiet, but she had another drink and I made her biscotti, which she ate.’

‘Biscotti?’

‘Biscuits in warm milk, all mashed in.’ Candy smiled and then groaned as her stomach rumbled just at the thought. ‘Now I’ve gone and made myself hungry, I’ll have to have some when I get home.’

‘Did you feed her?’

‘I did.’ Candy nodded. ‘She’s very shaky.’

‘It’s all the new medications,’ Steele said, ‘and a lack of sherry, but it should soon start to settle down.’

‘How did you know that she was drinking?’

‘Because drinking is incredibly common in the elderly. Far more than people realise. It’s not all bad.’ Steele smiled. ‘Macey can’t ask her niece to get her four bottles of sherry a week, or however much it is that she actually drinks. At least it keeps her walking to the shops each day. I admit that I worry what will happen when my oldies all discover online shopping.’

Candy realised she was doing her dental commercial smile at him again.

He made her smile.

‘I’m going home.’ Candy hitched up her bag. ‘I’ll say goodnight because it’s night-time to me.’

‘Have a good sleep,’ Steele said, ‘and don’t talk too much.’

‘I don’t talk in my sleep.’ She smiled back at him. ‘At least, I don’t think I do.’

As she walked off his deep voice caused her shoulders to stiffen.

‘Make that three things that I have to find out about you.’

Oh, my God, Candy realised.

They were flirting.

More than that, she was considering revising her recently put in place rule—to never again get involved with someone at work.

He was that good.

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