Buch lesen: «Heatherdale's Shy Nurse»

CHAPTER ONE

HE WAS HOME, Callum Warrender thought contentedly as he lay watching spring sunshine light up his bedroom in an apartment by a lazy river that ran through the prestigious small market town of Heatherdale. Back where he belonged in the place he loved the best.

After sleeping for most of a long transatlantic flight from America he had woken to hear a member of the cabin staff asking passengers to fasten their seat belts as they would shortly be landing at one of the biggest airports in the area, and, suddenly wide awake, the pleasure of the moment had washed over him.

He’d spent six months on an exchange arrangement with a large children’s hospital in the States and for the most part had enjoyed the change and the challenge it had presented. Yet he had refused when the chance to become a regular member of its staff had been presented to him.

Work-wise it hadn’t been a joy ride. He’d worked long and hard alongside other experts in his field, with each taking note of the others’ expertise in orthopaedic paediatrics. Yet there had been time to socialise too.

He’d been wined and dined by those he’d come to demonstrate his skills to, and had met more than a few attractive women on those occasions who would have liked to get to know him better, but past experience had shown him that the road to romance could be a rocky one.

So could the path up to the moors above the town that he walked with great enjoyment when he got the chance, but unlike that other road there was no heartache waiting for him at the end of it.

* * *

Once he was up and dressed he went to the small convenience store at the end of the riverside and did a food shop. When he returned he prepared his first English breakfast in months and, while enjoying it totally, began to plan his day.

It was Saturday and he wasn’t due back at the famous Heatherdale Children’s Hospital until Monday. With the day stretching ahead of him, he decided to take that walk up to the moors, the place where he always found the precious peace and tranquillity that his work as an orthopaedic paediatrician sometimes denied him.

He saw himself as a loner who carried past mistakes around with him like a protective shield that no woman was going to break through. Always there were those who tried, but it soon became obvious that he was not in the market for marriage.

And now, with all those thoughts put to the back of his mind, he had a couple of days to himself. Once out in the open with his pack on his back calm always descended upon him.

* * *

Every step took him further along a winding, deserted road that led to higher ground. The magic of the moment was broken when the noise of a motorcycle engine came from somewhere behind him, and in seconds it passed him. It swerved around a bend in the road at a crazy speed then there was the sound of it crashing into rocks at the roadside, followed by startled shouts.

Hurrying to the accident scene, Callum couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The motorcyclist lay twisted and motionless beside his vehicle as a group of dumbfounded teenagers looked on, unsure of what to do.

A woman was on her knees beside the injured rider. He couldn’t see her face because she was bent over him, trying to loosen his leather jacket to feel for his heartbeat, while at the same time frantically urging the teens to keep calm as some of the girls began to react to the moment with screams and tears.

‘I’ll take over. I’m a doctor,’ he barked.

The kneeling woman had managed to open the injured rider’s leather jacket so they could get to his chest and to his relief Callum saw that it was rising and falling. The patient was breathing but without any signs of consciousness.

‘Have you got a phone with you?’ he asked abruptly, as he noted that both the man’s legs were twisted at a worrying angle.

She nodded and reached into her rucksack, but on producing it she shook her head. ‘We probably won’t get a signal up here.’

‘Give it to me,’ he said impatiently, ‘and if I can’t get through, I’ll try mine.’

As she obeyed, observing him unsmilingly, he dialled the emergency medical services for the area and surprisingly got a reply.

‘We are going to need a helicopter,’ he said. ‘An ambulance would not be able to get up here. I can give you our exact position as I know the area well. We need help for the injured driver of the motorcycle as soon as possible. Under these circumstances there is little we can do for him other than keep a firm check on his heartbeat and try to ascertain what other injuries he might have sustained in the crash.’

When he handed the phone back to the woman she got to her feet. ‘I need to speak to my group. They’re very upset by what they’ve witnessed.’

‘May I ask your name?’

‘My name is Leonie Mitchell and I’m a nurse,’ she said, and saw his surprise. ‘I help at the local community centre in Heatherdale in my spare time, along with a friend of mine who is usually in charge of the activities that we arrange for the children, but she isn’t well today and I said I would step in so that they wouldn’t be disappointed.’

‘You can carry on with your walk. There is nothing more you can do here,’ he told her. ‘It’s best if the children get clear of the scene.’

He’d resigned himself to a helicopter trip to a hospital in Manchester. He didn’t have to go with the young man, of course. There would be at least one doctor on board when it arrived, but he’d seen the lad’s twisted legs and if anybody could put them right, he could.

‘And once you get back to Heatherdale can you contact the garage on the riverside? If they can send someone to collect the bike, I will sort out the bill. They can invoice me.’

‘I will need an address to do that,’ Leonie said, anxiously taking up her kneeling position beside the unconscious rider once more.

Callum didn’t answer her; his concern for their patient was increasing.

‘He’s going into heart failure, we are going to have to resuscitate!’ For what seemed like a lifetime, they worked on him together until they could feel his heartbeat once more.

The sound of rotor blades whirring signalled that the helicopter had arrived, and the group grew silent as they watched it land beside them. As the doctor and nurse on board alighted, Callum filled them in.

‘We were able to resuscitate a few moments ago as there was no heartbeat, and there are fractures of both legs.’

‘Are you a doctor?’ the medic asked.

‘I’m Callum Warrender,’ he replied levelly, and the other man’s eyes widened.

‘Not the Warrender from Heatherdale Children’s Hospital?’ he exclaimed as he bent over the injured youth.

‘Let’s just say that I can spot a fracture a mile off and I’m coming along for the ride,’ he replied, and stepped aside as two paramedics appeared with a stretcher.

Oh, no! Not Callum Warrender, thought Leonie. Hospital gossip was that he was in America and wouldn’t be returning for another couple of weeks, but it would seem that it was wrong. And as she was sister-in-charge of the orthopaedic unit it seemed that they would soon be meeting again. She hoped that he wouldn’t recognise her as the same person he’d come across up on the moors, with her hair tucked out of sight beneath the woolly hat that was pulled low down on her head and wearing a shapeless waterproof jacket.

He’d asked who she was and she’d told him her name and that she was a nurse, but he wasn’t to know that she was a member of his staff. Callum Warrender had been in America when she’d joined the team.

Once the patient had been lifted on board, with the medics from the hospital in charge, and the pilot was ready for take-off, Callum reminded her, ‘Please remember to arrange for the motorcycle to be picked up by the garage beside the river, and tell them the guy from the apartments who fills up his tank there will call in to settle it as soon as he gets back from taking the casualty to A and E.’

With that the doors closed and he was gone. What an awful day it was turning out to be, thought Leonie. First Julie had phoned to say she’d picked up a flu bug and wasn’t fit to do the walk. Leonie had been happy to help out her friend, but none of them had been prepared for the shock of witnessing that motorbike accident. It hadn’t helped that the rider had been such a young guy. She couldn’t blame the kids for reacting as they had.

Callum Warrender’s arrival had seemed miraculous. He’d taken charge with brusque authority. That he was used to giving orders had been plain to see, but there was no way was she going to go to a strange garage to ask them to pick up the damaged motorcycle and tell them that someone completely unknown to her would pay the bill. She would settle the account herself.

Her group was getting restless so, putting her concerns for the victim and reservations about the man who had taken charge of the catastrophe to one side, Leonie gathered the group together and they set off on their hike across the moors once again, this time in a less euphoric mood than before.

* * *

When they arrived back at the community centre in the early evening Leonie left them to the delights of a disco that had been arranged for them by other helpers and went to find the garage by the river that the brusque doctor had mentioned. After giving them details of where the motorcycle could be found, and paying what appeared to be a standing charge for that kind of thing, she asked them to keep it on the premises until she could find a name and address for the injured rider.

Then returned to her recently purchased yurt, where she rang the hospital that the young man had been flown to.

On being put through to A and E, she explained to a nurse at the other end of the line that she had been present when the accident had taken place, and was informed that the patient had regained consciousness and was in Theatre, having fractures and other injuries dealt with by Mr Callum Warrender from the Heatherdale Children’s Hospital, who had travelled with him in the helicopter.

That the young man was being treated and by the best was all that really mattered. There were going to be parents somewhere who would be most thankful that someone like Callum Warrender had appeared out of the blue at the scene of the crash.

The fact that there had also been a highly qualified nurse there as well had paled into insignificance beside his presence, she reflected wryly.

Of course, she’d heard a lot about Dr Warrender from her colleagues, like how talented a surgeon he was, but she’d never once pictured in her mind what he would be like. To find that she actually liked the look of him was unsettling, but those moments on the road to the moors would stay in her memory for time to come.

His skin was tanned, his hair dark and he had hazel eyes in a face that had purpose and integrity etched upon it. His physique spoke of strength and stamina and, as with his tan, suggested a rugged way of life. There was no denying he was very good looking yet she hadn’t heard any mention of a wife in Callum Warrender’s life.

* * *

Callum travelled back from Manchester by train. He was tired, and looked forward to grabbing a quick bite to eat at the hotel near his apartment. But first he planned to call in at the community centre to let Leonie know how the patient was progressing.

He was aware that he’d been less than civil out there on the road to the moors and felt an apology was required. The reason for his manner was easy enough for him to understand, but a stranger wasn’t going to know how much he cherished time to himself out in the countryside around Heatherdale.

To his surprise he had enjoyed working alongside her to save their patient’s life. He also needed to find her to thank her for her excellent and level-headed assistance.

A disco was in full swing when he got there, but there was no sign of the woman he’d come in search of, and when he asked of the middle-aged disc jockey in charge where she might be found he said, ‘Leonie has gone home to the yurt. She’s had a stressful day from the sound of it. Do you want me to give her a message?’

Callum shook his head. ‘No, I need to speak to her personally. Where is it that you say she’s gone?’

‘She lives on the yurtery on the far side of the river.’

‘You mean she lives in a tent?’

‘Er, yes, I suppose you could say that,’ was the reply. ‘Hers is the third one from the entrance to the site.’ And with a frown he went on to say, ‘I’m not sure if I should be telling you this. I don’t know who you are, do I?’

‘We were both involved in treating an injured motorcyclist up on the road to the moors earlier on today and I’ve come to report on his condition, that’s all. I’m one of the doctors from Heatherdale Hospital,’ he explained, and off he went without further delay as hunger pangs were beginning to make themselves felt.

He’d noticed the development of the latest idea in camping at the other side of the river while he’d been having his breakfast that morning. It was known by some as ‘glamping’. A reference to the attractions of a yurt as against the basics of a tent. He was curious to know how they worked as permanent dwellings.

So when Leonie opened the door of the round, glass-roofed construction to him a short time later his glance went immediately to the décor behind her and he saw that the latest ‘must have’ for those who wanted something small and cheerful to live in was attractively furnished and quite a lot bigger than it had appeared from the outside. Also it made his solidly expensive furnishings in the apartment seem dull and boring by comparison.

But he wasn’t there out of curiosity and was not even sure if he’d got the right place, as the woman observing him anxiously didn’t look like the woman of those moments on the hillside. Gone were the woolly hat and shapeless jacket.

She was wearing a pale blue dress with matching sandals, had thick and curling chestnut hair that framed her face damply from recent washing, and was observing him in a way that told him he hadn’t come to the wrong place after all.

‘Come in,’ she invited, and as she stepped back to let him pass asked anxiously, ‘So how is our patient now?’

Callum was still in his walking clothes and before he could reply she followed one question with another.

‘Have you only just got back?’

He nodded. ‘Yes. I operated on him myself, and the news is that he is in Intensive Care at the moment but may be put on to one of the wards in the morning.’

‘How serious are his injuries?’ she continued.

‘Serious enough, but he’ll recover,’ he told her. ‘What about your group? Did you get them safely back to base?’

‘Er, yes, no casualties amongst them, I’m pleased to say.’

Leonie was conscious that he was mellower now than he’d been out there on the way to the moors. She’d hardly expected him to seek her out in person to report on the motorcyclist, so why was he here, standing before her awkwardly and making stilted comments?

‘I’ve come to apologise for my abruptness when I came upon you and your group at the scene of what was a nasty accident. My excuse, such as it is, may sound trivial, but I was looking forward to some time on my own in the wide-open spaces after six months of hard grind in the States.

‘The thought of having two days to myself before going back to work on Monday morning seemed like precious gold in my busy working life. It isn’t often that I get my priorities wrong, but maybe I did this morning, and I’m sorry.’

‘When you appeared I felt that you were heaven-sent but could hardly be described as angelic.’

He laughed. ‘That is fair comment. I’m known more as a tartar than an angel in my working life.’ In reality work was the only life he had these days since his catastrophe of a marriage. ‘So, do you accept my apology?’

‘Yes, of course,’ she replied.

‘So what about the bike? Did you have time to call in at the garage to have it collected?’

‘They’re picking the bike up but won’t be sending you the bill. I’ve paid it.’

He frowned. ‘That is not what I asked of you.’

‘Maybe, but that is what I’ve done as I felt that I was partly to blame for not insisting that my group walk in single file. It was because they were all over the road that the young guy on the bike lost control.’

‘Even so,’ he protested.

‘Please don’t make an issue of it,’ she told him steadily. ‘I did what I felt was right and don’t want to discuss it any further.’

‘All right, so be it,’ he agreed. ‘Have you eaten since you got back?’

‘I haven’t yet,’ she replied cautiously.

‘I was planning to eat at the restaurant at the hotel by the river in a while. If you won’t let me pay for the removal of the motorcycle, can I take you for a meal to make up for it?’

‘I’m afraid not,’ she told him, imagining the gossip that would spring up at the hospital if word got out she’d been seen dining with her boss.

‘A friend of mine who works full time at the community centre should have taken the kids on the walk today, but I had to take her place as she’d picked up some sort of a flu virus and sounded quite ill when we spoke this morning. So I need to go round to see how she is and look after her. I will have something to eat while I’m there, but thank you for the invitation.’

‘Of course. Maybe we’ll meet again some time and I’ll be able to make amends, as I do like to repay my debts.’

‘You don’t owe me anything, please believe me! It was the least I could do for the poor young guy and compared to what you’ve done for him it was nothing.’

* * *

When Leonie arrived at Julie’s studio flat, she found that her friend was feeling much better. She was sitting up and taking notice as Leonie made them a meal and was wide-eyed with astonishment to hear about Callum Warrender’s invitation.

‘Weren’t you the lucky one!’ she gasped. ‘Was he surprised to know that you are one of the staff on the orthopaedic unit?’

‘No, because I didn’t tell him,’ Leonie told her. ‘I said I was a nurse, but either he wasn’t interested or in fairness to the man he was too tuned in to the injuries of the motorcyclist to get involved in chit-chat.’

‘So on Monday morning all will be revealed between the two of you.’

‘Maybe, maybe not,’ Leonie said. ‘He almost didn’t recognise me earlier this evening, out of my walking gear. The uniform might really throw him off track, and anyway, they say that Warrender isn’t a woman chaser. That he’s had a bad experience that’s put him off relationships.’

‘In what way?’ Julie questioned.

‘I don’t know any details. I haven’t been on the wards all that long. He seems like the kind of doctor who will only see nurses as a pair of hands without their faces registering.

‘Anyway, enough about Callum Warrender. How have you been feeling while I’ve been up on the moors?’

Julie shook her head. ‘I do feel a lot better now.’

‘Is Brendan coming round later?’

‘Yes. We’ve started making wedding plans. I’d be delighted if you’d agree to be my chief bridesmaid, along with my young sister, if that is all right with you, Leonie. It won’t bring back past heartache, will it?’

‘No, of course not. The past is the past,’ she told her evasively. ‘I’m over that and if Brendan is coming to talk about wedding arrangements I’ll be off as soon as I’ve tidied the kitchen. I don’t need to tell you not to go to the centre tomorrow. I know what Sundays are like there with every kid in the neighbourhood turning up, but you aren’t fully recovered yet.’

‘I’ve already phoned in to say that I won’t be there,’ she replied, ‘so don’t worry about me, Leonie, but do let me know what happens on Monday with you know who.’

‘I can give you the answer to that now,’ she said laughingly. ‘Nothing is going to happen. Callum Warrender is not my type.’

* * *

Back at home Leonie felt at a loose end. Julie’s reference to the affair she’d had with one of the senior anaesthetists at the London hospital where she’d been employed before coming to Heatherdale had brought back vivid memories of the pain and heartache she’d felt on discovering that he was married. But that had been nothing compared to the raw agony of losing the baby that she’d been expecting.

Since then she’d been wary of any other relationships as the hurt of being deceived in such a way hadn’t yet healed; it was still new and agonising. Moving to Heatherdale had been about making a fresh start, but that couldn’t erase the memories of the past.

Still, she was genuinely thrilled for Julie and Brendan. They made a strong and devoted couple. However, it was difficult to imagine ever being in that situation herself.

To be asked to be a bridesmaid was a different matter. She was honoured that her friend had asked her and she’d be proud to support her on her big day. She wondered what sort of dress Julie had in mind.

Her reverie was interrupted by the couple from the yurt next door, who were having a few folks round for supper. They asked if she would like to join them. As she accepted the invitation her glance was on the hotel on the opposite side of the river and the memory came back of the one she’d turned down and was now wishing she hadn’t.

It would have given her the chance to tell Callum Warrender what she did for a living, instead of him discovering on Monday morning in front of all the ward staff of the orthopaedic unit of Heatherdale Children’s Hospital that their acquaintance was not going to be a fleeting thing. Now she still had that doubtful pleasure to come.

* * *

Callum sat in the hotel lounge, having a nightcap before returning to his apartment.

He should have been feeling content but he wasn’t. The night before he’d been full of the pleasure of being back home and enjoying the weekend ahead, but the day that would soon be over had been full of uncertainties.

The fear that they would lose the boy on the bike when there’d been no heartbeat had been allayed when he and the woman who had been at the scene of the crash had worked on him and he’d begun to breathe again.

That had been followed by him operating on the young man and he’d had no idea what lay ahead regarding that until he’d seen the X-rays, but as usual he’d been in top form and all was going to be well with the lad.

Then when he’d arrived back in Heatherdale he’d sought the Leonie person out to apologise for being bossy and abrupt and, totally out of character, when he’d discovered that she’d paid the garage for the removal of the motorcycle had invited her to dine with him and been refused, which had turned it into a very short reacquaintance.

He’d made a point of telling her why he wanted to take her for a meal and there’d been no finesse in the way he’d done it, so it was small wonder that she’d refused and come up with an excuse that could have been the result of some quick thinking.

Yet, if he was being honest with himself, hadn’t he issued the invitation because he’d seen her in different clothes, in a pretty blue dress with her chestnut hair down and the merest hint of make-up, so bringing a moment’s brightness to what had been a far from happy day? Or maybe was it because he’d been intrigued by the determination not to be told what to do by him that he’d seen in the green eyes looking into his.

But tomorrow was another day and he was going to let it make up for this one. He finished his drink and headed home. As he glanced towards the bridge that spanned the river between their two residences he heard laughter filtering over on the night air, saw a flash of blue, and wondered what had happened to the sick friend.

When he arrived at the apartment there was an email from his ex-wife, Shelley, to say that she was getting married again to her boss, hoped he would wish her well, and that they were going to live in Australia. He gazed at the screen for a few thoughtful moments and then switched the message off, wondering as he did so why he wasn’t surprised.

* * *

As Callum walked the length of the corridor that led to the orthopaedic unit on Monday morning his step was light. He was back on his own patch. Back amongst the young patients who came to him for treatment for the long-term or shorter illnesses that were blighting their lives.

It was a place where he’d performed miracles and his staff followed them up with excellent nursing, and nowhere was he happier than there.

The time in America had been rewarding and well spent, but on thinking of the persuasion that had been used to encourage him to join them he only needed to look around him at the familiar sights of Heatherdale Children’s Hospital to know that the Americans had never stood a chance.

Here he was and here he was going to stay. He hoped that there wouldn’t be any changes in the staff that he had left behind when he’d gone to the States, as they were a well-organised team.

He heard his name called and turned to see his friend Ryan Ferguson, head of the neuro unit, approaching from behind.

‘Welcome back, Callum. It’s great to have you on board again.’

It’s great to be back,’ Callum told him. ‘They wanted me to stay but this is where I belong.’

‘Me too,’ Ryan agreed, and followed it up by saying, ‘Melissa and I are having a belated garden party next Saturday afternoon and we would be really pleased if you could come. You remember how we had our two houses made into one? Well, it’s to celebrate that. So how are you fixed? Will you be able to join us?’

He smiled. ‘Yes, of course. Since Shelley left for a more interesting life my diary has been empty, just as when she was here it was always full. We never did find a happy medium.’

‘Do you ever hear from her?’ Ryan asked.

‘Yes, as a matter of fact. There was a message from her on Saturday night. She’s getting married again, to her boss, and going to live in Australia.