Buch lesen: «The Spanish Consultant's Baby»

CHAPTER ONE

‘HE’S gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous,’ Meg said. ‘Tall, dark and handsome—and a smile to die for! When he looks at you, he makes you feel as if you’re the only one in the room. And his voice…ooh, it’s like melted chocolate.’

Jennifer smiled wryly. Anyone would think Meg was a teenager, not a mum of three and just about to become a grandma for the second time. ‘So you liked him, then?’ she deadpanned.

‘You wait till you meet him, JJ. He’ll melt your heart.’

Jennifer doubted that. She’d spent too many years insulating it—and with good reason. The only male who melted her heart was her cat, Spider. And she intended it to stay that way. ‘As long as he knows his stuff,’ she said. ‘We can’t afford to carry a lightweight who spends all his time charming the nurses.’

Meg blinked in surprise. ‘Wow. Who’s rattled your cage this morning?’

‘No one,’ Jennifer said lightly. ‘But you’re supposed to be off duty in three minutes and we still need to do the handover.’

‘Yeah, of course.’ Meg smiled and started going through the list of patients with Jennifer.

Jennifer forced herself to concentrate on the handover, though a part of her mind couldn’t help wandering. Panicking. Don’t be so silly, Jennifer Jacobs, she told herself sternly. You haven’t met Ramón Martínez yet. Meg likes him. He’s probably really nice.

And yet she couldn’t help it. Even ten years after Andrew, she found herself on the defensive whenever she met someone new—correction, someone new who happened to be male. And every time she had to remind herself that not all men were like Andrew, that she knew plenty of nice men. It was a gut reaction that she couldn’t quite overcome, despite the counselling she’d had.

‘Earth to JJ,’ Meg said, waving a file at her.

‘Sorry. I was miles away.’

‘Dreaming about our hunky Spaniard?’

Jennifer scoffed. ‘I’ve only got your word for it on the hunkiness issue.’

Meg grinned. ‘Believe me, any woman under ninety would get palpitations just from looking at him.’

‘Better alert the cardiac ward, then.’ Jennifer smiled to take the sting from her words and gave Meg her full attention while they finished the handover. ‘Right—you have a good couple of days off, Meg. See you on Friday.’

‘I will. Oh, and Ramón will be with Stephen Knights,’ Meg said, referring to the baby who’d come in for an operation on a cleft palate. ‘He should be back from Theatre any minute now.’

‘I’ll keep an eye out for him,’ Jennifer said. Time to move on, she told herself as the other sister left the ward. It’s just another day. Another ordinary day. Ramón Martínez is nothing to worry about. And if he is a bulldozer, he’s only here for four months. Nothing that bad can happen in four short months.

She was steeling herself, ready to meet him, when Lizzy Bowers pushed past her in the corridor in floods of tears.

Jennifer picked up the couple of files she’d dropped, then followed in Lizzy’s wake to the toilets. Lizzy was leaning against the sink, sobbing. Jennifer balanced her files on top of the wastebin and put her arms round the student nurse. ‘Hey. It’s OK.’ Clearly it wasn’t—she would have said Lizzy was the least likely of her staff to burst into tears. But it wasn’t necessarily something to do with work. She knew Lizzy was going through a rough time at home; maybe she’d had the news she’d been waiting for but praying not to hear. ‘What’s happened?’ Jennifer asked gently.

‘Dr Martínez…he was so angry with me. I didn’t mean…’ Lizzy hiccupped her way through a garbled explanation.

Jennifer squeezed her hand. ‘It’s just a simple misunderstanding. We’ll sort it out.’ Though her expression hardened. So much for her thinking she’d been unfair to Ramón Martínez. He’d just bawled out her best student in front of her patient’s parents. Whatever Lizzy had done, a public telling-off was completely unprofessional. And it was Jennifer’s job, as the senior sister on the paediatric ward, to make him understand that bullies would not be tolerated. Under any circumstances.

‘I…’ Lizzy was still shaking, still incoherent.

‘It’s OK. I’ll handle it,’ Jennifer said quietly. ‘Wash your face and take ten minutes out in the restroom. Have a cup of tea then if you’re ready to come back on the ward, that’s fine.’ She gave Lizzy a hug. ‘If you need some time off, just let me know and I’ll get a bank nurse in.’

‘Thanks, JJ.’ Lizzy gave her a watery smile. ‘I feel so stupid…’

‘You’re not stupid. You’re doing really well. You’re a final-year student, you still have things to learn, and you’re already worried sick about your aunt.’

‘I won’t let the team down.’

‘I know you won’t. And that’s what teams are for—to support each other.’ Jennifer gave her a wink. ‘Go get that cup of tea.’ She gathered her files together again and headed for the side room they’d allocated to Stephen Knights.

Standing next to the parents was the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen. Meg’s description had hardly done him justice. Ramón Martínez was seven or eight inches taller than her own five feet six, Jennifer guessed. His white coat was a perfect foil to his olive skin and blue-black hair; he had broad shoulders, narrow hips and very long legs. He used his hands a lot when he spoke, she noticed. His eyes were dark and expressive.

But his mouth was the real killer. Generous and full, promising warmth and passion. Meg had been absolutely right about that smile—a smile to die for. For one intensely scary second, Jennifer even found herself wondering what it would be like to be kissed by that mouth. And then she stopped herself. No. She didn’t do kisses. She didn’t do dates. She didn’t do anything of the kind any more. Besides, this man had just reduced one of her staff to tears. He might be gorgeous to look at, but he was also arrogant and in dire need of a lesson in good manners.

‘Hello, Mandy. Hello, Paul,’ she said, walking into the room. ‘Hello, gorgeous.’ She ruffled the sleeping baby’s hair, then turned to Ramón Martínez. ‘Good afternoon, Dr Martínez. I’m Sister Jacobs. I’m sorry I wasn’t on duty when you joined us.’

Cool, controlled and terribly English, Ramón thought. And he hadn’t been prepared for her in the slightest. She was a completely ordinary woman—average height, average shape, light brown hair cut in an unassuming short style, grey-blue eyes. No make-up, dressed in a dark blue sister’s uniform and flat black shoes. She was nothing out of the everyday. So why had his heart rate just speeded up a notch?

Ridiculous, he told himself. He was here at the Bradley Memorial Hospital for a four-month secondment. A relationship of any kind would be short term and pointless. And even if he was prepared to think about it, it couldn’t be with someone he worked with. There would be too many difficulties. And then there was Sofía…No, it was all too complicated.

He’d expected the ward’s senior sister to be older than Meg—Meg herself had given him that impression—and this woman didn’t look much older than her mid-twenties. Clearly she had to be older, or she wouldn’t have the experience to do the job.

Automatically, his glance slid to her left hand. There was a slim band of gold on her ring finger. So she was spoken for. He was aware of the stab of regret for an instant before he banished it. ‘Good afternoon, Sister.’ He shook her proffered hand and lightning coursed through him. Hell. This was a complication he really, really didn’t need—especially as it was clearly one-sided. She didn’t look as if his touch had remotely affected her. He only hoped that this cool, calm nurse couldn’t read minds. If she could, he had a feeling she’d slap his face. Hard.

‘How did the operation go?’ she asked politely.

‘It was a success. I was telling Mr and Mrs Knights about the care their son needs over the next few days.’

He didn’t quite understand the look she gave him. Only that she was extremely angry with him—though this was the first time they’d met, so he couldn’t have done anything to upset her…could he?

‘I’ve stitched the palate back together in layers. There is one layer in the floor of the nose, then the muscles in the middle of the palate, and then the skin on the roof of the mouth,’ he said. ‘There are stitches in the roof of his mouth, but you can’t see them from the outside.’

‘You might see some red fluid coming from his nose and mouth,’ Jennifer added, ‘but that’s very common after an operation like this and nothing to worry about. If you see anything that looks like pus or any real redness around the stitches, that’s a different matter, but we’ll be checking him every couple of hours to make sure there isn’t any sign of infection.’

She might be formal and cool with him, but she had a nice manner with the patient’s family, Ramón thought. Reassuring.

‘You mustn’t let the baby put his hands or anything hard in his mouth,’ he added. ‘If he keeps trying to scratch his mouth, we will need to use arm restraints to stop him.’

‘They look uncomfortable but they really won’t hurt him,’ Jennifer said. ‘But if he scratches his mouth, he might tear the stitches or cause an infection. If we have to use the restraints, he’ll probably be a bit grumpy, but just give him lots of cuddles and talk to him to take his mind off them.’

‘He shouldn’t be in much pain,’ Ramón said, ‘but if we think he is I can prescribe mild pain relief.’

‘What about eating?’ Mandy asked.

‘He needs small and frequent feeds,’ Ramón said. ‘He must have enough liquid or he will become dehydrated and develop a temperature.’

‘We recommend using a teat with a large cross-cut opening, so you get a steady flow of milk,’ Jennifer said. ‘Hold him on your lap so he’s semi-sitting and feed him slowly—then give him some water to help clean the inside of his mouth.’

‘He’s teething at the moment,’ Paul said. ‘He’s always chewing his fists.’

‘Sorry, but you can’t let him. He can’t use a teething ring for a while either,’ Jennifer told him. ‘Though you can rub his gums or use some teething gel.’

‘When can we take him home?’ Mandy asked.

‘In about a week,’ Ramón said. ‘We will check him over thoroughly before we discharge him. And he will need to see a speech therapist to check if he has velopharyngeal incompetence.’

‘It’s called VPI for short and it’s quite common in children with repaired cleft palates,’ Jennifer said. ‘All it means is that his soft palate is a bit short or doesn’t move enough, so too much air will escape through his nose when he speaks and he’ll sound nasal. The speech therapist can do quite a lot to help the condition.’

She was good with parents, and very knowledgeable. No wonder she’d made senior sister at a young age, Ramón thought. But he wished he had some idea why her eyes were looking daggers at him.

‘Can we stay with him?’ Mandy asked.

‘For as long as you like. Did Lizzy give you a card for the coffee-machine?’

Paul shook his head. ‘It doesn’t matter. We can take turns going down to the canteen.’

‘The machine isn’t that bad. I’ll get someone to bring you a card anyway. You probably remember the routine from the op on his cleft lip two months ago,’ Jennifer said, ‘but I’ll remind you anyway. There’s a phone for incoming calls at the end of Red Bay—the number’s on the wall above the phone if you need to give it to anyone—and there’s a payphone at the entrance to the ward.’

‘And don’t use a mobile, because it might interfere with the equipment,’ Mandy said.

Jennifer grinned. ‘Excellent. Well-trained parents. Just what we like to see.’

She was teasing them? Teasing the parents of a child he’d just operated on and who were clearly worried about their baby? Ramón was about to step in when he saw that Mandy and Paul were both laughing. The English had a strange sense of humour, he mused.

Though that grin…Lord, if she ever looked like that at him, he’d be a gibbering wreck. The smile turned her face from ordinary to stunning. And he wanted her. Badly.

And then Jennifer was speaking again. ‘If you’re worried at all about Stephen or you have any queries, just come and find me or one of the other nurses.’

‘Thanks.’ Paul smiled at her.

‘Do you have any other questions?’ Ramón asked.

‘Not right now,’ Mandy said.

‘Then I’ll leave you with your son.’

To his surprise, Sister Jacobs followed him. ‘I wondered if we could have a quick word in my office, Dr Martinez?’

She was very formal with him, he noticed—and yet she’d used first names with Stephen’s parents. The smile had gone, too. Ramón had a feeling he was just about to find out what had upset Sister Jennifer Jacobs. ‘Of course,’ he said politely, and walked with her to her office.

‘Do sit down,’ she said, indicating a seat next to her desk and closing the door behind them.

‘What’s the problem?’ he asked.

‘You.’

He blinked. ‘What?’

‘Lizzy Bowers. You bawled her out in front of Stephen’s parents and made her cry.’

He gave a short laugh of disbelief. ‘She was dropping things everywhere. When I asked her a question, she couldn’t answer because she hadn’t been listening to what I was saying. And I will not tolerate sloppy nursing, particularly with young children who have just come round from a general anaesthetic and whose parents are worried sick.’

‘Lizzy’s my best student—she’s in her final year, she’s passed her exams so far with flying colours and she’s very far from sloppy. And I, Dr Martínez, will not tolerate any doctor bullying my staff. You owe her an apology.’

Her voice was quiet and controlled—and absolutely implacable. This was a woman who didn’t need to shout to make her point.

But he had a point, too. A good one. He folded his arms. ‘Sister Jacobs, perhaps I didn’t make myself clear. My patient comes first. And I expect any nurse on this ward to be competent.’

‘Lizzy is perfectly competent.’

‘Not from what I saw.’

‘At the moment she’s a little sensitive.’ Jennifer bit her lip. ‘Look, this isn’t common knowledge on the ward, so I trust you will keep what I tell you confidential?’

She’d phrased it as a question but he knew it wasn’t a request. He nodded. ‘Of course.’

‘Her aunt has breast cancer. They’re waiting for a biopsy result to see whether it’s spread to the lymph nodes.’

‘And Lizzy’s close to this aunt?’ Ramón guessed.

‘Her aunt brought her up. So it’s more like a mother-daughter bond.’

Ramón nodded. ‘I didn’t know about her family problems. But my patients must come first. If she can’t concentrate on her job, she should take some time off.’

‘Keeping busy is the best thing you can do while you’re waiting for news.’

‘Not when it puts my patients at risk.’

‘Lizzy is a perfectly competent nurse,’ she repeated. ‘If you have an issue with her work, by all means talk to her about it—but in private. Not in front of patients, or their parents, or other staff. I expect my nurses to be treated with respect, as the professionals they are.’

Professional. That was it—the word he’d been looking for. Jennifer Jacobs was professional in the extreme. And he had a sudden wild urge to find out what she was really like. To find out what made her laugh. How her eyes would look in passion—would they turn blue or grey? What did she look like when she’d just been thoroughly kissed?

‘Dr Martínez?’

‘My name is Ramón.’

Melted chocolate. Oh, no. Jennifer wished Meg hadn’t said that. Because she had the most graphic vision of Ramón feeding her rich, dark chocolate, piece by piece, teasing her by stroking it over her mouth and moving it out of reach so she had to reach up for it. And then he’d reach down to kiss her, and—

No way was she going to call him Ramón. It was too close, too intimate, too… ‘Dr Martínez,’ she repeated, her mouth dry.

He gave her a quizzical look, and she only hoped he couldn’t read her mind. How could she tell him off for unprofessional behaviour when her own thoughts were even less professional?

‘Sister Jacobs,’ he said softly, ‘we’ve got off to a bad start.’

‘Yes.’

‘I’ll apologise to Nurse Bowers. But I’d like you to have a word with her, explain that if she doesn’t feel up to the job then she should take time off so the patients aren’t affected.’

‘I’ve already done that.’

‘I see.’ He folded his arms. ‘Then perhaps we can start again. I prefer to work with first names. You’re Jennifer, yes?’

She twisted the ring on her finger. Remember Andrew. Remember Andrew. ‘Yes.’ The word was virtually torn from her. She wanted to stay Sister Jacobs to this man. Aloof, remote, untouchable. Or even JJ, the nickname everyone else in the hospital used. But not Jennifer. It was too personal. Too dangerous.

‘And I’m Ramón.’ He stood up and gave her a formal bow. ‘I trust we shall work well together on my secondment to the Bradley Memorial Hospital.’

‘Brad’s.’

He frowned. ‘Brad’s?’

‘That’s what we call it. The hospital.’ Hell. Now she was babbling, and he’d think she was an idiot.

No. It didn’t matter what he thought of her. His opinion wasn’t important.

‘You cared for Stephen Knights the last time he was here?’

She blinked. The question had come out of left field. Or maybe she’d missed whatever he’d said before that. Ramón Martínez had thrown her completely off balance. Frighteningly so, because she’d sworn she’d never let anyone do that to her again. ‘Yes. I met his parents soon after Stephen was born. They came to see Dr Keller about the cheiloplasty—’ the operation to repair a cleft lip ‘—and he explained that Stephen also needed the operation to close the cleft palate, to help his speech and to separate the mouth and nasal cavities.’

‘And you tease all the parents the same way?’

Now she realised where he was coming from. He hadn’t liked the way she’d talked to the Knightses. ‘Each patient is different—and so are their parents. I teach my nurses to build relationships with the parents, to help them deal with what’s happening to their children. Some like to know every single thing that’s happening and to take on as much of the care for the child as they can, some like to joke to take their mind off their worries and some like to know the bare minimum and leave everything to the nurses. Mandy’s a joker and Paul likes to know exactly what to expect.’

He nodded gravely. ‘Now we understand each other.’

No. She didn’t understand him. She didn’t want to understand him. He was just a doctor, someone she had to work with for a little while. And that was the way he was going to stay.

‘I’ll apologise to Lizzy, Jennifer.’

‘Thank you.’ When he continued waiting, in silence, she knew what he was expecting. She forced the word out. ‘Ramón.’ It felt almost unbearably intimate, using his first name.

He gave her another of those formal bows and left her office. Still twisting her wedding ring, Jennifer watched him leave. She had to get her overreaction to this man back under control. And fast. Before it landed her in a heap of trouble she really, really didn’t need.

Ramón stared into his coffee. Nothing added up about Jennifer Jacobs. He’d watched her covertly on the ward and she’d been the perfect nurse. Efficient, caring, kind. Spending time where it was needed. He’d seen her sitting on the side of a child’s bed, soothing away tears, reading stories and chatting while she checked blood pressure and dressings and administered drugs. She never once raised her voice but he’d noticed that everybody always did whatever she asked them, without excuses or delays. She was clearly respected.

But who was she really? She had no family pictures in her office—no husband, no children, no parents, no siblings—and yet she wore a wedding ring. He couldn’t work her out. She wasn’t even his type—he liked fiery, beautiful Latin women, not quiet, unassuming English mice. And he definitely didn’t believe in getting involved with married women. So why couldn’t he get her out of her head?

Particularly when he remembered her sitting on the bed of one small child, holding his hand and stroking his hair and chatting to him until the fear had vanished from the little boy’s face. He’d seen the little boy hug her in relief, seen the warmth in her smile—a warmth he wanted directed his way, too. Yet the minute she became aware of his own presence, a wall seemed to go straight up. Why?

‘Hola, Ramón. Settling in OK?’

He looked up as Neil Burroughs, the paediatric special reg, sat down at his table in a quiet corner of the canteen. ‘Yes, thanks. But your coffee…’ He wrinkled his nose.

‘Try the hot chocolate. Though it’s a bit sweet.’

‘Thanks, but I think I’ll pass,’ Ramón said dryly.

‘So you’ve met everyone on the ward now?’

Ramón nodded. ‘Meg showed me round this morning before I went to Theatre. And then Jennifer took over.’

‘Jennifer?’ Neil looked blank for a moment. ‘Oh, the redoubtable JJ.’

‘Why do you call her JJ?’

‘Her initials—Jennifer Jacobs.’

Ramón rolled his eyes. ‘We do have initials in Spain, mi amigo. No, I meant why call her that when her name’s Jennifer?’

‘We always have.’ Neil shrugged. Then he frowned. ‘You’re not getting any ideas about her, are you?’

‘No. I saw the ring. She’s married.’

‘Widowed,’ Neil corrected.

‘But…’ Ramón stared at him in shock. ‘She’s so young.’

‘She was really young when she was widowed. It happened just before she went into nursing, about ten years back.’

Widowed. Jennifer was a widow. Which meant she was…No. Not free. Which meant he should respect her status. He decided to change the subject—but his mouth had other ideas. ‘You called her “redoubtable”,’ Ramón said.

‘Oh, don’t get me wrong. She’s an excellent nurse, brilliant with the kids and absolutely the best with students—she won’t stand for any nonsense but she’s got endless patience when it comes to explaining things. She’s just a bit…well, remote.’ Neil shrugged. ‘If someone organises a bit of a do, she always makes an excuse not to go.’

‘Maybe she just doesn’t like crowds.’ Maybe she preferred something more intimate. And Ramón thought he’d better change the subject right now before he disgraced himself.

Neil didn’t seem to notice. ‘You’re probably right. She sometimes goes out to the theatre or the cinema with a couple of the other nurses, but she keeps herself to herself.’

Mourning her husband, perhaps? But according to Neil it had been ten years since his death. And Jennifer was still a young woman. It would be a crime to let her stay buried in work, not living life to the full.

Though he really, really shouldn’t get involved. He was only here on secondment. And anyway he had Sofía to think of…

But just before Ramón went to sleep, that night, it was Jennifer’s face he saw. And Jennifer he dreamed about.