Dr White's Baby Wish

‘But never directed specifically at you, I bet.’ The thought of that kind of personal, immediate threat brought back unpleasant memories. The looks on the faces of women in the pubs when their men came home from a dry six-week stint on the fishing trawlers. Some of the crew over-indulged in alcohol and drugs, then took the resultant mood swings out on their partners. He’d stopped going to the pub with the guys after a while, unable to cope with what he saw but never managing to prevent it. He’d tried talking them out of their rages, had taken some punches and given a few back in self-defence, but he’d never convinced those guys that what they were doing to their women was wrong. Some men had a mind-set about using their fists that was impossible to change.

But that was then, and he’d moved on to a different world, or so he’d thought. ‘Come on. George’s office will be a lot quieter. Even with the police joining us.’

Her fingers worked her forehead, then her temples. ‘You’re right.’

‘Are you okay? Apart from your neck and throat being squashed?’ She looked paler than before. Shock would do that, though he thought something else might be going on.

‘Of course I am,’ she snapped and stormed towards the corridor that’d take them to the office affectionately known as George’s cave. But at the door she stopped and graced him with a wobbly smile. ‘Why wouldn’t I be? It’s not every day there’s so much excitement in the department.’

‘There’s something we can be grateful for.’ The fact that the man had held that gun to a doctor’s head put today’s example of crazy way up there on the scale of craziness. Apparently Harper hadn’t seen as much of the rougher side of humanity in her working life as some medics in big city hospitals did.

‘To think this is Wellington, not Los Angeles, where there are permanent armed guards on the doors.’ For someone who shouldn’t be talking too much, she was doing an awful lot of it. A reaction to everything that had gone down?

‘You’ve worked in LA?’ If she wasn’t going to be quiet then a change of subject might be for the best about now. For both of them. Now that the showdown was over the adrenaline had backed off, leaving him feeling shaky, despite his previous experience with out-of-control thugs.

‘No. Never. But I know people who have.’ Then she turned the questions on him. ‘I know nothing about you. Where were you working before starting here?’

‘Invercargill. I did my training there and stayed on working in the emergency department for another year.’

‘That suggests you’re a late starter.’

Way past being wet behind the ears, for sure. Cody shrugged. ‘I had a career change at twenty-seven.’

‘From what?’

‘Commercial fishing.’

‘You’re kidding me!’ Surprise tainted her eyes.

He was used to that. Fisherman to nurse took a bit of getting around for most people. ‘I’ve found my niche.’

Nudging her into the office, he closed the door to keep the noise of the department out and instantly wished he hadn’t. The room wasn’t much bigger than a shoebox and somehow this woman with all her questions seemed to fill it so that he couldn’t put enough space between them. A scent of lemon or lime wafted in the air, reminding him of summer days in his grandfather’s orchard. The days when he’d been young, carefree and a little hellion. A long time ago.

‘Why Wellington?’ She blushed. ‘Sorry, none of my business, and not relative to the job.’

None of your questions are. But suddenly he couldn’t shut up either. ‘I’m originally from Kelburn.’ Yes, just along the road from the hospital. ‘My mum’s still here and my brother has a home in Central Wellington, though he’s currently working in Sydney at the General Hospital.’

‘Medicine runs in the family then?’

He pulled out a chair for her and tamped down the jerk of annoyance at her surprise. He might be a big man but he had the manners of a gentleman. Except when it came to dealing with thugs. ‘My brother’s an orthopaedic surgeon. Our father was a GP. Mother was a nurse. And so am I.’ And darned proud of it. It beat fishing out in the middle of the wild ocean any day, or trying to straighten out dumb jerks who thought the world owed them. Though that had caught up with him here this morning. Once again.

A brief knock on the door and two cops pushed into the room, filling the remaining space, which brought him closer to Harper.

‘Statement time,’ said the younger one as she gave him the once-over—a slow, ‘I like what I’m seeing’ once-over that stroked his ego but didn’t have his brain wanting to follow up. Nor his body.

Pulling out another chair, he copped a smirk from Harper. So she’d seen the constable’s appraisal. He shrugged. Nothing he could do about it; he hadn’t asked for it. It just happened. He turned to the other police officer. ‘You want to ask more questions? Or just take statements?’

The sooner this was done and that coffee arrived, then the sooner he could go back to work and put the morning behind him. That was if George let them go back to work. He seemed pretty adamant that they were going to have to go home for the rest of the day and rest up. Matilda and Jess too. Harper wasn’t going to like that; he was sure of it.

When they were done with the police Harper pulled out her phone and checked her messages. ‘Who doesn’t know what happened?’ she muttered and shut it off completely without answering any texts or emails.

Cody had texted his brother earlier to say he was good and not to worry about him. They’d talk tonight. Maybe. ‘You’re not putting it out there that you’re fine?’ She seemed very reluctant to talk to her family or this Jason character.

‘George did it.’ Her mouth lifted slightly. ‘He never does take any notice of what I want. No wonder he’s friends with my brothers.’

Cody thought she was just as guilty of that after George examined Harper’s throat and tried to make her take the rest of the shift off. Of course she refused, flouncing out to the department and picking up the next file on the way to the waiting room. George wasn’t best pleased, but he relented in the end. They could stay to the end of the shift but were relegated to paperwork only.

‘I’m fine, George,’ Harper insisted with a scowl.

‘You might think so, Harper, but you’ve had a huge shock. I’m not comfortable with you treating patients till you’ve had a full night’s sleep. That’s non-negotiable.’

Cody actually wouldn’t have minded knocking off early for the day but he didn’t want to leave Harper alone after what they’d been through. He felt weirdly protective of her after all the bravery she’d shown. She was quite a woman.

Careful, Cody. That way lies trouble.

‘You feel like going for a drink?’ Cody asked Harper at the end of their shift as they pushed through the swing doors and out into the corridor. ‘We’ve certainly earned one today.’ The rest of the shift was already at the pub just down the road, no doubt yacking about the event that had overtaken the department that morning, which kind of had him regretting his suggestion to Harper. He’d had enough of the talk. Already the truth had been expanded, the resultant stories getting way out of control.

‘I don’t think so.’ She looked decidedly uncomfortable with the idea. Or was that about going with him?

His tongue got the better of him, as it was prone to do at the most inconvenient of times. ‘You don’t drink with your colleagues?’ She wouldn’t now, not if he was going to be there.

‘I don’t drink at all when I have a migraine.’

He swore. Now he knew why she kept rubbing her temples. ‘How’re you getting home?’ he asked as he saw her blink furiously when they stepped out into the blinding summer sun.

‘I have a car.’ Her chin jutted out. ‘How about you?’

‘I have a motorbike.’

‘Then you’re not asking me for a ride home?’

‘No, but I am offering to drive you home in your car. You are in no fit state to be behind the wheel.’

‘Yes, nurse.’ Her tone would’ve sounded sarcastic if there hadn’t been resignation and tiredness lacing her words. It seemed as though now she’d stopped work she was unravelling completely. Her eyes were half-closed, and she dug around in her bag and dragged out sunglasses, which she slapped on her face before heading towards the staff car park.

He followed. ‘You know I’m right. A migraine is hell, apparently. Do you get blackouts with yours?’

Her mouth tightened and she said nothing.

‘Toss in that bruised and swollen throat, the shock of being held hostage, and you’re in need of a little pampering.’ Was he offering to pamper her? No, that had come out all wrong. But he was damned if he was going to retract his statement. He didn’t do being caught on the back foot—not by attractive, sharp-tongued women, at any rate.

Harper ducked between vehicles, seemingly intent on the furthest row. When she reached a dazzling blue, high-performance car she pinged the locks and glared at him over the roof. ‘Forgot where you parked your motorbike?’

Cody ignored her anger, believing it probably wasn’t really directed at him but more at the situation she found herself in. He wanted to help her, be there for her, and knew better than to come out and say so. He tried another tack. Running his hand over the bonnet, he noted, ‘Nice. Bet it goes like a cut cat.’

‘Faster.’ There was the smallest twist of her lips and a hint of laughter in the pained eyes she exposed when she removed her sunglasses to rub her temples again.

So heat did run along her veins. Not often, maybe, but obviously sometimes. Now, there was a challenge. She was into fast cars. But not today. He stared at her and held out his hand.