Paddington Children's Hospital Complete Collection. Kate Hardy
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Название: Paddington Children's Hospital Complete Collection
Автор: Kate Hardy
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Контркультура
Серия: Mills & Boon Series Collections
isbn: 9781474070676
isbn:
This love felt as though it might burst from her chest if she let it; it was just too vast to handle.
There were too many feelings that must be kept in check.
For how would he react to her barrage of questions?
Her feelings were in complete disarray.
‘You need to go,’ Victoria said.
She went to climb off but he did not let her. ‘So you can say I got what I came for?’
He felt her short, reluctant laugh as he held her in his arms.
He was starting to know her a little too well and so she lifted her head up and looked at him.
‘You do have to go.’
‘I can call and tell them that if there’s a problem...’ And then he hesitated because family came first, especially at times such as this, yet she had edged her way up that list. ‘Come back with me.’
It was possibly the most stupid thing to say, but he was still inside her and that allowed a person to say the occasional reckless thing.
‘Isn’t it a bit early to be meeting the family?’ Victoria said, and got off him.
‘Exceptional circumstances,’ Dominic retorted as he sorted out his clothes. He was annoyed at himself for pushing things, and annoyed at the contrariness of her. ‘Victoria, like it or not, we’re going to be parents, and trying to sort things out from a distance isn’t working out too well, is it?’
‘I’m on nights tomorrow,’ Victoria said. ‘I just want to go to bed and have a long lie-in.’
‘So when will I see you?’
‘At work, I guess.’
‘I meant away from work. I’m not going to have our relationship dictated by how often your ambulance is dispatched to the Castle, and you kicking me out isn’t exactly helping us—’
‘I’m hardly kicking you out,’ Victoria interrupted. ‘You have a family that you need to get back to and I need to get some sleep.’
She needed him gone because she was on the edge of telling him she was crazy about him.
On the edge of asking about Lorna and how it had felt to see her again.
If he knew her—the real, insecure her—Victoria was positive that he would not want her any more.
She had never cared about anyone else in the way she cared for him, and it terrified her. She did not want to add a failed relationship between them to the mix.
‘You keep asking if there’s anything you can do for me,’ Victoria said. ‘Well, there is. Just stay back.’
‘You mean that?’ he checked.
‘I do.’
She even held the door open for him.
So much for wanting a long sleep, because Victoria was still awake when she heard the first train of the morning clack past.
Dominic, she decided, could be as involved in their baby’s life as he chose to be but she would not allow him to get closer to her.
‘WHAT TIME DID you get home last night?’ Katie MacBride enquired as Dominic came into the kitchen the next morning.
Dominic, who hadn’t had to answer that question for two decades, was certainly in no mood to answer it now.
‘Did you hear what your mother said?’ William prompted. He was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a newspaper. No doubt he had got up at six and gone out to get one, just as he did back home.
‘I heard,’ Dominic answered. ‘I didn’t make a note of the time when I got in.’
He had tea and toast all prepared by Katie, and Dominic laughed to himself at his own suggestion last night that Victoria should come here.
Dominic loved his parents very much but they were straight into his business and he could only imagine a very independent Victoria’s response to his parents’ fussing.
‘What time will you be back?’ his mother asked as Dominic went to leave at seven when he didn’t really need to leave until half past.
‘I’m not sure,’ Dominic answered. ‘And tomorrow I’m on call all weekend so I’ll be staying at the hospital.’
‘What about Jamie and Lorna?’ William asked. ‘Will you be in to visit your nephew?’
‘I am going to be working!’ Dominic pointed out.
‘You should speak with your brother instead of avoiding him.’
‘Jamie’s here now.’ Dominic pointed down the hall to the bedroom. ‘How can I be avoiding him?’
Except deep down Dominic knew that he was.
* * *
Friday night was hell because little William had a run of atrial fibrillation and Dominic had to race Jamie back to be by Lorna’s side.
Dominic sat in the waiting room on the cardiac unit and saw on the news that there was an incident at Piccadilly.
He had never felt fear watching the news until he had met Victoria.
It was hell watching flashing lights on the screen and brawls taking place and knowing she may well be in the thick of it.
And what was he supposed to do?
Did he send a text asking if she was okay and just irk her some more?
Or did he just sit there feeling ill while hoping to God she was safe?
* * *
She wasn’t.
Victoria wasn’t gung-ho but she could never be accused of holding back, yet as she climbed out of the vehicle to the sounds of a brawl, for the first time in her career she did hold back.
Victoria did not feel safe.
‘Hey!’ Glen warned the guy lying on the kerb as he lashed out with his boot. ‘We’re trying to help.’ He looked over to Victoria. ‘Can you bring the stretcher closer?’ Glen said, and then he asked the police who were holding the man to get a better grip on him.
It was Victoria who drove the patient to hospital while Glen stayed in the back.
Nothing was actually said, but Victoria knew only too well that she wasn’t carrying her share of the load.
Glen СКАЧАТЬ