to win people around because occasionally you can be a bit brusque?’
He lifted a chocolate doughnut and met her gaze. There was something quite electric about those eyes. She was glad she was sitting, because the look would likely have stopped her in her tracks. ‘Has anyone ever told you that you speak your mind?’
She laughed. ‘No. Why would anyone ever tell me that?’ She nibbled at the cupcake. ‘But let me warn you, you think I’m bad? Try meeting Oona our charge nurse. If you think I was smart about the entourage, she would have chewed you up and spat you out.’
‘Nice.’ He nodded. ‘Okay, then, if this is a teaching hospital, exactly how many am I allowed to bring in to NICU?’
‘Students?’
He nodded.
‘Two. And they better follow the infection control procedures. To the letter.’
He leaned over and gently slapped her hand. ‘Stop scratching.’
He was right. She was clawing away at her neck again and hadn’t even noticed. ‘When are these antihistamines going to start to kick in?’ She let out a long, exhausted breath.
Harry glanced at his watch. ‘Probably not for another hour at least.’
Now she’d sat down, tiredness was really starting to overwhelm her, and it didn’t matter how nice Harry had been to her today, because of their altercation a few days before, the last thing she wanted to do was show him just how tired she was at work. Not when she had patients to see, and other staff relying on her.
But Harry was being nice to her. She couldn’t pretend anything else. Today, he’d given her space to deal with the mother and baby. Not all doctors were like that. Some would just have barged in and taken over.
The truth was, she was slightly curious about him. He must have worked hard to gain his position as a neonatal cardiac surgeon. As for the duke stuff? He certainly hadn’t told anyone his title, but information like that was quick to follow a person.
She was suddenly conscious they were the only people in the room, and even though she was at the other side of the coffee table, his fresh scent was drifting over towards her. When she was feeling as tired and woozy as this, it was kind of hypnotic. She felt as if she had to get out of here.
She pushed herself up. ‘I better get back. I have another hour before I’m off shift. You’ve seen it out there, it’s chaos. I can’t stay here eating cakes.’
She’d made it to the door by then, but Harry was right alongside her, his fingers brushing her arm. ‘Even if you’re sick?’
She licked her lips. She couldn’t pretend she felt one hundred per cent. She was feeling hot again, and she wanted to find Rob and get started on the third set of antibiotics. No wonder her body felt so tired from constantly fighting an infection.
She gave him a tight smile. ‘You know how the health service is.’ She ducked out the door before Harry had a chance to say anything else, his fingers burning an imprint on her skin.
She didn’t finish her shift an hour later. Harry knew, because after reviewing Billy in NICU, and making arrangements for the new baby’s surgery, his feet just seemed to automatically take him back downstairs to A&E to check on her.
It was crazy. He didn’t even understand it himself. But there was something about this occasionally angry Scottish midwife that was just pulling him in.
He was quite sure she didn’t want him there. But even though they’d had a bad start, he’d watched her interactions with others, with patients, and the respect she had from other staff, and all of it intrigued him.
So he stood in the corridor as he watched her dash back and forward between cubicles. Rob came and stood alongside him, folding his arms and leaning against the wall like Harry, mirroring his stance.
‘Are you doing what I think you’re doing?’
‘Her rash seems to have died down a bit, but shouldn’t she have gone home by now?’ He turned towards Rob. ‘Shouldn’t you have gone home too?’
Rob shrugged. ‘You know how it is.’ His eyes went to Esther, who hadn’t noticed either of them as she stopped for a second in the corridor and put her hand on the wall. She looked absolutely exhausted.
They shot each other a glance and walked over to her. ‘Okay,’ Rob said quickly. ‘Esther, I’m officially sending you home. I should have done it earlier, but to be truthful I thought you would have responded much quicker to the antihistamines. I’m sorry.’
‘But my patients…’
Rob interrupted her. ‘They’ll be reassigned.’
She sagged a little as relief clearly flooded over her. ‘Great.’
He tilted his head and looked at her again. ‘Is there someone at home with you?’
She scowled. ‘No. Why?’
Rob bit his bottom lip. ‘I actually wonder if I should make you stay overnight in the combined assessment unit—you know, for observation?’
He was glancing at Harry again.
She shook her head fiercely. ‘No way. Not a chance.’
‘Esther, I’m not sure I should let you go home. What if something happens in the middle of the night? What if you feel unwell? How will you get back in?’
Esther gave Harry a look of panic. The dark circles under her eyes pulled at something inside him.
No member of NHS staff wanted to see a colleague look like this.
Harry stood for a few moments next to her, not wanting to leave. It was a strange sensation for him. A few days ago he’d been ready to do battle with this midwife, questioning her competence. But here she was, working in A&E as well as NICU. There had to be a story there, and he was curious what it was. Now he’d seen her working, he knew she was dedicated. He just didn’t know why she was taking on so many shifts to the detriment of her own health. He might not be an expert, he might not even know her that well, but from what little he’d seen, Esther was on the verge of burnout.
She gave a soft smile, and shook her head again. He could tell she was going to try and persuade Rob to let her go. She gave an unconscious scratch of her neck and gave Harry a sad kind of smile. ‘Thanks for looking out for me earlier.’
‘Of course.’ He meant it. He’d look out for any member of staff that was clearly unwell at work.
He held up his hand. ‘Stay here. Both of you. Don’t move.’
There was a phone on the nearby wall and he picked it up, calling up to first NICU, then the paed ward. Everything appeared to be under control. The other doc on call was more than competent. ‘Head home, Harry. Anything happens with your own patients I’ve got your mobile and I’ll give you a call. But you can trust me, you know?’ he added in a jokey tone.
‘Okay.’ Harry hung up the phone. He had to get better at that. Trusting others with his patients. Maybe it was because he’d spent so long being the visiting expert surgeon. It meant he couldn’t form relationships long enough with people to feel assured about their competencies.
Or maybe it was because of the way he’d been brought up. No child asked to be born to parents who weren’t the least bit interested in them. A child had been a necessity for the duke and duchess. Someone to carry on the family name. But that’s all he’d been. It had taken him a long time to realise that the relationship he had with his parents wasn’t entirely normal. Most kids who boarded did actually get to spend some time at home. But not Harry. It made forming relationships hard for him. He’d spent most of his childhood thinking he didn’t deserve love, and most of his wild teenage years looking for