A Wedding in the Village (9 page)

‘Alexis is a friend of mine,’ the A and E doctor told them. ‘She’s picking me up when I’ve finished here and we’re going for a meal. So I’m going to ask a favour of her.’

It was nine o’clock when the woman who’d broken Luke’s heart came to Oliver’s bedside. When she saw him sitting there with Megan by his side, her dark almond-shaped eyes widened and she breathed, ‘Luke! What are
you
doing here?’

‘The boys are my nephews,’ he said evenly. ‘They’ve been playing with fireworks.’

‘I see. So how are you?’

‘I’m fine, Alexis,’ he told her, ‘and thanks for coming to see Oliver. His father died recently and his mother is out of the country, so life hasn’t been treating him very well of late, and now this.’

Her glance had switched to Megan, who was taking in every detail of the woman who had been Luke’s first love.

‘So you’re not their mother, then.’

Before she could reply he said, ‘Megan and I are jointly in charge of a country practice, and she is a friend of the boy’s mother. It’s been a long day for all of us. So if you wouldn’t mind…’

Alexis was dressed for going out, in a long black evening dress relieved with expensive jewellery, but she nodded and bent over Oliver, who was regarding her dubiously.

‘Can you hear what I’m saying, Oliver?’ she asked.

‘Not very well,’ he said.

She’d brought her equipment with her, obviously having been warned about what lay ahead, and she looked into his ears for quite some time before asking him, ‘Did the firework go off very close to you?’

He gazed at her blankly and she repeated the question in a louder voice and was told, ‘Yes. It was a big bang.’

‘I see. Will you open your mouth for me now while I look down your throat?’

Next she felt his neck glands and then looked into his ears once more, and when she’d finished she told them, ‘I think the firework exploding so close has caused temporary deafness, which should gradually disappear, as fortunately there has been no piercing of the eardrums.

‘His throat seems fine, and the fact that it hurts when he swallows will be muscular, probably from the same cause. That too should soon go away, but if it doesn’t, you know where to find me, Luke,’ she told him meaningfully, and then swept out of the ward to join her dinner date.

* * *

When the night sister on the children’s ward took over she said, ‘Why don’t you go and get something to eat while I settle this young man for the night? He and his brother can have some supper up here.’

As they pointed themselves towards the hospital restaurant Luke said, ‘Thanks, Megan.’

‘What for?’

‘Being there for us.’

‘What about Alexis?’ she asked. ‘Giving her time and talents for
you?
’

‘She was doing it to impress her latest conquest, not me,’ he said dryly. ‘She didn’t know I was involved until she walked into the ward, and, believe me, she was the last person I wanted to see tonight, or at any other time for that matter.’

‘What did she do to you that hurt so much?’

She couldn’t have asked him under normal circumstances, but tonight everything seemed sharp-edged and important.

He sighed heavily. ‘Alexis was pregnant and never told me. I was only informed when she’d had a termination.’

‘Why?’ Megan cried in horror. ‘Why did she do that?’

‘She said that her career came before a family. You can guess the rest.’

‘That was unforgivable.’

‘Yes, it was,’ he agreed tonelessly as he guided her to an empty table in the restaurant. ‘I hope that fellow in A and E knows what he’s letting himself in for.’

She’d been ravenous before, but when Megan began to eat the food in front of her she found that she’d lost her appetite. It had been a horrendous few hours, and what Luke had told her was just as awful.

‘Eat up,’ he said gently. ‘There’s no cause for you to be upset. I don’t want my affairs to put a blight on your life. The Alexis business is over, done with. And the next ghastly thing I’ve got to face is phoning Sue to tell her what’s happened, and I am not relishing the thought of
that.
’

When they arrived back on the ward Oliver was asleep and Owen was watching television while he waited for their return. As Luke stood gazing down at his injured nephew, Megan thought how life could be so unfair. His own child was lost to him, but it didn’t stop him from having this great affection for someone else’s.

‘So what’s the plan?’ she asked softly. ‘Are you going to stay the night?’

‘Yes.’

‘What about Owen? Shall I take him home with me?’

He shook his head. ‘No, Megan. You’ll have enough to cope with, facing up to my patients as well as your own in the morning. There is an overnight stay room just down the corridor. I’ll check with Sister to see if I can bed Owen down in there for the night. Once it’s been agreed I’m going to phone for a taxi for you, and during the quiet hours I’ll phone Sue.’

He went to the main door with her when the call came that the taxi had arrived and held her close for a moment.

‘I’m letting you down, Megan, aren’t I?’ he said in a low voice. ‘Just as you knew I would.’

Green eyes flashed. ‘Surely you don’t think I am so mean-minded as to blame you for something like this!’ she flared.

‘You might feel differently in the morning when I’m missing from the practice.’

‘Really! I’ll be the judge of that. And if you think I can’t manage the practice on my own, watch me!’

He didn’t take her up on that, just said, ‘Goodnight, Megan. Sweet dreams.’

* * *

Sweet dreams! she thought as the taxi took her homewards. Was he kidding? It would be surprising if she slept a wink after what he’d told her about his marriage breakup. Luke was meant to be a family man, not an embittered divorcee. She’d seen him with Owen and Oliver and he was incredibly loving and understanding.

She’d told him not long ago that he would make a wonderful father, having had no idea of what had gone wrong in his marriage. But the woman in the black dress had denied him that. Alexis had seen family life as a millstone, not a joy, and had done what suited
her
best.

She’d already been feeling fraught before that, because of the boys’ foolish actions, and the possible consequences. But what Luke’s ex-wife had done seemed deliberately cruel. There was an excuse for the boys’ youthful stupidity, but not for what Alexis had done to Luke.

The taxi driver had driven past Woodcote House on the way home and she’d seen that Rebekah had locked up and everywhere was in darkness. She wanted to thank her for her prompt actions at the time of the firework explosion and asked him to stop briefly at her house as she could see a light on inside.

‘How is Dr Anderson?’ Rebekah asked after Megan had told her what was going on with Oliver.

‘Devastated,’ Megan told her. ‘He’s staying the night at the hospital and Owen is with him. When I left he was about to phone their mother to let her know what has happened. To receive that kind of news when one is far away must be dreadful.’

* * *

And now, at last, she was home. When she looked at her face in the bathroom mirror she groaned. Two eyes, black-ringed with fatigue, stared back at her, and the white shirt she’d worn for work was filthy from the smoke that had blackened everything near where the firework had gone off.

Her appearance was hardly what she would have chosen for being introduced to Alexis, but that was the least of her worries. Supposing Oliver’s hearing had been affected? she thought. Or his burns were more serious than they’d an ticipated? And would this last catastrophe throw Sue into an even bigger black hole of despair and grief?

And there was Luke in the middle of it all. In charge of Owen and Oliver, the house and the garden centre. Doing everything right and yet it kept going wrong. When she’d sent him the Valentine card in her student days it had been his physical attractions alone that had been the reason for her youthful infatuation.

She’d had no knowledge of the integrity and stamina of the man underneath until now, and with each passing day her feelings for him were deepening.

Were they ever going to find time to really get to know each other? she wondered. It was one thing after another. He’d been quick to point out that he wouldn’t be available for morning surgery tomorrow.

Her anxieties that he might let her down because of all his other commitments had come home to roost. Yet what could she do? She’d been angry at the way he’d taken it for granted that all she could think about was the practice. It wasn’t Luke’s fault that teenage boys behaved like teenage boys. Better that he’d been there to deal with what happened instead of their mother.

* * *

At eight o’clock the next morning she’d had breakfast and was about to leave for the surgery when there was a knock on the door. When she opened it Luke was standing there, looking more spruce than when she’d left him the night before.

As she stepped back to let him in he said, ‘Owen and I have been to the house. We’ve both had a shower and some breakfast and I’ve just dropped him off at school. Now I’m on my way back to the hospital.’

‘How is Oliver?’ she asked anxiously.

‘He’s had a restless night, but was asleep when I left him.’ He was observing her keenly. ‘What about you, Megan? Are you all right?’

‘Yes, I’m fine,’ she told him, putting the night’s worries to the back of her mind. ‘Did you manage to get hold of Sue?’

‘Yes. She’s on her way home. She was fortunate to get an immediate flight.’

‘And how was she?’

‘Better than I expected. Awful though it is, she needed something like this to give her the impetus to come home. It’s brought her back to reality.’

‘That’s good, but, as you say, what a shame it has to be for such an upsetting reason.’

She was checking the time. ‘I’ll have to be making a move, Luke.’

‘Me, too,’ he said. ‘I can’t linger. A doctor is coming to see Oliver at nine o’clock, and I’m told by Alexis’s friend in A and E that she will be calling to see him again later in the morning.’

‘How do you feel about that?’

‘If she’s keeping an eye on Oliver, fine. I won’t allow the fact that she never did
me
any good to come into it.’

‘Those boys come before anything else,’ she said gently. ‘Before you, before me, before Alexis, or anyone else for that matter. I am so thankful that Oliver escaped with as little hurt as he did.’

‘So am I,’ he said tersely, ‘but there’s still the matter of his hearing. We’ll have to see how it is when he wakes up. The explosion blew out the windows in their bedrooms, with them being at the back of the house, so it’s easy to see that it was some bang. They’ll need replacing before it starts raining, and we might get burgled. Is there anyone among your village friends who could sort that out for me?’

‘Yes,’ she said promptly. ‘You remember Josh Meredith, who’s waiting for a liver transplant?’

‘Not him, surely!’

‘No. Of course not. But his elder brother, Jack, is a joiner. His place is at the end of Rabbit Lane. He’s efficient and doesn’t charge the earth. I’ve got his phone number somewhere. I’ll ask him to give you a call. Now, hadn’t you better go in case Oliver is awake and fretting?’

He nodded. ‘Yes. I’ll be able to tell him that his mum will be with him soon and that should cheer him up. I’ll phone you at the surgery later to let you know what’s going on. And, Megan, one of the reasons I’ve called is to apologise for being so tactless last night. Am I forgiven?’

‘It’s forgotten. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.’

‘It won’t always be like this.’

‘Would you like to bet on that?’ she said dryly. ‘What’s that you have in your hand?’

He looked down on to the sheaf of papers he was carrying. ‘They’re the worksheets for the garden centre. The figures that I calculate the wages from. I thought I could do them while Oliver is waiting to see the doctors.’

‘I rest my case,’ she told him, and with no answer to that he went off into the October morning.

* * *

As Megan drove to the practice, Tom Meredith came hurrying out of the post office and waved her down. Tears were streaming down his face and she thought dismally, Please, don’t let it be Josh.

As she rolled down the car window he sobbed, ‘They’ve found him one, Megan! They’ve found a liver for Josh. They’re going to do the transplant today. His mother and I are about to set off for the hospital now.’

She let out a sigh of relief. ‘Oh! Tom! That’s marvellous. I thought you were going to tell me the worst, and it’s the
best.
’

‘Aye. At least he’s got a chance now. We’ll just have to hope he’s strong enough to cope with the surgery. The lad’s very poorly.’

‘We’ll all be thinking of him, Tom, and wishing him well,’ she said comfortingly.

‘The foolishness of youth, eh, Megan?’

‘Yes, indeed. One of Dr Anderson’s nephews is in hospital after they set off a very powerful firework without permission.’

‘Oh, dear! I’ll tell Sara and we’ll pop in to see him while we’re there. It will be hours before there is any news for us.’

As Tom went hurrying back inside Megan thought how Luke envied her the friendships and acquaintances she had with the villagers. As well as sharing their good times, she suffered with them when things weren’t so good, and she wouldn’t change it for the world.

* * *

With two lots of patients to see, the morning flew with not a moment to spare and just as she’d said goodbye to the last of them and was about to set out on the house calls, her Aunt Izzy phoned.

‘So what’s this that Rebekah tells me about those boys from Woodcote House?’ she asked immediately. ‘Trying to blow the place up, were they?’

‘Almost, Aunt Izzy,’ Megan told her. ‘Hopefully they’ve learned their lesson. Owen is all right, but Oliver has burns and some hearing loss at the moment, which we are hoping is only temporary.’

‘Hmm. I see.’

‘I’m going to have to go,’ Megan said. ‘I’ve my house calls to do and I’m late already.’

‘I suppose
he’s
at the hospital with them,’ she said, ignoring Megan’s comments about how busy she was.