Angel Kate (10 page)

'Over on your left side, please.' Kate selected a needle and with a dart-like flick of the wrist plunged the antibiotic into the upper outer quadrant of Tom's exposed buttock.

A show of brisk exasperation concealed the pangs of her anxiety. 'No wonder this has happened. Every afternoon we get half the medical staff  tramping in here loaded with germs and never a thought for the patient they're infecting with GOK. Well, they'll have to get past
me
today.'

'Right you are, Dragon!' agreed Tom amiably, rolling over and hitching up his pyjamas with his right hand. He thought she smelled pretty gorgeous, but it was so out of character he was probably imagining it. Maybe it was those flower things. From the moment Kate had walked in this morning, it was clear there was to be no mention of the previous evening. But she had brought him that little present from her garden. He wondered where she lived. He wanted to grab hold of her head and let down that mermaid hair. It was so tempting …

'But I have to see my theatre team before the end of this week.'

Kate rearranged his pillows into a comfortable triangle. The night staff had changed sheets soaked in sweat three times in the night. It was written up in the report. 'Stay in bed today. I'll nip down to the library and get something nice to take your mind off work. How about one of those Swedish thrillers?'

'I never read fiction. Any chance they'd have a German dictionary in the library?'

Kate frowned. 'I doubt it, Tom. Why?'

Tom produced from his briefcase the sheaf of paper and explained what he was trying to do, looking over Kate's shoulder as she leaned over to see the first page. Every time she moved, there definitely was this intriguing perfume coming from her skin.
Interesting …

"'Is the mysterious pineal gland,"' she translated rapidly, '"the brain's third eye?" Mmm, this looks interesting. Some of the medical terminology might prove a bit tricky, but I can certainly translate most of that for you.' Kate smiled at him, pleased to be able to help. Tom suddenly forgot how rough he was feeling. He allowed his hand to rest nonchalantly on her smooth bare forearm as he compared her words with the German text.

Kate's reaction was so physical that she jumped to her feet, fearing Tom would hear the pounding of her heartbeat and feel the throb of her blood through her skin.

'I'll make a written copy while you're resting,' she said breathlessly.

'So you've got A-Level German.'

He didn't wait for an answer—which was just as well, since Kate had no intention of coming out with her life story. And she hadn't an A-Level to her name. Should she tell him her mother lived with her German husband in Munich and that since childhood Kate had spent her holidays in the city? No, she decided. It would lead to too many painful questions.

'That's a stroke of luck for sure. When Kimberley arrives, she can -'

'Doctor's orders, Mr Galvan. No secretary today, you're on complete bed rest. No, don't grumble about it, I'll take my translation to the office and ask Kimberley to do you a computer copy.'

In the canteen Kate bumped into Mike Filing. 'Having a rough ride, darlin'?' he asked sympathetically, sliding a stealthy arm about Nurse Wisdom's alluring middle. 'We miss you in the Unit. When are you coming back?'

For a rash moment Kate imagined the thrill if that was someone else's hand … but chased the shameful thought away almost as soon as it sneaked into mind. Mike, however, sensed the second's pause before his hand was firmly removed. Encouraged, he joined her as she carried her tray of stuffed peppers and low-fat yoghurt to a vacant table.

He peered at her food and made an offensively intimate remark about her body. Kate took no notice. He tried again, pretending to search her calm face for black eyes and bruises, insisting she was suffering from trembling hands. 'No need to be brave, love. Tell Uncle Mickey all about your nasty hulking patient. '

'None of your business.' Quickly Kate finished her stuffed peppers and peeled the top off the yoghurt pot. She wanted to get back to that German translation. 'Mike, would you pour me some water please?' She held out her empty glass.

'With the greatest of pleasure,' said Mike smoothly, and emptied the full jug down Kate's front. 'Oops, sorry!' he murmured, dabbing at her soaking chest with a paper towel.

Kate leapt to her feet. 'Grow up, Dr Filing,' she advised quietly, though inside she was absolutely seething. This was the last of her clean uniforms and she'd just have to go on wearing it. Clutching her navy cardigan in front of her, she left him to his pork chop and went back to Maynard intending to slip into the nurses' rest room, drape her wet uniform over the radiator and tuck herself away in a quiet corner. Thank goodness it was only water and would quickly dry without a trace.

'Staff!' called a voice from Sister Carter's office. 'I've had a call from one of the patients on your corridor complaining of a commotion in Room 27. Would you find out what the problem is, please?'

'Oh dear!' sighed Kate, plucking the clammy fabric away from skin. 'What's Tom done now?'

The meals trolley stood abandoned in the corridor and a well-built nurse with a scowling face and blonde-streaked hair could be seen and heard, arguing the toss with Kate's cantankerous patient.

'According to my list, Mr Galvan, you most definitely ordered vanilla ice-cream for your pudding. There's nothing down here about sherry trifle.' She sensed Kate hovering in the doorway and half turned to exchange a grimace. Having an onlooker encouraged her to try a tone of calm persuasion. 'This is Cornish ice cream. Very special. Please just try a little, Mr Galvan.'

'Take it away, and clear off. I don't want it.  I did not order it.'

'Oh, for heaven's sake!' scolded Kate, who was not her even-tempered self but struggling to push her own upset to the back of her mind.

'I'll leave you to it,' muttered the other nurse out of the corner of her mouth. 'You're not the only patient on this corridor, Mr Galvan!' she added, getting in a sotto-voce last word.

Tom indicated the now melting dish of ice-cream and his face registered disgust. 'I did
not
order this. I'm still hungry. I want trifle.'

Kate stood with shoulders hunched, trying to disguise the accident by holding her cardigan in front of her, and in no mood for sweet talk. '
I
ordered ice-cream for you,' she said flatly. 'You have a fever. Eat it. It will soothe your throat and chest.'

Tom glowered. From beneath his eyebrows he studied Nurse Wisdom's glum expression. Sometimes she struggled not to smile when he put on one of his rude impossible moods. Not this time. He tried again to make her smile, poking at the pudding dish with a fastidious forefinger. 'It's disgusting. Tastes like bone marrow!'

Sticking out a foot, Kate kicked the door shut behind her. 'I am sick to death,' she announced crossly, 'of tiresome doctors.' She stalked forward to take the plate away and as her hands reached out she dropped her cardigan.

Tom stared in fascination, blinked, and stared again. 'Hell's teeth, Kate, you're practically showing your breakfast!' His eyes gleamed beneath narrowed lids. This certainly made up for the pudding disappointment! 'Enjoy your swim?'

The white uniform had turned transparent. Kate glanced down and was mortified.  Peach silk and more was now on clear and full display. 'That's Dr Filing's work,' she said tight-lipped. 'He tipped a jug of water over me.'

Tom's guffaw ricocheted off all four walls. 'Trying to cool you down, was he?'

Hugging her arms protectively across herself, Kate felt her teeth begin to chatter. 'What Mike Filing can't seem to g-grasp is that I find him completely resistible. He
will not
leave me alone.'

A wave of indignation swept through Tom.
That little runt pestering this lovely girl!
He sprang off the bed in a way he could never have managed even a few days before, reaching out with his good arm and drawing her shivering body closely against him.

As his dark shadow loomed over her, coming between her and daylight, Kate for one fleeting second felt threatened. Then she felt the  protective weight of his arm and saw the kindness and concern in his eyes, the old Tom, the Tom people spoke of with such warm, affectionate admiration. She nestled against him, unable to help herself responding to his concern.

'We must get you out of these wet clothes,' he murmured, his chin grazing the top of her head. 'Put your dress on the bathroom radiator. It will dry in no  time.' He let go of her and with his good hand ripped open the press studs down the front of her dress. And Kate was somehow too dazed to stop him, though the impropriety of the whole situation, a patient undressing a nurse, was too horrific to contemplate.

Her dress slid off her shoulders and Tom with a click of his tongue observed that her silken underwear was soaked right through. It was a pretty startling sight – Kate was nowhere near as skinny as she looked with her clothes on. He felt himself begin to respond, but it was easy after all these years as a doctor dealing with bodies, to stamp on inappropriate feelings within the hospital walls.

Meditatively Tom eyed the delicious sight of the practically naked Kate Wisdom.
Couldn't do myself justice at the moment, Gertie darling. Though I'm bound to tell you you're in lovely condition.

Sexy underwear for a nurse to wear for work … couldn't be for his benefit, could it? A put-up job to lure a neuro-surgeon into a one-armed affair?

A corner of his mouth twisted in amusement. There was one sure way to find out.

Experimentally he placed a deliberate hand over her right breast. Kate gasped in outrage and was out of his grasp like a shot.

That was answer enough.

He grinned openly as an accusatory '
Mister
Galvan!' exploded from her quivering lips. He saw her arm draw back to take aim, but he was too tall and too fast-reacting for her to reach him. Steely fingers manacled Kate's narrow wrist. And at that very moment the two of them froze as the door handle rattled and Sister Carter's voice, tinged with excitement, said, 'Here we are, Dr Diamond—Room 27. What a lovely surprise for our dear Mr Galvan!'

'I
nto the bathroom!'

Kate grabbed her uniform and made a dash for it.

As one door opened the other closed, and only Tom heard the click of the lock. A very worried Kate perched on the rim of the bath, her fingers gripping its cold edge. She hadn't reported to the office. Sister Carter would know she'd come on duty. But here she was, trapped in a patient's bathroom – and from the sound of it, with no chance of escape.

A heartily polite three-way conversation was underway on the other side of the door: Kate immediately recognised the television doctor's famously precise voice telling of her trans-Atlantic dash to spend just one day at Tom's bedside, to see for herself he was well and truly on the mend.

'Such a pity, Dr Diamond, that  you couldn't come sooner,' said Judy Carter. Kate silently applauded. If that was
my
man, she told  herself, wild horses wouldn't keep me away, let alone some here-today-gone-tomorrow television programme.

Since she was going to be stuck in here for heaven knows how long, she stripped everything off and spread her wet clothes along the radiator, wrapping herself in Tom's warm dry bath towel.

She put down the lid of the lavatory and perched herself on the hard surface. The awful thought struck her that Dr Diamond might well be planning to spend the rest of the day with Tom. This was a real possibility! Kate had to clap her hand over her mouth to stifle a rising groan. How was his trapped nurse ever going to get out? At some point the woman would want to use the bathroom and then – exposure!

Tom knows  you're in here. He'll think of something …

Sister was talking about jet-lag and a visit she'd made three years ago to her married sister in Vancouver. Diana Diamond's response sounded ever so slightly impatient. As if she couldn't wait to be left alone with Tom.

Her voice floated nearer and a rich smell of perfume seeped round the edges of the bathroom door. The same lovely scent that Olwen used. It cost a bomb. Dad used to buy it for his new young wife. Kate pulled the bath towel more tightly round herself and crouched there looking a bit like Rodin's statue of The Thinker, one hand propping up her chin.  Dr Diamond must have walked around the bed and be over by the window. Kate could hear her reading his case notes and quizzing Sister Carter about this recent chest infection. Tom hawked pitifully and Kate tittered quietly because she knew very well he was putting on a bit of a show.

Sister agreed that yes, there had been this small setback but Tom was, of course, getting specialist care. With a first-rate nurse assigned to look after him and monitor progress.

In the bathroom the first-rate nurse pulled a wryly comical face.

'Where is this paragon, then?' Dr Diamond sounded tartly unimpressed. 'Do your nurses usually leave their clothes on the floor in patients' rooms?'

Kate gasped aloud in horror and clapped her hand over  her mouth. Her eyes darted to the radiator where her bra and pants and uniform dress were sending up little wafts of steam. What could the doctor mean? Then she heard Tom calmly intervene. 'Kate's doing something rather urgent just this moment—I hope that's okay with you, Judy. I believe you asked her to come up during her lunch break, and I'm afraid I took advantage of her very kind nature.'

'I'll have to have a word with her,' said Sister Carter, 'this is not acceptable. How could her cardigan end up on the floor?'

Kate had her hands pressed tightly to her face. Tom said smoothly,  'She came back early from her lunch break and I seem to  recall she'd got that thing over her shoulders. Must have slipped off when she tidied my pillows and helped me back into bed.'

Well done, Tom, that was a close one!

Kate sighed with relief. Now no one would be wondering where she'd got to. Not for a while at any rate.

Kate would dearly have liked to open the door an inch or two and get a peep at Diana Diamond, but it was too risky – she'd be heard.  She'd just have to rely on her imagination.