Emergency Doctor and Cinderella (8 page)

She wandered back into the apartment, but just as she was about to lie down her phone began to ring from the charger on the kitchen bench. She picked it up, her spirits plummeting even further when she saw her mother’s name on the caller ID. ‘Mum, how are you?’ she said in a toneless voice.

‘Ez, I’ve got a big surprise for you,’ Leah Taylor said.

Erin felt her spine stiffen in apprehension. ‘Oh? What is it?’

‘I’m here in Sydney,’ Leah said in excitement. ‘I got one of those cheap flights. It cost less than the taxi from the airport. I flew in first thing.’

Erin’s palm moistened against the phone she was holding. ‘So…where are you staying?’

‘Ez-zie!’
Her mother’s voice had a whining edge of reproach to it. ‘Where do you think I’m staying? With you, of course. I’m downstairs right now. I wanted to surprise you. Are you surprised?’

‘Totally blown away,’ Erin said flatly.

‘So are you going to let me in or not?’

‘Are you alone?’ Erin asked.

‘Yeah, I got rid of that creep Brad. He was pinching my… Er, I mean, he was cheating on me.’

Erin closed her eyes as she leant back against the pantry door. ‘So how long are you going to be in Sydney?’ she asked, silently dreading the answer.

‘I haven’t made any firm plans,’ Leah said. ‘Hey, are you going to open the door or what?’

Erin pushed herself away from the pantry door and reached for the security pad with dread weighing heavily in her chest. ‘I’m on the fifteenth floor, apartment 1503. And don’t smoke in the lift.’

When she opened the apartment door to her mother’s
knock, Erin tried not to show any emotion, but inside her heart felt as if it had been seized by an artery clamp. Her mother was stick-thin; her once-chestnut hair was now bottle blonde with grey roots showing through, like the silver trail of a snail. Her skin was wrinkled beyond her years, weathered by too much sun, too many cigarettes and too many illicit substances. She was wearing black jeans that were so tight they looked like they had been sprayed on, her leopard-print top showing what would have been a cleavage if her weight was in the normal range.

Leah stepped past her into the apartment and, turning, put her bag down and placed her hand on one hip, jutting it forward like a catwalk model. ‘Aren’t you going to give me a hug?’ she asked.

Erin closed the door. ‘Sure,’ she said, stepping forward and hugging her mother in an embrace that felt awkward and unnatural and heartbreakingly unfamiliar. How many times had she longed for affection as a young child and been pushed away? How many times had she cried herself to sleep at night in yet another stranger’s house, not knowing where her mother was or even if she would ever come back to claim her?

‘Well, then,’ Leah said. ‘Let me look at you.’ She placed her index finger against her mouth, the rest of her fingers propped beneath her chin. ‘You certainly don’t do much to enhance your features, do you, Ez? What
is
that you’re wearing?’

‘They’re called pyjamas, Mum,’ Erin said, folding her arms across her chest. ‘I was about to go to bed.’

Her mother’s eyebrows, plucked to a single line of hair, rose. ‘At this time of day? What have you been doing all night? Partying?’

Erin rolled her eyes. ‘No, strange as it may seem, I’ve been working. I’m on night shift for the rest of the week.’

Leah plonked herself down on the sofa, swinging one broomstick-thin leg over the other. ‘That’s a pain, because I wanted to spend some time with you.’

‘How nice of you to think of me, Mum, but you’re about three decades too late.’

Leah pursed her lips. ‘You don’t ever give me a break, do you, Erin? You always want to blame me for everything that’s not right in your life.’

Erin unfolded her arms, trying her hardest to rein in her temper, to hold back the avalanche of hurt feelings that was threatening to consume her. ‘Everything is just fine in my life,’ she said. ‘I have a roof over my head, something other than junk food on the table, a full-time job and—’

‘And a cat,’ Leah cut in disparagingly.

‘
And
I have a man I’m seeing.’ The words spilled out before Erin could stop them. Once they were spoken she felt as if she had committed herself. It felt strange, and yet right somehow.

Leah’s hair-thin brows rose again. ‘Who is it? Another doctor?’

‘Yes, as a matter of fact. He works at Sydney Met. He’s my boss.’

‘Careful, Ez,’ her mother said, hunting in her handbag for cigarettes. ‘You don’t want to complicate your life with men who can hold something over you, like your job. Before you know it, he’ll have you fired for some paltry reason when his interest in you runs out.’

Erin snatched the cigarettes out of her mother’s hand. ‘No smoking in my apartment,’ she said. ‘If you have to poison your lungs, do it outside on the balcony, but close the sliding doors.’

Leah rolled her eyes as she got off the sofa. She snatched the cigarettes back and went towards the balcony. ‘God, you’re such a party pooper,’ she said. ‘How could I have had a daughter so straight-laced?’

How could I have had a mother so unlike the mother I most needed?
Erin thought with an ache deep inside her chest. ‘I’m a doctor, Mum,’ she said, pointedly closing the balcony doors as she joined her mother outside. ‘I have to deal with the results of years of smoking. It’s not a pretty sight, let me tell you.’

Leah blew a plume of smoke past Erin’s right shoulder. ‘You only live once, love,’ she said. ‘Might as well make the most of it.’

‘Well, you’ve certainly done that,’ Erin said, waving a hand in front of her face.

Leah’s weathered face became pinched. ‘You’re so quick to judge. You don’t know what it was like for me.’

Erin folded her arms again. ‘Don’t start, Mum, I haven’t got the violin tuned.’

Leah tossed her cigarette butt down onto the balcony tiles and ground it out with the heel of her snakeskin boots, her mouth pulled so tight it looked like a draw-string purse. ‘One day you’ll be sorry you’ve treated me the way you do. One day when you’re old and all alone with no one who cares about you. That’s what you’re going to end up like, Erin. Do you realise that? You might have a man interested in you now, but how long will that last? You don’t know how to keep a man in your life. You push them away just like you push everyone away. You’re incapable of loving anyone. You don’t even like yourself.’

Erin stalked back inside the apartment. ‘I’m going to bed. Make yourself at home.’

‘I want us to become close, Erin,’ her mother called after her. ‘It’s what I’ve always wanted.’

Erin sent a glance heavenwards and turned back around. She opened her mouth to fling back a stinging retort, but something in the expression on her mother’s gaunt face stopped her. She blew out her breath on a sigh. ‘I want that too, Mum,’ she said, so softly she wasn’t sure her mother even heard it. ‘I want that too.’

E
RIN
didn’t see Eamon in person for the rest of the week. He was attending a course in Melbourne on hospital management, which meant she hadn’t had to worry about introducing him to her mother. He had texted her several times, reminding her about the conference on the weekend in his last one, to see if she had made up her mind about attending.

She hesitated before she texted him back with her answer. She wanted to go to show she was keen to develop her skills professionally, but the prospect of being with him for most of the weekend was a huge step for her to take. He had assured her his cottage had separate rooms, but how many kisses would it take before she was in his arms and in his bed? It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him—it was herself she didn’t trust.

It didn’t help that her mother’s words had echoed in her head over the last few days. Would she end up alone and lonely unless she lived a little now? What was the harm in seeing where things with Eamon went? She was young and healthy and, after working so hard, surely deserved some fun in her life?

Erin had deliberately not mentioned to Leah that the
man she was dating was living next door. That would have been asking for the sort of complications she could well do without. She could just imagine her mother sashaying over there with a wine cask and cigarettes in hand, looking for a chance to party.

Her relationship with her mother was still on shaky ground. Erin worked hard at toning down her bitterness, and she could see Leah was making an effort not to get in the way. In any case, Leah slept late most days, and pottered about the apartment for the afternoon before going out at night. Erin didn’t ask where she went or what she did. She didn’t really want to know. She had laid down some ground rules: no men, no drugs. She’d had to compromise on the smoking and drinking. She knew it would be impossible to police it with her being on night duty.

Just before Erin began her last night on night duty, the receptionist in A&E informed her that a patient’s relative was waiting to see her.

‘I’ve sent her to wait for you in the counselling room,’ the receptionist said. ‘I thought it would be more private than the waiting room, with the patients listening in.’

Erin made her way to the small lounge-like room set up for relatives of seriously ill patients. Going in there nearly always made her feel a sense of dread. She had witnessed so much pain in there, the walls almost seemed to sag with it. When she got there the door was ajar, and when she pushed it open she found a young woman in her mid-twenties sitting there, very obviously pregnant.

‘Dr Taylor?’

Erin nodded and offered her hand. ‘Please don’t get up,’ she said. ‘What can I do for you?’

‘You treated my boyfriend the other day,’ the young
woman said. ‘Josh had a motorcycle accident. Do you remember him?’

‘Of course,’ Erin said, sitting on the edge of the nearest sofa. A wave of guilt washed over her as she thought about the young man. Why hadn’t she gone upstairs to see how he was getting on? Wasn’t that what Eamon Chapman was fighting for—the ongoing care of critically ill patients as people, not bodies on gurneys? They were people with lives, with hopes and dreams, and with people who loved them. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I should have gone up to the ward to see him. I’ve been so busy I—’

‘Please don’t apologise,’ the young woman said. ‘I’m just so grateful for what you did. Josh wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you.’

Erin felt uncomfortable with the praise, and shifted in her seat. ‘I work as part of a team,’ she said. ‘I can’t claim any special attention for helping Josh pull through. I had some great people working with me that day.’

‘Yes, I know, but Dr Chapman told me you were one of the best A&E doctors he’d ever worked with,’ the woman said. ‘I’m Alice, by the way.’

‘I’m Erin,’ Erin said. ‘It was nice of Dr Chapman to say that but, really, he was just as skilled, if not more so.’

‘He’s been lovely to me through this ordeal,’ Alice said, her hand going to her protruding belly. ‘I was so scared Josh wouldn’t live to see our baby being born.’

Erin swallowed, dragging her eyes away from the swollen belly. She had seen a tiny foot—or was it a hand?—move under the close-fitting garment Alice was wearing. A lump formed in her throat, dry and boulder-sized, and for some strange reason she felt like crying.

She hadn’t cried in decades.

‘How is he?’ she asked in a hoarse-sounding voice.

‘Josh is still in a coma,’ Alice said. ‘But the neurosurgeon, Mr Blackwood, is confident he’ll wake up in a day or so.’

Erin wondered if Ben Blackwood was being overly positive, given Alice’s pregnant state. Ben was a top-notch neurosurgeon, in fact he and his lovely wife, Georgie, were two of the most highly qualified and experienced neurosurgeons in town. But they were compassionate too, and would not want to burden a distressed relative with more information than was necessary. It was important to offer whatever hope one could. ‘Josh is in very good hands,’ she said, feeling hopelessly inadequate.

‘I have something for you.’ Alice opened her large handbag and took out a neatly wrapped rectangular parcel. ‘I made it myself while I was sitting by Josh’s bedside over the last couple of days and nights.’

Erin took the parcel with fingers that felt almost numb. She untied the pretty pink ribbon, her thoughts going to all the birthdays when there had been no present for her, not even a card. It wasn’t her thirtieth birthday for another couple of months, but she felt a thrill rush through her as if it was the first present she had ever received. She peeled away the sticky tape and unfolded the paper to find a beautifully framed piece of cross-stitch of a terrace house similar to the sort that parts of Sydney were well known for. ‘I don’t know what to say…’ Erin traced her hands over the frame. ‘It’s absolutely beautiful. No one’s ever made me something like this.’

Alice beamed. ‘I’m so glad. I was going to bring you
chocolates or wine, but that’s not something that will last. I wanted you to remember me and Josh. I know you see a lot of patients, you probably forget all the faces and names over the years, but I wanted you to know you will never be forgotten. If we have a girl we’re going to call her Erin, and if we have a boy he’s going to be Eamon. We haven’t been told the sex. We wanted it to be a surprise.’

Erin bit the inside of her mouth. She could feel her bottom lip quivering even though she bit down until she tasted blood. The pretty terrace house blurred in front of her and she hardly realised she was crying until a tear fell like a raindrop on the little row of flowers Alice had painstakingly stitched.

Alice leaned forward placed a hand on her arm, her expression clouding with worry. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you.’

Erin looked at her through watery eyes. ‘You haven’t. It’s just that I feel very honoured and very touched you’ve gone to so much trouble, especially when you’re going through such a harrowing time.’

Alice smiled. ‘You’re a very special person, Dr Taylor. When Josh wakes up, would you be able to come up to Intensive Care so he can thank you in person?’

‘I’ll come up when I’ve finished my shift,’ Erin promised.

When she went up to Intensive Care the following morning, Alice was sitting beside Joshua Reynolds’s bed, looking at him lovingly. The ventilator hooked up to him to keep him alive until he could breathe on his own was hissing and groaning, and the various tubes and lines coming out of his body reminded Erin of how
lucky he was to be still alive so far. She hadn’t seen the CT of his brain, which made her feel another wave of guilt. The least she could have done was call Ben Blackwood to see how Josh was doing.

‘Dr Taylor!’ Alice greeted her warmly.

‘Hi, Alice,’ Erin said with a little smile. ‘How’s he doing this morning?’

‘Well, he’s not awake yet, but the day has only just started,’ Alice said cheerfully.

Erin admired her positive attitude. It was so refreshing, and it made her feel a little more hopeful herself. She had become so jaded over the years, not allowing her hopes any ground in case she had to relinquish it later. Maybe it was her personality and not so much her background, she thought. Maybe her mother was right—maybe she didn’t really like herself.

Erin looked at the chair Alice had been sitting in. ‘Shouldn’t you be sitting in something a little more comfortable than that?’

‘It’s all right; I don’t want to be a nuisance.’

‘You’re not being a nuisance,’ Erin insisted. ‘I’ll have a word with one of the orderlies to see if they can bring in one of the armchairs from the doctors’ room.’

Within a few minutes an orderly had brought in a comfortable armchair and, after another chat, Erin left Alice to have a quick word with the senior nurse on duty about making sure Alice was provided with proper nutrition and drinks. She explained to the nurse that Alice was so devoted to Josh that she barely left his bedside.

‘I’ll see what we can do,’ the nurse said. ‘I’ll have a word with the kitchen.’

‘Thanks, I’d appreciate it,’ Erin said. ‘She’s at least
five or six months pregnant and has been through a very worrying time. And it’s not over yet.’

‘I know,’ the nurse said on a sigh. ‘I just hope he makes it.’

Erin glanced back at Josh’s cubicle. ‘He’ll make it,’ she said, borrowing a little of Alice’s confidence.

Erin was putting Alice’s gift on the front seat of her car in the hospital car park when she saw Eamon getting out of his car a couple of spaces away.

He smiled at her as he came over. ‘How are you, Erin?’

‘Fine.’ She self-consciously tucked a strand of her hair back, knowing how wrecked she looked from a night on duty. She already knew from her last visit to the bathroom her eyes had suitcases under them, and her skin was pale, making her freckles stand out like brown felt-marker points. ‘How are you? How did the seminar in Melbourne go?’

‘It was OK,’ he said. ‘I just flew in. I haven’t even been back to the apartment.’

Great
, Erin thought. He hadn’t run into her mother. Yet.

‘Have you had breakfast?’ he asked. ‘Do you fancy a quick tea and toast across the road before you go home to bed?’

Erin was far more in need of his company than the tea and toast. Just seeing him face to face made her realise how much she had missed him. He looked so gorgeous in his white shirt, red-striped tie and dark trousers with their razor-sharp creases. His eyes looked fresh and clear, his skin smooth from a recent shave and his dark hair neatly groomed. ‘That would be nice,’ she said, giving him a small smile.

‘Of course, we’ll have to risk the gossip,’ he said as
he led her by the elbow across the busy street. ‘By the way, I had a word to the persons involved in that bet you were telling me about.’

‘Yes, I know,’ she said. ‘A couple of them apologised when I crossed paths on duty.’

‘Good.’ He shouldered open the café door, his eyes sweeping over her face. ‘Hey, you look tired.’

‘I hate it when people tell me that,’ she said. ‘It always makes me feel far more tired than I actually am.’

‘I know, but five nights on duty is a tough call. ’ He held out a chair for her. ‘Do you find it hard to sleep during the day?’

‘A bit,’ she said as she sat down. ‘The first day is the worst. After that I kind of get into a routine.’

The waitress came over and took their orders. Erin sat back and watched as Eamon’s easy charm brought a tide of colour to the young girl’s face. She knew the feeling, that heady rush of sensation at having his undivided attention. Those intense eyes with their ink-spot pupils were enough to make any woman go weak at the knees, whatever her age or marital status.

The waitress moved away and Eamon met Erin’s gaze. ‘So, tell me what you’ve been doing while I’ve been out of town.’

‘Um…working and sleeping.’

‘How’s Molly?’

‘She’s good.’

A little silence passed.

‘Steph says hello.’

‘Please say hello back.’

‘You haven’t changed your mind about tomorrow, have you?’ he asked.

Erin gave him a sheepish look. ‘Only about a hundred times.’

He smiled at her. ‘I knew you’d be madly thinking up excuses why you couldn’t come. You’ll enjoy the break from the city. And I know you’ll love my parents’ place.’

‘Where do they live?’

‘They live about five kilometres out of Bowral,’ he said. ‘My mother is a very keen gardener. The place is amazing at this time of year, with the autumn leaves.’

‘So you didn’t grow up in the city?’

‘Yes and no,’ he answered. ‘Cloverfields was our country residence. We spent our holidays there but we had a house in the city, in Turramurra. My parents sold it when they retired and now live exclusively at Cloverfields.’

‘It sounds lovely,’ Erin said, thinking again of how different their backgrounds were; they couldn’t have been more disparate. His family’s wealth and status in the community, both city and country, was something he probably took for granted. Most of the wealthy people she knew did, they didn’t have a clue how the other half lived.

‘You’ve got a wistful look on your face,’ he said.

‘Have I?’

He smiled and reached for her hand. ‘Did you miss me?’

Erin felt a warm sensation pool in her belly as his fingers wrapped around hers. ‘A little, I guess.’

His eyes darkened as they held hers, his voice gravel-rough as he said, ‘I missed you too. I wish I could have squirreled you away from work to come with me.’

Erin thought of how nice it would have been, secreted in a luxury hotel room with him: no prying eyes, no ribald jokes, no gossip and innuendo, just the two of them getting to know each other. She felt a little shiver
tiptoe down her spine. What would it be like to be a normal young woman for once, to have a love affair and not agonise over when it might end?

‘How about we head out of town after I’ve finished work this evening?’ he said. ‘That way we can have two nights away, not just Saturday.’

Erin hesitated as she thought about it. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a weekend out of town. Somehow the thought of spending the weekend at her apartment with her mother was not all that exciting, and certainly not as exciting as being with Eamon. ‘Er…are you sure?’