‘She’s going to retire at the end of the year,’ Ray added. ‘Not sure what we’re going to do without her. She’s such a mother-hen, always looking after her chicks, and I’m not just talking about the young mums who are constantly in the unit with their ill wee ones—she’s a mother to the staff as well.’
‘My senior three.’ Janessa nodded.
Dr Trevellion was still looking at her but this time there was amused disbelief in his eyes.
‘You’re
really the head of the NICU? But you look about nineteen years old!’
Ray chuckled. ‘That she does, but don’t let the outward demeanour fool you. Our Janessa is well trained, highly intelligent and always in control.’
‘Thank you, Ray,’ Janessa remarked, feeling extremely self-conscious.
‘You’re
Janessa Austen?’ Miles couldn’t disguise his utter astonishment. His expression should have amused her, and probably on another day it might have, but now that the emergencies seemed to have settled down, fatigue and hunger were starting to gnaw at her again.
‘I’ve heard all about you,’ he continued as he followed her. ‘Although for some unfathomable reason, I expected you to be …’ He stopped, trying his best to be diplomatic but realising he’d already failed. His mind was still fuzzy from the travelling he’d done during the past thirty hours. ‘Older,’ he finished.
‘I may look young, Dr Trevellion, but I can safely assure you,’ she said as they walked into her office, ‘that I am fully qualified to
be
the head of the NICU.’ She closed the door behind her and motioned to the seat opposite her desk. Dr Trevellion stared at her and it seemed to take a few seconds for her words to sink in and for him to realise that she was indeed quite serious.
She
was
Janessa Austen and this
was
her NICU. ‘Then it must be said, Dr Austen, that you carry your age exceedingly well.’ His tone was rich, deep and smooth as he delivered the compliment. A complete contrast from the way he’d spoken when he’d first entered the unit, and for a second the change almost put Janessa off balance.
‘Thank you.’ She’d be unwise to put any credence in the compliment, even though she wanted to because, quite simply, no man had complimented her in such a very long time. However, this man was her new colleague, at least for the next six months that he would remain at Adelaide Mercy hospital.
He’d come specifically to guide the neonate team through the delivery and subsequent surgeries of the conjoined twins who were due to be born within the next few weeks. He would also be doing some research, some lecturing and helping out in the NICU when his schedule permitted. Allowing herself to become distracted by his compliments, by his good looks and by his status was out of the question. Brisk, clear and professional. That was the only type of relationship she wanted with him.
‘Please, won’t you sit down?’ She again proffered the chair. ‘You must be tired.’
‘Do I look tired?’ he asked as he relented and sat in the chair opposite her, a hint of his earlier impatience returning. His back was straight, his shoulders broad and they really filled out the clothes he wore. Janessa swallowed and looked away from his body to his annoyed blue eyes.
‘Yes, as a matter of fact, you do,’ she replied honestly. ‘My guess is that you’ve probably come from the airport straight to the hospital in order to check on the conjoined twins.’
‘That is what I’ve been hired to do.’
‘Of course.’ She clasped her hands tightly together and placed them carefully onto her desk as she controlled her breathing. It wasn’t what he was saying that was starting to grate on her nerves but
how
he was saying it. His tone was clipped and mildly annoyed and she didn’t appreciate it at all but she could also hear the fatigue hidden beneath and that was reason enough for her to cut him some slack … that and the fact that she would be working closely with him. It would be ridiculous to get off on the wrong foot. ‘Would you prefer a cup of coffee instead of tea?’ she offered.
‘I don’t want a drink. I didn’t come here for polite pleasantries.’
‘Obviously,’ she remarked under her breath.
‘Pardon?’
She pasted on a polite smile. ‘Nothing. So, I take it you’ve already seen Sheena?’
‘Yes,’ he grumbled with increasing impatience. ‘That’s why I was in Maternity and was able to bring that sick little baby to the NICU before things got worse.’ Irritated, unable to sit, Dr Trevellion stood, his presence almost filling her small office as he paced back and forth.
She recalled the way she’d pored over the plethora of articles he’d written over the years, how he’d reported on his vast experience working with many different teams in the caring practices and surgical breakthroughs with conjoined twins. He was a highly reputed specialist, a man of incredible knowledge, and she had to admit to being a little disappointed in finding him so blusterous. She sincerely hoped it was merely the jet lag talking and that their entire working relationship wasn’t going to be this antagonistic.
Thinking of her amazing friend Sheena, who was the mother-to-be of the conjoined twins, Janessa forced herself to take a calming breath before remarking, ‘I do thank you for bringing Joey to the NICU. Your prompt action and attention were invaluable to his health and now we can continue to monitor his progress more closely.’
Dr Trevellion stopped pacing and turned to glare at her, his blue eyes even more piercing than before. ‘Don’t you dare hand me that polite diplomatic clap-trap. I don’t appreciate it one bit. The fact of the matter is that if this NICU is to be the primary provider for conjoined twins, your unit needs to be run with a tighter grip on the expectations placed upon it not only by the hospital at large but by the needs of the patients.’
Janessa’s eyes opened wider at his words. How dared he? And she’d been trying to be nice. ‘And
I
don’t appreciate,’ she interjected when he paused to drag in a breath to continue his blustering, ‘visiting consultants who barge into
my
unit, demanding instant attention and upsetting my staff. My unit runs effectively and efficiently and I’ll thank you kindly not to come in here with your unfounded accusations and over-inflated ego.’ While she spoke, she kept her voice clear but firm. Yelling and bawling people out was definitely not Janessa’s style but neither was she a doormat. She hadn’t achieved her position as head of unit simply by her good looks. She could be direct and as stubborn as the next man when it was called for.
Slowly she rose to her full height of five feet eight inches and placed her hands on her desk as she met his gaze with determination and veiled anger. ‘You may have more experience than any of us when it comes to conjoined twins, Dr Trevellion, but that is no reason for you to believe that you’re also employed to harness more productivity from the Adelaide Mercy NICU. You are not. You are here for the next six months as a visiting consultant, not head of unit, not even as a permanent member of staff and I’ll thank you kindly to keep your comments to those of a professional nature without adding an insulting slur to everything you say.’
He raised one eyebrow at her and for an instant she thought she saw his lips twitch into a bit of a smile. The action confused her. Was he cross with her or was there something else happening here? She had the strangest feeling that he was testing the waters, trying to gauge her personality. If that was the case, she still didn’t like it. ‘In other words, if I can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all?’
She lifted her chin a little higher, defiance flashing in her eyes. It was then and only then that Miles actually started to realise that whilst his new colleague might indeed look very young, she most certainly wasn’t. There was wisdom in her eyes that said he’d almost pushed her to the brink of keeping her temper in check. She was doing very well at controlling it, and he had to admit he admired her style.
‘If you like.’ Her tone was still controlled, still firm and still on fire—a fire that was directed solely at him.
‘Well, then.’ He inclined his head towards her. ‘I’ll bid you
adieu.’
He turned and had taken but three steps towards her door, his back ramrod straight, his broad shoulders square, the material of his white shirt pulled tightly around his firm torso, when Janessa spoke again, her voice brisk, efficient and polite.
‘Thank you for your assistance, Dr Trevellion. I’ll see you at the prep meeting tomorrow morning.’
Dr Trevellion didn’t speak a word but merely continued on his way.
As she watched him go, Janessa didn’t move. Instead she counted slowly to ten inside her head, hoping to calm her nerves. It didn’t work. She counted to twenty and started to feel a little better. Exhaling and sinking back into her chair, she picked up a piece of scrap paper from the recycle bin and ripped it into tiny shreds, the action doing a lot to calm her frazzled nerves.
Miles Trevellion was one of the finest leading NICU specialists in the field. He was a qualified vascular surgeon who would be caring for Sheena Woodcombe’s conjoined twins, which were scheduled for delivery by Caesarean section in two weeks’ time. Janessa was the second NICU specialist in charge—a placement she was determined to keep given that Sheena was like a sister to her.
She sat there for a whole two minutes, her door open, making her feel highly exposed even though no one walked by. She simply couldn’t believe how insufferable Miles Trevellion had turned out to be. She had been initially excited to learn of his appointment and then nervous at the prospect of working alongside the great man. Now, she wasn’t even looking forward to their first preparation meeting tomorrow morning.
‘It doesn’t matter what you want,’ she told herself sternly as she rose from the desk. Sheena was the one who mattered and she wasn’t going to let her friend down. The two women had met on their first day of medical school and although Janessa had pursued neonatology and Sheena paediatrics, their friendship had remained solid.
They knew each other’s history. Together they’d celebrated the good times and cried through the bad. Sheena had been the person who had helped rebuild Janessa’s confidence all those years ago, who had supported her when her father had died and who had been the first person on the scene when Janessa’s house had burnt to the ground eight months ago.
In return, Janessa had been there for Sheena, through thick and thin. Bridesmaid at her wedding, confidante throughout Sheena’s rocky marriage and supporter through the present divorce proceedings. Sheena’s life was now upside down, and Janessa was determined to be by her side.
Being an integral part of the neonatal team responsible for the care of the conjoined twins once they were born was not only going to be one of the highlights of her career but also an esteemed privilege for in the future she would be a strong presence of the twins’ lives.
She hadn’t been able to save her own child, the baby born far too early. At only nineteen years old, she’d given birth to a tiny premature baby who hadn’t been strong enough to survive. She’d been a young, inexperienced teenage mother whose darling little boy, Connor, hadn’t been strong enough to fight for his life. Her young marriage hadn’t survived the death of the baby but her determination to specialise in the field of neonatology had started to evolve.
The staff who had looked after her when Connor had been born, the specialists who had cared for him, fighting for his life, doing everything they could, had been her inspiration to do well in her classes. She had wanted to be like them, to be able to make a difference in someone else’s life, to help and support young mothers and to fight for the lives of the little tiny babies who were born weeks before their due dates.
With supportive parents, she’d started medical school, only to have her mother pass away within that first year. Ultimately, it was her friendship with Sheena that had helped her through those difficult years.
Now she would do everything she could for her friend and those beautiful babies. She would be a part of their lives, their Aunty Nessa, who would love them and spoil them, and that was an honour she didn’t take at all lightly.
She was now a specialist, able to help young mothers such as she had been. She had the knowledge, she had the experience and she would provide the best care for those babies, alongside her new colleague. Miles Trevellion would no doubt be the thorn in her side throughout this experience, given the man appeared to have an ego the size of Australia. He was good looking—of that there was no doubt. He was highly skilled and intelligent—that was not in question. But in instilling confidence and gaining respect of his colleagues? On that front, it appeared he was seriously lacking.
Miles Trevellion was the specialist, the surgeon, the man who was going to ensure those two little girls were able to live normal lives, and to that end Janessa would have to bite her tongue if he offended or upset her. The babies and Sheena were the important ones in this scenario and there was no way she was going to let any of them down.
M
UCH
later that day, once life in the unit had settled to a more normal level, Janessa made her way to the maternity ward to check on Sheena.
‘Did you meet him?’ Sheena asked eagerly as soon as Janessa came into the private room. As Sheena was a practising paediatrician at Adelaide Mercy, now on maternity leave, it was only right that she have top-of-the-line care.
‘Who?’ She was fairly certain Sheena was referring to Miles Trevellion, the man whom she’d been hard pressed to stop thinking about ever since he’d made such a dramatic entrance into her life.
‘Who? Are you blind, deaf and dumb?’
Janessa sat in the chair beside the bed and closed her eyes. ‘I feel it. Who are we talking about?’
‘Miles Trevellion, of course. Isn’t he charming?’
Janessa frowned but kept her eyes closed, an image of the man they were talking about swimming easily to mind. ‘Not exactly the word I’d use to describe him.’
‘It is for me. And he’s sexy and good-looking—and those eyes …’ Sheena sighed with longing, and when Janessa opened her eyes to look at her friend she saw that the woman’s hands were clasped romantically together and held close towards her heart … or as close as she could get due to her enlarged abdomen.
‘He can check on me any time he feels like it,’ she drawled, the words punctuated with little sighs.
Janessa shook her head then chuckled at her friend. ‘You should already know what he looked like. Didn’t you work with him years ago when you did your overseas placement in Philadelphia?’
‘I did and that’s where I also met Will.’
‘Ahh … the real love of your life. No wonder you didn’t talk about Miles that much when you arrived back in Australia. You were too busy pining over Will.’
‘Yep. Will. The man who didn’t want me,’ Sheena continued, before flicking her fingers as though to rid herself of the memory. ‘But Miles … now, he was always quite the catch, even back then. So gorgeous and suave, and let me tell you, Nessa, he’s improved with age.’ Sheena waggled her eyebrows up and down.
‘Well, I’m glad you like him. It’s important that you like him. After all, as far as conjoined twins go, he’s the expert.’ And, therefore, she told herself, probably entitled to be arrogant and insufferable. For the job he needed to do, he no doubt needed a big ego as well. Still, she couldn’t help reflecting on the small smile she’d seen touch his lips and wondered what it might be like to see him really smile. She shook her head, as though to clear it.
‘You don’t like him?’ Sheena was stunned.
‘It doesn’t matter whether I like him or not, Sheenie. I respect him for his intelligence and I’m happy to learn he clearly has a decent bedside manner, given the way you’re gushing about him.’
‘Oh, he’s charming all right. It’s been ten years since I last saw him. We worked together for just under a month and even back then he had the habit of setting every woman’s heart fluttering with his striking good looks and deep voice and sexy walk and—’
Janessa held up her hands. ‘All right, all right. I get the point.’ Because she really did. She could quite see, in the looks department, that Miles Trevellion had a lot going for him, but for her money she was attracted to men who had manners, charm and intellect. Well, she had to admit that Miles also had intellect, of that there was no doubt, but manners and charm? She’d yet to see what Sheena was talking about.
‘So why don’t you like him?’ Sheena asked.
Janessa paused for a moment, choosing her words carefully. ‘It’s not that I don’t like him per se, I hardly know the man.’
‘But you were looking forward to him coming? To meeting him. You were the one who suggested we ask him to come to Adelaide Mercy in the first place, remember? And then you brought in a swag of his articles for me to read.’ Sheena pointed to the pile of medical journals in the opened top drawer by the bed. Janessa instantly leaned over and closed the drawer, not wanting to dwell on the way she’d gushed about the man and his genius.
She could see she needed to define her present feelings towards Miles Trevellion in order to get Sheena off her back. ‘OK. I have no problem admitting I admire him as a professional. If I find him a little overbearing and slightly dictatorial, that’s my personal problem. Our job—the job Dr Trevellion and I need to focus on—is looking after your girls, and that’s something we’ll be doing to the highest standards.’
‘You’re still being cagey and I know that means I’m not going to get much else out of you, so instead tell me all about the medical emergency that happened here around lunchtime. Is everything all right?’
‘Yes. All under control. Baby is fine. Dr Trevellion saved the day.’
‘Great.’ Sheena didn’t sound at all happy. ‘And I missed it, of course, because I’m stuck here, not allowed to get out of bed and needing to have my catheter bag changed almost hourly because my bladder is the size of a peanut, which means I only heard the news second hand,’ Sheena grumbled. ‘The nurses, who usually gossip about everything, have told me hardly anything. It’s entirely not fair that as a practising paediatrician and one who is a valued member of staff at this very hospital, I’m not all that impressed about whoever has given the “gag” order surrounding me.’
‘That would be me and you’re a paediatrician who is on
maternity leave.’
Janessa stood and instantly picked up her friend’s wrist, checking her pulse. ‘You’re not allowed to be worried or stressed or concerned or anything else about the goings-on in the hospital, Sheenie, and you know that. We’ve discussed it.’
‘My blood pressure is fine,’ Sheena grumped.
‘Actually, it’s a little raised.’
‘That’s because you won’t tell me what’s going on. I’m just a human incubator. Nothing more. Nothing less.’
Janessa smiled. ‘Don’t say that. You know you don’t mean it. You mean everything to these babies and they mean everything to you. Your girls need you, Sheena, you’re their world. You’re the only one who can really protect them and you do that by lying here and doing nothing. We can only do so much to help the girls and therefore need to keep you as calm and controlled as possible. The gag order is in place because I can’t have you getting stressed about things you would ordinarily have some control over. You’re an amazing paediatrician, Sheenie, but you’re on maternity leave and I need you to
leave
hospital matters alone.’
‘But sometimes telling me what’s happening actually decreases the risk of my blood pressure going up because I’m not frustrated from being kept in the dark,’ Sheena quickly pointed out.
Janessa paused for a moment before shaking her head. ‘It’s all under control. Nothing to report. Now, before I forget, the special baby clothes that we picked out from the catalogue should be here within the next few days. I received an email telling me they were being shipped so we can look forward to their arrival soon.’
‘I can hardly remember what we ordered.’ Sheena frowned, still not happy that Janessa had cut off her sources of information.
‘Well, let me remind you. There was a pretty pink dress with frills and …’ As the two of them sat there, talking about baby clothes, Janessa started to feel the stress of her day begin to ease. It had been a long, long day, made even longer with the arrival of Miles Trevellion, who she hadn’t expected to see until tomorrow at their prep meeting.
‘Now,’ she said, standing to hug her friend, ‘you’ll be due for growth hormone injections soon because we need these little girls as fit and as healthy as possible, so settle down and get some sleep.’
‘Ha. My girls may be literally joined at the hip but that doesn’t stop them from doing their gymnastic double act any time I try to get some shut-eye. It’s impossible to sleep through that.’
Janessa laughed. ‘Well … if you can’t sleep, at least rest.’
‘I do little else, my friend, whereas you look as though you’re about ready to drop. Have you been burning the candle at both ends again?’ At Janessa’s shrug, Sheena eyed her friend closely. ‘When was the last time you went out to the airfield?’
Janessa sighed. ‘At least a fortnight ago. I didn’t manage to get out last week.’
‘Make sure you make some time, soon.’ There was a caring note in Sheena’s words. ‘I need my Nessa in top form to look after my girls when they’re born.’
Janessa placed her hand on Sheena’s abdomen and received a lovely fluttering kick in response. A smile came instantly to her lips. ‘I’ll be as bright as bright can be. Oh, I can’t wait to meet them, Sheenie. I’m so excited.’
‘Me, too. I know I whinge and moan but …’ Tears glistened in her eyes and Janessa passed her a tissue. ‘There I go again. My emotions are so unstable.’
‘They’re supposed to be,’ Janessa dismissed with a smile, taking a tissue for herself and dabbing at her own eyes. She noticed that Sheena looked past her and realised it was probably one of the sisters coming in to take Sheena’s obs. Glancing over her shoulder, she was stunned to see Miles Trevellion leaning against the doorjamb as though he’d been there for quite some time.
‘Hey, Miles. Come on in. Janessa and I are just having a weeping fest. Care to join?’
‘I’ll give it a miss, but thanks for the offer.’ He smiled at Sheena as he sauntered into the room and Janessa immediately put out a hand, grabbing hold of the end of Sheena’s bed, in order to steady herself against the effect of his powerful smile.
He’d showered and changed out of his suit and in some ways she wished he hadn’t. In a suit, he’d been just like all of the other consultants and surgeons she dealt with on a regular basis but now dressed in dark denim jeans that seemed to have long forgotten any shape but his own and a pale blue polo shirt, his dark brown wavy hair still a little damp from his shower, he was completely irresistible.
Up until now, the only dealings she’d had with Miles Trevellion had been when he’d been scowling or criticising her. Now … the smile that creased his face, the way his lips lifted to show off his white teeth, the intensity of his blue eyes as they sparked with life only enhanced his already naturally handsome features and, much to her chagrin, Janessa realised she wasn’t as immune to him as she’d previously thought.
‘H-How long have you been standing there?’ she wanted to know, silently berating herself for stammering. She forced herself to look away from him, to concentrate on staring at the floor, but she found her gaze drifting back to his as he spoke.
‘Long enough. I didn’t want to interrupt your bonding moments. You two talk to each other in exactly the same way that my sisters talk to each other.’
‘We feel like sisters,’ Sheena answered.
‘Is that so?’ Miles raised his eyebrows as he walked slowly round to the opposite side of the bed from where Janessa stood. He was looking more at Janessa than at Sheena and quirked an eyebrow in her direction.
‘We’ve known each other for years,’ Janessa felt compelled to say, even though she wasn’t sure why. It was just the way he was looking at her, as though he was accusing her of having too close a friendship with a person who was now a patient. Technically, though, Sheena wasn’t her patient—the babies were.
‘And neither of us actually
have
a sister,’ Sheena pointed out, ‘so we’ve ended up being the closest each other has.’
‘Interesting.’ Miles fixed Janessa with a curious stare. ‘Does that mean it will be too much for you to look after the twins once they’re born? You’re emotionally involved with Sheena. What if something were to go wrong? Would you be able to cope with such an event?’
Janessa visibly bristled. ‘Nothing is going to go wrong. That’s why you’re here, Dr Trevellion, and don’t you dare think, even for one second, about removing me from this case. Whilst Sheena and I look upon and support each other like sisters, we are not biologically related, which doesn’t make it at all inappropriate for me to care for her babies. Besides, our entire unit is like a close-knit family, so if you remove me from the case, you’ll have to remove everyone, and that will benefit no one. There is nothing any of us, not only in the NICU but within Maternity and the other associated departments, wouldn’t do for Sheena. She is beloved by us all and, in fact, I would go as far to say that
because
we all love her, the care we’ll be providing for Ellie and Sarah once they’re born and throughout their subsequent surgeries will be second to none.’
‘Aw …’ Sheena smiled at her friend, a fresh bout of tears gathering in her eyes. ‘That was lovely. Thank you.’ She reached for Janessa’s hand and gave it a little squeeze, then turned to look at Miles, her voice firm but still personable. ‘And you—don’t you even dare think of moving me to a different hospital. I don’t want to go to Philadelphia, even if they do have the highest success rate and experience with conjoined twins. These are my babies and I’ll be having them right here, at Adelaide Mercy, with my extended family standing beside me, supporting me throughout the entire process.
I’m
the incubator and I have spoken.’
Miles looked from one woman to the other, his gaze settling on Janessa. She was standing proudly by her friend’s bedside, her shoulders back, her chin raised, her eyes glinting with that defiance he’d witnessed earlier that day.
She looked … incredible.
After he’d left the NICU, he’d returned to Maternity and checked on Sheena before being directed to the hospital’s residential wing, which was to be his home for the length of his stay. There was no point in trying to procure a furnished apartment close to the hospital as he’d be spending the majority of his time within hospital walls. Therefore, the one-bedroom apartment he’d been provided with was more than adequate for his needs.
He’d showered and changed his clothes, which had definitely helped him to wash away the long hours of travelling he’d had to endure. Once he’d unpacked, he’d headed out for a walk around the campus in order to get his bearings. The sooner he knew his way around the place, the better.
Throughout the entire afternoon, thoughts of Dr Janessa Austen had been niggling at the back of his mind, like an annoying noise he couldn’t shut off. Twice, as he’d walked around, he’d seen a woman of her height and colouring and, thinking it might be her, had been astonished to find his heart rate increasing at the thought of enjoying another sparring match with her.