Once the bed was neatly made again, Laura tucked Katie up then went to find Rachel. She was in the office, going through a stack of papers, and she grinned ruefully as Laura tapped on the door.
‘Oh, hi! Sorry to drop you in it like that, Laura, but, as you’ve probably guessed, we’re short-staffed. Anyway, come and sit down while I give you the introductory talk I had planned! Mark’s not due for another half-hour yet so we’ll have time to get you acquainted with how things are done around here.’
‘Mark?’ Laura queried as she sat down.
‘Mark Dawson, our paediatric reg. You haven’t met him?’ Rachel frowned as she got up to plug in the kettle.
‘No. David White was here the last time I visited the ward,’ she explained.
‘When Robbie was here as a patient?’ Rachel smiled as she spooned instant coffee into two mugs. ‘How is he? Up to all sorts of mischief, I’ll bet!’
‘How did you guess?’ Laura laughed softly, her face lighting up as she thought about her son. ‘He started school a few months ago and has been leading the teachers a merry dance!’
‘He’s a real little sweetheart. We were all sorry when it was time for him to leave us, and we don’t say that about all our patients, believe me!’
Rachel sat down behind the desk and frowned. ‘It’s hard to believe that it’s only a few months since that train crash you and Robbie were involved in, isn’t it?’
‘Ten months to be precise.’ Laura sighed reminiscently as she thought back. ‘I’m just grateful that both of us came through it all right.’
‘You must be. It must have been a horrible experience for you, something you never expect to happen,’ Rachel suggested with a shudder.
‘It was. And yet in a way it had a postive effect because being in hospital afterwards made me realise how much I missed the job. It spurred me on to come back to work.’
‘Really?’ Rachel smiled. ‘Well, it’s great to have you back, Laura. I just want to say how pleased I was when I heard that you’d accepted this post. We’ve been desperate to fill the vacancy, and to get someone with your experience is a real bonus.’
‘Thank you. To be honest, I didn’t expect to be so lucky as to find a job with such marvellous hours.’ Laura took a sip of her coffee. ‘Obviously, I need to work but I also need to be there for Robbie. Knowing that I can work nine to five each day makes all the difference.’
‘You can thank Mark for that because it was his idea,’ Rachel explained. ‘He’s very keen to encourage women who have left nursing to start a family to come back. His view is that it’s not only a waste of valuable training when they leave the workforce but a waste of their experience as well. That’s why he suggested we adapt the hours for this post to suit someone with family commitments.’
‘Well, I’m really glad he thought of it!’ Laura grinned. ‘I’m starting to like this Mark Dawson already and I haven’t even met him!’
‘Oh, give it a couple of days and you’ll be like the rest of us…totally besotted with the guy!’ Rachel laughed as she saw Laura’s expression. ‘Honestly! David was great and we were sorry to lose him when he moved to Glasgow, but Mark…well, Mark is something special. We all love him to bits. If I had to sum him up I’d say that he has to be one of the nicest, most caring men I’ve ever met—’
Rachel broke off and laughed as she looked towards the door. ‘I bet your ears are burning. We were just talking about you!’
‘Nothing bad, I hope?’
Laura felt a frisson inch its way down her spine at the sound of a familiar voice. Slowly, she turned, her eyes widening as she saw the man who was lounging against the doorjamb. The last time they’d met he had been wearing a lot less than he was wearing now, but the impact he made on her senses was much the same.
She took a quick breath but once again the giddiness was closing in, the same confusion and inability to think straight she’d experienced after he’d saved her from that potentially disastrous fall. As though it were happening in slow motion, she watched him walk towards her. He stopped a few feet away, his grey eyes holding a warmly intimate light which made her feel as though they shared some particularly delicious secret.
‘We didn’t get chance for introductions before, did we?’ He held out his hand and smiled at her. ‘I’m Mark Dawson and you must be Laura Grady. I’m very pleased to meet you, Laura. Welcome to the team.’
‘So, that brings us to Katie Watson. How has she been today?’
Mark Dawson sat back in his chair and tossed the steel-framed spectacles he’d been wearing onto the desk. He’d spent the past half-hour running through the case histories of all the children in the ward, and Laura had to admit that she was impressed. Although he had their notes in front of him, he’d referred to them only briefly, obviously needing the most minimal reminder to bring each child’s details to mind.
She found herself thinking back to what Rachel had said earlier, about him being the most caring man she had met, and silently agreed. It didn’t take a genius to see that Mark Dawson was deeply committed to the welfare of his young patients.
She quickly focused her attention on what Rachel was saying, realising that she couldn’t afford to let her mind wander. One of the reasons Mark had asked her to sit in on the meeting that morning had been so that she could get an overall view of the patients in the ward, and she had to admit that it had been a great help. She wouldn’t like him to think that she wasn’t taking full advantage of the opportunity, or that she wasn’t as dedicated to the job as he so obviously was…
She frowned, wondering why it seemed so important that he think well of her.
‘How was she when you left her, Laura?’
Mark’s deep voice cut through her musings and she quickly retuned her mind to the question, not sorry to let that disquieting thought disappear. ‘Fine. She was telling me about her dog and that seemed to cheer her up and take her mind off the fact that she’d been so sick, poor little mite.’
Mark smiled, his grey eyes lighting up with an inner warmth which was very attractive. ‘Well, that’s more than any of us have achieved so far!’
He laughed when he saw her confusion. ‘Katie has been extremely withdrawn since she was admitted two days ago. We’ve all tried to get through to her but without much success. Obviously, you’ve managed to find something to spark her interest. Well done!’
Laura couldn’t help smiling back at the genuine pleasure she heard in his voice. ‘It was more luck than anything else, I imagine. I just happened to ask her if she had a dog and that was it.’ She frowned. ‘Is she worried about being in hospital? Is that why she’s been so withdrawn, do you think?’
‘That, plus the fact that her mother hasn’t been in to visit her as yet.’
Mark’s tone was grim as he got up. There was barely concealed impatience in the way he strode to the window then swung round. Laura felt a shiver dance down her spine as she saw the anger that darkened his eyes. Mark would never compromise where a patient’s welfare was concerned, she realised.
‘Katie’s mother, Lisa, has found herself a new boyfriend, it appears. He’s taking up most of her time so that she doesn’t seem to have any to spare for her daughter.’
‘How awful for the poor child!’ Laura exclaimed, understanding immediately what had sparked his anger. ‘I can’t understand how any mother could put her own needs before those of her child.’
‘No, I don’t imagine you can,’ Mark agreed softly. His eyes held hers for a moment before he turned to Rachel, and Laura forced herself to concentrate once more, although it wasn’t easy. There had been something in the way Mark had looked at her which had set every nerve in her body tingling, though she couldn’t understand