A second sheet of paper showed a plan of the downstairs area of the old house. This was obviously the rec room—with a bar, pool table and a big-screen TV marked. Below that was a note explaining when and where laundry could be left, and a phone number for her to contact someone called Dora Grubb, should she need any more information.
A place like this, she realised, with resident doctors and nurses working irregular hours, would need someone to keep it running, and from the look of the spotless room Kate had been given, Mrs Grubb did a wonderful job.
Kate set the folder aside, noting as she did so that the closest bathroom was two doors down the central passageway. Gathering up what she needed, she headed straight there. Suddenly a shower seemed infinitely appealing, but she’d get dressed again after it and sleep in her clothes, knowing Gina could return to wake her any time.
Hamish knocked, then opened the door very quietly. Kate was sleeping soundly, fully clothed but with a throw across her legs. He’d called in at the hospital after dropping CJ back at the child-care centre, and Gina, after thanking him for his help, had asked him to wake Kate and tell her Jack was about to be shifted to Recovery.
She couldn’t have been asleep very long, he knew that, but he also knew she’d want to keep her promise to Jack.
‘Kate!’
Not wanting to enter her room, he called her name from the doorway, but when she didn’t stir he ventured inside, telling himself that looking at a sleeping woman wasn’t really voyeurism. Yet looking at her disturbed him and he finally nailed the reason. It was something to do with the total vulnerability of a sleeping woman—anyone asleep, he supposed, though he doubted he’d get knots in his stomach watching Cal sleep.
‘Kate! Wake up.’
He put his hand on her shoulder and shook her gently, watching her eyes snap open, her expression confused at first then clearing as the dark brown irises focussed on him. Her full lips curved into a smile.
‘Jack’s awake?’
She sat up, dropped her legs off the side of the bed and thrust her feet into the flowery purple sandals. ‘Thanks for waking me.’
That was it? Thanks for waking me? Well, what had he expected? Sleeping Beauty after the Prince’s kiss?
Weird thoughts were still muddling around in his head while Kate pulled a brush through her loose curls, dropped it back on the dressing-table then left the room, poking her head back inside a moment later.
‘I think you’ve done enough good deeds for the day, Dr McGregor. Go have a sleep.’
Hamish looked down at Kate’s bed, still with the indentation of her body on it, and thought of his own bed awaiting him next door. An urge to lie on her bed—feel the warmth of where she’d been—was so strong he very nearly gave in to it. After all, he’d heard her sandals tap-tap-tap their way along the hall and through the kitchen to the back steps. She’d be well on her way to the hospital by now.
Then, shaking his head at the folly of his thoughts, he left the room. A shower and a sleep would surely sort him out. Tiredness, that was all it was, not love at all.
A TALL POLICEMAN with cool grey eyes and floppy black hair was leaning against the wall in the ED when Kate entered it, looking for someone to give her directions to Recovery. He smiled at her and she found herself returning the smile, though this probably wasn’t an occasion to ask a policeman for directions.
A nurse with a badge that said her name was Grace appeared from inside a cubicle, and flashed another smile in Kate’s direction.
‘Recovery is through that door, down the corridor, turn left and it’s the first door on your right,’ she said.
‘Am I the only stranger in town, that everyone seems to know who I am?’ Kate asked.
‘The only small, dark curly-haired stranger at the hospital,’ Grace told her, then she introduced herself. ‘Actually, Harry here is waiting to see Jack as well. You could take him with you if you like.’
Kate looked up at the policeman. He was no longer smiling but neither was she.
‘You want to see him right now? He’ll be in terrible shape, just out of an op. Is that fair, talking to him when he’ll be woozy as all get out?’
‘Probably not,’ the policeman called Harry said. ‘But there’s someone out there with a gun and, as far as we can tell, he’s not too fussy about where, when or at whom he points and fires it. The sooner we have information about him, the safer it will be for anyone in his vicinity.’
Kate couldn’t argue with the theory, but in practice, if this man tried to badger Jack …
She followed Grace’s directions, very aware of the man walking beside her. A local policeman—if he was a local—could be very useful in her search for information about her birth parents, so perhaps she shouldn’t antagonise him.
Like hell she shouldn’t. Jack was her patient—kind of—and she wasn’t about to allow this policeman to bother him.
‘Are you a local?’ she asked, as they turned the corner and she saw the recovery room in front of them.
‘Born and bred,’ he said, pushing open the door and holding it for her. ‘My family have owned the sugar mill here for generations.’
So he would be useful.
But Jack wasn’t only physically unwell, he was emotionally upset. He was also awake, and looking around. A pretty woman with honey blonde hair and grey-blue eyes was on the other side of the bed, studying the monitors to which Jack was still attached.
‘Hi, I’m Emily,’ she said, barely turning her attention from the screen in front of her.
Kate nodded in response then hurried forward, taking Jack’s hand and holding it in both of hers.
‘I thought you weren’t coming,’ he said, and Kate saw the tears in his eyes.
‘You came out of that anaesthetic far faster than I thought you would,’ she told him. ‘You are one tough guy.’
The tears were blinked away and he smiled, then must have noticed Harry standing right behind her, for he paled and closed his eyes.
But before Harry could ask questions, the cavalry arrived. Charles wheeled himself into the room, Jill and Cal not far behind.
‘Sorry, Harry, but we need you out of here.’ There was no mistaking the authority in Charles’s voice. ‘The surgery’s shown up an unexpected complication. We need scans and more blood tests and some expert advice on what to do next. I’m expecting he’ll need to go back into Theatre today, or tomorrow at the latest. Kate, Cal will fill you in on what’s happening—Cal, take Kate through to the dining room for a coffee. Jill and I will stay with Jack until you get back.’
Harry left without an argument, but what surprised Kate even more was Jack’s acceptance of the orders. Here she was, being hustled down the corridor by Cal, and Jack hadn’t even protested.
‘Did Charles do that to prevent the policeman questioning Jack just yet, or is there a problem?’ she asked Cal.
‘Big problem,’ Cal said gloomily. ‘Big, big problem. Here.’
He directed her in through a door into a reasonably