Accidental Reunion (4 page)

Peeling the cardboard lids off the foil containers, Lila managed a grimace at the rather unkempt plates.

‘Get your hands off me, you horrible man!’
Vera’s far from dulcet tones carried the length and breadth of the department.

‘I think Declan just tried to dress Vera’s ulcer.’ Lila laughed.

‘You never let him go without warning him about Vera?’ Sue choked. ‘The poor guy! What did he ever do to you?’

Spooning the rice onto plates, Lila kept her face hidden from Sue’s scrutiny.

‘He did plenty,’ Lila muttered, more to herself than to Sue. ‘He did plenty.’

‘She loves me really.’ Declan’s face appeared round the door and Lila flushed unbecomingly. How much had he heard?

She stopped furiously spooning curry as she realised one plate was receiving rather more than its fair share of chicken Jalfrezi.

‘The only person Vera loves is Lila,’ Sue said matter-of-factly, and with relief Lila realised Declan’s comments had been purely about the patient.

‘I told you I’d get round to her,’ Lila said tartly, handing Declan an overloaded plate.

‘Four hours ago,’ he said pointedly. ‘Look, I know you’ve been busy, and that her leg ulcer’s not serious, but it just seemed a shame that she was still waiting. I was only trying to help.’

‘Vera’s happy to wait,’ she explained with a cheeky grin. ‘More than happy. Normally I get around to her about six a.m.—about the time early breakfasts are served. The last thing she wants is to be seen and discharged.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me that?’ He gave a wry laugh. ‘But then that would have spoiled your fun, wouldn’t it?’

Lila scuffed at the floor with her foot. Hell, it had only been a bit of fun—so why was she suddenly feeling so guilty?

‘New boy’s tease,’ she said finally, knowing how hollow her words sounded.

Picking up his supper, he gave her a bemused look. ‘Well, I’m glad you enjoyed the cabaret.’

*

‘That,’ said Declan scraping his plate, ‘would have to be the best curry I’ve had in years. Is it always as busy as this here?’

‘Always,’ Lila said truthfully. ‘You wait for the weekend. Where were you working before?’

‘In a lovely county hospital in bonny Scotland. Mind you, I was in London before then—and that was an eye-opener, I can assure you.’

Lila deliberately didn’t look impressed. ‘I remember visiting an emergency room in New York when I was a flight attendant—it made here look like a picnic in the park.’

‘New York’s busy,’ Declan agreed. ‘Or at least it was when I was there. But you want to see the emergency rooms in Chicago—they’re constantly full-on.’

Lila picked up the last of the naan bread. ‘I’m not going to win, am I? So what brought you back to good old Melbourne?’

He was saved from answering as Jez appeared at the door, carrying flowers.

‘Lila, I come in peace.’ Handing her the bouquet, Jez gave her an embarrassed smile. ‘I nicked them from Admin on my way back from Theatre.’

‘How’s Terry?’ Lila asked, accepting the rather wilted offering.

‘Bled out on the way up to Theatre—a nasty wound to his kidney. Thankfully we were able to repair it. He’s in Recovery now.’

‘Then it’s just as well he wasn’t stitched and sent home.’ Lila couldn’t resist stating the obvious, but she was smiling.

‘Lesson well and truly learnt,’ Jez said seriously, and, ignoring the crowd of staff gathered, carried on talking to Lila, undaunted by his audience. ‘I think I owe you a proper thank-you. How about dinner some time?’

The sniggers from Sue and Lucy didn’t go unnoticed.

‘Thanks, Jez, but it might get a bit expensive. I mean, there’s Declan and Diana to thank as well. The flowers will do nicely.’

As he left, Lila returned to her seat amid the howls of her colleagues. ‘How do you do it, Lila? Gorgeous men dropping at your feet and you just kick them away.’

The only one not joining in with the laughter was Declan. Suddenly his empty plate was being examined thoroughly.

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Lila said softly. ‘Years of practice, I guess. I mean, it starts off with meals and flowers, but we all know how it ends up.’

Declan looked up, catching her eye as he did so. This time she held his gaze, her words directed at him alone. ‘And I’m never going to be let down again.’

‘H
I
, L
ILA
, how was your night?’

‘Pretty busy.’ Lila kissed her aunt, Shirley, on the cheek. ‘How has Mum been?’

‘The same. We’ll have a cuppa and then we’ll give her a bath.’ Shirley filled the kettle, as she did every morning when Lila arrived home, but there was something wooden about her movements, an awkwardness that didn’t go undetected. ‘Lila, I need to talk to you about something.’

Lila felt her heart plummet. She had known this day was coming, and in the last few weeks had sensed it was even more imminent. Sitting at the kitchen table, she tried for a futile moment to imagine she’d somehow misread the signs. But as Shirley joined her, unable to meet her eyes, Lila knew the news she had been dreading was about to be delivered.

‘Your uncle Ted has been offered early retirement,’ Shirley said finally.

Ted was a security officer and worked the same shifts as Lila. It worked well, or at least it had until now…While Ted worked Shirley looked after Elizabeth, and when Ted was off Lila took over, allowing Ted and Shirley to live their lives.

‘He wants to take it, Lila. I didn’t want to worry you with our problems but Ted has been having a few health issues of his own. Nothing to worry about,’ she quickly reassured her as she saw the look of concern
flash over Lila’s face. ‘Just a couple of men’s issues. He’d be so embarrassed if he knew I was discussing it with you. The thing is, Ted deserves his retirement. He’s worked so hard. We want to be able to go away, have holidays. We always dreamed of taking the combo van and travelling around Australia…’ Shirley dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. ‘I feel so torn. Elizabeth’s my sister. I’d do anything to help her. But Ted’s my husband, and he’s been a good one. How many men would take in their sister-in-law and niece? I’m sorry,’ she said quickly, ‘I didn’t mean it to come out like that.’

‘I know,’ Lila said softly, taking her aunt’s hand from across the table to show that no offence had been taken. ‘You and Ted have been marvellous.’

They had been. Almost as soon as Elizabeth had been diagnosed, Shirley, realising the impossibility of the situation, had suggested that both Lila and Elizabeth move in with her and Ted to share the burden. Shirley was an eccentric, to say the least, and with no children of their own, opening their house the way they had, it had been a huge upheaval. Yet they had borne it all cheerfully, never once grumbling about how their lives had been turned around by Elizabeth’s illness.

But now it was time for change.

‘I know you don’t want her to go into a home. But, Lila, your mum…’ She struggled for the words to describe the shell that remained of what had once been an elegant, eloquent woman. ‘Your mum wouldn’t know any different.’

‘But
I’d
know. Mum would hate the—’

‘She’d hate the fact you’ve given up your life to
look after her,’ Shirley interrupted. ‘She’d hate the fact you work so hard and then come home at the end of a long night just to start all over again. Hate the fact you hardly ever go out.’

Lila searched for an answer. The last thing she wanted to do was make this horrible situation worse for Shirley, to make her feel guilty for saying the words most people would have said years ago. But a home…

‘Now, Ted’s retirement isn’t going to happen for a couple of months yet. We don’t have to make any decision today, Lila, but we are going to have to soon.’ She smiled through her tears at her niece. ‘I’m not definitely saying your mum has to go into a home; I’m saying I can’t be here as much to help. My back is starting to hurt—lifting her, turning her. I just don’t see an end to it. You understand where I’m coming from, don’t you, Lila?’

Lila made her way around the table to hug her aunt as she spoke. ‘Of course I do.’ She swallowed back her own tears. ‘And I promise I’ll come up with something.’

‘I know you will, pet. What worries me is
what
you’ll come up with. You’re thirty-one years old now, Lila—you can’t let your life slip by like this. It’s not good for any of us, least of all your mother. Look, I’ve probably said too much for one day already. Why don’t you head off to bed, darling, try and get some sleep?’

Lila nodded, but as she reached the door she turned. ‘Shirley, there’s some forms I need to drop off at the hospital before five. Would you be able to watch Mum for me?’

‘Of course, darling.’

Alone in her room, Lila pulled the application forms out of her bag. It had never really entered her head to apply, but Hester’s words had made the chance of promotion a real possibility. Now, with Shirley’s bombshell…Closing her eyes, Lila tried to search for answers. How could she possibly afford a carer to stay with Elizabeth while she went out to work? It would be more cost effective to go on the dole and nurse her mum full time herself.

But…She felt a tinge of panic hit. How could she give up her job? OK, she wasn’t the best nurse in the world, and she moaned like everyone else about the shortages and workload, but she truly loved her job—loved the people, loved the escape work gave her from her everyday problems. How could she even begin to think about giving it up?

Clicking her pen open, she started to work her way through the endless forms. If she was going to have to employ someone to help her look after her mother, a decent wage was more important now than ever.

If there was any consolation to be had from the day’s events, it was that Lila didn’t have time to dwell on Declan’s return. Any other time it would have completely overwhelmed her, but not today. Today was a day for filling out forms, working out figures, planning a future—not dwelling on the past, imagining days long since gone, a time when Declan had been beside her.

A time when life had been easy.

*

Hester took the forms without a word, which made Lila’s journey to the hospital somewhat of an anticlimax. Only when she returned home and fed Elizabeth
her supper, then settled her into bed for the night, did Lila’s stomach suddenly tighten at the thought of seeing Declan again tonight.

Maybe she did tie up her hair more neatly and apply her make-up just a little bit more carefully, but it was more a matter of personal pride than vanity. She certainly wasn’t going to allow Declan to think even for a minute that she had let herself go.

That was a joke. Eyeing her reflection in the mirror, Lila paused a moment. Her naturally thick blonde hair was as glossy as ever, her figure still trim. But the sparkle in her blue eyes was long since gone, and a quick slick of mascara and a neutral lipstick replaced the immaculate glossy make-up of yesteryear.

‘Well, what did you expect?’ Lila scolded herself. ‘You’re not a flight attendant now.’ It had been easy to look stunning then, with cheap access to the world’s best cosmetics, advice from the airline’s stylists, her nails and hair done weekly. And, Lila thought reluctantly, she was eight years older now—eight long years. Of course her skin wasn’t going to be quite as clear. She was the wrong side of thirty now, not some twenty-something beauty.

Poking her tongue out at her reflection, Lila caught sight of the clock on her dressing-table. With a yelp of dismay she pulled on her shoes and grabbed her bag, just stopping to give her mother and Shirley a quick kiss before she torpedoed out of the front door and into her car.

So much for making a good impression on Hester!

*

For once the department was quiet, with just a few patients waiting to be seen by various specialists or
awaiting their turn for X-rays. As soon as the day staff had gone Lila pulled the kettle round to the nurses’ station.

‘Might as well get our caffeine levels up while we’ve got the chance.’ She grinned.

‘Good idea.’ Yvonne Selles walked over. ‘It’s Lila, isn’t it?’

‘That’s right. How can I help you, Dr Selles? Apart from the coffee, I mean?’

‘Please, call me Yvonne. I’m expecting a direct admission from a nursing home. I wasn’t quite sure of the procedure as my ward is full, so I’ve asked the ambulance to bring her directly to Emergency. I hope that’s all right.’

‘That’s fine. Thanks for letting us know. What’s wrong with the patient?’

‘Pressure sores, along with dehydration. I shouldn’t have accepted her really, as I haven’t got any beds left, but according to the GP she’s in a bit of a mess and I could hardly refuse to take her. Her GP was pretty upset the home didn’t call him out a lot sooner. Some of these nursing homes need to take a good long look at themselves. It seems more about profit than people these days. Sorry.’ Yvonne gave a thin smile. ‘I’ll get off my soapbox now. It just gets to me sometimes.’

‘I know,’ Lila said softly, swallowing a lump in her own throat. ‘It gets to me, too. Anyway—’ she deliberately brightened her voice ‘—there’s a couple of free beds on the medical ward. If you admit the patient to Med 1 you can transfer her over to AGU tomorrow.’

‘Looking for some action, Yvonne?’ Grinning, Declan joined the group.

In an instant Lila felt as if her senses had been put on high alert. She could almost feel the breeze from him as he walked over.

‘He thinks only staff in Emergency do any work.’ Yvonne grinned. ‘Just because my patients are old, it doesn’t mean they’re not sick,’ she scolded lightly. ‘I still have to use my brain.’

Lila jumped down from her stool as Harry, the porter, wheeled a patient back from X-Ray. ‘Declan, would you mind having a quick look at these? Diana thinks it may be pneumonia and he’ll probably need to be referred on.’

‘Sure.’

With an easy smile he took the X-rays from Harry and made his way over to the viewing box.

‘Phew,’ Yvonne said. ‘It’s a different place here at night.’

‘We’re not normally this quiet,’ Sue said almost defensively.

‘I didn’t mean that.’ Yvonne smiled. ‘It’s just so much more relaxed and friendly. I was down here this afternoon and the unit manager nearly had a fit because I brought my coffee round the front.’