‘Including a head circumference. I’m not happy with this blood pressure, either.’ He had moved to the foot of the bed and his voice was lowered. Danny was quiet. Had he fallen asleep again?
‘Systolic pressure’s stable enough.’ It wasn’t really a surprise that Charles hadn’t been content to leave Alex with nursing staff to share the consultation. Did anything happen in his domain that he didn’t involve himself with?
‘Yes, but the diastolic pressure’s dropped. Widening pulse pressure could be sign of rising ICP. It needs watching. I’d like thirty-minute recordings. Have we got a cardiac monitor available?’
‘Yes.’
‘Pulse oximetry and automatic BP?’
‘Of course.’
Alex still didn’t sound happy. ‘GCS is down at least a point. He’s still drowsier than I’d expect. He hasn’t had another seizure since being admitted, has he?’
‘No.’
‘Has someone been with him all the time?’
‘Not every minute. We’ve been flat out with another three admissions. We’re calling in extra staff but until now we’ve been run off our feet.’
‘I want someone with Danny at all times,’ Alex decreed. ‘It’s possible he’s had another seizure that was short-lived enough to go unnoticed.’
‘Jack’s been here.’ That was Marcia’s voice.
The curtain was twitched back. For a split second Alex caught Susie’s gaze and his look of intent focus softened. Susie’s hands stilled as she felt the delicious tingle of being noticed.
Acknowledged.
‘Hey, Jack?’ Alex tilted his head, his attention on the boy now lying on his stomach with the pillow under one side. ‘I’m Dr Vavunis. You haven’t noticed Danny doing anything strange, have you?’
‘He’s just been asleep.’
‘Not twitching or making funny noises?’
‘You mean, like having a fit?’
‘A seizure. Yes.’
‘Nah.’ Jack shook his head, caught his breath and then started coughing, which ended the exchange. Alex turned back and Susie held Jack’s ribs to support him because he was beginning to sound tired.
‘We’re almost done,’ she encouraged. ‘You’ll feel a lot better when we’ve got your chest clear.’
Alex was almost done, too, it seemed.
‘It would be good if we can get Danny’s temperature down a bit further,’ he said to Marcia. ‘Tepid sponge bath, perhaps. And a fan. When’s the next dose of paracetamol due?’
‘Fifteen minutes.’
By the time Susie was moving Jack into his final position on his stomach with the pillow under his hips, Alex was leaving the room.
‘I want to be called if there’s any change,’ he said. ‘Marcia? If you’re monitoring him, I’d like a full GCS check with the vital-sign recordings.’
‘You mean, wake him up and talk to him?’
‘Yes. I need to know if his level of responsiveness drops any further. At least ensure that he’s easy to rouse.’
It was torture.
Exquisite but almost unbearable.
If anticipation was a drug, Susie was in danger of falling victim to an overdose.
Could Alex not feel it? Or was he enjoying this? Doing it deliberately, in fact? Drawing out this public part of their evening together as a kind of foreplay?
The way he was looking at her certainly seemed deliberate. Susie couldn’t hold that gaze for more than a few heartbeats at a time. It was so…intense.
‘Interested’ was too pale a word for it. He seemed fascinated. Smitten even?
Wishful thinking, perhaps, but it would be far too easy to fall into that dark gaze. To lose herself and any control over what she might say. And that would be dangerous. Susie didn’t want to change the way Alex was looking at her. How awful would it be to see a hint of alarm or a cloud of doubt dulling that fierce approval? Or, worse, a gaze that slid over her shoulder to scan other women in the room.
There were plenty of them. The resort was full to capacity thanks to the quarantine trapping the guests. Many of the people using the restaurant were dressed up for the occasion and Susie was sure she was the only one wearing the same outfit as she had the night before. She hadn’t expected to be going out on a date, though, had she?
And she could never have expected Alex. Not in this lifetime. He was too good to be true and that gave a sense of urgency to this dinner. Any moment now he would wake up and realise how beautiful the other women in here were and wonder what on earth he was doing, sitting here so intent on Susie Jackson.
Or his phone would ring and he’d be called back to see Danny or some other patient. He’d work all night and by morning daylight would make him see clearly and realise that Susie wasn’t this special.
His touch contradicted her fears. Even more deliberate than his gaze, the way he rested a forefinger lightly beside her elbow and then traced the curve of the muscle all the way to the pulse at her wrist. A pulse that had to be telling him just how arousing his touch was, which made it even harder to hold his gaze. Susie had to use her tongue to dampen suddenly dry lips and she saw her own flare of desire mirrored in those dark eyes.
Yet he still appeared to be in no hurry to finish the meal. He picked up his fork again, speared an asparagus tip then added a shred of the braised lamb shank beside it, put it in his mouth and chewed carefully, his gaze barely leaving Susie’s face.
Her own fork felt as if it was made of lead and her appetite was waning rapidly. For food, at any rate.
‘So…’ Alex swallowed, put down his cutlery and reached for his glass of red wine. ‘You know about my early love life. Tell me about yours.’
Susie opened her mouth to protest that she didn’t know very much. He had married the girl next door— the love of his life. A marriage marred by tragedy. OK, maybe that was enough. Knowing more might be too scary.
‘Did you start early?’ Alex prompted. ‘Like my Stella seems to be doing?’
‘I got interested,’ Susie admitted, ‘but there were… ah…technical difficulties.’
Alex looked startled. ‘Sorry?’
‘I had a clone,’ Susie explained. ‘Still do, actually.’ She had to take pity on Alex’s deepening expression of bewilderment. ‘I have an identical twin sister. Hannah. Boys were either scared of us because they thought we were playing tricks on them or they went too far the other way and thought they could get both of us—at the same
