her response to both noise and light.’ He lowered his voice. ‘She hasn’t opened her eyes or spoken since we found her but I don’t think she’s unconscious, just exhausted and very frightened. I want to do the absolute minimum to guarantee her well-being rather than rush in with all guns blazing.’
Zoë nodded, understanding why he preferred that approach. Although the dramatic scenes that were the staple of so many medical soap operas made excellent viewing, a patient’s needs were better served if treatment was kept as minimal as possible. She took a penlight out of its holder and gently peeled back the little girl’s eyelids while she shone the light into her eyes. There was an immediate response and she glanced at Ben.
‘Both eyes reacting positively to light.’
‘Good.’
Ben’s tone was abstracted as he bent over the child, but Zoë didn’t doubt that he had taken her findings on board. She replaced the light in its holder and picked up a pair of plastic forceps which she rapped on the metal bedframe. Little Megan visibly jumped, confirming Ben’s suspicions that she wasn’t comatose. It was an encouraging finding and Zoë felt her spirits lift.
‘Her temperature is 35C, Ben,’ one of the nurses called and Ben nodded.
‘That means she’s borderline and that, hopefully, we’ve caught her in time. We’ll go straight to the warm bath and get her temperature up that way. Let’s get these clothes off her but leave the hat on.’
Ben immediately set to and helped as the nurses began stripping off the child’s clothes. Although most consultants shied away from such menial tasks, Ben never flinched when it came to practicalities. If a job needed doing, he was willing to do it himself and didn’t expect everyone to dance attendance on him. Zoë had always admired him for that and discovered that she still admired him for it now, although he possessed so many positive attributes it was hard to pick out one from all the others.
The thought was disquieting bearing in mind that she had no intention of searching out things to admire about him. She followed as Ben picked up little Megan and carried her to the bath. He placed her carefully in the warm water, making sure the whole of her body was immersed apart from her head. The little girl whimpered and opened her eyes and he smiled at her.
‘It’s all right, poppet. We’re just going to make you feel all warm again.’
Zoë felt her eyes fill with tears when she heard the tenderness in his voice. Although Ben was marvellous with all the patients, he was particularly good with any children. He would make the most wonderful father one day and the thought hurt far more than it should have done. She had made up her mind a long time ago that she didn’t want children and she wasn’t going to change it, not now, not ever.
She took a deep breath and used it to shore up her emotions. She would never be the mother of Ben’s children.
CHAPTER THREE
‘MEGAN is going to be fine. She’s very tired at the moment, which is only to be expected after what’s happened, but we don’t anticipate any problems.’ Ben smiled at the child’s anxious parents. ‘She’ll be going up to the children’s ward as soon as a bed is available. We’ll keep her in overnight but it’s purely a precaution. You should be able to take her home tomorrow.’
Mr and Mrs Turner thanked him profusely and hurried back to their daughter. Ben sighed as he watched them go. ‘I can’t imagine what they must have been through, can you? Losing a child must be every parent’s nightmare.’
He glanced round when Zoë failed to answer and was surprised when he saw how upset she looked. It was rare for Zoë to show her feelings, yet there was no denying that she looked distressed.
‘Hey, come on,’ he said quickly. ‘I know it’s upsetting when it’s a child involved, but Megan will be fine after a good night’s sleep.’
‘Of course she will.’
She spun round on her heel, making it clear that she didn’t want to discuss the matter, and he sighed. Why had he bothered? He should have known that Zoë wouldn’t welcome his concern.
He followed her from ED, pausing on the way out to make sure that Megan’s parents had provided the reception staff with all the necessary details. Their family doctor would need to be informed about what had happened, even though there was no reason to suspect that Megan would suffer any repercussions from her adventures. However, it was best to err on the safe side, he’d always found.
Erring on the safe side hadn’t achieved very much when it had come to his relationship with Zoë, though, had it? he thought as he left the building. He had done everything he could to make her feel safe and secure, to reassure her that he would never stop loving her. Although he had only the sketchiest idea of her background, she had told him enough to fill in the gaps for himself.
He knew that her parents’ divorce must have hit her hard and doubly so when it had meant that she’d been placed in care following her mother’s breakdown. However, was it enough to explain why she’d refused to believe that he would never stop loving her? Zoë had been his whole world at one time, yet she had rejected his love, walked away rather than take the risk of trusting him. Although he was over the heartache it had caused him, it was still difficult to understand what she’d done. One thing was certain: no woman was going to put him through the mill again!
Dark thoughts accompanied Ben back to where he had left his car—illegally parked outside ED. He unlocked the doors then paused when Zoë made no attempt to get in. ‘I promise I won’t make you sit in the back this time,’ he said, deliberately opting for levity. The past was the past and he wasn’t going to fall into the trap of raking over the embers of their ill-fated affair. ‘It’s the passenger seat for you, Dr Frost. You’ve earned it.’
She smiled tightly, not responding to his teasing. ‘It’s kind of you, Ben, but I’ll get a taxi back to the hotel. You live in the opposite direction and I don’t want to take you out of your way.’
‘I don’t mind if you don’t,’ he replied flippantly, wondering why it seemed so important to get a reaction from her. The days when he had wanted to impress Zoë were long gone. ‘It’s not as though I have anything better to do with my time seeing as I’m redundant.’
‘Redundant?’
‘Uh-huh. I feel a bit like Cinderella only I’m the wrong sex.’ He looked suitably mournful. ‘I’m the best man that nobody wants. I’m not needed for the wedding or for the celebrations that should have come afterwards. It’s hard not to feel a little de trop in such circumstances.’
‘Oh, poor you!’ Zoë chuckled, a delicate sound that made the tiny hairs on his neck quiver in appreciation. ‘Does nobody love you, then?’
You certainly don’t love me, Ben thought, but didn’t say so. That would have been a major mistake, a top score on the mistakes Richter scale. The last thing he wanted was to give the impression that he was still hung up on her.
‘It looks that way. And that being the case, I may as well run you back to your hotel. At least it will fill in a bit more time and stop me feeling like a reject.’
He got into the car, leaving it to Zoë to decide whether she was going to accept his offer. A frisson ran through him when she slid into the passenger seat but he didn’t allow himself to read anything into it. It made no difference if
