‘He’s lovely,’ Rhiannon said to Judith when Kieran had left the room.
‘Mmm.’ A two-timing low-life, more like—just like the last man she’d dated. The man she’d met on a training course, the one who’d claimed that the woman who’d phoned him was a friend.
It had taken Jude three months to find out the truth. That he was married.
And now it was happening all over again with Kieran.
Not that Judith was going to shatter Rhiannon’s illusions. As a doctor, Kieran Bailey was fine. As a man, definitely not.
It was just a shame she couldn’t get him out of her head.
HOLLY finished taping up the dressing. ‘OK, Tess. I’m pleased to tell you that Charlie’s going to be fine. His arm will feel a bit sore, and he’ll need that dressing on for a while to prevent any infection getting in—but at least Kieran’s a doctor so he can change it for you.’
‘You know my brother?’ Tess asked.
‘Your brother?’ Holly gaped. Hadn’t Judith said that Kieran was married? And the little boy looked so like him, with fine dark hair and those huge dark eyes. ‘I’m sorry. I thought he was…’
‘What?’ Tess asked suspiciously.
‘Your husband,’ Holly admitted, embarrassed.
Tess shook her head. ‘That’d be funny, if…’ She sniffed. ‘No, you don’t need to know what a mess my life is. Kieran’s my big brother. He’s letting us stay with him for a while.’
‘Right.’ Holly coughed. ‘Do you want me to ring up to the ward? Or can I ring your mum?’
‘Definitely not my mum.’ Tess shook her head. ‘I’ll be fine. I just feel so stupid. I didn’t think Charlie could even reach up the stairs. I thought it was safe. He’s crawling, but he hasn’t started pulling himself up—well, not until today. I put my coffee on the stairs while I was doing my hair, and the next thing I knew…’ She scrubbed away a tear. ‘I’m such a bad mother.’
‘Hey. Of course you’re not. Accidents happen.’ Holly stroked the little boy’s hair. ‘You wait till he gets really mobile. He’ll be into everything and you’ll need locks everywhere, he’ll empty your handbag down the loo, and he’ll end up falling over and banging himself so he gets a huge bruise about five minutes before you’re due to see the health visitor.’
Tess gave her a watery smile. ‘Have you got kids of your own?’
Holly flinched inwardly. ‘No. But one of my old school-friends is a health visitor and she’s got a fund of stories like that.’ She forced a smile to her face. ‘I’ll ring up to Maternity for you. I won’t be a minute.’
She escaped to the phone and dialled Judith’s extension.
‘Maternity, Jude Powell speaking.’
‘Hiya. It’s Holly. Is Kieran about?’
‘Sorry, Holls. He’s in Theatre, doing a section.’
‘Ah.’ Holly paused. ‘Well, you’ll do. Can you come down to ED?’
‘Sure. What have you got for me?’
‘Tess Bailey.’
Judith froze. Kieran’s wife was in the emergency department? ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked carefully.
‘Scald. To Charlie—her little boy, that is. She’s in a bit of a state.’
‘I’ll get someone to page Theatre. Kieran’ll want to know if his son’s injured.’
‘Nephew,’ Holly corrected.
‘What?’ Was she hearing this right?
‘You got it wrong, you dope. So all that ranting to me and Zo at Giovanni’s the other night…You leapt in completely the opposite direction and hit the wrong conclusion by miles. She’s his kid sister.’
‘Oh, my God.’ So Kieran wasn’t married. Tess really was his sister. But she’d been so sure.
‘Jude, you didn’t tell him he was a two-timing, low-life scumbag, did you?’
‘Sort of.’ He’d told her the truth and she’d called him a liar. And she’d been formal and even a bit prissy with him for the past week.
‘I foresee a very large humble-pie job,’ Holly teased. Then her voice sobered. ‘Actually, I’m glad he’s not here. Tess needs to talk to someone professionally and I’d rather it was you.’
Judith frowned. ‘Zo’s the paediatric specialist, not me.’
‘Charlie’s going to be fine. This is a maternity thing. Post-maternity. I can’t discuss things over the phone.’
Post-maternity? Judith thought fast. ‘How old’s the little boy?’
‘Ten months.’
So the chances were it wasn’t a post-partum haemorrhage or severe bleeding after the birth. ‘If I said PND, would I be a million miles away?’ Postnatal depression was very common, and it wasn’t always picked up.
‘About two millimetres, I’d say. Good leap this time, Jude.’
‘I’m on my way,’ Judith said. She called in at the midwives’ station on her way out of the department. ‘Lulu, if anyone needs me, I’m in ED.’ She scribbled a note on the whiteboard. ‘When Kieran comes out of Theatre, can you get him to buzz down to me, please?’
‘Sure,’ the senior midwife said. ‘Problem?’
‘Nothing major,’ Judith said carefully. He hadn’t mentioned his sister in the three weeks he’d been working there, so he must have a good reason. And she didn’t want him to panic. Holly had sounded very matter-of-fact about Charlie’s injury, and she would have told Judith if it had been really serious.
Five minutes later, Holly had introduced Judith to Tess and explained what had happened to Charlie.
‘Kieran’s in Theatre at the moment, so I’m afraid you’ve been lumbered with me,’ Judith said. ‘But you’re very welcome to come and wait in his office. I can get you a cup of coffee or something.’
Tess’s eyes filled with tears. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever drink coffee again!’
‘It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know he’d pull himself up for the very first time this morning and grab your cup.’ Judith took a touch-and-feel book out of her pocket. ‘How about playing with this, little one, while your mummy and I have a chat?’ She opened the book. ‘Look, here’s a fluffy lamb. Can you stroke his coat?’
Charlie’s
