Carol Marinelli - The Best Of The Year - Medical Romance

She had no idea how she felt about being pregnant.

No idea how to tell her parents or friends or anyone.

Right now, none of it even seemed to matter.

She loved Steele.

It wasn’t like the crushes she’d had on other men, which Candy was rather more used to.

It felt so much deeper than that, like an actual concrete thing that now resided within.

Except the twins resided within also.

Twins?

As he did up his shirt that morning Steele was thinking about them too.

He was also thinking about her words—how telling him had been the hardest part.

He knew how impossible her parents were and he knew telling Gerry’s parents would be supremely difficult.

Yet telling him …

As he did up his tie, he found himself closer to tears than he had been at his marriage break-up. Closer to tears than he had been at his grandmother’s funeral.

In fact, Steele wasn’t even close to tears—he was sitting on the edge of the bath in a serviced apartment, bawling his eyes out, for the fact they were over and the grief that her babies were not his. He’d never cried. Even when he’d found out that he couldn’t have children, Steele hadn’t broken down. He’d been too busy mopping up Annie’s tears. Now, ten years later, he let out what had long been held in. He cried alone.

He was as nice to himself as he had been to Macey.

At seven a.m. it was a bit early for sherry but he made a strong mug of tea and put in extra sugar and then sat and thought what best to do.

He could avoid Candy, Steele knew. He could call in sick today. He had a day off tomorrow and then it was just her final shift in Emergency on Friday—he could send Donald to deal with anything that came up in Emergency, and he would never have to see Candy again.

He couldn’t do that, though.

‘Morning,’ he said as he came into the kitchen on the geriatric ward, and there was Candy, making a mug of tea.

‘Morning,’ she said, though she brushed past him pretty quickly and headed off for handover.

Steele headed into his office and checked his emails.

Oh, joy.

There was Gerry.

His smiling face was surrounded by flowers, and Steele, along with the entire hospital—as long as cover could be arranged, of course—was invited to attend the memorial service next Tuesday and the naming of the resuscitation area as Gerry’s Wing.

Candy was trying to get her head around that terrible name too.

Lydia, who had been on the edge of taking disciplinary action against Gerry, was now talking about him as if he’d been an angel—an angel with one wing—a wing named after him that Candy would work in, walk through, deal with day in and day out …

As Candy helped Macey shower, she was wondering how the hell she could continue to work there. Kelly had given her an odd look in the changing room yesterday and a little huddle at the nurses’ station had suddenly gone very quiet when she had approached.

No one had had the nerve to outright ask her. Candy was quite plump and they were clearly trying to work out if she’d been hitting the doughnuts or if indeed she was pregnant.

Imagine them knowing she was pregnant by Gerry.

‘You’re very quiet this morning,’ Macey said as Candy turned off the taps and helped her to get dried and dressed.

‘I’m sorry, Macey, I was miles away.’

‘Dreaming of Hawaii, no doubt,’ Macey said. ‘Are you looking forward to your holiday?’

‘I am,’ Candy said. ‘I fly on Friday night.’

‘It’s Wednesday today.’ Macey smiled. ‘I think for the first time in years I actually know what day it is.’

‘You’re so much better,’ Candy commented, as Macey dressed herself with just a little help. When they got back to the bed, Candy would remove Macey’s dressing for Steele to have a look at her leg ulcer, which was doing much better. After lunch, Macey would lie on the bed for a couple of hours’ sleep, but apart from that she sat in the chair or walked to the day room. It was wonderful to see the improvement in her.

‘Steele says I should be able to go home next week.’

‘How do you feel about that?’ Candy asked as she walked with Macey back to her bed.

‘I’m looking forward to it very much,’ Macey said. ‘I’m having some modifications done to the bathroom and kitchen, which my niece Linda is sorting out for me. Things will be a lot easier now.’

‘Your nieces seem very nice.’

‘Oh, they’re wonderful women.’ Macey nodded, taking a seat by the bed and putting her leg up on a footstool. She watched as Candy made up the bed. ‘You’ve earned your holiday,’ Macey said. ‘I wish I could be here to see the postcard.’

‘I’ll send you one, Macey.’ Candy smiled, despite her earlier declaration about not sending any. ‘If you’re okay with that?’

‘Oh, yes, please! It would make my day! Is it just you going?’

Candy nodded.

‘Hawaii would be a beautiful place to go with the right man …’

‘It would,’ Candy agreed, her heart twisting as she thought how close she had come to sharing a part of her holiday with Steele.

‘You don’t have a boyfriend, though,’ Macey continued. ‘If I remember rightly.’

‘No.’

‘And you’re carrying?’ Macey said gently, and Candy’s eyes filled with tears as she nodded.

‘I’m having twins.’

‘Congratulations, my dear.’

Macey was the first person to offer congratulations and she said it so nicely that Candy started to cry.

‘Pull the curtains,’ Macey said.

‘No, no.’ Candy sniffed. ‘I’ll go to the staffroom.’

‘You’ll pull the curtains and sit with me for a while.’ Macey’s orders were clear and Candy did as she was told.

‘Have you told …?’ Macey hesitated. She had been about to ask if Candy had told Steele, if that was what the argument the other day had been about, but her sharp mind was returning. Macey sat quietly for a moment, remembering when she had been admitted and had snapped at Steele for being a locum. It had only been his second day here, Macey recalled.

Certainly there had been a romance between Candy and Steele. She had seen it unfold in front of her own eyes.

‘Have you told the baby’s father?’ she asked instead.

‘Macey …’

She saw Candy swallow and reached out to take the hands of the younger woman to encourage her to speak on.

‘I made a mistake a few months ago, so please don’t feel sad for me when I say this—I’m not a grieving widow. The baby’s father died a week ago.’

‘Gerry?’ Macey said, and watched Candy’s eyes widen in surprise. ‘I hear all the gossip.’

‘Yes.’ Candy gave a watery smile. ‘It was him.’

‘That’s very sad.’

‘It is,’ Candy said. ‘I don’t know how he’d have felt about it,’ she went on. ‘We wouldn’t have got back together but I’m sure we’d have sorted something out.’

‘What about Steele?’ Macey asked, and she watched the tears spill down Candy’s cheeks, though she neither confirmed nor denied there was anything going on.

‘You have your holiday to look forward to,’ she said, and Candy nodded. ‘It’s a good job you booked it before you knew.’

‘Oh, yes,’ Candy said, because it would be her first and last overseas adventure alone. ‘I don’t think I’ll be lounging around on the beach next time I go. It will be buckets and spades …’ She shook her head. ‘I can’t see how I’ll manage,’ she admitted.

‘You know, I can remember being alone and pregnant,’ Macey said. ‘I expect it’s still a very scary place even fifty years on, even with all the choices you girls have these days. I still remember how scared I felt when I got pregnant but I’ll tell you this much—by the end of my pregnancy I wasn’t scared about having a baby. I wanted him so much and I know you’ll feel the same way about your two.’