Joanna Neil - Proposing to the Children's Doctor

‘I had no idea that you would be going back with me to Scotland,’ she said. ‘You must have known all along, but you said nothing at all.’

‘That’s because I didn’t know for certain,’ he murmured. ‘I had a shrewd idea, I’ll grant you, but I knew nothing for sure until I checked with the transport services a few minutes ago.’

He looked across at the nurse. ‘So we’re cleared to go, I take it? Where is the little fellow?’

‘Bay three.’ The nurse pointed in the direction of the side ward, an amused smile playing around her lips. ‘I have his paperwork here, all ready for Dr McIntyre. I hope you both have a good journey.’

Rebecca drew in a swift breath and put out a hand for the paperwork. She would at least put up a semblance of normality and pretend that none of this was happening. ‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘I’ll make sure it’s handed over to the receiving hospital. It’s been good working with you, Libby.’

‘And you.’

Rebecca started towards the bay where Connor was waiting. ‘I’ll show you to our patient,’ she told Craig. Perhaps the best thing she could do was to relate to him in a purely professional capacity. That way, she would be able to stay calm and do her job. ‘He’s doing all right,’ she said. ‘It’s just a question of waiting for him to heal and for him to build up his strength once more. All this has taken a lot out of him.’

‘I can imagine.’

He was still carrying the overnight bag with him, and she said briskly as they approached Connor’s trolley bed, ‘Perhaps you should slide that onto the rack underneath. It’ll be out of the way as we wheel him out to the ambulance bay.’

‘Sure thing.’ He deposited the bag and sent a cheery smile towards Connor, who was looking at him with a guarded expression. ‘Hello, young man,’ Craig said. ‘I’m Dr Braemar. I’ll be going along with you on the journey home.’

Connor sent him a suspicious look. ‘I want Becca to go with me.’

‘Yes, she’ll be coming along, too.’

‘Really?’ Connor lay back and tried to absorb that. ‘So I get to have two doctors? Why?’

‘That’s a good question,’ Craig said. ‘The reason is, I came down here with a patient, but there were problems with the transport, and I had to stay over until they were fixed. So now I get to travel home with you and your delicious Dr McIntyre.’ He leaned forward and gave the boy a clandestine, questioning look. ‘You weren’t hoping to keep her all to yourself, were you?’ Cos if you were, that means I’m stranded here, and I won’t get back to Scotland in time to walk my dog.’

‘You have a dog?’

Craig made a face. ‘Actually, no. You found me out. I made it up, because I just wanted to make sure I get to go with you.’

Connor chuckled. ‘You’re crackers.’

Craig grinned. ‘Yeah. So they keep telling me.’

Rebecca could think of a few more adjectives to describe him. Words like underhand, annoying and in your face all sprang to mind.

‘Are you all set to go?’ she asked Connor, and the boy nodded. ‘Good. Then we’ll move you out to the lift and take you down to the ambulance bay.’

‘Um…’ Craig looked as though he was about to say something, but Rebecca was already releasing the brake on the bed and he nimbly stepped to one side as she set the bed in motion. ‘Was there something you wanted to say?’ she queried, shooting him a quick glance.

‘It’ll wait,’ he said, grimacing as she set off towards the exit door. ‘Far be it from me to disturb a woman while she’s driving.’

Connor giggled, and Rebecca sent Craig a warning glare. Was he looking for trouble?

She waved goodbye to her friends as she left, and then, when she was outside in the main corridor, she headed for the lifts. She steered the boy through the open lift doors and put a hand out to press the button to send them on their way. ‘Going down,’ she told Connor, but just as she was about to choose the ground-floor switch, Craig intervened.

‘In fact,’ he said, ‘we need to go up…to the top floor.’ He pressed the button for the roof area and the doors silently closed on them.

She stared at him. ‘Why on earth would we need to do that?’

‘Because that’s where the helipad is.’

‘Oh, fantastic,’ Connor said. ‘Do we really get to go in a helicopter?’

‘That’s right. It’s the only way to travel.’

‘Excuse me?’ Rebecca was still trying to absorb the shock. She half turned so that Connor would not be able to see or hear what she was about to say, and Craig must have read the warning signals in her expression because he gave her his full attention.

‘This can’t be right,’ she said in a low tone. ‘No one said anything to me about a helicopter.’ She felt the colour wash out of her face.

‘It was just how things turned out, that’s all. I have to go back up north, and so do you and Connor, so it makes sense for us all to travel together, doesn’t it?’ He stopped suddenly, taking in her pale features. ‘Why, is there a problem?’

‘No, of course not,’ she lied through her teeth. How could she possibly voice her true thoughts with Connor beside her? ‘Why would there be?’

Craig put his head to one side as though he was trying to assess what was going through her mind. ‘You’re used to flying, aren’t you? Living on Islay, I dare say you would find it the best way to travel.’

The lift came to a halt before she had time to answer, and the doors opened out on to the roof space, so that a gust of fresh air met them. Rebecca looked out to see the brightly painted helicopter, ready and waiting on the helipad, its rotors turning.

She patted the blankets in place around Connor to make him snug, but after that she stayed rooted to the spot, so Craig took over the handling of the trolley bed and someone who introduced himself as the copilot came over to greet them.

‘I’ll give you a hand getting the patient on board,’ he told Craig, stopping for a moment to greet Connor. ‘We’ll soon have you tucked up cosy as you like.’

Connor nodded, and turned his head to look at Rebecca. ‘You’re coming, aren’t you, Becca? You said you would.’ His face was pale, and she realised that even this small excitement had been enough to tire him out.

‘Yes, I did. Of course I did.’ She ventured forward a few steps to give him encouragement and then stood still. ‘I’ll just wait here for a moment while they get you on board.’

Craig came to find her when the child was settled inside the cabin. ‘Are you ready?’ he asked.

‘No, I don’t think so,’ she said. She looked at him. ‘I don’t do helicopter rides. I tried one once and told myself never again. You should have warned me. Someone should have told me.’

‘There’s nothing to it,’ he said. ‘Helicopters take off day in, day out. The sky is clear, and we’re all set to go. What could go wrong?’

‘You tell me,’ she said abruptly. ‘You were the one who said you had to stay over while your transport was fixed.’ She looked him in the eye. ‘That means there was a problem, right?’

His shoulders lifted in a negligent shrug. ‘It was nothing. Just a faint judder in the engine. But they’ve checked it out and everything’s fine.’

‘No, I don’t think it is. Everything is not fine, far from it. No one told me about this and I’m finding it hard to take in.’

‘You’ll only be up there for half an hour…an hour at the most,’ he said. He moved closer to her and placed an arm around her shoulders, drawing her against his chest. ‘I’ll sit with you and hold your hand if you like.’ He pulled an exaggeratedly fiendish face, halfway between a leer and a smile, and Rebecca balled her hand into a fist and thumped him lightly in the arm.