LITMIR.BIZ

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He was happy with his lot, enjoyed his life free from complications…

      Didn’t he?

      Tom’s mouth thinned. He wasn’t going down that route. He had to do what was right and for him that meant living his life unencumbered by a wife and a family. It was the only way he could guarantee that he wouldn’t turn out like the rest of the Bradburys.

      He didn’t intend to leave behind a string of broken marriages and tawdry affairs. He didn’t plan to break any hearts or ruin any lives. So maybe he’d thought he could buck the trend once, be the one member of his family who could make a marriage work, but he’d soon discovered he was mistaken. How long had his engagement lasted? Two months? Three? Definitely no longer. As soon as he’d realised he was losing interest, he had broken it off.

      It had been a salutary lesson, however, and one he needed to remember. Attraction could and did wane. Maybe he was attracted to Hannah at this very moment, but in a week or so’s time it could be a different story. It wasn’t fair to Hannah to start something that was doomed to failure. It wasn’t fair to him either! He didn’t need this kind of pressure. He didn’t need the worry of constantly wondering if he would hurt her. He wanted to get on with his life and enjoy it, and if that meant staying single then so be it.

      Hannah gave Charlie his tea then knelt on the rug and played a noisy game of cars with him. Charlie loved it when they crashed into one another, laughing loudly when his red plastic fire-engine sent her little white ambulance skittering across the floor.

      ‘You’re going to be a demon driver when you grow up, my boy,’ she smilingly admonished him as she retrieved both vehicles.

      Charlie gurgled happily as he sent the toy fire-engine spinning across the room closely followed by the ambulance. Although the casts on his legs meant he couldn’t crawl, he had developed his own technique for getting about which involved shuffling on his bottom. Hannah chuckled as she watched him make his way towards the toys.

      ‘You’re a determined little chap. I’ll say that for you.’ She went to help him get the ambulance, which had rolled under a chair, then paused when someone knocked on the front door. ‘I won’t be a second, darling,’ she said, veering off to answer it. There was a young man outside wearing bright yellow oilskins and he smiled uncertainly at her.

      ‘Are you Dr Morris?’

      ‘Yes, that’s right. What can I do for you?’

      ‘I’m Billy Robinson, one of the lifeboat crew. Tom asked me to fetch you. We’ve got two casualties at the station and he needs a hand.’ He looked past her and grinned when he saw Charlie. ‘Tom said you had a little ‘un and to bring him along. There’s plenty of folk there who’ll be more than happy to look after him for you.’

      ‘In that case, of course I’ll come,’ Hannah agreed immediately. ‘I just need to fetch my bag from the kitchen.’

      She hurried back through the tiny sitting-room into the equally compact kitchen. Her medical bag was on the table and she quickly checked that she had everything she needed. When she went back, Billy was holding Charlie, who was laughing happily up at him.

      ‘He seems to have taken to you,’ Hannah observed as she shut the front door.

      ‘Oh, I’m well used to kids,’ Billy told her cheerfully. ‘There’s seven of us at home and I’m the oldest, so I’ve done my share of babysitting.’

      Hannah laughed at the rueful note in his voice. He seemed a pleasant young man and she didn’t have any qualms about letting him carry Charlie the short distance to the lifeboat station. The doors were open and she hurried inside, taking in the scene that met her. Tom was kneeling beside a middle-aged man, setting up a portable defibrillator, whilst two of the lifeboat’s crew were performing artificial respiration on him. It was obvious they had everything under control so she hurried over to the second casualty, a woman. There was another crew member with her and Hannah knelt down beside him.

      ‘I’m Dr…’ She paused and corrected herself. ‘I’m Hannah Morris. Can you give me some idea what’s happened to her?’

      ‘Nice to meet you, Hannah. I’m Jim Cairns and this here is Marilyn Baines. She and her husband were out on their yacht when the rudder broke and they ran aground on some rocks. From what I can gather, the main mast broke and hit her on the head.’

      ‘Right.’ Hannah bent over the woman. ‘My name’s Hannah and I’m a doctor. I need to examine you, Marilyn, if that’s all right?’

      ‘Ye…’ Marilyn tried to speak but it was obvious that she was still very woozy from the blow to her head.

      ‘Just relax.’ Hannah smiled reassuringly as she set about examining her, starting with the injury to her head. It was obviously tender because Marilyn winced when she gently probed it. ‘Sorry. It’s a nasty blow and you’ll need a CT scan at the hospital.’

      ‘Clive… how is he?’ the woman managed to ask.

      Hannah gently eased her back down when she tried to sit up. ‘Dr Bradbury is with him. Let’s concentrate on you for now.’

      She carried on, noting down a broken left wrist and dislocated left shoulder. There could be damage to the left humerus as well but that would need to be confirmed when an X-ray was done. There was no doubt that the poor woman was in a great deal of pain so Hannah drew up 10 mg of morphine.

      ‘I’m going to give you something for the pain, Marilyn. Have you had morphine before?’

      ‘No,’ Marilyn whispered.

      ‘Sometimes it can make you feel a bit queasy but it’s nothing to worry about.’ She swabbed the woman’s good arm and slid in the needle. The drug took effect almost immediately, although she waited a couple of minutes to see how Marilyn had tolerated it before she set about strapping her wrist and stabilising her shoulder ready for transfer to the hospital.

      ‘How long before the ambulance gets here?’ she asked, glancing at Jim.

      ‘The helicopter is on its way,’ a familiar voice answered from behind her.

      Hannah took a deep breath before she turned, determined that she wasn’t going to allow Tom to upset her equilibrium again. He’s just a colleague, she reminded herself. Just someone you work with. However, as her gaze skimmed up the long legs and narrow hips before coming to rest on a firmly muscled chest, she realised with a sinking heart that Tom could never be just anyone.

      She had tried to tell herself that it was purely physical attraction she felt, but it wasn’t true. Tom appealed to her on many different levels, ranging from his innate warmth to the consideration he showed to other people. She only had to remember how concerned he’d been about Peter Granger to know that it wasn’t an act either. He genuinely wanted to do his best for people, wanted to help them, and that was very appealing.

      It was also in marked contrast to Andrew’s attitude. Her ex had always put himself and his needs first, as she knew to her cost. However, she sensed that Tom didn’t do that, that, despite his playboy lifestyle, he cared about other people. It all added up to one seriously attractive package and the thought scared her.

      She might not like the idea, certainly hadn’t wished for it to happen, but she had a feeling that Tom was about to take on a far more important role in her life than that of colleague.

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