She didn’t have to ring Jacob. Nate was every bit as good as his word. Not only did he have the skills but he also had the technology to back him up.
Cady was just waking when they reached him but he wasn’t the least bit scared. The experience of the creche had left him unafraid of new people, and Nate had a team of skilful and kindly nurses who were just great with Cady.
Nate was great himself. He wheeled the equipment he needed into the ward and set about testing Cady’s blood-sugar level, explaining what he was doing to Cady every step of the way. So much so that Cady hardly noticed the pinprick on his finger as Nate took blood. Nate had him press the buttons on the machine and he was so interested in the technology he didn’t even think of being frightened.
And they had what they needed within minutes. ‘His sugar levels have been high for at least three months,’ Nate told Gemma, showing her the readout. ‘Look. The buildup on his blood cells is running over nine.’
And she hadn’t noticed…
‘It’s hard to notice changes when you see them every day.’ Nate looked at her face and guessed at once what she was feeling. ‘You’re not to blame yourself.’
‘How can I help it? If I’d seen-’
‘There’s no long-term damage done. We have his sugar down to twelve already.’ He looked at Cady who was studying the slip of test paper that held his blood and looking at the screen showing his results. His bright little face said he was already trying to figure out how things worked. ‘It’s my guess that he’ll be giving himself injections and testing himself in no time.’
‘He’s only four.’
But Nate was still watching Cady and he shook his head. ‘Maybe he is only four but this is Cady’s medical condition, Gemma,’ he said gently. ‘His. And the sooner he owns it the better. If you take responsibility for it then Cady doesn’t need to and there’ll be rebellion in the future. Sure, he’s small, but just as soon as he can conquer a skill-like giving himself an injection or deciding that a food’s bad for him-then you let him do the deciding. It’s the only way for him to cope with his future. To feel like he’s in control.’
Gemma thought back to her sister. To the dreadful fights between mother and daughter from the moment of Fiona’s diagnosis, over and over again. The shouting matches. ‘You can’t eat that,’ her mother had decreed, terrified at what had been happening to her favourite daughter. ‘What’s your blood sugar?’
Fiona had loathed it, nearly always eating exactly what she shouldn’t have.
Maybe if she’d been treated differently…
Who could tell? All that Gemma knew was that Nate’s gentle words made sense. For now she’d go with him.
‘Fine.’
‘Now, let’s work on an insulin regime,’ Nate told her, moving right on. ‘Cady’s growing stronger by the minute.’ The night on the saline drip had worked wonders.
‘You think he’ll be fine?’
‘I’m sure he’ll be fine. Why wouldn’t he be?’
Cady might be improving but he was still a very tired little boy. He was awake for barely half an hour before his eyes were closing again and Gemma tucked him back into bed. Which left her free.
But Nate wasn’t free. Out the hospital window she could see people arriving at the clinic to see him. He had a full day’s consulting before him.
‘Let me help,’ she urged.
He shook his head. ‘Not today.’
‘I can.’
‘I’m very sure you can.’ His tone was gentle-full of caring-and it had the capacity to unsettle her in a way she didn’t fully understand. ‘But you’re still suffering from the shock of last night and I don’t want you. Tomorrow I’ll set you to work but today is declared a Gemma-holiday.’
A Gemma-holiday. She’d never heard of such a thing. There had been so much on her shoulders lately she hadn’t known which way to turn. And sleep… She’d slept more last night than she’d slept for a month and here was this man urging her to have more.
‘I don’t need-’
‘You do need.’ Nate took her shoulders and propelled her to the glass doors opening onto the veranda. ‘There’s a hammock down by the river which is my very favourite spot in the whole world. Go find it, Dr Campbell. And use it.’
‘But-’
‘No buts. You get yourself rested and recovered. Now.’ He gave her a gentle push toward the edge of the veranda-and then walked inside and closed the door firmly behind her.
She was free to wander as she willed.
The sensation was so novel Gemma could hardly take it in. How long had it been since she’d had some time to herself? Years.
Dazed, she wandered down to the river, and there was Nate’s hammock. It was slung between two trees right at the water’s edge. The sun was dappling through the leaves of the huge eucalypts and the water was rippling between boulders, making a lullaby all by itself. The setting was just perfect. She could see why it was Nate’s favourite place.
She could see Nate here.
But he wasn’t here. He was working. As she should be working. She always worked.
But what had Nate said?
‘I shouldn’t,’ she told herself. But she did. The sun was warm on her face, the river was rippling and gurgling, there were kookaburras chortling in the gums overhead…
Cady was sleeping. Cady was recovering. Mia was being well cared for by the redoubtable Mrs McCurdle.
God was in his heaven. All was right with her world. For now.
She climbed into the hammock and looked up through the eucalypts at the sky above. And slept.
‘Will it be my lot in life, ad infinitum, to wake you up?’
She opened her eyes. Nate’s face was six inches away from hers and he was laughing at her. ‘Hey, sleepyhead, it’s almost dinnertime.’
Dinnertime.
Dinnertime! She sat up with such a jolt that the hammock veered crazily sideways. She would have fallen but Nate reached out and caught her shoulders, steadying her. And when she was steady he didn’t pull his hands away.
‘Are you OK?’
Was she OK? She thought about it. She was warm and sleepy and incredibly comfortable-and Nate was holding her as if he cared. Was she OK? Yes. A whole lot more than OK.
‘I’m fine.’ She pulled back a little but he didn’t release her.
‘We were starting to get worried.’
‘Worried?’ She sounded dazed. It was the feel of his hands, she thought. It made her feel…well, dazed.
‘I checked at lunchtime and found you sleeping, but I couldn’t believe you’d keep sleeping this long. If your car wasn’t still parked outside I would have thought you’d bolted back to Sydney.’
She looked at him, astonished. ‘Are you kidding? How could I have left Cady?’
‘No.’ His eyes were still inches from hers. Questioning her with no need for words. ‘No, I guess you wouldn’t do that.’
‘I wouldn’t.’
Nate’s gaze was still probing. ‘And yet you’d leave Mia?’
‘Mia is your baby. Not mine.’ She pulled away from him then and sat up. The hammock swung wildly again and she had to shove her feet down fast to hold herself steady. She missed his hands. They were good hands, she thought inconsequentially. Big. Warm and strong and capable. Doctor’s hands.
She was being ridiculous.
And he was watching her as if he could read her mind.
