Hot Docs On Call: One Night To Forever?. Kate Hardy

though, was expressive, not just with his emotions but with the information he shared. Oh, she knew the circumstances had been dire today and that people’s reactions were often extreme when under pressure, but she just could not imagine Dominic opening up in front of someone else the way that Jamie had.

      By Dominic’s own admission, even when he had found out the baby wasn’t his, he had stayed quiet as a doctor was present.

      They were similar, yet different.

      And it was the more stoic MacBride brother that Victoria very possibly loved.

      It was a scary thought and one she did not want to pursue, but at the end of a very long shift she could take it no more.

      ‘Could we stop by the Castle on the way back to the station?’

      ‘Sure,’ Glen said. He could see her tense face and was wise enough not to probe.

      * * *

      It had been a long day for Dominic too.

      A new cardiologist had started at Paddington’s and Dominic had felt a wash of relief to hand little William over, especially as Dr Thomas Wolfe seemed very thorough, if rather stern.

      ‘He’s my nephew.’ Dominic had given his findings and then started to explain the relationship he had with the patient but had immediately been interrupted.

      ‘Then you need to step back,’ Thomas had said. ‘I’ll be in to speak with the family shortly.’

      Dominic relayed that information to Jamie and Lorna and though they had communicated throughout the day it had all been about the baby.

      Lorna contacted her parents, who were holidaying in Greece, and Dominic was the one who rang his and Jamie’s.

      They had been very upset by the news and the call had been brief. They had soon rallied though and had called back to say that they were flying down to London and could Dominic meet them at the airport.

      The underground would be far easier but their plane came in near the end of his workday and so Dominic agreed. Though he warned that he might be half an hour or so late, depending on traffic.

      Then he rang his cleaner and asked her to stop by and give his apartment a quick once-over.

      On top of that there were patients, of course, and near the end of a long and difficult day he looked up and there was Victoria walking towards him.

      ‘Do you need me to come out?’ he checked, assuming that she wanted him to come and assess a patient in the ambulance, as happened at times.

      ‘No, no,’ Victoria said. ‘I just stopped by to see how William was doing.’

      And he knew from experience that she chose not to get involved with patients, so it touched him that, for his nephew, she had made an exception.

      ‘He’s in the catheter lab at the moment. He’s had a day of tests and they think he’s going to need surgery.’

      ‘Cardiac?’ she asked.

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘How are his parents?’

      ‘Exhausted. They’re going to be staying with him overnight, of course.’

      And tomorrow? she wanted to ask.

      Would he be opening his home to them?

      But it was not her place to ask such personal questions; Victoria had made very sure of that, so she was vague in her questioning.

      ‘Do your parents know?’

      ‘Of course. They’ll be landing in an hour or so,’ Dominic said. ‘I’ll be heading to the airport soon to pick them up.’

      ‘I thought you weren’t speaking.’

      ‘We’ve always spoken,’ Dominic said. ‘We just didn’t know what to talk about for a while.’

      And she just looked at him as if he was speaking in a foreign language, and then she gave her smile.

      ‘I’ve got to go,’ Victoria said. ‘Glen’s waiting.’

      ‘Okay.’

      ‘I hope things go well.’

      He watched her walk off, somehow elegant in boots and green overalls, and he did not want it left there. ‘Victoria...’ he called out, but she carried on walking.

      She was, Dominic decided, a complicated lady.

      And he wanted to understand her.

       CHAPTER ELEVEN

      DOMINIC RAN DEEP.

      His thoughts he did not readily share and his emotions he kept under wraps.

      And it took all that he had within him to keep it like that today.

      He was on the phone when Jamie knocked on his office door.

      ‘How is William doing?’ Dominic asked.

      ‘A lot better than he was this morning,’ Jamie said. ‘He’s got a hole in his heart and he’s going to be reviewed tomorrow by a cardiac surgeon to see if they’ll repair it or wait.’

      ‘Well, he’s certainly in the right place,’ Dominic said.

      It was a phrase used often here but it was a heartfelt one and Dominic better understood it now. There was something very special about this place and he could see why Victoria and the others were fighting so hard to save it.

      Little William really would get the very best care.

      ‘Lorna can see that now. She didn’t want to come down to London given...’ Jamie gave a tense shrug. ‘I insisted though. I wanted you to take a look at him rather than wait.’

      ‘You did the right thing.’ Dominic nodded.

      ‘Look, about—’ Jamie said, but Dominic interrupted him.

      ‘Let’s just leave it for now.’

      ‘I don’t want to leave it though!’ Jamie said, his voice becoming distressed as he started to get upset. ‘I’m beside myself, Dominic.’

      ‘Listen,’ Dominic said. ‘For now, you’re to focus on Lorna and William. That’s it.’

      ‘I need to know that you’ve got my back.’

      ‘I’ve always had your back,’ Dominic answered. ‘You know that I do or you wouldn’t have come down to London to have me take a look at William.’

      Jamie nodded but he was impatient and wanted resolution. But Dominic would not discuss it today. ‘All of that can wait,’ Dominic said. ‘You need to take care of your wife and son and let nothing else get in the way of that.’

      ‘I know.’

      He wanted to tell Jamie that it was time to grow up, but that took things too close to personal and it was everything Dominic knew they had to avoid for now.

      ‘What time do they get in?’ Jamie asked.

      ‘Soon,’ Dominic said. ‘In fact, I need to get to the airport.’

      * * *

      He brought his parents back to the hospital where they fretted for a while, and then somehow the MacBrides did what families do in an emergency—they put differences aside and dealt as best they could with the new hand they had rapidly been dealt.

      Most families.

      He understood that look now from Victoria.

      That brief look where she clearly hadn’t understood what he was saying, but he wanted her to understand.

      More than that, he wanted to see her.

      It