Their Unexpected Babies

The guard disappeared, with one last look over his shoulder that seemed to say, If you run...

Ben sighed with relief when he’d gone, then sank back onto his stool and looked at the young girl. ‘Tell me what happened.’

‘I was getting some food—tinned stuff. Only I didn’t have enough money for all of it and I thought they wouldn’t miss it. It was a pound shop! It means nothing to them! And we’re starving...’

‘We?’

‘Me and my brothers. Only they’re really little so I left ’em at home.’

‘So you were shoplifting?’

‘To feed the kids! I had to. I had no other choice!’

He frowned, taking in her slightly neglected appearance. ‘Where are your parents?’

‘Mum’s away.’

‘At work?’

Tammy laughed. ‘Yeah, right. She’s at her boyfriend’s house. She does this. Goes away for a few days and leaves us to get on with things. Only there’s never no food in the house and she don’t leave us no money. And the little ones are hungry, so I... I took stuff.’

‘How did you hurt your ankle?’

‘That big idiot tripped me and I dropped the cans. One went under my foot or something. My ankle hurt after that.’

‘He brought you in?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Who’s with your brothers?’

She looked down and away. ‘No one. I had to do this. I had to!’ she cried, finally realising the implications of her situation.

He would have to call Social Care. Report this. And then this family would spend months with interference from professionals to make sure they had support and that the mother stopped abandoning her children. Only Social Services could help them make this better.

He smiled at the young girl and passed her a tissue from a box. ‘Can I take a look at your ankle?’

She wiped her nose and sniffed. ‘Sure.’

He gave her ankle and foot a cursory examination, checking for range of movement, whether she had sensation, whether she could wriggle her toes. It didn’t seem broken—probably more of a bad sprain. But they’d need an X-ray, just to confirm, because she had some swelling there already.

‘I’m going to send you to X-Ray.’

‘You think it’s broken?’

‘No. But we need to be on the safe side.’

‘Oh, man! Mum’s going to kill me.’

‘I also need her number. To inform her that you’re here.’

‘She won’t come.’

‘Even so...’

Reluctantly, Tiffany gave him her mother’s mobile number. ‘Don’t tell her I was shoplifting.’

‘She’ll find out. I’m sure that security guard will let her know.’

‘Well, let’s hope she’s too drunk to take it all in.’

Leah slipped into the morning handover, hoping nobody would notice that she was a good ten minutes late. It wasn’t her fault. She’d been on her way in to work, perfectly on time, when a giant seagull had let rip from above, splattering the front of her jacket. There’d been no way she could turn up at work looking like that, and the one solitary tissue she’d had in her pocket had not been enough. So back home she’d gone, to swap jackets and put the dirtied one in the laundry.

She’d heard that having a bird poop on you was meant to be good luck, but she really couldn’t see how that worked. Just because it was a rare occurrence, it didn’t mean that she was going to be more likely to win the lottery, did it?

What it had made her was late for work...

She closed the door quietly behind her and slipped into the nearest available chair. She placed her bag on the floor and beamed a smile at the person closest to her—and then looked up, only to see that Ben was sitting directly opposite her.

‘Nice of you to join us, Dr Hudson.’

All eyes turned to her and she coloured under the onslaught. ‘Er...thank you. Sorry I’m late. There was a poop incident...’

Her voice trailed off as she realised that maybe not everyone would want to hear about that. Or, God forbid, thought she was the one with the dodgy bowels!

‘It was a seagull. It wasn’t me! I...er...’ As everyone began to smile at her, she flushed and made a zipping motion over her mouth.

Best be quiet, I think...

‘Dr Evers, if you’d like to continue?’ Ben spoke to the doctor who had been in charge of last night’s shift.

Leah politely accepted the handover sheet passed to her by the doctor to her right as Dr Evers filled them in on what had happened last night and who they still had in bays in Resus, Majors and Minors.

As always it had been busy—a mix of falls, chest pain, broken bones, and one patient with rhabdomyolisis, a condition in which muscle broke down rapidly. He was being treated with isotonic saline to deal with the swelling of the muscle tissue and to prevent damage to his kidneys and was currently resting, awaiting transfer to a ward.

She glanced at Ben, appreciating the chance to be able to look at him without being observed.

He’d been perfectly nice to her over the last couple of weeks. He’d even asked her if she wanted to go on a trip the department had organised. That had surprised her...

‘If you’re not working on the fifteenth, a group of us are going to Finley Towers—the amusement park. Want to come?’ he’d asked.

‘Are you asking me out on a date?’

‘Well, it’s a group thing, so... Anyway, if you’re free. Thought it might be fun for you. You know—before the shackles of parenthood weigh you down.’

She’d smiled at the time, but his comment had left her wondering. There had just been something a little off with him, ever since she’d told him about Sally and the surrogacy.

He was keeping her at arm’s length—pretty much as she’d suspected he would—but just because she’d expected him to do it, it didn’t mean it was any less disappointing and upsetting. They’d had a closeness. An intimacy. And now there were barriers.

They’d spent a night together and, yes, it had been only a one-night stand, but they’d had a rare connection. At least she’d thought so! Or perhaps she was behind the times and this was how people behaved nowadays? But she did feel he was letting her down.

What did I even want from him? He’s my boss—it would never work.

But knowing it didn’t make it any easier. It was just another example of people failing her expectations. And she was used to that. Having to stand alone. Why should it be any different with him?

He was just a guy who’d discovered his one-night stand had complications in her life—why would he want to be a part of that?

She sighed, and it must have been louder than she realised, because once again all eyes were on her. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean...’ Her cheeks flushed. ‘Carry on.’

She looked down at the table and scribbled something on her piece of paper that she hoped made it look as if she was concentrating. Which she wasn’t. Which was bad.

Why couldn’t she get him out of her head? She was always thinking about him. Looking for him. Each day she came in and checked the roster, and she felt her heart sink if he wasn’t on the same shift as her. And yesterday she’d been coming out of a cubicle at the exact same time as he came out of the one opposite and their eyes had met and they’d smiled and...

Nothing. He’d given her a slight nod, an acknowledgement, but that was all, and after he’d walked away she’d felt...deflated. Yep. That was the word, all right!

He’d made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t interested.

So why did he ask if I’d go to Finley Towers? It sounded like he wanted me to go.

And she did want to go. It would be fun. She wasn’t rostered that day and neither was he.

Not that I checked or anything...

Perhaps it would be a chance to spend some time with him away from the hospital? Where they would get a chance to talk? Not many people got the opportunity to get to know a one-night stand better and she really wanted them to be different. She hoped he would be a good friend, if nothing else. They had to make something good out of this.

Leah glanced up at him and met his gaze.

He was looking at her with a hunger she recognised, but as soon as he realised she’d caught him looking he quickly glanced away. He looked awkward for a moment, and then he shifted in his seat. He began to nibble on the end of his pen.

Had he been thinking of their night together?

She wouldn’t blame him. Because she did it, too.

He was a difficult man to forget.

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