Second Chance with the Single Mom

‘Yes. I can walk.’

The smack of flesh hitting flesh reached Raina’s ears and she turned to see Alistair’s head snap back.

‘Not again!’ He muttered the words. That was the eye that had been infected and the blow seemed to have fallen pretty much in the same place as the cut had been. ‘Stuart, there’s no need for that, mate.’

Stuart seemed to calm once more, and Raina turned her attention back to Joe. Emma helped her to get him to his feet, and supported him towards the door, while Raina positioned herself between them and Stuart, in case he should break free from Alistair.

‘Is Alistair going to be all right?’ As soon as the door was closed behind them, Emma turned to her.

‘He seems to have everything under control.’ Raina hoped he did. She wanted to go back and make sure, but that wasn’t where she was needed at the moment. Ushering Joe away from the door and towards one of the consulting rooms was the last thing that Raina wanted, but she knew that Alistair was relying on her to do it.

As they made their way slowly along the corridor, a couple of male nurses came hurrying past them. Raina breathed a sigh of relief. If Alistair couldn’t calm Stuart and he became violent, that would even the odds considerably.

She and Emma got Joe onto the consulting-room couch, and Raina busied herself, examining Joe’s shoulder carefully. It looked like an anterior dislocation, and she called down to the nurses’ station, asking for an X-ray.

‘That was a brave thing to do, Emma.’ Joe spoke to her softly.

Emma shrugged, but she seemed pleased. ‘It’s all part of the job, Joe. And at least Stuart didn’t have a machete on him.’

So that was the cause of Emma’s scars. Raina shivered at the thought. But Emma didn’t need her sympathy at the moment, she needed to know that she could still do her job. Raina had to balance that with her concern for Emma’s welfare,

as well as Joe’s.

‘Is your wrist okay, Emma?’ Raina nodded towards the light support that Emma wore on her arm, as she tucked a pillow against Joe’s arm to make him more comfortable while they waited for the X-ray technician to arrive.

‘Yeah, it’s fine. I broke it four months ago and it still aches a bit sometimes, so I use the support.’

‘How did you do that?’ Raina asked the question casually, tending to Joe as she did so. Emma’s scars were obviously more than four months old.

‘Stupidity mainly. I tripped over a box of envelopes in the conference room. Gabriel needed his very best bedside manner as I cried like a baby.’

For all her bravery, Emma’s hand was shaking. It couldn’t have been easy for her to relive the experience of an attack.

Joe puffed out a breath. ‘Trust me, Emma, I’m thinking of doing the same.’ He was clearly concerned for Emma too, but his arm must hurt a great deal.

‘When we have the X-ray we’ll be able to make you more comfortable, Joe,’ Raina reassured him, and Emma nodded in agreement. Concentrating on Joe seemed to steady her.

‘Thanks.’ Joe nodded. ‘Where’s Alistair?’

‘I’m not sure. I’ll find out when the X-ray technician gets here, and if he’s available I’ll get him to review the X-rays and do the reduction if that’s what you’d like.’ He was a member of staff at the clinic, and he specialised in traumatic limb injury. And Joe knew Alistair and must trust him.

‘Yeah. Thanks.’

‘All right. Let’s all take a breath, shall we? Not too big a breath, Joe, I need you to stay still if you can.’ Raina filled her lungs, puffing out the tension, and Emma followed suit, grinning.

The X-ray technician arrived, and Emma followed them down to the X-ray suite. As Joe was wheeled into the radiography room, Alistair caught up with them.

‘Everything okay?’

Raina nodded, flashing a glance in Emma’s direction, and Alistair took the hint.

‘Cup of tea, Emma? You’ve done your bit now. You can leave Joe to us.’

Emma nodded. ‘I could do with one.’

Alistair shepherded Emma away, smiling and talking with her as they went. Raina sat down with a bump, expecting that he might be a while, but he returned after just a couple of minutes.

‘Is Emma okay?’