Chloe smiled. ‘I’ve fitted him in. His mother’s bringing him back on Friday and I’ll take a look and see how his knee’s doing once the ice has brought the swelling down a bit.’
Jon would have expected nothing less. ‘Good. Thanks. And thanks for today, too. Remind me never to lie to you. I don’t much fancy being on the other end of your interrogation techniques.’
‘You were watching. I didn’t do anything to Alan, just encouraged him to talk.’ Chloe pointed her finger at his chest. ‘You I’d be a bit rougher with.’
The temptation was a great deal more than he could be expected to bear. Jon leaned forward across the table. ‘There’s this new study, just come out. The moon’s really made of green cheese, just as everyone thought.’
She snorted with laughter. ‘I’ll talk to you later. When we get home.’
It was another brick, cemented firmly into the wall. He and Chloe had joined forces to look after Amy, and it seemed that they were just as effective when they worked together. Her approach might be a little different from his, but their differences were what had borne fruit.
‘I’ll see you then.’ He felt his pager buzz in his pocket, and gulped down the rest of his tea. ‘Got to go...’
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHLOE SUSPECTED THAT there would be no talk of the moon and none of green cheese either tonight. When she’d picked Amy up from the crèche that evening she’d heard from one of the nurses from A and E, who had come to collect her son, that there had been a multiple car accident on the motorway.
Jon was late home, missing Amy’s bathtime and the kiss goodnight. She was sitting in the kitchen, trying not to wait for him, when she heard his key in the door. The front door closed and she waited for him to appear. But there was just silence.
He was in the hallway, his hands in his pockets, his back leaning against the wall. Jon seemed wearier than she’d ever seen him. She walked up to him, touching the sleeve of his jacket, and he seemed almost surprised to find her there.
‘Tough afternoon?’
He nodded. ‘Yeah. I lost a patient.’
That was hard for any doctor. For one working in Paediatrics, there was an even keener edge to the blow. ‘I heard there was an accident.’
He nodded, not meeting her gaze. ‘A little boy. The paramedics had already revived him once in the ambulance, but he was failing fast by the time he got to the hospital. I couldn’t do anything.’
‘You tried, though.’
‘Yeah. I tried.’
There was nothing she could say to him that he didn’t already know. No way she could make this any better, because it was what it was. Along with all the young lives he saved, or made better, were the ones that Jon couldn’t save. The day that didn’t hurt was when any doctor should seriously think about changing their profession.
‘Have you eaten? I’ll make you something.’
‘Thanks, but...’ He shook his head. ‘I’m just going upstairs.’
He obviously wanted some time alone. Chloe walked back into the kitchen and put the kettle on, more for something to do than because she wanted a drink. Sitting down at the table and ignoring the click as the kettle boiled and then switched off, she waited.
Ten minutes. From the creak in the floorboards, just outside her bedroom door, she knew exactly where Jon was. Perhaps he didn’t want to be alone after all. Chloe walked upstairs, pausing at the open door of her bedroom. Sitting on the edge of the bed, one hand stretched so that his fingers were gently touching Amy’s, Jon was watching the little girl sleep.
When he saw her he got to his feet, whispering so as not to disturb Amy, ‘Sorry. The door was open...’
‘That’s okay. When I heard about the accident, I held her a little tighter.’
‘We have to protect her.’ Jon’s face was anguished.
‘We will.’ Now wasn’t the moment to point out that he didn’t have to do anything at all, it was her job to protect Amy. For the moment, at least, he was a part of that. Chloe moved towards him, her trembling fingers reaching out to hug him, but he drew back.
* * *
Jon knew that a lot of his colleagues went home and hugged their kids after a day like this. But the way he’d wanted to see Amy, to check that she was still breathing, and that the world could continue to turn, had taken him by surprise.
He and Helen had made an agreement never to bring their work home. He’d stuck by that as best he could, keeping moments like this away from the quiet, gleaming perfection of their house. But as soon as Chloe had tou
ched his arm, downstairs in the hallway, holding her had stopped being something he just wanted to do and had turned into something that he needed.