The Midwife's Marriage Proposal (Lakeside Mountain Rescue 3)

Sally nodded and released him. ‘And what a great friend he is. I’d say you’re a pretty lucky boy. People choose who they’re friends with, and he chose you.’

James brushed the tears from his eyes and tried to stare along the path. ‘So what happens now?’

‘What happens now is that we’re going to get you down,’ Sally said firmly. ‘And then, if you want to talk a bit more about feeling as though you don’t belong, I’m your woman.’

CHAPTER SEVEN

‘HE’S still in surgery,’ Tom said, pacing the staffroom in the A and E department. ‘Are you sure it was a ruptured spleen?’

‘I’m an A and E consultant,’ Jack said mildly. ‘I think I can recognize the signs of a ruptured spleen. Presumably you can, too, which is why you cannulated the boy on the mountain and got him down here fast. I’m sure he’ll be fine.’

‘I hope he is,’ Sally said heavily, ‘or poor James is going to have even more to cope with than he does already. And he’s in a pretty sorry state.’

She’d stayed with him in A and E while Jack had checked him over and she’d stayed with him when his parents had arrived, full of relief and self-recrimination.

And there was no doubt in Sally’s mind that they loved James very much indeed.

‘Why couldn’t he have run away somewhere flat and boring?’ Jack said. ‘Why did he have to go halfway up a mountain in a howling gale?’

‘He was upset,’ Sally muttered, ‘and you can hardly blame the kid for that.’

She desperately hoped that Lester pulled through or that would be something else for James to deal with.

Wondering why life had to be so complicated, Sally left the A and E department and went back upstairs to the relatives’ room on the paediatric ward where she knew Lester’s parents were waiting, along with James and his parents.

They were sitting in a huddle, four untouched cups of coffee on the table in front of them.

The moment she entered they looked up anxiously, and Lester’s father rose to his feet.

‘Any news?’

‘Nothing yet,’ Sally said gently, ‘but they’ll tell you as soon as they can.’

‘It’s all my fault.’ James gave a sob and his mother made a distressed sound and pulled him into her arms.

‘No, it isn’t,’ she said firmly. ‘If it’s anyone’s fault it’s mine for not telling you sooner, or not telling you in a different way. I did it all wrong.’

But she wasn’t doing it wrong now.

Sally felt a lump build in her throat as she watched the woman cuddle the sobbing boy.

She was protecting him through something unpleasant. Wasn’t that what mothers were supposed to do?

Suddenly she badly needed to be on her own.

The whole incident had forced her to confront feelings that she’d buried for years, and she felt something catch in her chest.

Satisfied that her presence wasn’t needed and finding it all too difficult, she left the room silently and promptly bumped into Tom in the corridor.

‘He’s fine,’ he said quietly, his eyes searching her pale face. ‘I’ve just spoken to the surgical team. They’ve glued the spleen and checked him over. He’ll be in hospital for a few days, but he’s doing well.’

‘That’s good news.’ Sally managed a smile, genuinely relieved that the episode had a happy ending. ‘Go in and tell them.’

She went to move away from him but he caught her arm. ‘Sal …’

He knew.

He knew how she was feeling, just as he always had.