Robyn’s son William and Mickey went to the same kindergarten and loved playing together.
Robyn shook her head, then groaned.
‘What’s up?’
‘Nothing. A bit of a headache.’
Karina studied the thirty-nine-year-old as she took a seat. Robyn was here for her regular blood pressure check-up. ‘Where’s this headache?’
‘Behind my left eye.’ Robyn rolled up her sleeve, ready to have her blood pressure read. ‘Is Mickey enjoying kindy?’
‘I think so.’
I don’t want to go to kindy.
‘William can’t stop talking about Ben.’
‘Ben?’ Karina asked.
‘The new boy,’ Robyn explained. ‘He joined a few weeks ago and William seems very taken with him.’
Maybe that explained Mickey’s not wanting to go to kindergarten. William had a new friend and Mickey felt left out. It was inevitable, Karina supposed. William was highly intelligent for a young boy, whereas Mickey had learning difficulties.
The relief at finding a possible reason for Mickey’s angst about kindy was enormous.
‘Right, Robyn, how long have you had this headache?’
‘Since before I left home.’
‘What about your eyesight? Any blurriness? Double vision?’
Robyn started looking worried. ‘Funny you ask that. I had to keep blinking to see properly as I parked the car. I’m not seeing too straight now either. The headache’s getting worse. Like bad.’
Karina didn’t want to panic Robyn. ‘Stay there. I won’t be a moment.’
At Logan’s door she knocked.
‘You’re needed urgently.’
Logan joined her immediately. ‘What’s up?’
Quickly filling him in, she asked, ‘Could it be a brain aneurysm?’
‘It’s possible. What’s her history?’
‘High blood pressure treated with statins. I’ll read her BP now.’
Logan strode into her room, crossing immediately to Robyn. ‘I’m Logan, standing in for David. Karina tells me you’ve got a sudden, sharp headache and double vision. Anything else out of the ordinary?’
He didn’t muck about.
Karina wrapped the cuff around Robyn’s arm and felt her trembling.
‘I feel a bit sleepy.’ Robyn blinked again and again.
Logan asked, ‘Have you been taking aspirin in the last day or two?’
‘No.’
‘Any other drugs apart from your statins?’
‘No.’
‘I’m going to examine your eyes.’ Logan looked around for an ophthalmoscope, opened the drawer Karina indicated. ‘Try to hold as still as possible. The light can be annoying, I’m sorry.’
‘BP’s high.’ Karina wrote down the figures and showed him.
Pulling out a chair, Logan sat opposite a now very distressed Robyn. ‘I don’t want you to panic but you’re going to hospital.’ He looked briefly to Karina. ‘Can you call an ambulance? Stat one.’
As Karina picked up the phone and punched triple one, Logan returned his attention to his patient, acting and sounding like the complete professional he was, showing no signs of urgency when he must be desperate to have Robyn on her way to hospital.
‘The sudden sharp headache, double vision and what I see in your eyes suggests to me that you might be having a small bleed on the brain.’
The last of the colour in Robyn’s face drained away. ‘Am I going to die?’
‘You’ve come in very early on, which is good. In hospital they’ll do a CT scan and some blood clotting tests to find out if it is a bleed or not.’
Logan spoke slowly and softly, pausing after each sentence for Robyn to ask questions, but she appeared too busy digesting what was happening.
After organising the ambulance Karina said, ‘Robyn, do you want me to ring Tony so he can go with you?’
‘Please. And the school won’t know where I am either. I should be there by now.’ Tears spilled down Robyn’s face.
‘I’ll call them. I won’t say anything other than you’re too unwell to attend today. Tony can keep them posted.’
Out in Reception Karina told Leeann what was happening before asking, ‘Can I borrow you to help me shift a bed at lunchtime?’
‘No problem.’
Going into the doctor’s consulting room, she found Luke Browning—still waiting for Logan to finish his check-up. ‘Won’t be too long now, Luke.’
‘No worries. I’ve got all morning.’
‘How are those babies? Still waking you and Liz for feeds throughout the night?’
Luke and his wife had finally had triplets after their third IVF treatment, and they had to be the most loved babies on the planet. Karina had lots of cuddles with them whenever they came in for check-ups, and every time she wondered if she was wrong to think she could stay single and not have children of her own. But she loved Mickey as though he were hers. So what was her problem?
The sound of a siren cut off any further conversation. Karina met the paramedics at the back door and took them directly to her room, where Logan gave them the rundown while she helped Robyn onto the stretcher.
‘Take care.’
Minutes later the medical centre returned to calm, and Logan picked up from where he’d been interrupted, but it was well after midday before they caught up with their patient list. Fortunately it was mostly a day of flu and tummy bugs and drug prescriptions and nothing else eventful.
Karina felt drained of energy and it was barely lunchtime. Getting up to Mickey so often had caught up with her.
* * *
Logan paused in the doorway to Karina’s domain at the surgery. Sitting at her desk, hunched over a file, she looked tiny. With her big heart and exuberant personality he sometimes forgot how small she was. Even in his less-than-fit state it would be easy to scoop her up into his arms and hold her against his chest, kissing her senseless before exploring every inch of skin on that to-die-for body. After he’d carried her to his bed, of course.
Bed. With Karina curled into him.
Bed. Duh... That was why he was here. ‘Why did I just see a bed being taken across our lawn and into the house?’
The stunned look on her sweet face told him she hadn’t known he was there.
‘What?’
Then that cute pink filtered into her cheeks. Embarrassed? Or guilty?
‘Who was carrying it?’
‘Mr Grumpy and a wheelbarrow.’
She leapt out of her chair. ‘That man needs telling off. I told him not to do it. It’s too heavy for him.’
‘I don’t believe it. You told Jonty not to do something? Talk about challenging him. He was always going to do it from the moment you opened your mouth.’ He grinned at her mortification.
Her pearly whites showed between her lips as she sucked in a breath. ‘Guess my brain was in sleep mode.’
Sleep... Bed... Go, damn it. His brain was fixed on sex—with Karina.
‘You haven’t answered the question. There are more than enough beds in our house. Why another one?’
The pink shade darkened to a rosy red. Those teeth dug into her bottom lip so hard it must hurt.
‘It’s going in the lounge.’
That drove away all thought of sex. ‘You’re setting up a bed for me to sleep on in front of the fire?’ Like that was going to happen. Damn her for interfering. These were his nightmares, his problem. Not Karina’s.
‘Yes.’
Defiance glared out at him from under those long eyelashes to which she’d applied a load of mascara.
‘Don’t bother making it up. I won’t use it.’ If he lay down there he’d have a nightmare just as surely as he would back in the bedroom.
/> Tidying the files into a neat pile, Karina pushed out from the desk and stood. ‘Lunchtime. Do you want soup and toast?’
Even as she asked she was heading out of the room.
Following her, he shook his head at her back view. ‘You’re avoiding the subject.’
‘Not at all. But we’ve only got half an hour before we need to be back here. I can’t sit around talking all day.’
‘Why do you do this? Switch off when the conversation isn’t going your way?’
It was like trying to discuss the house with her—impossible. When Karina made her mind up about something there was no getting through to her that there might be another solution. One that suited both of them.
Of course she didn’t bother answering his last question.
As he reached the back porch Jonty was just leaving. His face was pale and he was yawning.
‘Are you all right?’ Logan asked. Had that bed weighed too much for the stubborn old man?
‘Of course I am.’ Jonty shuffled down the steps and began to stomp away.
‘Jonty, there’s a stomach bug doing the rounds. If you’re feeling ill it would pay to have a check-up in case you’ve caught it.’