Just Friends to Just Married?

Duc put his head in his hands. He was shaking it. ‘I can’t believe something so basic isn’t in place.’ He glanced back up, an incredulous look on his face. ‘How come this wasn’t done before?’

Viv pressed her lips together. It wasn’t up to her to judge. She’d no right to. She was just an outsider here. All she knew was that some of the staff were out of their depth and dealing with cases that stretched their abilities. They didn’t have the back-up that was normally in place.

‘We need some safeguards.’ She put her hand on her chest. ‘And I need some safeguards. Have you thought about getting another obstetrician, or at least another midwife?’

Duc sighed. ‘Of course. But my hands have been tied with red tape that I don’t understand. I am so out of my depth I don’t even know which way to turn.’ He held up both hands. ‘This?’ He looked around. ‘This was just a place to come and help out. Do a few ward rounds, prescribe some antibiotics, help with the occasional clinic. Cover the on-call so my mum and dad could have a few nights together.’ He leaned back in his chair. ‘What I know about obstetrics I could write on the back of a postage stamp. I’ve spent the last two days panic-reading about emergency caesarean sections just in case it happens in the next few days.’

He shook his head. ‘Have you any idea how long it takes to advertise a post, check someone’s credentials, then wait for them to give notice at a previous post?’

Vivienne leaned across the desk towards him, put her head on her hand and raised one eyebrow, obviously waiting for the penny to drop.

After the briefest of seconds Duc realised what he’d said. ‘Yeah, sorry about that. Did I wreck your chances of ever getting another job with that health authority?’

Vivienne sat back and gave a half-hearted shrug. Truth was, she’d quite liked the place where she’d been working. The staff were pleasant enough, and she’d managed to rent a flat in a nice area. A flat that was now currently empty. Maybe she was getting old. It was the first time she’d ever really thought like that. ‘You know me,’ she answered flippantly. ‘Only take one job per health authority then I move on.’

‘Keep that up and you’ll eventually run out,’ said Duc. He was watching her carefully.

‘That’s why every now and then I throw a whole different country into the mix.’ She leaned right back and put her feet up on the table. ‘I was contemplating Ireland next. Probably Dublin. Anyway, I told my boss it was an unexpected family emergency. I might have left them in the lurch a little, but I’d just finished two weeks on call—and that’s definitely not allowed. I’d bent over backwards to help them cover shifts, and I worked hard.’

Duc’s eyes clouded a little. ‘Family,’ he said softly.

Vivienne gulped. ‘That’s what we are,’ she said simply. ‘At least, that’s what I think we are.’

She meant it. Getting into midwifery college at seventeen had been a blessing. A year later her adoptive parents had died and when she’d tried to track down her birth parents it hadn’t exactly been good news. Her birth mother had died from cancer years earlier and her father had spent his life in and out of prison. She didn’t have any idea where he was right now. When she’d qualified at age twenty, she’d taken every opportunity that had come her way.

Her salary was enough to rent somewhere reasonable in whatever city she took a job—some of the hospitals even had staff accommodation at reduced rates. Duc had been the one reliable, relatable friend she’d made along the way. Her ground level. The person she spoke to most. The person she always connected to.

It was odd. Although they’d visited before, she was now seeing Duc in a completely new light. It was clear he’d never seen himself as an integral part of May M?n hospital. His career aspirations had never been here. He’d always been focused on being a surgeon.

But now? With his parents dead, she did wonder if he might reconsider.

Duc gave her a sad smile. ‘Family. Yeah. It’s just you and me now. Maybe you should reconsider, I don’t know if I’m that lucky right now.’

He stood up, pushing his chair back, and headed for the door. As he reached the doorway he paused and looked back at her. The circles under his eyes were so dark. He was still hurting. Of course he was. She was supposed to be here to take some of the burden. Instead, she’d just come in and heaped a whole lot of trouble on top of him. What kind of a friend was she really?

‘After the will reading tomorrow,’ he said slowly, ‘I’ll get to some of this stuff. I will. I promise.’

He looked as though the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Tears brimmed in her eyes. She gave a stiff nod.

He’d just lost both parents. How on earth could she expect him to think straight? If she really wanted to be a friend, she was going to have to step up.

CHAPTER FIVE

THE LAWYER’S OFFICE was unfamiliar. It took three attempts to find the correct street. By the time he got there, his shirt was already sticking to his back.

Vivienne had agreed to come with him. She was wearing a thin, pale green long-sleeved blouse and dark skirt and heels—not her normal attire.

As she stepped out of the car, her long red curls swinging, he could see heads turn in her direction. There was something different about a woman’s walk when she wore heels. Viv didn’t walk. She strode. Every step accentuated the cinch of her waist, the swing of her hips and the curves of her breasts.

His footsteps hesitated and he pushed the thoughts from his head. Nerves. That was what this was. He didn’t think about Viv like this.

She moved to his side, fingers touching his arm and her orange blossom scent dancing through the air towards him. ‘Are you okay with this?’ Her voice was laced with concern.

He sucked in a breath. ‘I have to be. What other choice do I have? We just...never had the chance to talk about anything like this.’ His feet were rooted to the pavement. The air around him felt oppressive.

Viv moved her hand and interlocked their pinkies in their old trade-mark move. She gave him a soft smile. ‘Friends for life,’ she whispered.

He nodded, finding her words reassuring. ‘Friends for life,’ he repeated, and they walked up the stairs to the lawyer’s office.

The man was waiting for them. ‘Pleasure to meet you, Dr Nguyen. I am just sorry it’s under such sad circumstances. I knew your mother and father for many years. I am Henry Quang.’

He had a slight twang of an American accent. ‘Have you always worked here in Hanoi?’ asked Duc.

He shook his head. ‘I have offices in Washington, New York and Hanoi.’ Duc nodded. Now he understood why Quang’s name seemed Westernised. In normal circumstances he would have introduced himself slightly differently but, as Duc had found himself, constantly explaining why in Vietnam surnames, middles names and forenames came in a different order quickly became wearing.

The man gestured towards the seats across his desk. ‘Please, take a seat.’

Duc’s stomach gave an uncomfortable flip. This all felt so final. He’d spent most of the last week living in a weird kind of bubble. He kept expecting his parents to walk back through the door. His father to be sitting in his office. His mother to come beaming down the corridor to tell him about a delivery. Or either one of them to be sitting in the kitchen in the bungalow, sorting out medical cover for one of the other hospitals.

Now, sitting in their lawyer’s office, he knew things were finally coming to a head. This was it. This was where he had to stop playing make-believe.

‘I have to let you know that my mother and father and I never really had a chance to talk about their...plans.’

Quang gave a solemn nod. ‘Believe it or not, Mr Nguyen, that isn’t unusual. In a way, you’re lucky.’ He realised what he’d said and lifted one hand, rapidly shaking his head. ‘No, I didn’t mean it that way at all. What I mean is that your mother and father planned ahead. Because they had r

esponsibility for three different hospitals, they put plans in place.’

Part of him felt relieved. Maybe he’d been wrong to worry about things.

‘Okay.’

Viv gave him a kind of forced smile. It seemed he wasn’t the only one nervous in here.

The lawyer spread some papers across his desk, spinning them around to face Duc.

‘There are a number of properties. The three bungalows in the grounds of May M?n hospital, the hospital itself. The second hospital in Trà B?ng and the third in Uong Bi. They also have several other properties. An apartment near May M?n Hospital. A small house in the south of France and an apartment at Canary Wharf in London.’

Duc gave a nod. He knew about all these places.

‘Naturally, the ownership of all these properties passes to you, Duc.’