The Children's Doctor's Special Proposal

‘Yes.’

‘Good.’ Rhys gave her the number for the direct line to the ward. ‘I’m Dr Rhys Morgan. Ask for me—or if I’m not back from the emergency department you can speak to the senior sister, Lynne Brearley. Right now my senior house officer’s with Denise and keeping her calm, but Denise really needs someone she knows with her as soon as possible.’

‘Is she going to be all right?’

‘She’s comfortable,’ Rhys said dryly.

‘Um. Data protection.’

He’d just bet the woman’s face was bright red. And right at that moment he didn’t have much sympathy with her. ‘Indeed. Thank you for your help. And I’d appreciate it if you could call someone for Denise right now.’

When he got back to the ward, Lynne accosted him.

‘I’ve just put the phone down to Denise’s grandparents. They’re on their way in,’ she said. ‘You’re a star.’

‘Hey, I’m not the one who’s managed to make a little girl feel that the whole world hasn’t completely collapsed on her. Our Katrina’s the one who deserves the credit.’

‘She’s so good with the little ones. Really lights up their world,’ Lynne said.

She lit up his world, too. And Rhys decided that he would tell her that night.

CHAPTER TEN

‘THAT poor little girl,’ Katrina said later that evening as they left the hospital. ‘Just as well her grandparents are going to be able to look after her while her mum’s in hospital.’

‘She’s going to be in for observations for a few days yet,’ Rhys reminded her.

‘It was lucky she was on the same side as her mum, strapped into her car seat in the back of the car rather than the front,’ Katrina said. ‘Ed in the emergency department told me the car was pretty much flattened on the passenger side.’ They’d also learned that Denise’s mother had taken the brunt of the damage, with internal injuries, a broken arm and collarbone and a broken leg.

‘And why do I get the feeling that a certain doctor is going to be spending her lunch breaks taking Denise to visit her mother?’ Rhys asked wryly.

Katrina spread her hands. ‘You could pull rank and tell me not to.’

‘You’d simply ignore me and do it anyway,’ Rhys said. ‘So I’m not going to waste my breath.’

‘Good, you’re learning.’ She paused. ‘Rhys, you’re working on Christmas Day, too, aren’t you?’

He nodded. ‘It’s not fair to make staff with children do it when they could be at home with their kids.’

Her view exactly. Although she missed spending the day with her family, there weren’t any children to be disappointed by her absence and she usually managed either an early or a late celebration with her parents instead. ‘I wondered if you were going back to Wales for Christmas.’

He shrugged. ‘I’m perfectly happy here in London. Maybe we could spend the evening together after our shift.’

Part of Katrina was delighted that Rhys wanted to spend the holiday season with her, but part of her realised how estranged he was from his family, if he wasn’t even planning to see them at the time of year when most people made the effort to see their families. It was a far cry from her relationship with her own family, whose closeness more than made up for its small size. She usually managed to get home once a month to see her parents, whereas Rhys hadn’t returned to Wales to see his family ever since she’d known him. And as far as she knew he hadn’t spoken to his parents in weeks, whereas she spoke to hers or had a conversation by text or email at least every other day.

Or maybe she’d got it wrong. Maybe this was his way of asking her to spend time with him and meet his family. ‘Is your family coming up to see you in London?’

‘I doubt it.’

She couldn’t quite get her head around that. ‘But surely they’ll want to see you at Christmas?’

‘I doubt it,’ he said again. His voice had become very cool, warning her to leave it alone.

But how could she? If Rhys was estranged from his family, that was probably why he was so reserved, she was sure. In his shoes, barely on speaking terms with her family, she’d be utterly miserable.

So maybe she could help him heal the breach. ‘How do you know unless you ask?’

He gave her an exasperated look as they reached her front door. ‘I just do.’ He paused. ‘You know what, Katrina? I think I’ll go back to my place, tonight. On my own.’

On his own? Katrina felt her eyes widen. She really hadn’t expected him to react like this, to push her away. ‘But, Rhys—’

‘Just leave it, Katrina,’ he cut in quietly. ‘I need some space. Not every family’s like yours, you know. And some things are best left as they are. Trust me on this.’