The Children's Doctor's Special Proposal

‘Rhys, I’m—’

But he’d already turned and was striding purposefully away down the street.

Katrina let herself indoors, but didn’t bother cooking anything. She’d lost her appetite.

How could she have misjudged this so badly?

She was tempted to ring him, to apologise for pushing him too hard, but she had a feeling that he’d meant exactly what he’d said.

He needed space.

And the best thing she could do right now was accept that. Take him at his word. Give him what he needed.

Even though it made her miserable.

It was the first night they’d spent apart in ages. Katrina slept badly, missing the warmth of his arms round her and wishing she’d never opened her mouth. For the first time she could remember, she actually felt deaf. Cut off from everyone. Rhys was quiet, but his presence had filled the house.

She missed his music.

Missed his slow, sexy smile.

Missed him.

Rhys, too, spent a bad night. And although he was tempted to call Katrina as he sat drinking coffee in his kitchen at 6:00 a.m., knowing that like him she’d be awake, he also knew that she found the telephone difficult—he’d watched her at work talking to a patient’s relative on the phone, pressing the earpiece as close as possible to her right ear and switching her hearing aid off in the left so she wasn’t distracted by the noise of the ward.

No, a phone call wasn’t the right thing to do. There was a better way. He flicked into the text service of his mobile phone and tapped out a message. Katrina, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. See you at work. Will apologise properly in person. R x

Half an hour later, his phone beeped to signal her reply. I’m sorry too. Was too pushy. See you later. K x

She’d added a smiley face.

So she forgave him. She’d even taken part of the blame herself, though it hadn’t been her fault. That, he thought, was a lot more than he deserved.

Katrina was her usual professional self with him at work when they did the ward rounds together, and, as he’d expected she was unavailable at lunchtime because she’d grabbed a chocolate bar and taken little Denise to the general ward in a wheelchair to visit her mother. Which was fine by him, because it meant he had enough time to go and buy something. Strictly speaking, he knew he ought to give her a floral apology—but if he brought a huge bouquet onto the ward and then Katrina left with it, tongues would start wagging. He didn’t want his personal life being the subject of hospital gossip and he knew how much she’d hated being talked about at her previous hospital when she’d split up with Pete, so he chose something rather less obvious than flowers—but something he hoped she’d like as much.

When their shifts had finished, he caught up on some paperwork while Katrina did her usual end-of-day story in the children’s playroom, and timed it so that he walked out of his office at the same time that she left the playroom.

‘Can I have a quick word?’ he asked.

‘Sure.’ She allowed him to shepherd her back into his office and close the door behind them.

‘I, um, wondered if I could take you to dinner at Mezze tonight. If you’re not busy. To say sorry.’

‘Rhys, you don’t have to do that.’

‘I’d like to. And I want to apologise properly…which is a bit difficult here, under the eagle eyes of our colleagues.’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘So are you free?’

She smiled. ‘Yes. Thank you. And I’d love to go to Mezze.’

‘Good.’

He waited until they were seated at the restaurant and had ordered a pile of different dishes to share—all Katrina’s favourites—before he gave her the paper carrier bag.

Her eyes widened as she saw the name on the outside. ‘Rhys, these are hideously expensive!’

‘But you like them?’

She smiled. ‘I love them. They’re my absolute favourite chocolates—the kind of thing I buy as a birthday treat. Thank you. But you really didn’t have to.’

‘Yes, I did. I shouldn’t have lost my temper with you last night.’ He sighed. ‘Not everyone has the kind of close family you do, Katrina. And I guess I’m a bit sensitive about it.’

‘A bit?’ she asked mildly.

‘All right. Very,’ he admitted. ‘And I’m sorry.’

‘I was too pushy. So I’m as much to blame, which means you really need to share these with me,’ she said. Then she bit her lip. ‘Um. Speaking of being pushy…Look, I understand completely if you say no, but the thing is that Maddie’s having a big family Christmas do at hers. She wants me to go there as soon as I finish work on Christmas Day. My parents are coming up just for the day, because they know I normally work over the holiday—but having lunch at Maddie’s is a chance for them to see me too, and to meet Theo…and…’ She wriggled in her seat. ‘Look, there’s no pressure. If you prefer, I’ll introduce you to everyone as my friend and colleague who’s been on shift with me on Christmas Day. Everyone knows that Maddie, being Maddie, believes that the more the merrier. And…’ She took a deep breath. ‘I’m gabbling. Sorry. I just wondered if…if you’d go with me.’