Mickey fought her as she removed his soiled clothing and pulled on a new set. ‘Why can’t I stay with Mr Grumpy?’
‘Because I said so.’ Huh? She glanced over her shoulder, looking for her mother, who’d used that exact expression and tone to her so often as she was growing up.
Wherever the words came from, they worked. Mickey quietened down and helped pull his sweatshirt on. When his head popped through the top she grabbed him into a hug, placed a hand on his forehead to check his temperature and gave him a kiss.
‘That’s my boy.’
When Karina returned to the medical centre after dropping David and Mickey at their destinations, she found everyone quietly waiting for their turn with Logan. According to Leeann, the receptionist, he’d explained the situation to them and was now busy familiarising himself with the computer system in the consulting room.
Leeann had made tea and coffee for those patients who wanted it. ‘Keeping them happy!’ She grinned at Karina.
‘Go, you.’
She found Logan in David’s room.
‘Anything you need a hand with?’ she asked.
‘I can’t find the lab forms.’ His brow was furrowed, making him look studious. He’d scrubbed up darned well, looking very debonair in a crisp white shirt.
Leaning over his shoulder, she showed him which file he needed and watched until he opened it. His hair, hanging over his collar, was damp from his hurried shower. He smelled of soap. How she managed not to run her hand over his head she’d never know. Stepping back quickly, she drew oxygen into her lungs and tried to act as if she felt light-headed every day.
‘Karina? You’re not feeling ill, too?’
The concern in his tone would have been warming if it hadn’t embarrassed her because of what she was thinking.
‘I’m fine.’ When he narrowed his eyes she sped to the door and escape. ‘Call me if you need anything.’
She’d be hiding in her room, folding towels and ordering swabs, hoping Logan didn’t twig to her completely unprofessional behaviour.
To be reacting to a man at all was unusual for her. To be doing so at work, when he’d stepped in for her colleague, was wrong. Her phone rang, thankfully diverting her from all thoughts of Logan and on to laboratory results.
The problem with that was hearing that young Sarah Griggs’s haemoglobin was far too low, and the blood film suggested severe iron deficiency. Now Karina had to discuss this with Logan in between John Gainsborough getting a repeat prescription for statins and Colleen Murphy limping badly from a pulled muscle at the back of her knee after a rough netball game.
‘The lab’s running tests on Sarah’s blood for iron levels and will send them through the moment they’re ready,’ she told him.
‘With a haemoglobin of seventy she needs a blood transfusion, not to mention finding the cause of her anaemia.’ Logan brought up Sarah’s file on the screen. ‘She doesn’t appear to have any previous history of iron deficiency. I wonder what her diet’s like? She seems too young for a bleeding ulcer, but it’s not impossible.’
He ran through the options and asked a couple of questions about whom to contact at the hospital for follow-up tests.
After showing him the contacts list, Karina said, ‘I’ll tell your next patient there’ll be another delay.’
Logan had to phone Sarah’s mother pronto.
* * *
The afternoon progressed with everyone feeling they were continuously taking two steps forward and one back. By the time Logan saw his last patient out, Karina knew he was shattered. Those shadows under his eyes were now big black patches, while the lines defining the corners of his mouth appeared deeper. Her heart squeezed. Lack of sleep was catching up with him.
Quietly she said, ‘Time to lock up and go see Mickey. He’ll be beside himself with wanting to be with us.’
Jonty had collected him from kindy and was staying with him.
Logan’s dark, thick eyebrows rose as if she’d made a blunder, but all he said was, ‘I’m surprised he hasn’t been banging the door down to get in here to find his Karina.’
‘And his Uncle Logan.’
‘He hasn’t called me that yet. I doubt he understands the concept of what an uncle is.’
Karina nudged him towards the door. ‘Let’s get out of here before the phone rings again.’
It had been quiet for at least five minutes. Unbelievable.
Punching in the security code, she told him, ‘Mickey knows more than you realise. James spent a lot of time explaining where you fitted into his family.’
‘Of course he did. What was I thinking?’
He tried to stifle a yawn, but in the light flooding the yard from the high-intensity security lights Karina saw the telltale strain of his mouth and jaw.
She slipped her arm through his and headed for the back door. ‘Roast chicken for dinner. Hope you like it?’
‘Sounds delicious. I haven’t had a roast for years.’ He pressed her arm against his side. ‘Why are we out here when you’ve got an internal door between the surgery and the private part of the house?’
‘The insurance company demands that door stays locked. Anyway, I prefer keeping both domains separate. Home and work.’
‘Fair enough.’ He opened the back door and stepped back as Mickey rushed past him and leapt at her.
‘Kar—ina, where’ve you been? I don’t like kindy any more.’
Whoomph. Karina gasped and staggered backwards as a tornado of arms and legs wrapped around her. ‘Sweetheart—steady.’
What was this about kindy? Usually he couldn’t wait to get there.
‘Careful, my boy.’ Logan’s hand spread across her back, pressing forward to keep her upright. ‘You’ve got to be gentle with ladies.’
‘He does?’ She blinked up at the man and leaned harder against his warm hand.
He instantly dropped his arm and muttered, ‘Basic training in the male-female relationship. Always look out for the lady.’
Thankfully Mickey squirmed to get down just then, distracting her so that she didn’t have to think of a reply—if one was needed.
‘Logan, can we dig some more on the drive?’
‘It’s Uncle Logan, Mickey. And no, it’s too dark and cold to be outside. We’ll get back to the job at the weekend.’
‘I want to do it now.’
‘No, Mickey, we can’t.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because it’s late and I’m tired.’ Logan’s jaw was tense.
Mickey stared at him. ‘You have to go to bed.’ Then he wandered away to watch TV.
Karina headed for the kitchen, tossing over her shoulder at Logan, ‘Go easy on him. He’s still trying to get his head around the concept that Mummy and Daddy aren’t here to play with him.’
He followed her. ‘I’m a doctor, and I understand totally what’s happened to them, and I still can’t get my head around it. James was thirty-seven, with a son to live for. I’m two years younger and running solo. Life’s very unfair.’
‘It’s incomprehensible.’ Without thinking she placed her hand on his forearm, her fingers pressing into his jersey-clad muscles. ‘That’s how it is at times.’
Logan leaned back to peer down at her. ‘You haven’t had an easy time of things, have you? In your own life, I mean?’
She couldn’t answer around the tears suddenly blocking her throat so she backed away, opened the oven to check on the chicken and the vegetables. Everything was browning perfectly and the succulent smell of roast meat filled the air. Thank goodness for oven timers.
Above her head, Logan murmured, ‘I’ll set the table.’
‘Don’t forget Jonty,’ she managed.
He was in the lounge, watching the news and keeping an eye on the fire.
‘Karina?’ Logan hadn’t moved away. ‘I’m sorry if I’ve inadvertently upset you.’
Closing the oven door, she headed for the freezer to get a packet of peas. ‘No problem.’
Where had those tears come from? It had been a long while since she’d shed tears for her broken marriage. Coming home after a hectic day at work, with Logan beside her, Mickey eager to see her; all had conspired to give her a sense of longing so deep it frightened her. Longing for what she’d once thought she’d have with Ian. Longing to love someone, to be loved in return. A deep yearning for a baby. A family of her own. Which was plain stupid. She had a child—a boy who needed her so much it hurt at times. Mickey was her family.
‘It’s me who should be apologising. I don’t know where that sadness came from.’ Liar. She did know; but not why now, here, with Logan. She felt lost. She hadn’t done lost for a long time.
Catching her elbow, Logan turned her to face him. ‘Don’t ever apologise for your emotions. Especially not to me. You are entitled to cry, to feel sad, angry, or whatever grips you at that moment. You don’t always have to laugh and smile.’