Secrets (Hope Bay) Read online

Mentally, she braced for some verbal abuse.

  “You shouldn’t give your number to strange men,” he said.

  Her mouth dropped open in surprise.

  “Even in country towns,” he continued. “Nor should you be offering rides to strange men, regardless of what happened.”

  She stared at him. Was he really warning her about personal safety? Especially after what she’d just done to him, however unwittingly?

  Still frowning, he glanced away as another car passed before returning his attention to her. Though his expression remained stern, his expression eased, the frown disappearing. “Be careful.”

  “Oh, I will.” She nodded quickly. “I’ll make sure to check before I open the door again.”

  “That also goes for strange men.” With that surprisingly firm order, he shut the door and bent to retrieve the bike.

  Silently, Emma watched him walk a few steps before he swung himself back on the bike and pedalled away, his brown hair catching a glint of sunlight

  Only then did she relax, slumping back against the seat. He hadn’t called the police, hadn’t made a fuss, and to be fair he hadn’t been nasty, either. It had been her fault.

  Blowing out a breath, she grabbed the steering wheel and put the car in gear, checking the traffic behind her before pulling out into the street and continuing to work.

  She had to pass him, however, and did so with definite care, unable to help glancing in the rear view mirror as she did so. His face was serious, firm jaw set, but he rode with a relaxed air. She hadn’t seen him around town before, so he had to be a tourist. This was one memory he wouldn’t want to take home with him, for sure.

  Indicating, she turned the corner and he was lost from sight. Relief filled her as she continued to the clinic. At least she’d probably never see him again.

  Still, she had to admit it had been a close call and a silly thing for her to do. It was a timely reminder. It could have been an older person or a child, and definitely could have been worse. He could have broken an arm or worse by simply landing the wrong way.

  It could also have been so much worse than simply his angry disapproval. And to be fair, he hadn’t verbally lashed out at her.

  Didn’t stop her from feeling two inches tall, however.

  Pulling in behind the clinic, yet another lovely old home that had been turned into a practice many years ago, she locked the car and walked through the back door into the hallway, turning into the kitchen on the right that was put aside for the staff. Her gaze fell on the ‘fridge and she realised that she’d forgotten to buy lunch.

  Knocking a man off his bike would do that to a girl.

  Ah well, she’d make do with the Sao biscuits and Vegemite that was always kept in the kitchen for snacks. It was another yummy option.

  Placing her handbag in the cupboard set aside for the staff to use for their belongings, she spotted the plastic bag sitting on the bench with her name on it.

  Opening it, she pulled out one of the three pale blue, button-up shirts and shook it out, holding it up to appreciate the tiny checked pattern at the neckline. ‘Hope Bay Clinic’ was embroidered on the right shoulder.

  “Good morning.” Harriet, the receptionist, entered the room holding a steaming mug of coffee. “See you found your new uniform tops.”

  “Yep. Thanks for that.” Emma’s nose wrinkled a little. “Sorry you had to get them altered. Those available on the rack were a little too small for my above-average build.”

  “No worries. Those old work shirts were falling apart. Can’t have you coming to work naked.”

  “That’d clear out the waiting room in five seconds.”

  “You’re not that big.”

  “I’m not that small.”

  Harriet flapped a hand in the air. “Stop gabbing and try it on.”

  Disappearing into the bathroom, Emma whipped off the shirt she was wearing and slipped the uniform top on. Stepping back, she studied herself in the mirror. The shirt actually fitted nicely, for which she was grateful. Not too big at the top, fitting nicely at the bottom, it gave her some shape in comparison to some uniform tops she’d had to wear in the past. It even covered the generous curve of her bum. Teamed with the navy blue slacks, she looked professional.

  Doc Armand’s seamstress cousin could sew, no doubt about it. Maybe she’d see her about making some other clothes. Lord knew buying plus-size clothes wasn’t always easy or cheap, not if you wanted clothes with pretty little prints rather than big blocky flowers and squares. Hope Bay didn’t have much in the way of clothing stores and size options.

  When she came out of the bathroom and pirouetted for Harriet, the receptionist nodded approvingly. “Nice.”

  “Thanks. I feel more part of the practice now.”

  “We could be twins,” Harriet agreed.

  Emma looked wryly at the skinny, elderly receptionist in her neat skirt and dark blue top. “Absolutely.”

  “Oh, one other thing.” Harriet held up a little gold badge. “It’s new. Arrived last night after you left.”

  Taking the gold badge, Emma read, “‘Nurse Emma.’”

  “Doc’s into friendly.”

  “He sure is. His badge reads ‘Doc’.”

  “Man of few words.” Harriet gave a snort of laughter.

  “Did I hear my name taken in vain?” Doc’s grey head popped around the corner of the door. “Looking good, Em.”

  “Thanks, Doc.”

  “We’ve got a full book this morning, girls. Gotta get our skates on.”

  Harriet peered at him over the tops of her glasses.

  “Of course, you have it all in hand,” he said.

  “When don’t I?”

  Emma grinned.

  “Don’t laugh,” Harriet drawled. “You’ve got the Harper twins for their vaccinations this morning.”

  “It’s all good.”

  This time it was her turn to get Harriet’s scrutiny.

  “It’s all bad?”

  “You’ve not met the twins.”

  “I’m taking it that’s a good thing?”

  Doc and Harriet exchanged smirks.

  “Right.” A sense of foreboding filled Emma.

  As they all entered the hallway, Doc said, “Oh, by the way, remember the surprise I mentioned a couple of weeks ago?”

  “Remember?” Harriet replied. “I’ve been trying to find out what it is with no luck.”

  Doc looked reprovingly at her.

  “Hey, you said surprise. I had to know.”

  “And did you find out?”

  Harriet’s mouth turned down. “No.”

  “Good. This has been a top-secret surprise. I’d have been very disappointed if it had come out.”

  “Now you’re going to put us out of our misery?” Emma queried.

  “Lunch time.” His eyes twinkled.

  That was one of the things she loved about her boss. Easy-going, happy, and definitely a father-figure to a lot of his patients.

  “You’re not retiring, are you?” Harriet squinted at him.

  Emma’s heart jumped with sudden dread. “Doc, you’re not?”

  “Are you both nuts?” He rolled his eyes. “Where do you get these crazy ideas from, Harriet? And Emma, stop looking like someone stole your favourite toy. I am not retiring.”

  “All right, then.” Harriet walked down the hallway to the front, entering the waiting room to take up her usual position behind the desk.

  “Whew.” Emma wiped the back of her hand across her forehead. “You scared me there for a minute.”

  “No, Harriet scared you.” Doc patted her shoulder fondly. “You’re all right, Emma. You’ll be just fine.”

  She looked suspiciously at him.

  “Trust me,” he said. “Now we gotta move our backsides. Skates on, kid, here we go!”

  He wasn’t kidding.

  Being the only nurse in the doctor’s practice kept Emma busy. Along with the list of appointments made that she had to deal with, she also got
the odd patient added by Doc needing attention that couldn’t wait for a treatment room appointment.

  The morning passed swiftly. Ensconced in the treatment room with the two reclining examination chairs, a desk with a computer, a filing cabinet containing information handouts and educational pamphlets, a small ‘fridge containing a handful of vaccines and other medical equipment needing to be kept cool, and cupboards containing dressing packs and a myriad of other equipment, along with a sink for hand washing, Emma felt right at home. It was her own domain, and Doc let her have free rein over it.

  Her work was mostly in the treatment room, but she also assisted Doc in the small OT room - the place where he stitched up wounds, removed lesions, inserted or removed IUDs and contraception implants, and whatever else could be done in a small OT. When the situation required it, she was also the chaperone in his consult room. She also kept track of the temperature of the vaccination ‘fridge in the store room, along with ordering stores and keeping everything stocked with which Harriet also helped.

  The Harper twins proved to be a handful. When they arrived they weren’t well-behaved - jumping up and down, squealing, and basically hyped up on sugar. It was pretty easy to see, considering the half empty bag of lollies Charlotte held.

  “Such energetic little things,” she explained, watching her off-spring almost ping off the walls as they tried to inspect everything in sight.

  Personally, Emma thought the twins needed more loving discipline and less loving spoiling, especially when Charlotte simply admired her little darlings’ antics while they refused to sit still and even attempted to open some of the cupboards and paw through the contents.

  That’s when Emma drew the line.

  “Close the doors, Johnny,” she said firmly, pausing in the drawing up of the vaccine he was due.

  “I’m just looking,” he whined.

  “This is a doctor’s practice, not your home.”

  “But-”

  “Now, Johnny, honey,” Charlotte said. “Be a good boy and Mummy will take you to the toy shop after.”

  Bottom lip thrust out, Johnny kicked the door shut.

  Taking a deep breath, Emma continued drawing up the vaccine.

  Jenny stuck her tongue out at her brother and he retaliated by pulling her pigtail, resulting in a full-on howl from his sister.

  Charlotte flapped around, Johnny sniggered and Jenny kept howling.

  “You first.” Emma pointed at Johnny.

  He eyed the needle. “It’s going to hurt, isn’t it?”

  Only if she used the blunt drawing up needle, but apparently that was against the rules, so Emma played the other card. “I thought you were a big boy.”

  “I am a big boy.”

  “So show your little sister how brave you are.”

  He glanced at Jenny who was peeking at him from the shelter of Charlotte’s arms.

  “Watch your big brother, Jenny,” Emma said.

  Now that everyone was looking, Johnny had to save face. He sat down and presented his arm, but Emma could see the uncertainty in his eyes even though he gave his sister a smirk.

  No problem, she had another bargaining tool.

  “See this chart?” She pointed to a bright pink sheet of cardboard paper on the wall with the month printed on it and ‘Star Chart’ written above it.

  He nodded.

  “See all those names?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Those are all the kids who get a vaccination here. If they’re good, I put a gold star beside their name when we’re done.”

  Now he was interested. Jenny’s head lifted from the shelter of her mother’s arms.

  “If you stay nice and still while I give this to you,” Emma continued, “I’ll put a gold star beside your name, too.”

  His eyes widened. “My name is up there?”

  “Only if you want it to be.”

  “I do! And a gold star!”

  “Me, too!” Pulling away from Charlotte, Jenny bounced on her toes.

  “Then you have to sit quietly while I give it. Oh.” She held up a finger. “You also have to sit quietly in the waiting room after the vaccination for fifteen minutes to make sure you feel okay.”

  He nodded vigorously, hair flopping into his eyes.

  While the twins were awed at the thought of gold stars beside their names, Emma quickly gave them their vaccinations. After safely disposing of the sharps, she entered the vaccination details in their vaccination records before writing their names on the chart and letting them stick a gold star beside their names.

  As they started to bounce around again, she held up a finger. “One minute, Harper kids.”

  They looked at her, Johnny grinning cheekily as he toed the corner of the cupboard.

  “If you don’t sit quietly in the waiting room, I’ll know, and guess what?”

  “What?” He asked cheekily.

  “The gold stars come off.”

  Both their eyes widened.

  “Oh, I’m sure they’ll be good,” Charlotte said immediately.

  “I’m sure they will,” Emma agreed.

  Johnny looked mutinous, while Jenny’s nose screwed up.

  “After fifteen minutes, I will come and get you and you can come back and see that the gold stars remain in place.”

  For a second she thought her plan was going to fall apart, but then Johnny shrugged. “Okay.”

  “I’ll be listening.”

  Jenny giggled and poked her tongue at Johnny, who reached for her pigtail again. Both of them glanced sideways at her in a silent dare.

  Little buggers.

  Charlotte started. “Now, dears, be good children. Show the nice nurse how good you can be. Be good and I’ll buy you some more lollies.”

  Emma simply reached for the star beside Johnny’s name and he stopped, hand frozen mid reach.

  “Your choice,” she said mildly.

  His hand slid an inch further towards his waiting sister.

  Emma started to pick the star off the chart.

  “I’m good!” He burst out.

  “Then you need to prove that your star deserves to stay up here.”

  Frowning, he shoved his hands into his pockets. “It does. It stays up there.”

  “Then go and sit quietly. I’ll bring you back. If you’ve done as you chose, the star will still be up there. The same goes for you, Jenny,” Emma added, when she saw the little girl’s tongue start to poke out again.

  Jenny’s eyes filled with tears.

  Ah, the tears. Wasn’t going to work. Emma simply raised one eyebrow.

  “We’ll wait in the waiting room, shall we?” Charlotte said brightly. “My two good little children! Come on.”

  Emma waited until they walked out and then rolled her eyes. Mummies and their precious darlings who caused havoc for everyone else were among her least favourite patients. Common courtesy and manners just didn’t seem to be in the day’s vocabulary anymore. It was up to the parents to teach the kids, and many did, but sometimes…

  Well, sometimes. There were a lot of well-deserved gold stars beside the various names on her Star Chart.

  Not all kids were brats.

  And God bless gold stars.

  Knowing that fifteen minutes for kids like Johnny and Jenny was a long time, Emma made sure she walked past the waiting room doorway regularly to give them nods of approval and impressed expressions, which succeeded in inflating the little darlings’ egos and made them sit straighter, determined to keep their gold stars. It also meant their attention was more focussed on the doorway and not on each other, thereby helping to divert disaster.

  When fifteen minutes had passed, the twins had triumphantly pointed out their gold stars still up on the Star Chart, and Harriet and Emma watched them walk out, Harriet commented admiringly, “Magic, Emma, pure magic.”

  “Bribery,” Emma replied. “Pure bribery.”

  “Worked better than Charlotte’s bribery.”

  Emma shook her head when she saw
Johnny shove Jenny. “I am so glad I’ve got a cat and not a kid.”

  “Not all kids are like that,” Harriet replied.

  Jenny punched Johnny’s arm.

  “Thank goodness.” Emma sighed as Charlotte ignored the fight brewing and continued to open the door of the car, attempting to get the children into the car by wheedling and, no doubt, further bribing.

  Emma just couldn’t watch anymore when Charlotte openly started pleading and the twins fought their way into the back seat.

  Returning to the treatment room, she stopped in the doorway to see Doc with his back to her as he studied the Star Chart. Pulling a pen from his pocket, he wrote ‘Doc’ beneath the Harper twins’ names and stuck two gold stars beside his name.

  She laughed.

  “Hey.” He glanced over his shoulder. “I’m the boss. I deserve two stars.”

  “Doc, being the boss doesn’t mean two stars.”

  “Hey,” he repeated, “I had a tetanus shot last week, that entitles me to stars.”

  “One star for one shot.”

  “I’m also old. That entitles me to another star for surviving the shot.”

  “Okay, then.” Plucking a pencil from the holder on her desk, Emma walked to the chart, wrote ‘Nurse Emma’ and placed three gold stars beside her name.

  “What?” Doc pointed at the chart. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means I deserve three stars for wielding the vaccinations, giving the vaccinations, and dealing with spoilt kids and one boss. Technically that’s four stars but I’m not greedy.”

  Doc thought for a minute then shook his head. “I can’t argue with that.”

  She winked at him.

  Laughing, he left the room.

  Grinning, Emma rubbed her name off the chart and picked the stars off. She was half tempted to leave it there, but it was the kids’ chart.

  She was eyeing Doc’s name and wondering how to get the ink off without rubbing right through the thick paper when she heard Harriet accosting him in the hallway.

  “All right,” Harriet said. “What’s this surprise?”

  “I told you, lunchtime.”

  “Lunchtime’s no surprise. We all know about lunchtime.”

  “Ha ha. I’ll tell you at lunch time.”

  “Take a look at the clock, Doc.”

  There was silence, then, “Ah. It’s lunchtime.”