The Motherhood Mix-Up. Jennifer Taylor
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hurt them to smile when he came in, to wish him good morning even? Surely he wasn’t that much of an ogre that he not only scared little children but grown men and women as well?
The memory of how Harry had reacted to him had stayed with him and he found himself thinking about it again as the anaesthetist rattled out a summary of their patient’s vital signs. He was going to have to do something about his attitude if he hoped to win the boy round, Leo decided for the umpteenth time. He suddenly realised that Gerry had stopped speaking and was staring at him, obviously expecting a response, although for the life of him, Leo couldn’t imagine what it should be.
‘Sorry. What did you say?’ He gave a short laugh, faintly rusty admittedly but a laugh all the same. ‘It must be my age. I’m finding it difficult to concentrate these days.’
There was a stunned silence before someone gave a little chuckle, hastily turning it into a cough when they realised what they were doing. Leo felt heat flow up his face as he wondered if he’d made a fool of himself and was grateful for the concealing folds of his mask. He concentrated on what Gerry was saying, nodding when the other man came to the end of his spiel.
‘That’s great. Thanks. OK, folks, let’s get to work.’
Leo grimaced as he took his place at the table. Normally, he would have simply set to work without uttering a word, so why had he felt the need to say that? Surely he wasn’t that desperate to improve the image his colleagues had of him? It was Harry he needed to impress, nobody else…except Mia.
Finding out that her husband had died in such tragic circumstances had affected him far more than he would have expected. He had found himself thinking about it all week, imagining how difficult the past few years must have been for her. He had also found it hard to come to terms with the fact that her husband had been wheelchair-bound. Although he knew it had nothing to do with him, he couldn’t help speculating about their relationship. Had Mia undergone IVF treatment because she and her husband had been unable to make love?
He swiftly erased that thought. He needed to concentrate and he couldn’t do that if he was thinking about issues that didn’t concern him. the patient, Hilary Johnson, was undergoing surgery to replace her aortic valve. Leo made the first incision through the sternum then Hilary was placed on a heart-lung machine and her heart was stopped. It was an operation that was only carried out in extreme cases, when a patient was suffering life-threatening symptoms, but he had performed it many times before and worked swiftly, excising the damaged valve and replacing it with a prosthesis. He waited while the woman was removed from the machine, preferring to check for any problems before closing up. He nodded when everything appeared to be functioning normally.
‘That all seems fine. Dr Halshaw, perhaps you would like to close up? It will be excellent practice for you.’
He moved aside so that his registrar could step up to the table, ignoring the startled looks that were being exchanged. He rarely invited his juniors to take part so it was a bit of a red-letter day, but maybe it was time he made some changes in work too. After all, the younger doctors were never going to progress if they didn’t get any hands-on experience, were they?
‘Good. You’ve made quite a decent job of that,’ he said when the younger man had finished. He glanced around, rather enjoying the fact that everyone appeared slightly stunned to hear him praise one of their number. A sudden and wholly unfamiliar sense of mischief spurred him on. ‘Thank you, everyone, in fact. You all did extremely well today.’
Leo exited Theatre, smiling to himself when he heard a babble of conversation break out as the doors swung to. Maybe it was time he tried a different approach if it stopped people becoming complacent. It would keep them on their toes if they weren’t sure how he was going to react.
He showered and changed, then went to the consultants’ lounge to write up his notes. Although one of the juniors would type them up later, he preferred to outline the procedure while it was fresh in his mind. He had almost finished when there was a knock on the door.
‘Come,’ he called, without glancing up from the screen. He saved the file before he looked up, feeling his heart give an almighty leap when he saw Mia standing in the doorway. She had an envelope in her hands and he knew—he just knew!—it contained the results of the DNA tests.
Leo rose to his feet, his head swimming as thoughts rushed through it. He wasn’t ready for this! He didn’t want to hear what she had to say, didn’t want to know if Harry was his real son. He loved Noah and he didn’t want any other child to supplant him.
‘I have the results of the DNA tests.’
Her voice was so calm that it cut through all the turmoil in his head. Leo nodded abruptly. ‘And?’
‘I haven’t opened it yet.’ She showed him the envelope with its seal still intact. ‘I thought it best if we read it together. That way there will be no mistake.’
Meaning that he wouldn’t be able to accuse her of skewing the results, he thought wryly, although he couldn’t blame her for being cautious. Whatever they discovered, it was going to have far-reaching consequences for all of them—him, her and the two boys.
‘Right. Do you want me to open it?’ he offered, but she shook her head.
‘I’ll do it.’ She slid her finger under the flap and ripped it open. Taking out the single sheet of paper it contained, she read what it said before handing it to him.
Leo glanced sharply at her but he couldn’t discern anything from her expression. He took a quick breath then looked at the paper, although the words seemed to dance before his eyes. He, a man who read reports far more complicated than this every day of his life, couldn’t make sense of it!
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