A Baby for the Flying Doctor (7 page)

It wasn’t that she was after any sort of romantic relationship but she had to admit it had been nice to have a man look intently
at her the way Gil had. He’d made her heart flutter, her stomach churn with anticipation and her knees go weak. That hadn’t happened to her since high school when Danny Ellingham, the boy she’d had a secret crush on, had asked her to the school dance.

Of course, her parents had insisted she attend the dance, even though her mother’s health hadn’t been too good. It was one night, a few hours, she’d rationalised to herself as she’d dressed in the prettiest gown she’d been able to afford. What could possibly happen in a few hours?

A lot, it had turned out, although not where her parents and Anthony were concerned. They’d all made it through those hours yet for Phemie, that night had been one that had changed her life for ever.

Everything went according to plan. Danny picked her up from her home, chatted a few minutes with her father at the door. He was polite, he held her hand and proudly walked into the dance with his arm around her. She felt so happy and yet highly self-conscious. People were looking at the two of them, whispering about them, and some girls even had a hint of envy in their eyes. Danny was, after all, a good-looking guy. Joan Glastonbury, however, glared daggers at her. Phemie knew the other girl also liked Danny, but for tonight at least Danny had chosen
her.

They danced, they talked and it seemed to be the night of her dreams. She’d liked Danny for a long time, sitting beside him in maths, being his lab partner in science, but she’d always thought he’d viewed her as nothing but a straight A student who could help him out from time to time. When he’d asked her to the dance, she’d been stunned but of course had said yes immediately. It wasn’t until nearer the end of the night that she realised she knew very little about him.

Tommy Spitzner, the smartest boy in the school, had brought his cousin to the dance, a plump girl who had Down’s syndrome.

‘My parents made me bring her to the dance,’ Tommy confessed
when they had both been getting drinks. ‘I don’t mind. Lerleen’s great and we get along fine.’ Tommy laughed without humour. ‘In fact, I think Lerleen’s the one who brought me to the dance. My parents knew I didn’t want to come but they keep telling me I’m too insular and said perhaps I should think of someone other than myself, etcetera, and now here I am at the stupid dance with my cousin.’

Both of them had looked over to where Lerleen was dancing by herself to the loud rock music. It was then that Phemie watched in horror as Danny and a few of his mates walked over to Lerleen and started teasing her. They pretended to ask her to dance then laughed and made rude comments when she eagerly accepted. Phemie’s blood boiled over.

She’d marched over to Lerleen and stood next to the girl.

‘Leave her alone.’ She looked Danny square in the eyes, almost begging him to tell her it hadn’t been his idea, that he’d been trying to stop the others, that he wasn’t a part of it.

‘We’re just having a laugh,’ Danny replied. ‘It doesn’t matter, Pheme. She doesn’t go to this school and I don’t think she even understands.’

‘She may not, but I certainly do. Just because Lerleen has a disability doesn’t make her any less of a person than you or I. She has feelings, she has rights and if you lot get excited by teasing and bullying people, especially ones who have a natural disposition to trust everyone they meet, then you’re sadder than I thought.’

Tommy had come over and was guiding Lerleen away from the gathering crowd.

‘You don’t even know her,’ Danny’s friend pointed out.

‘It doesn’t matter. Picking on people is wrong and it most certainly isn’t a means of fun, either.’ She looked at Danny and shook her head. ‘I can’t believe you’d do something like this. You don’t know what sort of damage you’ve caused that poor girl.’

‘Why are you so defensive? Seriously, Phemie, how do you know what Tommy’s half-wit cousin is feeling?’

‘She’s
not
a half-wit and I know what she’s feeling because I understand Down’s syndrome. My brother has it.’

‘Down what?’ one of the boys had asked.

She shook her head. ‘We graduate in a few weeks from high school and you people have no idea about the world. You all live in your own little bubbles and don’t care about anyone outside of them.’

‘You have a brother like that girl?’ Danny was almost aghast at the news. ‘Why didn’t I see him tonight? Are you ashamed of him? Hiding him away?’

‘I’m not ashamed of him. He was in bed. He’s younger than me and he goes to a different school.’

Danny then looked at his hands and wiped them on his jeans. ‘I touched you. I held your hand. Eww. Did I catch it?’

‘Nah, that only happens if you kissed her.’ His mate sniggered.

Phemie shook her head in utter disgust. ‘You people make me sick.’ A teacher came over then and broken up the group. Phemie went to check on Tommy and Lerleen, pleased to find the girl was OK.

‘Thanks,’ Tommy said. ‘I think I’ll take her home now.’

Phemie nodded then turned to look at Danny, her hopes and dreams crushed. The tingles he’d evoked had turned to disgust but for a while there it had been nice. Nice to feel as though someone liked her.

Now, though, she wasn’t in high school, she wasn’t an adolescent and yet Gil had somehow awakened those feelings, those sensations which she’d thought totally dormant. Still, to have someone of the opposite sex interested in her, to look at her as though she were beautiful, to let her know she was still mildly attractive was indeed exciting. The fact he’d managed to evoke such a reaction made her wonder if she
was
looking for something more than she presently had—life in the outback, working with good friends and spending her evenings alone.

Growing up, there had always been Anthony to consider. Her
parents had thought he would always be living at home, that he’d never reach the stage where he’d be capable of independent living. Phemie had intended to stay close to home to support her parents in any way she could.

Yet Anthony had surprised them all. Out of the two children in the Grainger family, he’d been the first one to move out of home into the assisted living facility where carers such as Liz were on hand to help them whenever required. He’d shown them all he was more than capable once his parameters had been set and now here he was, travelling across the country.

With Anthony not needing her as much, and her parents deciding this was their opportunity to travel overseas, Phemie had found herself floundering in a sea of confusion until an excolleague and friend from Royal Perth hospital, Dexter Crawford, had coaxed her to check out the RFDS.

It had been just what the doctor had ordered. Stepping outside her very comfortable comfort zone was something Phemie rarely did, mainly because she was needed in her comfort zone, needed by her parents and her brother, but with Anthony forging ahead on his own and her parents travelling, the RFDS had provided Phemie with the opportunity to do something for herself.

Granted, she was still helping people, as was her nature, and it hadn’t taken her too long to settle down at the base where she’d been living for the past eight months. The staff she worked with, all of them, had been so extremely welcoming that she’d known she was in the right place.

Still, they were all married with families of their own and at times she felt the odd one out—the single one—which made her feel more isolated then the vast landscape of the outback.

Would it be so bad to have Gil come back to the base with her? It would only be for a week—seven days—and then he’d be gone. They’d experienced an instant connection—or, at least, she had. There was a good chance she was way off target but, still, having him around, knowing he could never stay…it might
make her feel a little more normal for a while. She admired him as a professional and there was no denying she could certainly learn a lot from him in a professional capacity.

Just the thought of having him at the base made her skin prickle with anticipatory delight and her heart rate started to increase. No. She damped down those emotions. Attraction or not, she wasn’t looking for a relationship.

‘Phemie. I’m awake. Are you?’

A smile spread across her lips as she pushed her thoughts back into the box marked ‘D
O
N
OT
O
PEN
’ and opened her eyes to look at her brother. ‘I’m awake.’

‘I’m really excited. I get to go to
Sydney.
’

He made it sound as though he’d travelled to the moon and just for a split second she wished she could see the world as Anthony did—a place of wonder and enjoyment simply waiting to be explored. ‘I know, love.’ She placed a hand on his cheek. ‘How about you go and get changed out of your pyjamas and we’ll head to the dining car so you can have something to eat.’

Childlike delight lit his features as he talked excitedly about what was on his ‘list’ of things to do today. He ticked them off on his fingers and Phemie listened patiently. It was part of Anthony. He needed to get everything sorted out clearly in his mind before he did anything

Phemie spent the rest of the morning helping Liz and passing the time until the train pulled into Sydney’s central railway station. She didn’t see Gil in the dining car or the lounge carriage or anywhere else for that matter and after they’d disembarked from the train and had collected their luggage, Phemie said goodbye to Anthony and his friends.

‘Stay safe. Remember to only cross the road at traffic lights. Don’t go out at night time. Listen to Liz. And call me. Every night.’

‘To say goodnight to Phemie.’ Anthony nodded, content to accept her instructions.

‘Exactly.’ She hugged him close. ‘I love you.’

‘I love you, Phemie,’ he responded, and squeezed her tight just as a child would.

She watched him get onto the minibus that would take them to their lodgings, with promises from Liz that she’d make sure Anthony called every day. Phemie waved goodbye, blowing kisses until the minibus was out of sight.

Sighing, she looked around, bringing her thoughts back to her own life and the next obstacle that lay before her. She needed to hail a taxi and get to the conference hotel. There were no scheduled events until tomorrow morning’s welcome breakfast, which was held for the presenters, the conference not really starting until Monday. Still, she was looking forward to having a proper shower, as opposed to the one she’d had on the train, swaying to and fro with a few drops of water landing on her skin, and hopefully managing to catch up on her sleep.

Looking up and down the street, she realised there wasn’t a vacant taxi in sight. All the other train passengers had taken them whilst she’d been fussing over her brother. She pulled out her mobile phone and was about to punch in the number for the taxi service when a black car pulled to the kerb beside her. She was about to pick up her luggage and move to another spot when the rear passenger window slid smoothly down.

‘May I be so bold as to offer you a lift?’ The deep, accented tone she’d dreamt about washed over her.

Phemie glanced up from her phone to look directly into the brown, hypnotic eyes of the man she’d been hard-pressed to stop thinking about ever since they’d first met.

‘Gil.’

He stepped from the car as the chauffeur came round and started to put Phemie’s luggage in the boot. ‘I’m presuming you’re on your way to the conference hotel?’

‘Yes.’ She looked into his gorgeous face and tried not to sigh. He was so incredibly good-looking. There were no two ways about it.

‘Then you must allow me to give you a lift.’ He held the rear passenger door for her and as her luggage had already been stowed in the boot, she really had no option but to accept.

‘Uh…thank you,’ she replied as she climbed into the back seat.

‘Hello, there.’

Phemie was momentarily startled at the other person sitting in the back of the car. She sat next to him and then found herself sandwiched between the two men as Gil climbed in beside her. Whilst there was more than enough room for the three of them, she was incredibly self-conscious of the warmth radiating from the professor.

‘Euphemia Grainger, meet William Hartnell.’

‘Pleased to meet you, Dr Grainger.’ William shook her hand politely.

‘William is my personal aide and right-hand man,’ Gil explained.

‘And his left hand too, sometimes. I also double as the gopher and bodyguard.’ William leaned a little closer and said in a stage whisper, ‘I’d even take a bullet for him.’

Phemie turned to look at Gil in horror and concern. ‘You have people shooting at you?’

Gil laughed. ‘No. William was merely joking. I apologise for his warped sense of humour. I guess as we’ve been travelling together for almost a year now, we’re too used to each other’s ways.’

‘OK.’ Phemie decided to simply clasp her hands in her lap and sit nice and still until the car arrived at the hotel. She needed to concentrate, to keep her mind firmly under control and not allow the sensation of being this close to Gil to affect her. Of course, they’d been much closer, given that she’d fallen on him when
the train had made its emergency stop, but that touch had been accidental. She was also trying to fight the way his scent was winding itself around her, the warmth of his body radiating out to encompass her. She prayed for green lights all the way to the hotel because the sooner she could put a bit of distance between herself and Gil, the sooner she’d be able to start thinking coherently again.

‘I take it Anthony’s safely away?’

‘Yes. Uh…thank you for asking.’

‘When does the group fly back to Perth?’

‘Wednesday.’ The conversation felt stilted but she tried not to worry about it. Gil was the one who’d offered her the lift so as far as she was concerned he could make all the effort at conversation. Besides, she was too busy keeping her equilibrium under strict control.

‘And when will
we
be leaving Sydney?’

‘Sorry?’ William chimed in before Phemie could answer. ‘
We
?
What do you mean? Has something extra been added to your schedule?’