Rescued by Dr. Rafe (8 page)

CHAPTER EIGHT

T
HREE
MORE
CALLS
and Rafe had successfully managed to scrub the Manor Hotel from his mind. He was about to congratulate himself on that, and then realised that remembering to congratulate yourself on forgetting something was a contradiction in terms.

He could do with stretching his legs, and there were no more calls for them to respond to. ‘Time to take a break?'

Mimi nodded. ‘The park's only five minutes away.'

That was exactly what he had in mind. The nature park's picnic area was likely to be deserted and the trestle tables would be too wet to use, but there was a nice view. Maybe Mimi needed to stretch her legs too.

‘Stop!'

Rafe heard Mimi rap out the word at the same time as he saw two small creatures ahead of them, standing in the middle of the road, and braked sharply. As he skidded to a halt, the pair didn't move.

‘What the blazes...?' The tiny animals clearly weren't wild or they'd be long gone by now instead of regarding them solemnly. Wet and bedraggled, they seemed to be all eyes and shivering limbs and very little else.

‘It's Tommy and Tallulah.'

‘Who?'

‘Tommy and Tallulah. They must have escaped from the petting zoo.' She reached for the passenger door, opening it slowly so as not to spook the animals.

‘Where's the petting zoo?' Rafe didn't recollect a petting zoo in the area and he supposed it must be a new addition.

‘Not far. Jack and I took Ellie there and she had a whale of a time.' Mimi started to walk slowly towards the animals and Rafe got out of the car.

‘Ellie...?' Clearly a lot had been happening in the last five years and he needed to catch up.

‘Oh, sorry. I didn't tell you, did I. Ellie is Jack's little girl. She'll be five at Christmas. She loves the petting zoo.'

Rafe tried to get his head around an arithmetical problem that seemed simple but obviously wasn't. ‘Did I miss something? Jack wasn't even married...'

‘No, he wasn't... Isn't... It's complicated. He didn't know about Ellie...' Mimi's attention was on the tiny creatures ahead of them. ‘Come on, sweetie... Tallulah...' She advanced towards the closer of the pair, which regarded her steadily.

‘What exactly are they?' They looked like tiny bundles of wet fur with little hooves and big eyes. Given the rather more pressing possibility that Mimi might be about to get bitten, Rafe decided to leave the question of Jack's love life until later.

‘Miniature goats. Get with it, Rafe...'

‘Okay. You take the white one and I'll get the one with the brown splodges.' Rafe eyed up his goat warily, wondering how fast a miniature goat could run.

Clearly Mimi was a better goat whisperer than he was. She walked right up to hers and bent down, picking it up carefully in her arms. ‘There you go, Tallulah. What are you doing here, sweetie...?'

Tommy took one look at Rafe and turned, trotting along the road away from them. Rafe followed, and Tommy picked up the pace a little.

‘Get him, Rafe.' Mimi chose that moment to shout an encouragement and Tommy took fright, trotting into the long grass at the side of the road.

How fast could a miniature goat run, anyway? Rafe walked up to the animal and made a lunge for it and it darted to one side, cantering towards a clump of trees. It was certainly agile enough.

He heard Mimi let out a cry of dismay behind him and ignored her. If he was going to be outwitted by a goat, he'd actually prefer that it didn't have to happen with an audience. ‘All right, then, mate. It's just you and me...'

Apparently this was some kind of game. Tommy stood stock-still, waiting for Rafe to approach and then dashed for cover. Rafe might be a lot bigger, but Tommy had four legs and was quick on them. A final desperate lunge and Rafe tripped on a tree root, crashing down on to the wet leaves.

‘All right. You win.' Rafe rolled over on to his back and Tommy approached. They regarded each other steadily and Rafe reached out towards him. Tommy nuzzled at his hand and then tried to climb up on to his chest.

Carefully, Rafe wrapped his arms around him. Tommy trained his innocent eyes on to him, and Rafe unzipped his jacket, allowing the small, shivering animal to nestle against his chest.

Gingerly he got to his feet. Tommy seemed quite happy where he was now and was trying to eat his sweater. Rafe climbed the bank, back up to the road, and saw Mimi, sitting in the front seat of the car, her head bent over Tallulah, who was lying in her lap, wrapped in Mimi's ambulance service jacket.

‘Poor little thing; look...' Mimi was wearing a pair of surgical gloves and had
his
surgical scissors in her hand. She looked up at him and frowned. ‘You've got wet leaves all over you.'

‘Yes, I know. Spare me the details. What are you doing?'

‘She's got a piece of plastic wrapped around her leg. Look, it's bleeding.' Two pairs of wide brown eyes were trained on him and Rafe frowned. This was an unfair advantage.

‘You're not a vet, Mimi.'

‘I know that. We're Good Samaritans.' She snipped the tight plastic away from Tallulah's leg, exposing a red raw wound. ‘There. That's better, isn't it, sweetie.' She bent down, allowing Tallulah to lick her cheek.

There was no point in telling her that it wasn't a good idea to allow random animals to lick your face, or to mention that the scissors would have to be sterilised now. He had another pair somewhere. ‘All right, so where is this petting zoo, then?'

‘Half a mile along that track.' Mimi pointed to a new road that branched off ahead of them, leading into the trees.

‘Right. We'll get them back there as quickly as we can.' Rafe wasn't about to admit that the large eyes and little shivering bodies of the goats had made him wonder whether taking them back to his house was an option. He got into the car, depositing Tommy at Mimi's feet, where he nuzzled against her legs.

‘Drive slowly. We don't want them flying around...'

No. Flying goats were the last thing he wanted. ‘If we get a call...' If they got a call, he wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do. People before animals always, but Rafe was not sure that he could bring himself to dump Tommy and Tallulah.

‘We won't.' Mimi hugged Tallulah close on her lap. ‘It won't take us long.'

* * *

He drove slowly into a large paved area, surrounded by low buildings. A woman appeared from one of them, jogging out towards the car. When she saw Tallulah in Mimi's lap she smiled broadly.

‘Thank you so much...you've brought her back.' She opened the car door and Tommy jumped out, nuzzling at her legs. ‘And Tommy, too.'

Rafe couldn't help grinning at the little creatures' obvious joy at being back home. He'd meant to just drive away and leave them, but instead he got out of the car, opening the passenger door so that Mimi could carry Tallulah.

‘Do you have to go yet?' The woman looked at the ambulance markings on Mimi's jacket, and Mimi looked up at him imploringly.

‘Not for a minute. We're on a meal break.'

‘Well, come inside and eat. I'll make some tea.' The woman smiled up at him. ‘I'm so grateful you brought them back. The rain washed away some of the fences last night, and some of the animals escaped. We've tracked down all the others, but we couldn't find Tommy and Tallulah.'

‘They didn't get too far.' Mimi followed the woman inside the building. ‘But Tallulah has a wound on her leg, where she got caught in an old plastic bag.'

The woman gave a tut of disapproval. ‘I wish that people would think before they leave those things lying around in the countryside. You wouldn't believe the number of animals that are injured by them one way or another.'

She led the way through to a room that was kitted out with examination benches, not so different from a hospital surgery, only generally speaking the hospital didn't have cages for its patients. A young man appeared, white coat and all, and set about examining the wound on Tallulah's leg.

Mimi showed no signs of wanting to leave just yet and Rafe picked up her jacket, brushing the inside down. There were a few wet patches but they would dry in the car. Something nuzzled at his legs and a plaintive bleat reached his ears.

Tommy had been towelled dry and looked even more appealing now. Big eyes and a fluffy brown and white coat. Rafe bent down to pet him.

‘Oh, look. He likes you.' The woman set two cups of tea down on the counter and Mimi took one, thanking her.

‘I think he likes my sweater, actually.' Tommy was busy trying to nibble at his sleeve.

‘Yeah. Goats. They'll eat anything.' The woman bent down, nudging Tommy away from Rafe's arm, and he started to lick his hand.

‘It's not much of a hole. You could darn that.' Mimi was sipping her tea, looking at him speculatively.

‘Darn it?' He raised an eyebrow. The Mimi he knew couldn't sew on a button and, unless she'd fundamentally changed in the last five years, darning was way out of her skill set.

‘I said
you
could darn it.' For a moment the old warmth flashed between them and Rafe found himself snagged in a tingling sensation, which reached all the way to his heart.

‘It's an old sweater.' He stood up to collect his tea and Tommy followed him over to the counter.

‘Be careful. He'll be wanting to go home with you.' Mimi chuckled and he saw the smile that up till now she'd kept for her patients and for Tallulah. This time it was unmistakably his, and Rafe found himself luxuriating in it.

‘He's a great little guy.' Rafe took a swig of his tea and bent down to stroke Tommy's head.

The vet looked up from his patient, smiling. ‘Well, she's okay. Just a bit of a scrape and the skin's broken where she tried to untangle herself. All she did was manage to pull the plastic even tighter. It was acting as a tourniquet, so it's a good thing you got it off when you did.'

Mimi nodded. ‘I'm glad she's all right. I bet you've had a lot of animals brought in here after the flooding.'

‘Quite a few. Not so much domestic pets—people are keeping them inside mostly—but a lot of wild animals have been washed out of their homes by the floods. We've had birds, foxes, voles, you name it. Even a couple of grass snakes.'

‘Really?'

‘Yeah.' The vet pointed to a large, leaf-lined aquarium in a quiet corner of the room. At first glance there was nothing in it, but then Rafe saw something green coiled around one of the tree branches, which was propped against the glass. ‘Take a look if you like. But don't get too close; they're very shy and you'll spook them.'

Rafe smiled as she approached the container warily, stopping a couple of feet away from it. ‘I can see them...' Her voice was hushed with wonder. He wanted to walk over and fold her in his arms so they could watch the shy creatures together.

His phone rang. Mimi turned and the moment was gone.

Resisting the temptation to pull his phone from his pocket and stamp on it, he looked at the caller display. He shrugged and took the call, listening carefully to the instructions that the ambulance controller was reading out at the other end.

‘Got to go?'

‘Yep.' Rafe checked the text that had just arrived, confirming the name and address of their next call. ‘Got to go.'

* * *

Men holding small fluffy animals with big eyes.
Rafe
, with his strong arms and gentle way, and a small fluffy animal with big eyes. It was a little too much to bear.

Maybe it was emptiness in her stomach causing that pang. More likely, it was the thought of Rafe's tenderness, and her own instinctive reaction. There was only one thing that could have struck any closer to her heart.

‘Where are we headed?' Mimi tried to switch back into professional mode.

‘One of the farms, out by the A375. Three-month-old baby.'

If Mimi had been alone, she would have screamed and buried her head in her hands. What was this? Did fate have some sort of grudge against her? If the sight of Tommy in Rafe's arms had pushed all her buttons, then a baby was going to be even worse.

‘A baby?' She tried to keep her tone level. Maybe Rafe would decide that it wasn't medically necessary to pick the child up.

‘Yep. Probably just colic, but we'll make sure.'

‘Yes. Good to make sure.' He was going to pick it up, she just knew it. Maybe a baby throwing up all over him wouldn't be so mind-bendingly difficult to watch. Mimi wasn't at all sure that would be the case.

CHAPTER NINE

T
HE
TRACK
WHICH
led to the farmhouse was submerged and the house itself surrounded by almost a foot of muddy water. Rafe parked on the road and got out of the car.

‘Looks as if we're getting our feet wet.' Mimi surveyed the muddy, rippling water in front of them. Her wellingtons were in her car, which was still parked back at the hospital.

Rafe opened the back of the SUV and leaned in, pushing bags and boxes to one side and pulling out a pair of heavy-duty wellington boots. At least he'd be keeping dry. Perhaps she could roll her trouser legs up far enough to avoid the water.

‘Want a lift?' Rafe was grinning broadly.

No.
The idea of being carried around like a rag doll didn't much appeal to her. The idea of being carried around by Rafe... Mimi swallowed hard.

‘Come on.' He'd obviously had second thoughts about teasing her, and was now trying to keep his face straight. Somehow that was worse. ‘We've got more to do today, remember? There's no time to go home and change.'

And if she got wet, that was only going to get in the way of the job. It was a first principle. Stay safe, stay dry, because your ability to help others was compromised otherwise.

‘All right. Thanks.' She kept her eyes fixed on the ground, feeling her muscles tense in stiff, silent protest. He tried to pick her up, but had to set her back down again.

‘Hey. Loosen up, will you. You're going to need to bend your legs.'

‘Yeah. Sorry.'

‘One medical professional assisting another to the scene...' He muttered the words under his breath and Mimi wondered if he believed that any more than she did.

She laced her fingers together behind his neck and he picked her up. It was actually more like taking her in his arms, holding her close. Mimi hung on tight, squeezing her eyes shut and burying her face in his shoulder.

‘That's better.' He started to walk, the sloshing sound of water accompanying his slow strides.

Mimi clung to him, trying to think of anything else. The shopping list for Charlie. The forms she had to fill in for her new job. That was just making things worse. Every time she went to the supermarket now, the stronger image was going to take hold and she was going to have to deal with remembering this moment.

He was walking carefully, testing each step, but a sudden eddy of water made him pause, instinctively holding her tighter. Mimi felt herself move against him, her cheek brushing his neck.

No, no, no...
She felt her face redden in anguish. She hadn't done that, had she?

She had. Without thinking, and entirely by instinct, her lips had formed the shape of a kiss when she'd jolted against him. When he'd started walking again the kiss had been planted on his neck.

He hadn't felt it. He couldn't have. One quiet murmur of approbation told her that he had.

By the time they got to the farmhouse her cheeks were flaming. He leaned over the row of sandbags, protecting the small flower garden in front of the house, and let her down on the other side.

Maybe his hand was just travelling in that direction, in a movement of uncharacteristic awkwardness. But his fingers brushed against her cheek and Mimi looked up into his face.

The cocky grin she'd expected wasn't there. Instead, a look of silent pain and uncertainty. Had she been so caught up in her own feelings of rejection that she'd missed his unspoken feelings?

‘Rafe, I'm...I'm sorry.'

‘What for?' He glanced round at the farmhouse behind her. They had a job to do and right now the people inside were probably watching them.

‘Whatever it is, it's all right.' He straightened up. ‘You're standing in a puddle.'

‘Oh. Thanks.' Mimi stepped to one side quickly.

‘Got your phone?'

‘Uh?' She felt automatically in the pocket of her trousers. ‘Yes.'

‘I'll go back to the car and get the bag. Have a quick look at the patient and call me if there's anything else I need to bring over.'

‘Okay. Will do.' Mimi turned and saw that a woman was opening the front door of the farmhouse, smiling at her. She smiled in return, walking towards her without looking back at Rafe.

* * *

Mimi had wanted to keep going, but when she'd received a call from the ambulance controller saying they were no longer needed tonight Rafe had stopped her from arguing.

‘She said they were managing, right? We need to pace ourselves; we both have another week's work ahead of us. Isn't there something you need to do?' Rafe couldn't think of a single thing that he wanted to do more than spend time with Mimi. Certainly not a meal, eaten alone, and a bed at the hospital. But he supposed that she might have a greater range of options.

‘Not really...' She turned away from him and got into the car. As she did so her phone rang.

‘Charlie?'
Something seemed to be going on because she frowned. ‘Yeah, okay; that's fine. I'll do it. Text me the address, will you?'

She turned to Rafe. ‘I don't suppose you could give me a lift to the hospital, could you? I need to pick up my car.'

‘Yes, of course. What's up?' Rafe had been planning on going back to the hospital. Last night had been an exception.

‘Couple of friends of Charlie's. Their house is in an area that's prone to flooding and he told them to come and stay with him if they needed to.'

‘And they need to?'

‘Yes. He's getting a room ready for them, and he wanted to know if I could go over there and pick them up. My car's got a much bigger boot than his.'

‘They'll be bringing as much as they can with them, I imagine.'

‘Yes.' She was squeezing her fingers together in what seemed like an agony of indecision. Rafe wondered whether she was also wiggling her toes.

‘My SUV can fit a fair amount in. We could fetch your car, dump the medical gear back at yours and go together.'

‘Would you? I...didn't want to ask... But if the house is flooded...'

Rafe started the engine. ‘That's what we'll do then.'

* * *

Mimi could barely see his SUV in front of her on the road, it was raining so hard. It had taken almost an hour to get here, but she'd called Janet and Matthew to let them know that they were on their way. When Rafe pulled up outside the house, the door opened and Matthew ran out and knocked on the window of her car.

‘Better bring your wellies, Mimi.'

‘I've got them.' She slid over into the passenger seat and felt in the footwell for them, pulling them on over her socks. Mimi hadn't been about to lay herself open for a repetition of the carrying incident.

Rafe was already jogging towards the front door. Matthew led them through to the kitchen, where Janet was drying cups and plates and stacking them in a high cupboard.

It was evident that they hadn't got here too soon. Water was leaking in under the back door, sloshing around on the kitchen floor. Janet was shaking.

‘Mimi, thank you so much for coming.' Janet put the tea cloth down and turned to Rafe. ‘And...?'

‘Rafe. It's a pleasure.'

‘Thanks, both of you.' Matthew held out his hand and Rafe shook it. ‘We've loaded our car up, but anything else you can bring along would be much appreciated.'

Rafe smiled—the smile he kept for emergencies, which showed both his readiness to take on any challenge and his utter certainty that things were going to work out fine in the end. ‘I'll help you carry your things out to the cars.'

Janet seemed to be sizing Rafe up. ‘Matthew...the cabinet...'

‘It's too heavy, Jan; we tried it already...'

‘But...' Janet lapsed into silence, picking the tea cloth up and folding it carefully. She was in shock, resorting to small tasks that were not going to make any difference so she didn't have to face the one big task ahead of her.

Mimi nudged Rafe. ‘They've got a really nice china cabinet in the sitting room. Maybe you and Matthew could manage to get it upstairs?'

‘Good idea.' Rafe strode out into the hallway, and Matthew followed.

‘We really appreciate your help, Mimi.' Janet was looking around the kitchen abstractedly, as if to make sure that it was tidy before she received visitors.

‘It's a pleasure.' Mimi took Janet's arm. ‘Are these boxes to go?' She pointed to the cardboard boxes on the kitchen table.

‘Yes. Our tea service. It was a wedding present.' Janet's eyes filled with tears.

‘Right then. We'll stow that carefully, in the front seat of my car.'

‘Yes.' Janet didn't move. ‘Thanks.'

She seemed to be paralysed, dreading what was coming next. Mimi picked up a waterproof jacket that was lying on the table next to Janet's handbag. ‘This yours?'

‘Yes. I got it in the sale.'

‘Yeah? It's a lovely colour. Where did you get it?' Mimi gave Janet the jacket and she automatically put it on.

‘The place down by the cinema in town. The one that does camping gear...'

‘I'll have to pop in and see if they have anything that suits me. Yours is really nice.' Mimi picked up a box and put it in Janet's arms. ‘Let's get started.'

Once Janet had something to do, she worked with a will. The necessities had already been packed into Matthew and Janet's car, and now some of their most precious items could be brought along too, instead of leaving them upstairs and hoping for the best. After a bit of bumping and banging about on the stairs, Matthew and Rafe got the cabinet from the sitting room safely out of the water's reach and Matthew appeared with a pretty wooden box in his arms.

Janet beamed with joy. ‘My sewing box! Is there room for it?'

‘Of course. We've still got my car to load up.' Rafe strode down the path after Matthew to open the passenger door of the SUV so that the precious box could be placed carefully on the front seat.

Then it was time to leave. Janet picked up her handbag from the kitchen, took one last look around and then they walked outside into the pouring rain. Matthew locked the front door, as if in some way that would keep the water out.

Matthew put his arm around his wife's shoulders. ‘We'll be back before long, you'll see.'

‘Yeah.' Janet smiled up at her husband.

‘No looking back now, Jan. Come with me.'

Janet nodded and the couple walked to their car together. When Mimi looked up at Rafe he was watching them go.

‘It's such a shame.' Suddenly the sadness of it all struck her. ‘They're losing almost everything...'

‘You think so?' He couldn't seem to tear his gaze from the couple, walking so close, as if they were in their own little bubble. ‘Seems to me that they're taking everything that really matters with them.'

* * *

Rafe led the small procession of cars back to Charlie's house, parking outside, while Mimi backed her car into the sideway, ready to unload it. Charlie had obviously been looking out for them and the garage doors swung open, light flooding out.

‘I thought we could stack everything in the garage and sort it all out tomorrow.'

‘Thank you, Charlie.' Janet had a hug for him.

‘My pleasure. Dinner's nearly ready. Jan, come and help me, eh?' He caught hold of Janet's hand.

‘I'll be there in a minute. I want to bring my sewing box into the house...'

Rafe gave her his car keys and she skittered off through the rain to the SUV.

‘Mimi, Rafe, you're joining us.' Charlie spun his wheelchair round as if the matter was already settled, making for the door that led from the back of the garage into the house.

‘I should really get going.' Matthew had followed Janet and they were alone suddenly in the open doorway of the garage.

‘Do you have to? You could have a meal with us and stay with me.' When Mimi looked up at him, Rafe realised that he didn't
have
to do anything. But even though a meal in the hospital canteen and a disturbed night's sleep in one of the doctors' on-call rooms didn't appeal to him very much, it was infinitely preferable to the mess he might get himself into if he stayed.

‘It's not a good idea, Mimi.' It really wasn't. Last night he'd gone to sleep not realising that he was in the same bed they'd made love in, but tonight it was doubtful whether he could ignore that.

‘I hurt you, didn't I?'

‘It wasn't your fault, Mimi.'

She tossed her head, her fair hair slipping from the collar of her jacket and streaming over her shoulders. He wanted to touch it so badly, to clear the damp strands from her face. He wanted to touch
her.

‘But still...'

Then he realised. He'd hidden his pain from her but she needed it, just the same as he needed hers. Just as he had wanted some small expression of regret that it was all over, so did she.

‘Mimi...' He took a step closer, and they were almost touching. ‘Leaving you tore my heart out. And yes, it hurt a lot and for a long time. But, looking back now, it was for the best.'

‘You think so?' There was an edge to her voice, a hint of anger. The final refuge of the broken-hearted.

‘Don't you?'

Her cheeks flushed. ‘I've no idea, Rafe. Not a clue.'

She turned away from him before he had a chance to answer. Walking to her car, she hauled out the heaviest box, staggering a little under its weight, until Matthew rushed to help her.

‘I'm hurting now...' Rafe walked to his car, murmuring the words under his breath, even now not able to say them out loud.

He unloaded the car, working steadily so that he didn't have any chance to stop and think, let alone stop and talk. When he was done, he exchanged handshakes and hugs with Janet and Matthew and bade goodbye to Charlie, waving away all of his protests that he'd cooked far too much for four and that only five would do.