Linda drained her mug and stood. ‘I’ll go check on Kylie,’ she said.
‘You haven’t finished your break yet,’ Maggie protested.
Linda shrugged. ‘I’m too wired to sit still.’
Maggie nodded. That happened sometimes. Adrenaline was vital to cope with the emergencies they’d had to face tonight but it did have its jittery side effects.
Linda departed and Nash was grateful to be left alone with Maggie. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked. She looked weary. Good, but tired around the eyes and tense around the shoulders.
‘Sure,’ she answered automatically, staring into the milky depths of her coffee. ‘What about you?’ she asked, remembering that Nash’s sister had been about Ruby’s age when she’d died.
‘I’m okay.’ He nodded. ‘It’s been a hell of a night.’
Maggie nodded, swirling the muddy liquid in the mug. That it had.
‘I thought we’d pulled our last all-nighter,’ he murmured.
Maggie flicked her gaze up from the drink. A small smile lifted the corners of his beautiful mouth and he looked sexy and inviting and she wanted to crawl onto his lap and snuggle her head into his neck.
She returned his smile, her heart light for the first time this shift. Opening her mouth for a sexy rejoinder, it was abruptly cut off by a rattling noise up the corridor and the trilling of an alarm had her frowning instead. ‘That can’t be Ruby already?’ She looked at her watch. ‘It hasn’t even been half an hour.’
But it was. Which could only mean two things. The problem had been trivial and easily remedied. Or the problem was so big it just couldn’t be fixed. Unfortunately for Ruby, it was the latter. She’d thrown a clot into her mesenteric vasculature, infarcting her entire bowel. Toxins were flooding her system.
She was dying and there was nothing anyone could do.
To say they were all shocked was an understatement. The nine-year-old had survived a horrific car smash but had been expected to make a full recovery from her head injury.
Unfortunately, her conscious level had masked what was going on in her belly and she wasn’t expected to see out the day.
Maggie sat in with Nash and the surgeon and the social worker as they broke the news to Ruby’s family. Their reaction was heart-wrenching and Maggie blinked rapidly to clear the mist of tears from her eyes as the family broke down.
Whatever sadness she felt was insignificant to what the family were experiencing, and they needed her to be strong and do her job.
They limped through the next couple of hours, getting Ruby out of bed for cuddles with her parents — no easy feat still ventilated with all the associated tubes — and just trying to be there for the distraught family. When the first day-shift person arrived Maggie almost kissed their feet.
All the staff on the night shift were affected by what was going on in bed eight and there wasn’t one of them that didn’t want to go home to hug their kids or their loved ones and escape the unfolding tragedy.
It was well after eight by the time Maggie finished handing over and catching up on her charting. She was tired but edgy and the prospect of going home to an empty house with no distractions from the image of Ruby stubbornly implanted in her head was depressing as hell. She knew she wasn’t going to sleep, even though her body craved respite.
She got into the lift, too tired to take the stairs. It dinged open on the top floor and she headed for the fire exit that led out to the rooftop car park. Nash was halfway through it when she rounded the corner.
They looked at each other for a few moments, both a little battered from the long night with no rest stops and the emotional whammy of Ruby. ‘Here you are,’ he said. ‘I went looking for you.’
‘Here I am.’
Nash stepped out into the car park and she followed him. The early sunshine had been usurped by heavy clouds and a cool breeze blew across the rooftop. It looked bleak, matching their mood perfectly. He turned back and opened his mouth to tell her how sorry he was about Ruby but she spoke first.
‘Do you want to come back to my place?’
Nash blinked. He understood where the request was coming from. He’d seen how gutted she’d been when the surgeons had imparted their tragic news. Had felt it cut deep into his soul too, remembering Tammy. ‘I thought we were a one-night-only deal,’ he asked cautiously.
Maggie looked him straight in the eye, knowing it was wrong to want it. Want him. Like this. After tonight. But it was the only thing that made any sense right now — she wasn’t going to question it. ‘I don’t want to be alone today.’
Her honesty hit Nash square in the solar plexus. Neither did he. He couldn’t think of a better way to try and forget last night than being in Maggie’s bed. ‘Your car or mine?’
Maggie sat in silence all the way to her place as Nash drove. She didn’t want to rehash or speculate about what would happen on the unit today. She wanted a shower and she wanted him.
To get lost in him, to be wrapped up in him.
Nash followed her up the front steps as he had the other night and waited as she slid the key in the lock. She pushed the door open and shut it again after them looking so desolate he wanted to make it better. ‘You know Ruby’s—’
Maggie held up her hand to silence him. ‘Can we please just not talk?’
He nodded and Maggie turned away aware he was following her through the house and into her bedroom and beyond to her en suite. When she peeled her clothes off, Nash did also and when she was naked Maggie flicked on the shower, stepped under the spray and opened her arms to him.
He stepped in and Maggie kissed him again and again, twining her arms around his neck, fusing her body with his. Kisses that took over, that made her forget. Deep and wet. Full of passion. Tinged with sorrow. She gave herself up to desire, letting it rise up and sweep the sadness away.
He soaped her body with long slippery strokes and it was only when he was buried deep inside her, her legs wrapped around his waist, screaming his name as their climaxes hit, that Maggie finally let go of the emotions that had threatened to rise up all morning.
Clinging to his shoulders, she buried her face in his neck and let go of the deep sobs she’d been holding back. They shook her chest as powerfully as her orgasm shook her to the core.
When she spiralled down, Maggie was more exhausted than she’d ever thought possible and she thanked god Nash was there, turning off the taps and wrapping her in a fluffy towel before picking her up and carrying her to the unmade bed.
Then he lowered her to the sheets and joined her, spooning behind her, tucking her head under his chin, sliding his hand around her waist.
They were both asleep in minutes.
CHAPTER FIVE
Nash woke in the darkened room to the patter of rain on the roof and Maggie on her side, her bare back to him, murmuring into the phone. He looked at his watch. Two o’clock. They’d been asleep for five hours.
He heard Maggie say, ‘Just ringing to check on Ruby,’ and ‘I see,’ and ‘I’m fine,’ before she hung up the phone. He reached out and laid his hand between her shoulder blades and admired the contrast between his bronzed skin and the creamy richness of hers.
‘Has she gone?’
Maggie nodded, her heart unbearably heavy. She didn’t turn. ‘An hour ago.’