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he smelt fantastic.
He looked fantastic.
Jack would have had as little sleep last night as she’d had, yet there wasn’t even a hint of weariness about him. Mind you, from what she had heard about him, Jack Carter was more than used to operating on minimal sleep. As well as his phenomenally busy job, his social life was daunting. If you lived in New York, you knew all about the Carters. They were glamorous, rich and had the social life to prove it. Jack was a regular feature in the social pages, a different woman on his arm each time, and more often than not witty little pieces written about the latest woman he had left in tears.
Nina didn’t need to see it in magazines, there were many of his conquests dotted around the hospital, and the last thing she intended to be was another.
‘I’d like to apologise for last night.’ Nina wasn’t as immediate in her apology as she had intended to be, but the fact that he had made her laugh a little made the words more genuine and a little easier to say. ‘It came at the end of a very long day.’
‘I understand that.’ And if she had any hope that things would be left there, that her apology might suffice, then it was a very fleeting hope, because Jack was pulling up a chair. ‘However, it does need to be addressed.’
‘Really, it doesn’t.’
‘Really, it does.’ He mimicked her voice and then he was serious. ‘I’d like to offer an apology of my own—I shouldn’t have told you that Tommy had a brain lesion the way that I did. I thought you would want to know before you went home last night.’
She was somewhat taken aback by his apology. ‘How is he doing this afternoon?’
‘He’s still intubated and his father is with him. Alex is hoping the medication will start to really kick in and that his cerebral irritation will abate over the next forty-eight hours and then he can be extubated. They’ve taken a biopsy of the lesion.’
‘Is it serious?’
‘It’s too early to say, though I would think that it is. Given the prolonged nature of his seizure, it sounds as if he’s been having them for the last couple of weeks—that would explain the bruising and bedwetting. Still, the father has been negligent by not getting the cut and the bruises examined.’
‘He was scared.’
‘I’m aware of that, but his delay in seeking treatment for his son …’ Jack didn’t want to argue the point. ‘But, yes, I accept that he was scared.’
‘Well.’ Nina gave him a brief smile. ‘Thank you for stopping by and, again, I apologise for last night.’ She stood, but Jack didn’t.
‘I haven’t finished yet.’
‘I’ve actually got quite a full workload …’ Nina attempted, but could have kicked herself. He was Head of Paediatrics after all, and his diary would be full to bursting.
‘Don’t we all? But we’re going to make some time to sit down and talk about Baby Tanner.’
‘I’d rather not.’
‘I didn’t offer an option,’ Jack said. ‘And, yes, I’d love a coffee, thank you for offering.’
Reluctantly Nina headed over to her percolator. ‘Cream and one sugar,’ he called, and when she’d made him his drink and sat down, Jack immediately opened the conversation. ‘I’ve had a look through the notes and it would seem I made a recommendation for Baby Tanner to be placed in foster-care.’
‘You did.’
‘But the social work department felt that the mother was doing well and with suitable provisions in place …’ He gave her a wry smile. ‘Does that sound familiar?’
‘You don’t remember him, do you?’
‘A little bit, now that I’ve looked him up. What I don’t understand is why you think that I’m supposed to remember him, why you’re so upset.’
‘I’m not.’
‘I’d suggest you are.’ Jack sat back in the chair, took a sip of his coffee as if he had all the time in the world. ‘Last night it was clear that you’re still furious about it, to the point where you were shouting in the hospital car park at the Head of Paediatrics, “Screw you!”‘
‘I’ve apologised for that.’
‘And I’ve accepted your apology. I’m not here to discipline anyone. I’m simply here to find out why you are so upset with me about Baby Tanner.’
‘It was what you said when he was readmitted …’ Nina shook her head, because that wasn’t quite right. ‘Or rather it was the look you gave.’
‘The look?’
‘The I told you so look.’
‘I don’t think so.’ Jack shook his head.
‘I remember it very well,’ Nina said, and took a sip of her own coffee.
‘Was it this one?’
She looked over and almost choked on her mouthful of coffee.
Jack Carter was smiling at her and it was a smile she had never seen. He was looking straight into her eyes and his smile was wicked, triumphant. He held that smile till her face was burning, till she had forced herself to swallow the coffee she held in her mouth, till she remembered again to breathe, because for a moment there she had felt as if she were lying under him, felt as she’d just found out what it was like to be made love to by him.
‘That’s my I told you so look,’ Jack said, and then his face changed. His expression became serious, his jaw tense, his eyes the same they had been the night Baby Tanner had been brought in.
‘What you saw was my I hate this job sometimes, why do people have children if they don’t want them, what the hell is wrong with the world that someone can do this to an eight-week-old look …’
‘Oh.’
‘They’re two very different things and not for a minute was I blaming you for what had happened to Baby Tanner.’
‘Okay.’
‘And it was the same look I gave you yesterday when you walked in and saw Tommy covered in bruises. Why would you think I blamed you?’
‘People often do,’ Nina answered tartly.
‘Well, I don’t,’ Jack said. ‘And I want to make that clear. There’s no simple answer in a lot of these cases …’ He would have spoken on but at that moment there was the sound of a commotion outside. The office door opened and Nina heard the receptionist shouting that Nina had someone in with her and that she simply couldn’t go in—not that is made the slightest difference.
‘Janey!’ Nina stood. ‘You can’t just barge in here …’
‘You said I could come by any time.’
Jack looked at the angry teenager who had just burst into the office, heard the challenge in her words, saw the anger in her stance, and decided the social work department really was the hidden front line of Angel’s.
‘I need some money,’ Janey said. ‘I haven’t got any to ride the subway, and I’m hungry.’
‘Wait outside and I will speak with you when I’m finished here.’
‘I’m not waiting! Are you going to give me money or not?’
Jack frowned as Nina reached for her bag. ‘Hold on a moment.’ What on earth was she doing, giving this young woman money?
‘Leave it, Jack.’
For a moment he did.
He watched as Nina handed over a few dollars, heard her tell Janey to be careful and that she would ring her later tonight. Then Nina asked