Page 38 of One Night with the Doctor

June nodded. ‘Would you, please? I’m so worried.’

Callie’s heart went out to June. Her love for her husband, even in his disturbed state, was inspirational. ‘Of course.’

Callie followed June into the front lounge room. Frank was sitting on one of the chairs, the leather cracked and worn, staring at the floor. He was rocking slightly and muttering to himself.

An image of Andy rose in her mind and she quashed it.

‘Hello, Frank. Do you remember me?’ Callie approached slowly and stopped a few feet away. ‘Callie Douglas? One of the nurses from Jambalyn.’

Frank looked up at her, still rocking. He frowned and it was as if he was looking straight through her before he returned his gaze to the floor.

‘Okay. Well, I’m going to have a cup of tea with June while we wait for Sebastian. Can I get you one?’

Frank curled his lip at her. ‘No tea,’ he barked. ‘No shrink.’

Callie nodded. ‘Okay. I’ll just be out in the kitchen with June.’

June burst into tears when Callie reached the kitchen and she put her arm around the other woman, ushering her to the table. She busied herself making tea while keeping one ear on the occasional mutterings from the lounge and keeping up a constant stream of inane chatter.

She probably should have been trying to establish the events that had led to this breakdown but June seemed too raw and Callie knew she’d have to go over it enough times today as it was.

Sebastian arrived within twenty minutes and she greeted him at the door. He looked tall and capable and commanding coming up the path and her heart skipped a beat or two. She filled him in on her appraisal of Frank and the situation as they walked to the kitchen.

He sat down next to June and put his arm around her shoulders, murmuring to her in a low voice, asking the questions Callie hadn’t and telling her everything was going to be okay in such a reassuring tone that June calmed and even smiled as Sebastian stood and said, ‘I’ll go and say hi.’

Two hours later they were driving in silence back to Jambalyn, Callie navigating the heavy traffic while a grim-faced Sebastian stared out his window. The scene in the Jessop house played over and over in her mind.

He’d been so damn brave. Braver than that day on the bridge in his bulletproof vest. Braver than that night confronting an arrogant fool in a restaurant. Braver than baring his soul as he presented an important paper with a deep personal connection in front of hundreds of colleagues.

Seeing Sebastian holding a distraught man who was at the end of his tether, brought a king-size lump to Callie’s throat as she pulled up at a red light. She glanced at him. He looked exhausted, the lines around his eyes and mouth more pronounced, his usually erect frame slightly less so.

It was the first time she’d seen him looking every one of his forty years.

But more than that, he looked… alone and she couldn’t bear it. Not when she was right here beside him. She slid her hand onto his thigh and gave a gentle squeeze. ‘Tough day for you.’

Sebastian rubbed a hand across his eyes giving her a half smile as he covered her hand. ‘Tougher for Frank.’

Callie nodded. The light turned green and she removed her hand, watching as Sebastian returned to his silent vigil out the window. She wanted to pull over, crawl into his lap and just hold him. She wanted to wrap him up until the events of the day drifted away. He looked so untouchable at the moment, so distant, she just wanted to bring him back.

To the here and now. To the present. To her. Use her body to ground him, snatch him back from wherever it was he’d gone.

But at the moment he looked too far away, too far gone. He certainly didn’t look like he needed anyone and the one drawback of being in a relationship where the two people in it had completely avoided defining it as such, was that she wasn’t sure how much she could push.

They were in it for better after all, not worse. And she couldn’t bear for him to reject her in this moment.

Which was wrong but also real.

So she drove on and it wasn’t until she shut off the engine that Sebastian even acknowledged that they’d arrived at Jambalyn. Callie undid her seat belt and groped for the door handle.

‘No.’ He placed a stilling hand on hers. ‘Go home. I’ll do the paperwork and follow you shortly.’

A hot jab to Callie’s chest stole her breath. He was dismissing her and it hurt. ‘Sebastian, I don’t mind hanging around. I could⁠—’

‘No, really,’ he interrupted, giving her hand a squeeze which she assumed was meant to reassure her. ‘I think I need to… It’s been a long day and I really want to get things straight in my head and I can never think straight around you.’ He gave a half laugh although it sounded forced. ‘I think I just need to be alone for a bit.’

Callie smiled at his little joke, even though tears scalded the backs of her eyes and she felt as if a huge fist had been rammed into her heart. He was pushing her away. She knew she had no claim on him or any right to expect anything but, still, she wanted to be there, wanted him to want her to be there.

To reach for her, not push her away. Like he’d been there for her that first night they’d spent together.