The Perfect Husband (5 page)

“I think your tummy ache is being caused by
constipation.”

Now it was the mother’s turn to blush.
Charlie just looked confused. “What’s constipation?”

“It’s when your bowel gets hard and full and
tight because you’re not going to the toilet often enough,” Mason
explained.

“What’s my bowel?”

Isobel moved nearer and Mason steeled
himself against her closeness. She smiled down at his young
patient.

“Your bowel is a storage compartment in your
tummy,” she explained with a soft smile. “It holds all the food
waste that you’ve eaten. It’s really important to go to the toilet
when you feel the urge. That’s your brain telling your body it’s
time to go and empty out. If you ignore it too often, your poo ends
up hard and impacted and your tummy gets really sore. Doctor
Alexander thinks that’s the reason for your tummy pain.”

Mason shot Isobel a look of gratitude and
then offered Charlie a wink. “I couldn’t have put it any better
myself.”

“How do you fix it?” Charlie asked.

“Well, the easiest way to fix it is to go to
the toilet,” Mason replied.

Charlie frowned. “Will it hurt?”

Isobel squeezed his hand. “A little bit, but
we can give you a special medicine that will soften things up and
help it on its way.”

Mrs Alsop shook her head, her cheeks still
slightly pink. “I can’t believe we rushed here in such a panic when
it was only constipation.”

Mason was quick to reassure her. “It’s
always better to be safe than sorry, especially with children. They
can go downhill very quickly. You were right to bring him in.”

She offered him a smile filled with relief
and gratitude. “Thank you, Doctor Alexander. I appreciate your
understanding. Now we know what the problem is, we can go home and
get it seen to.”

“There’s no rush,” Mason replied and glanced
over at Isobel who nodded in agreement. “It’s nearly four o’clock.
He might as well stay the night. I’ll chart the medicine he needs
to help him do what needs to be done. The nurse will administer it
shortly and with a bit of luck, he’ll be as good as new in the
morning.”

Charlie’s mother issued a soft sigh of
relief and reached out to shake Mason’s hand. “Thank you, Doctor,
for everything. You don’t know how comforting that is.”

“My pleasure,” Mason replied and looked
away, uncomfortable with the praise. As far as he was concerned, he
was merely doing his job.

“I’ll leave you to it,” he said and offered
a brief wave of farewell. At the same time, he turned and addressed
Isobel, pitching his voice low: “Nurse, can we speak for a
moment?”

Isobel’s eyes widened in alarm, but she
quickly regained her composure. “Of course, Doctor.”

He moved far enough away that they wouldn’t
be heard by the other patients in the room. Isobel followed slowly
behind him.

“What is it, Doctor?”

“Please, call me Mason.”

“All right. Mason. Is something the matter?”
she asked fearfully.

He stared down at this timid woman and
wanted to shake her and demand to know where the fun-loving,
spirited Isobel of old had gone. She was quiet and withdrawn and
solemn—nothing like the brash girl he used to know. Instead, he
asked gently, “What’s happened to you, Belle? What’s happened to
change you so much?”

Her jaw tightened and crimson inched across
her face. She gnawed on her lower lip. He heard her soft intake of
breath a second before a single silver tear slid slowly down her
cheek. His gut clenched in an agony of pain and regret. She was
crying and it was his fault… Or maybe it wasn’t? When he was this
close to her his mind was in such a whirlwind, he no longer knew
what to think.

“Belle?” he croaked. “Please, Belle. Please,
don’t cry. I never meant to make you cry.”

She sniffed and swiped at the offending
moisture and then drew in another breath. “It’s not you, Mason. You
haven’t done anything wrong.”

He shook his head, flooded with confusion.
“Then what? Please, tell me what’s wrong and what’s happened to
make you so sad. I want to know. I
need
to know.”

Something in the earnestness of his tone
must have finally registered because a moment later, she lifted her
head and her eyes met his desperate gaze. The deep well of sadness
in her beautiful green eyes snatched his breath away. Once again,
he was flooded with the desire to help.

He wanted to obliterate her sadness and
bring sunshine back to her face. He wanted to pull her into his
arms and promise she’d never feel this unhappy again.

But she was married to Nigel and was a
mother to their children. She wasn’t Mason’s to love and protect
and cherish. She’d turned down his love and now belonged to someone
else.

The reality of that came crashing down on
him and he took a step back. The action seemed to snap the fragile
bond between them. When she looked up at him the next time, her
eyes were blank again and the pain he’d spied in them only moments
earlier had disappeared.

“Belle?”

“I’m fine, Mason. It’s nothing. I-I’m just a
little tired. I’ve been working extra shifts to cover the staff
shortages. What I need is to go home and get a decent sleep. Lucky
for me, I’ll be out of here in about ten minutes.”

She offered him a brief smile, but he could
tell it was an effort. Whatever was troubling her hadn’t gone away;
rather, she’d decided not to share it with him. He bit down hard on
the surge of hurt and disappointment.

“Where did you go to college?” she asked,
her tone now light and curious as they headed out of the room.

He stared down at her for a moment, willing
her to find the courage to confide in him, but then reluctantly let
it go. It wasn’t his place to force her. They hadn’t seen each
other for a decade; though he’d thought about her every day. He was
like a stranger to her and had no right to expect her confidence or
trust.

“The University of Queensland in Brisbane,”
he finally answered and couldn’t help but notice her relief that
he’d dropped the other topic.

She pursed her lips. “A fair way from home
and a move interstate. What made you choose UQ?”

Mason shrugged. “I have family who live in
Brisbane. An aunt and an uncle on my father’s side. They have a
bunch of kids—cousins I spent a fair bit of time with when we were
young. One of my cousins, Jake, went to med school with me.”

She nodded and her smile seemed to come a
little easier. “That’s nice. Family’s good. I’m glad you had
someone to help you through it. When Nigel was at college, he had
no one—no one but me. I was his study buddy, his take-out girl and
everything else he needed. It was lucky I was studying nursing. At
least I had some idea what he was trying to learn. Some of that
biology…” She shook her head and this time, her grin seemed real.
“It nearly did my head in.”

He smiled back at her, relieved that her sad
mood had lifted. “Oh, yeah! You and me, both.”

“How are the rest of your family? Your
parents and brothers?”

“They’re all good. My brothers are spread
around the state, doing what they do. Mom and Dad retired awhile
ago. They moved to far North Queensland. They spend a fair amount
of their time on a yacht.”

“Sounds like a nice way to pass the
time.”

“Yes, it does, doesn’t it? Maybe some day,
I’ll earn enough to buy one of my own. Do you like to sail? Maybe
we could go out on the harbor some time? With Nigel and the kids,
of course,” he added hurriedly, his face aflame.

Her withdrawal was immediate. The soft smile
disappeared; the easy air between them suddenly became tense and
her gaze remained fixed on the floor. He didn’t know what had done
it, but the mood was well and truly gone.

“I’m sorry, Belle, I didn’t mean to upset
you.”

She brushed him off. “It’s fine, Mason. I’m
fine. I… I have to get back to work. I’ll see you later.” She
turned and walked away.

* * *

Isobel gripped the sides of the kitchen
counter and forced herself to breathe. Nigel had been in a mood all
evening. First he’d complained that the children were spending too
much time in daycare because she’d accepted extra shifts.

“Why the hell can’t they call someone else?”
he’d yelled. “Why is it always you?”

“There’s a flu bug going around, Nigel.
There
is
no one else. I’m surprised the surgical staff
haven’t been affected. It seems like every other department in the
hospital has.”

Then it was the dinner she served. She’d
worked until four that afternoon, and by the time she collected Ben
and Sophie there hadn’t been enough time to prepare the usual fancy
meal. She’d ducked into the shops and bought a pre-prepared
stir-fry and had microwaved a dish of rice. She should have known
it wouldn’t be good enough for Nigel.

“What do you call this crap?” he’d snarled
when she set it down in front of him. Ben looked up from his spot
at the table, his body tense. Sophie fell quiet.

“It’s beef and garlic stir-fry.”

“It’s premade crap from the supermarket. How
the hell do you expect me to eat this?” He shoved it to one side
and turned his back on her.

“I-I’ll see what else I can find,” she said
and pushed away from the table.

Now, she drew in another deep breath and
slowly counted to ten. With a huge effort, she pushed her
exhaustion aside, relaxed her fingers and stepped away from the
counter. Pulling open the door to the freezer, she searched for
something else to cook. It wasn’t easy. The extra shifts had meant
that she hadn’t had time to go to the supermarket. The freezer was
almost bare. She spied a steak toward the back and reached for
it.

“Don’t bother. I’m not hungry.”

She gasped and slowly closed the freezer
door. Nigel stood a few feet away, a churlish expression on his
face. She swallowed a sigh and braced herself for another round of
complaints.

“I’m happy to grill a steak, Nigel. It won’t
take long to defrost. I could peel some baby potatoes and steam
some of those sugar peas you like so—”

“I said forget it.” His tone had gone from
annoyed to deadly in the few seconds since he’d complained.

Her heart leaped with fear, but she bravely
held her ground. The children were in the next room, able to hear
every word. Then she remembered that the presence of his son and
daughter no longer had the usual restraining effect. A little over
a week ago he’d hit her at the table, right in front of them.
How had she forgotten?

Feeling like she’d come to a sudden halt
right at the very edge of an eroding cliff, she stood stock still
and snatched only the tiniest of breaths. One move in the wrong
direction and she’d be plummeting over the other side.

She waited for Nigel’s next move. She didn’t
have to wait long. He stalked across the room and wrenched a
long-bladed knife from the knife block. Seconds later, he was back
at her side.

Fear like she’d never known turned her limbs
leaden. She stared at the knife like it was a cobra, poised and
ready to strike. Her breath came fast and her chest felt tight.
Nigel stared back at her, a knowing grin twisting his lips.

“That got your attention, didn’t it?” he
snarled. A moment later, his tone softened and became almost
conversational. He turned the knife over in his hands, examining it
with interest.

“Do you know how many ways there are to kill
someone?” Without giving her a chance to answer, he continued in
the same, calm voice. “Let me tell you; more than you can imagine.
I have to admit, my night-time reading has proven quite beneficial
and…entirely enlightening.”

His gaze, intense and ugly, traveled over
her and she shivered from the menace in his eyes. He took a step
toward her and she gasped and automatically moved back. She came up
hard against the door of the freezer. Once again, she was paralyzed
with fear. A triumphant expression lit up his eyes and he closed
the distance between them, his gaze never leaving hers. He leaned
in close and she whimpered, way beyond forming even the simplest of
words.

With his mouth just inches from her ear, he
whispered, “All it takes is a flick of the wrist and a sharp blade
and we both know I have access to some
very
sharp blades. I
know just where to cut. One slice across your carotid and you’d be
dead before you hit the floor.” He smirked. “Trust me. I’m a
doctor.”

He pulled back a little, but still crowded
her space. Her heart thumped and her mouth went dry. She could hear
nothing over the rush of blood in her ears, but still she heard
everything that mattered, including her husband’s humorless
chuckle.

“Like I said, I’ve been doing some very
interesting reading. I’ve already learned so many fascinating
tricks. I think I could stage a believable break-in. Of course,
when it happens, I’ll be conveniently at work. The roster will show
I’m there and it will be verified by my staff. No one will think it
strange if I disappear for an hour or so. I’m entitled to lunch,
after all and everyone knows I can’t abide the crap they serve up
in the cafeteria. Yes, I think an hour should do it.”

He made a sudden movement and she cried out
in fear. A second later, the cold, hard blade of the knife pressed
against the fragile skin of her neck. She stared up at him,
petrified.

His breath came fast. A wild look filled his
eyes. His face morphed into something so ugly and distorted, she
barely recognized him. Terror gushed through her veins and filled
her heart with ice. She stared at him, too frightened to make
another sound.

“Daddy! Stop! What are you doing?”

Ben stood in the doorway to the kitchen, his
eyes filled with tears. Isobel cried out at the terrified
expression on his face.

“Get out of here, Ben, or you’ll be next,”
Nigel growled and Isobel’s heart stood still.