Secret Santa

Secret Santa

Mina Carter

Published: 2011

Published by Summerhouse Publishing.
Copyright, Mina Carter. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains
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Cover Artist

Mina Carter

This is a work of fiction. The characters,
incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s
imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to
actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely
coincidental.

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“Oh wow Jo, those are gorgeous! Did you get
them in the Secret Santa?”

Jo Micheals, senior nurse in Newbolton
Accident & Emergency, looked down at the earrings in the little
box on the desk in front of her and nodded. She hadn't got over her
surprise at receiving them herself.

“Oh, now why didn't I get something like
those? I got kitty cat socks!” Emmie, a junior nurses on the
department shoved the socks under Jo’s nose. Cartoon cats picked
out in wool waggled merrily before her eyes.

“Emmie, you like cats.” Jo pointed out,
grinning up at the younger woman. “You've got a cat bag, cat
umbrella, cat scarf… hell, I wouldn't be surprised if you've got
cat panties!”

The junior nurse narrowed her eyes in mock
suspicion, “Hey, how'd you know? You been sneaking into my
apartment and checking out my underwear drawer or something?” she
giggled, snatching the cat socks back, as though Jo would steal
them given half the chance. That Emmie loved cats, and by extension
anything that had a cat on, was well known in the department. Jo
knew for a fact Adrian, one of the porters, went out of his way to
find cat things to leave around for her. No doubt the person
responsible for the socks.

Jo laughed, rapidly working down her notes
and signing them off. “No hun, I guessed. Doesn't take a genius to
work out, does it?”

“Nope,” Emmie looked at her new socks with a
smile. “They're cute though aren't they?”

“They are.”

“Still,” Emmie cast a covetous glance at the
earrings in Jo's hand with a wistful sigh. “
Cat
earrings
would have been fantastic as well!”

Jo hid a smile as Adrian walked past them
pushing a trolley, a thoughtful expression on his face. Santa would
no doubt bring Emmie some cat earrings as well now. She hoped
Adrian would admit to Emmie he fancied her sometime soon and ask
her out. Emmie was good at her job and all, but with men she wasn't
the sharpest tool in the box.

“Ok, got to go and deal with the gentleman in
cubicle four, catch you in a bit Jo.” Emmie tucked her new socks
into her pocket and grabbed the notes she needed.

“Yeah, sure thing Em,” Jo answered, not
realising her friend had already gone, her attention caught by the
earrings again. She hadn't expected these when she opened the small
package handed to her in the traditional department Secret Santa
give out. Every year, instead of having to buy gifts for everyone
all the names went into a hat. Everyone drew a slip with a name on,
the person they were to buy a present for. The budget had been
agreed to suit everyone's pockets. Nurses didn't make much, porters
less, so it had to be something which wouldn't break the bank.

She nudged an earring with a delicate finger,
making the inset crystals dance in the overhead light. They were
more than the budget they'd been given. She knew because she'd been
admiring them in the jeweller’s window the other day. Tilting the
box she read the name inside the lid 'Keystone & Hammersmith
Fine Jewellers'. Yes, they were the same earrings.

Biting her lip as guilt washed through her
she stood and slid the box into her pocket. She should find out
who'd given them to her and give them back. They were far too
expensive a gift to accept, even though everything in her that
liked pretty things wanted to keep them.

Temptation filled her. On her wages and with
bills to pay she would never be able to afford them herself. But
now someone had brought them for her? Perhaps a hint that she
should have them... Shaking her head, she grabbed the next set of
notes from the pile. She'd find out who had given them to her and
give them back. Besides, she was late with her own secret Santa
gift, a fact which made her squirm in guilt as soon as she recalled
it.

Her low heels clicked on the polished floors
as she walked down the corridor, heading for cubicle seven. She'd
drawn Drew Carson, the department's lead consultant, for her name.
Even after three weeks she still had
no
clue what to buy for
him. A brilliant doctor and trauma surgeon, Carson was grumpy and
particular. His office was laid out with the precise he insisted in
theatre and they'd had many nurses in tears after working with him.
His gruff manner and sharp tongue often upset people.

Jo though, had no problems with him. No one
could argue his abilities and she liked the blunt, no nonsense
attitude. He was a magician in trauma surgery, especially the
paediatric cases, his touch light and delicate for such a big
man.

But that didn't mean she had the slightest
clue what to buy him. A sigh on her lips she realised she'd just
have to brave the Christmas crowds and trawl the local shops at
lunch. With any luck she'd be able to pick something up, wrap it
and drop if off in his office before she left tonight.

Reaching cubicle seven, she pulled the
curtain aside, a reassuring smile on her face for the young boy and
his mother sat waiting. “Hi, I'm Jo, a senior nurse here. I'm just
going to clean up that knee for the doctor, okay?”

The day came and went. Jo barely had chance
to catch her breath and by the time she looked up at the clock
again, it showed an hour to the end of shift.

“Oh shit,” She murmured, reaching for the
earring box in her pocket. She'd forgotten to go out at lunch to
get her Secret Santa gift for Carson. In fact, thanks to a rush
around break time, she hadn't eaten today either. Her stomach
growled to remind her but she ignored the rumbling, more concerned
with the lack of a present.

What was she going to do now?
All the
local shops would be shut at this time of night, and she couldn't
leave it until tomorrow. Well, she could, but she wouldn't feel
right.

“Kisses under the mistletoe! Only a pound!
All proceeds to the hospitals preemie unit!” Two voices rang out in
merriment behind her. Jo turned in curiosity to see two nurses from
the special care unit cruising the waiting room, decked out in
tinsel and angel wings and dangling mistletoe to collect
kisses.

Jo grinned; she had to admire their
inventiveness. The hospital always needed funds and, in Jo's
opinion, there wasn't a better place to collect money for. She'd
worked a couple of shifts up in special care but she hadn't been
able to hack it. She was too soft-hearted around babies. She’d
always wanted kids, but James hadn't. So they hadn't had kids. A
blessing in disguise.

Her face shuttered a little at the thought of
her ex-husband. With determination she pushed those memories to the
back of her mind and locked the door on them. The divorce was done
and dusted, she had a restraining order out on the jerk and it was
Christmas. The one thing she didn't need to do was trawl it all up
and make herself miserable.

“Kisses under the mistletoe!! How about you
handsome? A pound a kiss!” The two giggling nurses rounded on an
elderly gentleman in a wheelchair who grinned broadly. His delight
at having the attention of two young women obvious. But then, who
didn't like the old tradition of a kiss under the mistletoe?

Her eyes narrowed, a thought hitting her. Of
course! A kiss under the mistletoe. Even old Scrooge Carson
couldn't turn down a Christmas kiss, could he? And a kiss didn't
cost anything, a gift she didn't need to go out and get. Perfect!
Before she changed her mind Jo headed over.

“Hey, can I borrow some?” She indicated the
mistletoe in their hands.

“Of course you can love, you off to spread a
little Christmas cheer?” The taller nurse grinned and snapped a bit
off to pass to Jo.

“Something like that, thanks!” Jo called over
her shoulder as she headed for the stairs. She needed to do this
now, before her courage ran out.

Doctor Drew Carson sat behind his desk and
shuffled paper between files. Then, when he ran out of paper to
shuffle, he shuffled the files. He was in no hurry to leave his
office and head home. There was no one there, and he hated going
home to a cold, empty house. At least here there were people around
and activity. He didn't usually get lonely, except at around
Christmas.

He knew what they called him on the
department. Scrooge Carson, the grumpy old man and various other
names which attested to his abrupt and blunt manner. He'd heard
about the book running on whether he'd smile before New Year.
Perhaps he should place a bet. He'd make a killing!

Snorting, he gave up on the files, leaning
back in his chair to run a hand through his close cropped, dark
hair. His admin assistant, Pat, wouldn't thank him for messing them
up, he'd better not fiddle with them anymore. She might never
forgive him.

He should get going. Take a cruise through
the department and check everything was okay... he sighed. Okay, so
he wanted to check and see if Jo had received the earrings. He'd
been holding off going down all day and asking what she'd received
in the Secret Santa. He knew she had to have opened them by now. He
wanted to see the look on her face, hopefully a glow of
happiness.

He liked Jo, felt for her. She had a sadness
around her that pulled at his heart, an organ he'd long thought
dead. When he'd pulled her name out of the hat he hadn't been able
to resist trying to lift that sadness a little.

And he'd known the perfect gift. When he'd
been in Keystone’s dropping off his watch for a repair the other
day he'd spotted her looking in the window. Absorbed in her study
she hadn't seen him. But he'd seen her and the wistful look on her
face as she'd looked at the earrings on the central display. So
when he’d pulled her name he'd gone right back to the jewellers and
brought them.

He hoped she
did
like them now and he
hadn't misread her expression. Drew was the first to admit he
wasn't the most astute when it came to women. They were a whole
different species. A weird species, especially nurses who always
seemed to burst into tears around him. Although he hadn’t managed
to make Jo cry. Another reason he liked her; calm and efficient,
she dealt with his outbursts in trauma without so much as batting
an eyelid.

A soft knock at his door brought his hands
down and he straightened up. “Come in,” he called out, quite
unprepared for the woman who'd just been occupying his thoughts to
sidle into the room. She closed the door behind her with a small
click.

“I'm not disturbing you, am I?” She had one
hand behind her back as though ready to escape, leaving him alone.
Whatever else Drew wanted, it wasn't to be left alone. Not by this
woman.

“No, no, come in.” He ordered, his voice
brusque.
Great, nice one Drew,
he berated himself as she
stepped back a little.

“Please,” he added, trying to soften his
tone. The whole department knew she'd been through a messy divorce
and had a restraining order out on her abusive ex. Hell; he'd even
rung here to threaten her. After that Drew had security keep a
special watch out for her car in the staff car park. Watching to
make sure she got to her car without incident. The one thing Drew
couldn't understand was a man who hit a woman. His anger rose at
the thought. Men like that weren't men at all, they were cowards
and bullies.