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Rhuaridh and Gerry exchanged a glance and looked at her, then at each other again.
Gerry leaned over the table. ‘What do you think’s happened to her?’
‘I think she’s turned into some kind of Christmas holiday movie. You know—the kind that play on that TV channel constantly at Christmas.’
Kristie laughed and nudged both of them. ‘Stop it, you guys. Maybe I’m just getting into the spirit of things. First time I’ve seen snow. First time I’ve been in a place that’s cold at Christmas. All my life I’ve spent my Christmases in sunshine next to a pool. Give a girl a break. I’m just getting in the mood.’
As soon as she said the words she felt her cheeks flush. She hadn’t quite meant it to come out like that. Gerry didn’t seem to notice, but she knew that Rhuaridh did as he gave her a gentle nudge with his leg under the table.
‘It’s settled, then,’ said Gerry as he raised his pint glass towards them. ‘Tomorrow we go be festive!’
* * *
Arran in the snow was truly gorgeous. He hadn’t paid much attention before because snow in winter was the norm here. But somehow, seeing it through Kristie’s eyes gave him a whole new perspective on how much the whole island looked like a Christmas-card scene.
Now, as he looked out of the window as they pulled up at the hospital, he took a deep breath and let himself love everything that he could see. He always had loved this place, but the break-up with Zoe had left him living under an uncomfortable cloud. Her words had continued to echo in his head.
‘It’s an island in the middle of nowhere. There’s not a single thing to do on that place. How anyone can stay there more than one night is beyond me. I’d be bored witless in the first week.’
Those words had continued to wear away at him. The place where he’d grown up and loved hadn’t been good enough for the woman he’d loved at that time. He hadn’t been good enough for her.
His loyalties had felt tested to their limit. The loyalties and love he had for the place he’d called home, and his loyalties to his profession, his future dreams, and the woman he’d lived with.
For the first time he actually realised what a blessing it had been that things had come to a head.
He’d always wondered if the move to Arran again was just a temporary move—to fill the gap until someone else could be recruited for the GP surgery. But in the last two months things had changed and he couldn’t help but wonder if the TV show was the cause of that.
For the first time in for ever there had been applicants for the GP locum weekend cover posts that had been advertised for as long as Rhuaridh had been here. That was why he’d had cover the last time Kristie had been here. Other GPs were taking an interest in Arran. He’d had some random emails, one asking about covering Magda’s maternity leave, and another from a doctor who wanted to complete his GP training on the island. That had never happened before.
Before, he’d felt he was stuck here.
Now he knew he was choosing to stay here. And that made all the difference.
Kristie had a piece of red tinsel in her hair. ‘Are we going in, or are we sitting here?’
He smiled. ‘Let’s go. I’m going to review a few patients while we’re here.’
Gerry tagged behind a little, almost like he was giving them a bit of space. Rhuaridh wondered just how much the cameraman suspected. He’d been so tempted to give Kristie a kiss when she’d first arrived that he wondered if Gerry had noticed that.
Rhuaridh watched as Kristie entered the hospital. Her footsteps faltered a little but she held her head up high and ran her hand along the wall as she entered the building. It was like she was using it to steady herself. He paused for a second, then stopped worrying about who was around and who would see.
She’d shared with him why she was antsy around hospitals. She’d shared a part of herself. He walked alongside her and took her other hand in his, giving it a squeeze. She looked down—surprised—then squeezed back. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to.
They carried on down the corridor.
They were only in the hospital for a few minutes before one of the nursing assistants grabbed Kristie and persuaded her to help put up some more decorations.
‘We can’t put them in the clinical areas, but we can put them at the entrance and in the patients’ day room.’
‘No tree on the ward?’ he heard Kristie say. She looked quite sad.
Rhuaridh shook his head. ‘Infection control issues. Also allergies—they harbour dust. Health and safety too—they could be a fire risk.’
‘Phew.’ Kristie let out a huge sigh. ‘How do you remember so many interesting rules and regulations?’ She rolled her eyes. ‘And here was me thinking that Christmas decorations would have a place in hospitals—to improve mental health, lift spirits, and to help orientate some of the older patients to time and place.’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘Touché. What have you been reading?’
‘Lots.’ She smiled. ‘I’m not just a pretty face.’ Her words hung there as they smiled at each other, then she glanced over her shoulder as the nursing assistant appeared with another box. ‘Or just an objectionable reporter,’ she added quickly.
He pointed to the half-erected tree. ‘This has been here for as long as I have. And, Ms Objectionable Reporter, the stuff you say about lifting spirits and orientating to time and place is right. But...’ he paused ‘...our biggest issue in this season is winter vomiting—also known as norovirus. If we end up with that?’ He held up his hands and shook his head. ‘There’s a huge outbreak cleaning protocol, and something like this would have to be taken down and disposed of if it had been in a clinical area.’ He gave a shrug. ‘Better safe than sorry.’
She picked up a piece of sparkling green tinsel and draped it around his neck. ‘Aw, it’s a shame. Maybe you could impersonate the Christmas tree instead?’
‘Ha-ha. Now, don’t you have patients to film?’
‘Don’t you have patients to see?’
The nursing assistant’s head turned from side to side, smiling at the flirtation and teasing going on before her very eyes. ‘Glad to see you two are finally getting on,’ she said under her breath.
It gave Rhuaridh a bit of a jolt and he nodded and strode towards the ward. ‘Catch up if you can,’ he shouted over his shoulder.
He spent the next hour reviewing patients, writing prescriptions and watching Kristie out of the corner of his eye. She seemed easier, relaxed even. By now everyone was used to Gerry hovering around in the background with the camera.
It was nice to see her that way. She had a long conversation with one of the older men who was recuperating after a hip operation. She tried a few Christmas carols with a couple of the female patients. She helped put out cups of tea and coffee, and was particularly interested in the range of cakes that appeared from the hospital kitchen.
‘It’s like a baker’s shop,’ she said in wonder.
The nurse near her nodded. ‘We find that often appetites are smaller when patients get older. Our kitchen staff are great. The cook was even in earlier, asking people what their favourites were. That’s why we
have Bakewell tarts, Empire biscuits and fairy cakes.’
Rhuaridh heard Kristie whisper, ‘Don’t you get into trouble about the sugar?’
The nurse shook her head. ‘Not at this point. Calories are important. Look around. Most of our patients are underweight, not overweight. We’d rather feed them what they like than look at artificial supplements.’
Kristie flitted from one patient to the next, squeezing hands and making jokes. Occasionally he glimpsed a far-off look in her eye that didn’t last long. The patients loved her.
But the more he watched, the more he had nagging doubts. He couldn’t pretend he didn’t like her. The whole world could see that he did. But was the whole world also laughing at him? After all, what would a gorgeous girl from LA find interesting about a Scottish island? There were no TV studios, no job opportunities. Most of the time during winter half the island shut down. There was no cinema. No department stores—only a few local shops. There was one slightly posher hotel with a swimming pool, gym and spa but there wasn’t a selection to choose from. And there were only two hairdressers on the entire island. Kristie had already told him she loved trying different places.
Zoe’s words echoed around his head. Boring. Dull. Nothing to do.
He hadn’t been able to maintain a long-term relationship with a woman in Glasgow just over fifty miles away. How on earth could he even contemplate anything with a woman from LA—five thousand miles away? He must be losing his marbles.
Just at that moment, Kristie leaned forward and pressed her head against that of one of the older, more confused patients. He could see she was talking quietly to him. His hands were trembling, and Kristie put her own over his, squeezing them in reassurance. She pointed to the Christmas tree through the doors. She was orientating him to time and place.
And that was it. A little bit of his heart melted. Did it really matter if this would come to nothing? Maybe it was time for him to start living in the here and now.
