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‘Well, there wasn’t,’ Lucy pointed out, and Joel nodded.
‘At the next practice meeting we need to talk about this case.’ Joel was clearly worried about it. ‘If she’d gone home and waited for the next available appointment then it would have been a different story. We caught it early because of you.’
‘All the doctors here are good about seeing children, no matter how busy they are,’ Lucy informed him quietly. ‘If she’d insisted, she would have been slotted in. She didn’t insist because she’d seen Michael a few days before.’
Joel nodded. ‘And he didn’t do anything wrong. In the beginning there’s nothing to distinguish it from any other viral illness. According to the notes, he asked her to come back in forty-eight hours if the temperature hadn’t come down or if she was worried.’
‘But she didn’t want to bother him,’ Lucy said softly. ‘It’s a common problem, don’t you find? The patients that really need to see you never like to insist.’
‘Whereas the ones that could very well survive without seeing a doctor virtually live here,’ Joel agreed, getting to his feet and pacing across her room to look out of the window. ‘Well, anyway, I’ve told Michael all about it because technically Millie is his patient. She’s obviously going to be in hospital for a while yet.’
Lucy nodded. ‘I hope she’s going to be all right.’
‘Me, too.’
‘I asked after our motorcyclist as well, by the way.’
‘And?’ Lucy’s heart beat slightly faster as she thought back to yesterday afternoon. ‘Is he going to survive?’
Joel nodded. ‘He needed a massive transfusion and a long time in theatre, but he’s definitely off the critical list.’
‘Well, that’s a relief,’ Lucy breathed. ‘I never, ever want to be the first person at the scene of an accident again.’
‘You did everything right.’
She waited for him to say something else but he didn’t. Instead, he just looked at her, his eyes very blue, and her heart suddenly started to beat faster.
What was it that happened to her when he was in the room?
She didn’t understand it. All she knew was that it was something she didn’t want.
She sensed that he was about to speak when the door opened and Ros entered.
‘Have you got time to see two extras, Lucy? Oh, sorry, Dr Whittaker…’ She paused in the doorway, her expression apologetic. ‘I didn’t realise you were in here.’
‘I was just leaving,’ Joel said softly, his gaze lingering on Lucy for a long moment before he strolled towards the door.
Lucy was sure that Ros would notice her tell-tale blush, but the older woman didn’t seem to, chatting instead about the old lady who’d tripped on the kerb and needed a dressing on her leg.
‘I’ll do it right away, Ros.’ Lucy cleared her throat and delved in her cupboard for a dressing pack, relieved that Joel had left the room. Without his presence to unnerve her she felt back in control again.
What had he been about to say?
And why, when a new relationship was the last thing she wanted, did she react so strongly to him?
Because he was so good-looking, she reasoned as she prepared to dress the leg. He was an incredibly handsome man—any woman would look twice at him. Even a woman like her, whose life was in tatters.
Comforted by the thought that her feelings were completely normal, Lucy threw her attention into work and the afternoon flew past.
She took advantage of a brief lull mid-afternoon to finish stacking the boxes of vaccine into the new fridge. She’d virtually finished when Ros bustled into the room.
‘Lucy, I need you to—’ She broke off and stared at the fridge. ‘Oh, you’re doing the fridge! I can’t believe it’s finally arrived after all that fuss!’
Lucy smiled and closed the door firmly. ‘Yes, it’s about time, isn’t it?’ She scrambled to her feet. ‘You said you needed me?’
Ros pulled a face. ‘I’ve got a girl crying in Reception. A very young girl. Wants to see a lady doctor. Of course we don’t have a lady doctor. Only four hulking males—totally useless at a time like this.’
Lucy gave a smile of understanding. ‘I’ll see her and decide whether she needs to see someone.’
