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‘I brought some coffee with me. I’ve been eking it out and this is the last of it.’
So she was sharing the last of her best coffee with him, rather than the milky instant stuff that the clinic kitchens served up. ‘I’m going down to Colombo next week. I’ll get you some more.’
‘You’re planning on driving? With that hand?’
Jaye hadn’t really thought about it. ‘I should think it’ll be okay by then.’
Megan raised her eyebrows, pursing her lips in that delicious I don’t think so expression. ‘You’d be better taking Dinesh to do the driving.’
There it was again. Someone to notice. Someone who would care about him and boss him around a little when he needed it.
‘Maybe. I’ll see.’
She plonked a mug of coffee down in front of him and Jaye took a sip, savouring the rich aroma. ‘So how does it feel? Your hand?’
He shrugged. ‘It’s okay.’
‘Don’t worry about me, Megan.’ Her tone deepened by a couple of octaves, mimicking his. ‘As Director of the Western Province Free Clinic, and Peer of the Realm, my nerve endings should be different from everyone else’s. I allow myself to feel no pain.’
Jaye caught his breath, almost choking on his coffee. ‘I never said that.’
‘No, you never said it.’ She sat down in the chair opposite him, her gaze challenging him to pretend that he’d never thought it.
‘Okay. I’ll take Dinesh with me. Happy now?’
‘I’ll be a lot happier when it’s been X-rayed and properly splinted.’
Jaye had been figuring on doing that himself. Suddenly he wasn’t. ‘You’ll be sorry you said that when I start crying like a baby.’
She smirked, clearly understanding that this was some kind of victory. ‘I’m a nurse, crying doesn’t bother me. And these will have kicked in by that time. One or two?’
She held up a blister pack of paracetamol. Jaye was suddenly tired of managing, tired of making do by himself. If he couldn’t rely on Megan as a lover, he might just be able to as a newfound friend.
‘I’ll take the full thousand milligrams.’
‘Good. My thoughts exactly.’ She broke two tablets out of the pack, and handed them over to him. When he swallowed the paracetamol, washing it down with a swig of coffee and then leaning back in his seat, it felt as if he was relaxing for the first time in weeks.
* * *
Megan had let him rest for all of five minutes before ushering him back to the clinic. She then allowed him to at least supervise the X-ray procedure, reminding her of the safety protocols before they switched the machine on. Then she positioned his hand carefully on the couch. He resisted the impulse to move his fingers slightly. It would have been arrogant to do so, since she had the angle just right.
‘Not bad. Not bad at all.’ He grinned at her as they reviewed the X-rays together on the computer screen. He could see the break, but the finger had been straightened almost perfectly, which was no mean feat considering the conditions she’d been working under.
‘Hmm. Maybe a little more.’ She peered at the screen, assessing the two X-rays carefully.
‘So you’re going to hurt me again, are you?’ Jaye would have done the same himself to ensure that the finger healed perfectly straight.
‘You know it’s for your own good.’ That pursed-lips expression again. He was beginning to like it, because Megan’s eyes were full of a humorous, almost self-mocking light. Being one of her patients seemed like the best thing in the world at the moment.
‘Do I get a sweet?’ He nodded towards the jar of sweets on the countertop intended to dry children’s tears.
‘Yeah, you get a sweet. When I’m done with you, though, and not before.’
* * *
Could it hold? Could this really hold?
Megan felt as if she were tiptoeing into new territory, into a fragile friendship built on the foundations of something completely different. Something that they’d both rejected because it was far too hard for either of them to contemplate. But the friendship was surprisingly easy, and after a few days of thinking that its foundations were made of sand and it was all going to topple in on her at any moment, Megan began to cautiously rely on it.
