Читать книгу Dr Langley: Protector or Playboy? - Joanna Neil, Joanna Neil - Страница 6

‘HE’S not bad at all, is he?’ Lucy dropped hot crumpets onto a plate and began to toast another batch.

‘Um—who’s this we’re talking about?’ Jade dragged her attention away from the magazine she was reading, and was rewarded with a sharp hiss of breath and a shake of the head.

‘Ben, of course. Our soon-to-be housemate.’ Lucy frowned at her. ‘You haven’t been listening to a word I’ve said, have you?’

‘I have …’ Jade pulled herself up with a guilty start. ‘You were talking about him moving in here.’ She tried to recall what Lucy had said. ‘He won’t be making the move straight away because he has a few loose ends to tie up … and he needs a day or two to pack up his bits and pieces, especially his new leather reclining chair that he absolutely won’t do without and a desk with drawers that are crammed full of his paperwork.’ Her brows knitted together. Obviously, he wasn’t a great believer in saving the trees.

‘That was ten minutes ago,’ Lucy said crossly. ‘I’ve moved on since then.’ She jabbed a finger at the plate. ‘And these crumpets are meant to be eaten while they’re hot.’ She looked over Jade’s shoulder at the magazine. ‘What’s that you’re reading, anyway? It seems to be keeping you pretty well absorbed.’

‘It’s the student paper.’ Jade put the magazine to one side and started to butter crumpets. She passed a couple of them to Matt, who was sitting across the other side of the table, checking web pages.

‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘I didn’t know the new edition had come out yet.’

She smiled. ‘I got it hot off the press from a friend who works in the print room. Guess who’s editing the mag now that the union rep has stepped down?’

‘Who?’

‘Your friend, Ben.’

She passed the magazine to him. ‘He’s introduced a new cartoon feature in there—it has his signature on it, so I guess he designed it himself. He’s called the series Med-life Crises—I’m sure it’s based on the goings on of some of the fifth-year medical students. This month’s storyline is very like something that happened in lectures a few weeks ago … only he’s made it seem much funnier somehow.’

Matt turned the page, and Lucy abandoned the crumpets to lean over and read the cartoon with him. She began to laugh. ‘Oh, that’s clever. I like that!’ She shot a glance at Jade. ‘He has a wicked sense of humour. I remember those lectures.’

‘The tutors roped in volunteers from around the medical school,’ Jade explained to Matt, ‘and were trying to teach us about patient-doctor communication skills through role playing. One of the students told her patient he needed to go on a fitness regime and lose some weight. He wasn’t too pleased, and she found out later that he’s her new consultant.’ She was still chuckling. ‘I wouldn’t have dared print that, just in case either of them saw it and took offence.’

‘It doesn’t seem as if Ben has any qualms about that.’ Matt bit into a crumpet, licking the melted butter off his lips.

‘No. As I was saying …’ Lucy looked pointedly at Jade ‘… I think he’ll fit in here really well. He seems to be quite easygoing and keen to get on with his studies. None of this clattering about of an evening with guitars and fiddling about with amplifiers.’ She sent Matt an accusing stare.

He lifted his shoulders and raised his flattened palms in a dismissive gesture. ‘So I practise my music occasionally—it’s not as though I’m working on it till all hours, every day of the week.’

‘Just as well, or one of these days you might get ready to rock and find your amplifier has been disconnected.’

They scowled at one another, and Jade sighed. She bit into a crumpet. It was hard to imagine Ben sitting with them at the breakfast table. Truth to tell, she was still having trouble coming to terms with the fact that he was actually going to be living there. It didn’t sit right with her somehow, and she couldn’t quite work out what was wrong.

Maybe it was a vague feeling that he was out of her league. He and his friends all seemed so much more confident than she was, and perhaps that was because their backgrounds were very different from hers in the main. Her family had always worked and struggled to get by, whereas Ben’s parents were in business and were comparatively rich, by all accounts. From what Matt had told her, the business was doing extremely well, with offshoots in Europe and Scandinavia.

There was no point dwelling on any of it, though. It was going to happen whether she wanted it or not.

She wiped her fingers on a paper towel and looked at Matt. ‘Are you back in A and E this morning?’

He nodded. ‘In the trauma unit to begin with, and then I’ll be working in the fracture clinic this afternoon.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘In fact, I’d better head off now. I’m due at a meeting to go over the details of yesterday’s cases.’

‘Me, too. I’m supposed to be at the hospital for eight o’clock.’

Matt left the house, and Jade set about clearing the table, carefully stacking the dishes in the sink and filling the washing-up bowl with hot, soapy water. She glanced at Lucy. ‘I get the feeling you’re looking forward to having Ben here with us. He must have made quite an impression on you.’ Lucy didn’t normally react with any great enthusiasm to newcomers—at least, not the male variety. She was too used to fending them off, though perhaps she’d made an exception in Ben’s case.

‘Yeah, he’s all right.’ Lucy grinned. ‘It turned out to be a lucky move all round, you bringing him home with you the other day.’

‘Hmm. Maybe.’

Perhaps there was something in the way she said it that caught Lucy’s attention, because her expression sobered. ‘Do you have some misgivings?’ She threw Jade a cautious glance. ‘It’s just that it seemed like a heaven-sent opportunity after Caroline’s room was left empty.’

Jade smiled. ‘I’m sure things will work out just fine. It all happened so quickly. I only asked him in because he’d helped me and he was thoughtful enough to walk me home afterwards, and the next thing he’s going to be living with us. It takes a bit of getting used to.’

They finished tidying the kitchen and set off to walk to the hospital. The sky was a cloudless blue, and the City looked fresh and sparkling in the morning sunshine. Jade made up her mind to put all her doubts behind her and instead give her concentration to the work ahead. In the weeks coming up to her final exams, things were going to be pretty hectic and she needed to be on the ball the whole time.

‘Good luck in Cardiology,’ she told Lucy as they parted company. Lucy was having a difficult time in her placement, and if yesterday was anything to go by Jade couldn’t expect to fare much better. It looked as though her consultant was given to asking searching questions whenever they met up for patient reviews or ward rounds, and it seemed she would have to get used to thinking on her feet.

The first hour or so of the morning was spent in going over the case notes of patients who had been admitted to the paediatric ward the previous day, followed by a visit to the neonatal unit.

‘How are we going to assess this child?’ Professor Farnham wanted to know as they stopped by a cot. He was in his fifties, tall and dark haired, slimly built, a man whose whole body and manner hinted at ceaseless energy and a thirst for knowledge. ‘What are we looking for?’

Jade drew in a deep breath and checked the baby’s file. The baby was only three days old, a tiny, preterm infant who whimpered softly in his crib. His arms flailed weakly and his mouth quivered as he gave a helpless cry. More than anything, she wanted to pick him up and hold him to her, to feel his warm, soft body in her arms.

Instead, she tried to dredge up all she had learned about neonatal problems. ‘The history shows that he has had several seizures,’ she said. ‘He’s been vomiting and he isn’t feeding well, according to his mother.’ The mother wasn’t around to hear their discussion, thankfully. The nurse had taken her into the office so that she could talk to her about any worries that might be weighing her down.

‘The first course of action would be to take blood tests and check serum chemistries. I’m thinking there might be a problem with the levels of calcium or magnesium in the blood. Then I would do urine tests in case of any renal problems. We should get an ECG as well, to check for any cardiac rhythm abnormalities.’ She hesitated momentarily. ‘The mother has a history of diabetes, so it’s possible there might be some connection between that and the baby’s problems.’

‘Good thinking.’ The professor beamed. ‘I’ll leave you in charge of all that. Depending on the results of the tests, we might need to do some X-rays later. Let me know when the reports come back from the lab.’

‘I will.’

He swept out of the room a minute or so later, and Jade let out a long, slow breath. Was this just a foretaste of her upcoming clinical examination finals? She was going to be a junior doctor soon, so she needed to have these skills at her fingertips.

At least Ben hadn’t been around to witness her being put on the spot once again. Paediatrics was a new specialty for her, and she’d had to do a lot of research over the last few weeks to give her an idea of the kind of things she might be dealing with. Even so, she was a bit worried about putting on a good show.

She gently stroked the baby’s silky hair, and then lightly traced a line over the velvet-soft skin of his tiny hand. He gripped her finger, clinging on to her, his eyes widening and his mouth puckering in eager anticipation. She chuckled, enjoying the moment.

‘You’re a little sweetheart, aren’t you?’ she murmured. ‘I wish I didn’t have to put you through all these tests, but I have to find out what’s wrong with you so that we can put it right. I’ll be really gentle, I promise.’ She gazed at him for a moment or two longer and then carefully withdrew her finger from his grasp. ‘I have to go and find a syringe, and some vials, and some forms for the lab. I’ll be back in a minute.’

When she returned a short while later, she was startled to find Ben standing by the cot. He looked good. He was smartly dressed in dark trousers and a crisp linen shirt with the cuffs rolled back, showing forearms made golden by the sun. His tie was a silk blend, in a subtle blue-grey design that complemented the pale blue of his shirt. He looked every bit the doctor who was in full control of everything around him.

He had set up a monitor to record the baby’s heart rate—it was slow, she noticed. He was checking the baby’s case file, and every now and again he glanced at the infant and his eyes crinkled in a faint smile. He looked up as Jade approached.

‘Hello, there,’ he said, his gaze moving over her appreciatively. ‘I was hoping we would meet up again fairly soon. I know it’s likely to be a bit hit and miss, because you have lectures and study periods every so often.’

‘That’s right,’ she acknowledged, ‘but not today. Professor Farnham has asked me to do a work-up on young Sammy.’

He nodded. ‘Yes, the professor told me.’ He looked at the baby and frowned. ‘According to the records, Sammy’s having fairly frequent seizures, some heart rhythm abnormalities, and his blood pressure is low. Not a good start in life, is it?’

She shook her head. ‘I must confess I’m a bit overawed working with newborns. Perhaps you’ve put your finger on the problem. It’s the emotional factor—it seems so unfair that they’re burdened with illness from the moment they arrive in the world.’

He laid a hand on her shoulder in a gesture of support. ‘I’m sure you’ll get used to it, given time. You’re here to help them through it … try looking at it that way.’

‘I will.’

He glanced at the trolley she had prepared. ‘I see you’re set up to take blood samples. Are you okay with that?’

She pulled a face. ‘I don’t usually have a problem taking blood from adults, or even from older children, like teenagers, but babies are different, aren’t they? They look so fragile, and they don’t know what’s happening to them, and I suppose it’s a bit daunting.’

‘Would you like me to hold him and distract him while you do the business?’

A feeling of relief ran through her. ‘Would you mind? That would be really good.’

‘Not at all.’ He lifted the baby from the cot and held him carefully in the crook of his arm. He seemed perfectly at ease with his precious bundle, and Jade watched him, unexpectedly sidetracked for a while by the tenderness of the moment.

‘Now, then, young Sammy,’ Ben murmured, ‘what can we do to keep your mind off things?’ He was thoughtful for a second or two, and then he reached into his trousers pocket and drew out his keys. ‘Here we are. Just the thing.’

He looked at Jade, and said quietly, ‘All set?’

She nodded, and Ben jangled his keys to distract the baby while she took the blood sample. It was all over in a matter of seconds.

Relieved, she labelled the vials and smiled at Ben. ‘Well, I have to say it would be great to have you around every time I have to do that.’

‘I’ll see what I can do about it,’ he said, laughing. He placed the baby back in the cot and took a moment to settle him, before turning to watch as she began to write out the lab forms. Her ponytail fell softly against her cheek, and she brushed it back out of the way.

‘I like your hair,’ he observed softly. ‘It’s beautiful, like silk.’

She gave him a startled look, pausing as she sealed the vial in its plastic pocket. ‘Thank you. The truth is, I like my sleep too much and so I didn’t have time to do more than just tie it back this morning.’ She dropped the needle into the sharps bin and began to tidy up the equipment she had used.

‘At the café bar you had it pinned up, I recall.’ His smoky, grey-blue eyes glimmered as his glance moved over her. ‘Either way, you’re a knockout. I somehow get the feeling you’re not going to be too good for my blood pressure whenever we’re around one another.’

She had a vague suspicion that could work both ways. ‘Well, I’m sorry about that,’ she murmured, ‘but I’m sure you’ll manage somehow.’ She liked him, but she wasn’t going to respond to his flirting. She couldn’t. Her time with Ewan had taught her that flirtation could get out of hand, and lead to some heavy involvement, and before you knew it you were embroiled in a situation that was bounding out of control. She couldn’t go through that again. It had been over months ago but she was still raw and hurting.

She gave him a sympathetic glance. ‘Some people say a cold shower does the trick.’

He gave a rueful laugh. ‘You’re not going to take pity on me, are you? I had in mind a much more romantic prescription.’

She smiled. ‘Yes, I’m sure you did, but I think I prefer to keep my mind on the job.’

He looked at her thoughtfully. ‘Whoever he was, this man who upset you and caused you to put up your defences has a lot to answer for. I think you should know that we’re not all the same.’

‘Maybe.’ She straightened up, getting ready to push the trolley back into the office. ‘But I’d just as soon not put it to the test.’ She frowned. ‘So I’m going to take these samples along to the lab. Are you going to be in the neonatal unit for a while?’ With any luck, he’d say no, and she would be able to get on with her work without feeling hot and bothered because he was close by.

He followed her to the door. ‘Yes, I have to keep an eye on young Sammy. Professor Farnham suggested that I leave you to do the procedures and think through the results, but I have to take day-to-day responsibility for him and report back to the professor.’

‘Oh, I see.’ So much for her hopes. ‘Well, I suppose I’m glad I’m not being thrown in at the deep end. I know I’ll have to do this kind of thing on my own all the while when I’m a foundation-year doctor, but just at the moment I’m sort of feeling my way.’

‘It’ll get easier. The first few months as a junior doctor can be hard on the nerves, but after that you kind of get the hang of things.’ He opened the door for her.

‘How about you and I meet up and have lunch down by the river later on? You can fill me in on the set up back at the house—who does what, whether there are any rotas for getting in the groceries and cleaning, and so on.’

She frowned. ‘Won’t you be on call? I mean, what if you’re paged?’

‘That’s okay. The registrar will be on duty to provide cover and, anyway, it won’t take long to get back here if need be. That’s the beauty of working in this place, we’re very close to the Thames.’

‘I suppose so.’ She frowned. ‘As to lunch, I’m not sure. I was planning on going to the library to study. Perhaps some other time.’ She would be seeing a lot of him over the next few months, she knew she had to get used to that idea, but even so, her instincts were warning her that if it was at all possible, she ought to keep some distance between them.

He forestalled her when she would have left the room, placing a hand on her arm. ‘You need to take a break—a proper break. It’s good to relax—it helps to clear your mind and revitalise you. That way you’ll be able to do your job so much better.’

She chuckled, admiring his persistence. ‘Really? Is that what you do? Now I see why you’re so fond of your reclining chair. Lucy said you couldn’t do without it.’

‘It’s true.’ He feigned a serious expression. ‘I do some of my best thinking in that chair.’

She shook her head. ‘Maybe you can get by on a quick read through of information, but I’m afraid I can’t. Unfortunately, I have to knuckle down and study hard.’

‘All the more reason to take a proper lunch hour. I’ll come and find you around one o’clock.’ He waved a hand and disappeared back inside the unit.

Her mouth dropped open a fraction as she watched him go. He didn’t mean to give up, did he?

She took the blood samples and forms over to the lab, and spent a few minutes chatting to the pathologist. She got on well with him, and knew that he would get back to her with his report as soon as he was able.

When she walked back into the neonatal unit a little later, she was relieved to find that the coast was clear. Ben was nowhere to be seen.

‘He was called to Paediatrics,’ Alice, the nurse on duty, told her. She pulled a mournful face. ‘Such a shame. I could so get used to working with him.’

Jade smiled, and Alice chuckled, her silky black hair shifting and settling as she moved her head. ‘He’s good-natured, too,’ she said. ‘I can see he’ll be great on the children’s ward.’

‘He is,’ Jade agreed. ‘I was with him in Paediatrics a few days back, and the youngsters loved him. I wonder if he’s found his vocation?’

‘Oh, surely not? That has to be here, with me, I’m certain of it.’ Alice grinned and pulled a trolley from a side room. ‘For the urine testing,’ she explained, indicating the equipment that was set out on sterile cloths. ‘You said that was your next job.’

‘So I did. Thanks, Alice. I’ll get to it.’

Jade was busy for the next hour or so, checking up on Sammy and the other babies in the unit. She even managed to sit with one three-week-old infant, nestling her in her arms while the baby sucked at a bottle of milk formula, making small gasping and gurgling noises. Her delicate complexion was peaches and cream, with a smattering of milk-rash spots across her nose and cheeks.

‘You’re beautiful,’ Jade murmured, watching as the baby sucked hungrily. ‘I think I want one just like you.’ Her expression was wistful.

The time flew by, and she was deeply immersed in her work when Ben came back into the unit. ‘Are you ready to go?’ he queried. ‘Can I help you finish what you’re doing?’

‘Is it that time already?’ she murmured, glancing up at him. She finished examining the infant she was with, and folded her stethoscope into her pocket. Maybe her library study could wait. It would be good to get out in the fresh air. ‘I just have to make a note of the prescription medicines, and I’ll be with you.’

Ben checked the oxygen flow being delivered to the baby in the specialised cot, and then he bent over and lightly stroked the infant’s leg. ‘She still has her legs curled as though she’s in the womb,’ he said softly. ‘They’re so tiny, these premature babies, aren’t they? They’re barely much bigger than my hand.’

She nodded. It brought a lump to her throat to see such a strong man being so gentle with a helpless infant. ‘There,’ she said after a while, ‘I’m all finished. I’m ready to leave now.’

‘Good. We’ll stop to pick up some lunch to go from the cafeteria, on the way.’

‘All right.’

The air was fresh and sweet as they left the hospital and walked along the streets towards the river. They found a bench seat along the walkway where they could sit and eat, and spend time looking out over the glittering water. Jade watched the leisure boats drifting by, and listened to the birds calling overhead.

‘I hope they’re not after our lunch,’ she said, her mouth making a wry curve. ‘I’ve heard that gulls have been known to swoop down and take the food from people’s hands.’

‘Nah. They’re a better class of bird around here.’ He looked in the paper bag he was holding. ‘I’m sure they’re not partial to sausage rolls and Chelsea buns … a brown trout instead, maybe, or a tasty chub.’

‘That’s just as well, because I am. There’s something about sausage pasties that really gets my taste buds flowing.’ She flipped the lid on her coffee carton. ‘Mmm … this is good,’ she said, swallowing the hot liquid. ‘Just what I needed.’

He handed her a sausage roll wrapped in a serviette and she bit into it hungrily. ‘This is great,’ she said, savouring the taste. ‘It’s still warm from the oven, the way I like it.’ She laughed. ‘At least I get to eat it all to myself. If my brother’s around, and there are sausage rolls or pasties anywhere in the house, no one gets a look in.’

He smiled at her enjoyment of the food. ‘Do you have just the one brother?’

‘Actually, I have three altogether, and Ross, the one who likes pasties, is the youngest. The others are older than me.’

‘That sounds like quite a houseful.’

She nodded. ‘What about you? Do you have any brothers?’

‘A sister. She’s younger than me and works with my father in the business—it’s a packaging company. Sarah runs the office down in Hampshire.’

‘Is that where your family live—in Hampshire?’

‘That’s right. We have a rambling old house in a beautiful village down there. We’re close to the forest, and not too far from the sea.’

His expression was remote for a second or two, and she said quietly, ‘It sounds as though you wish you were back there.’

His mouth curved. ‘Yes, I think I do. It’s where I was born and brought up.’

‘Didn’t you think of doing your training back there?’

‘I did, but the programme that was offered here in London tempted me more. I suppose my parents instilled in me the need to be focussed, to achieve my full potential, and that’s what I’m trying to do.’

He was thoughtful for a while. ‘I have my sights set on specialising in paediatrics, possibly in paediatric A and E. It’s important to me that I get the very best experiences possible, so for the next year or so I’ll be working really hard at all my assessments. I want my e-portfolio to be filled with top-grade achievements. I don’t want to simply get by in medicine. I want to be at the top of my field.’

‘That’s a huge challenge.’

‘Yes, it is. And in the end, when the time’s right, I can always go back home to Hampshire.’

‘There is that.’ He was ambitious, that was for sure.

She studied him from under her lashes, amusement in her green eyes as a thought occurred to her. ‘So, with all that work, I imagine there’ll be no time for any serious romantic entanglements where you’re concerned, will there? All these nurses that are pining for you back at the hospital are going to be seriously disappointed, aren’t they?’

‘Are they really pining for me?’ He looked surprised, then shook his head. ‘Oh, I don’t know about that.’ He dipped into the paper bag and brought out a fruit bun. His expression was mischievous. ‘Still, a little bit of flirting here and there never hurt anyone, did it … especially with the right person. After all, life’s for living, don’t you think?’ He dangled the bun in front of her, tantalising her with the sweet, fruity aroma. ‘Can I tempt you?’

Her green eyes sparked with amusement. ‘If it’s buns we’re talking, oh, yes, please, definitely.’ She breathed in the scent of cinnamon spice, and her mouth began to water in anticipation. But then she realised she might be treading on dangerous ground, and she said softly, ‘Anything else, though, and you can forget it, I’m afraid. I’m not in the market.’

No way. Not even a tiny bit would she give in to any silly ideas that her wildly overactive hormones might be suggesting. A little flirting here and there? Not on your life. Not with him, at any rate … the stakes were far too high.

He passed the bun to her and gave a wry smile. ‘That’s a very definitive statement,’ he said slowly. ‘I’ll have to see if I can change your mind on that one.’