Emergency Doctor and Cinderella. Melanie Milburne

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СКАЧАТЬ gave a self-deprecating smile before turning to introduce Erin. ‘Sherrie, do you know Dr Erin Taylor from A&E?’

      Sherrie held out her hand. ‘No, I don’t think we’ve met properly. I’ve seen you around, though. Nice to meet you.’

      Erin briefly placed her hand in the other woman’s before pulling away. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘You too.’

      ‘So…’ Sherrie turned back to Eamon. ‘When are you free for a meal or a drink or something? Where are you staying? Have you bought a house or an apartment?’

      Eamon grinned at the barrage of questions, holding up his hands as if to ward them off. ‘One at a time, Sherrie. Yes, a meal would be great, and I’m renting my mate Tim Yeoman’s apartment in Mosman until the renovations are completed on my house at Balmoral Beach. Tim’s still on sabbatical in Edinburgh.’

      Sherrie took a pen out of her uniform pocket and scribbled her number and address on a napkin from the table. She handed it to him and smiled. ‘Here are my details,’ she said. ‘I’ve changed my number since I last saw you. Call me any time. It will be great to hear all about your time in the UK.’

      Eamon folded the napkin and put it in the breast pocket of his shirt. ‘Thanks, Sherrie; I’ll see what I can do for next week. I’m still unpacking, otherwise I’d organise something sooner.’

      ‘No problem,’ Sherrie said, and glanced at her watch. ‘Oops. Gotta dash. I’m meant to be in Surg A by now. Congratulations on the new job, Eamon. You’re exactly what this place needs to whip it into shape.’ She turned and smiled at Erin. ‘See you around, Erica.’

      ‘Erin,’ Erin corrected her.

      ‘Oh, sorry, I’mhopeless with names.’ And then, with another beaming smile aimed at Eamon, Sherrie left.

      Erin pushed her half-drunk latte away. ‘A love interest of yours?’ she asked.

      He sat back down and drained the contents of his cup before he answered. ‘We dated a couple of times a few years ago. Nothing too serious, and fortunately we managed to remain friends after we called it quits.’

      ‘It looks to me like she would like a re-run,’ Erin said, not quite able to stop herself from sounding slightly churlish.

      One of his dark brows lifted. ‘Is that feminine intuition or something else?’

      She was the first to shift her gaze. ‘What else could it be?’ she asked. ‘You’re not exactly my type.’

      ‘Oh really?’ he said. ‘What is your type?’

      Erin wished she hadn’t started the conversation. She could feel her colour rising as the silence stretched and stretched. How could she answer such a question? She didn’t have a type. She didn’t even have a social life. She had a cat and a career and a cartload of reasons to keep her life as simple as possible. ‘I have to get going,’ she said, making a show of looking at her watch. ‘I don’t want another long day.’

      ‘Big plans for this evening?’ he asked as he rose to his feet.

      Erin wondered if he was making fun of her. To an attractive man with women falling over themselves to book him for a date, her life must seem pretty dull in comparison. ‘Yes, as a matter of fact,’ she lied. ‘I’m meeting someone after work.’

      ‘About what we discussed over coffee…’ Eamon began as he accompanied her back to the hospital.

      ‘Don’t worry, Dr Chapman,’ she said before he could continue. ‘I’ll get working on winning friends and influencing people right now.’

      Eamon watched as she stalked off down the corridor, her head down, her shoulders hunched and her face like a brewing storm. ‘You do that, Dr Taylor,’ he murmured, and, blowing out a breath, made his way back to his office.

      

      ‘Aren’t you supposed to be doing the trial ward-round with Dr Chapman?’ Lydia Hislop, one of the nurses who regularly worked with Erin, asked. ‘The others left over half an hour ago.’

      Erin frowned as she checked through the patient’s notes she was reading, barely registering what the nurse had said. ‘When did Mrs Fuller have a second shot of pethidine?’ She glanced at the nurse. ‘I don’t remember signing for it.’

      Lydia peered at the notes, her forehead creasing over a frown. ‘That’s your signature, isn’t it?’

      Erin felt a cold hand of unease press against the base of her spine. She closed the patient folder and let out a long, unsteady breath. ‘I must be working way too hard,’ she muttered. ‘I can’t even remember what day it is.’

      ‘Tell me about it,’ Lydia said with an empathetic eyeroll. ‘Have you got time to see Mr Boyle in bay five, or should I get one of the night-duty staff to deal with it?’

      Erin glanced at her watch. The ward-round, even if she had wanted to attend, would be winding up by now; it would be over altogether by the time she made it up to the appropriate floor. ‘I’ll see him,’ she said. ‘That’s the one with the suspected appendix, right?’

      ‘Yes, I’ve got his history here,’ Lydia said, handing her a file. ‘He’s been in before for a resection of gangrenous bowel about two years ago.’

      ‘That should make for interesting surgery,’ Erin said. ‘Who’s the surgeon on call?’

      ‘Mr Gourlay,’ Lydia said. ‘Your all-time favourite.’

      This time is was Erin who rolled her eyes. ‘Maybe I should have gone on that ward-round after all.’

      

      When Erin got home from work, Molly wound her plump body around her legs, mewing in delight. Erin smiled and scooped her up, burying her face in the cat’s luxurious fur. The phone rang inside her bag, and she gently put Molly down to answer it. When she saw the number on the screen, she felt a hand of dread clutch at her insides. ‘Hello, Mum,’ she said in a flat tone.

      ‘Ezzie, I need your help,’ Leah Taylor said. ‘Things have been tough just lately, you know how it is.’

      Erin whooshed out an impatient sigh. ‘No, Mum, strange as it may seem, I don’t know how it is.’

      ‘There’s no need to be nasty,’ Leah said. ‘All I want is a bit of cash to get me through until my next pension payment.’

      Erin began pacing; it was almost unconscious every time she spoke with her mother. Back and forth she went across the carpet, like a caged animal desperate for freedom. She could even see the slightly worn area when she’d last vacuumed. ‘Mum, you know what the social worker said about me giving you money all the time,’ she said. ‘You just shoot it up or drink it.’

      ‘I’m going straight now, Ez,’ her mother said. ‘I haven’t touched a drop for three days.’

      Erin rolled her eyes. ‘And what about Bob or Bill or Brad, or whatever his name is? Is he going straight too?’

      ‘Just because you can’t pull a man doesn’t give you the right to slag me off. If you would just tart СКАЧАТЬ